tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/switching-from-another-personal-finance-program/16059-duplicate-transactions-merging-accounts-and-categories-duplicate-security-tickersnamesInfinite Kind: Discussion 2020-07-02T07:30:24Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-17T21:00:33Z2020-04-28T22:04:59ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>One previous response looks like my security naming issue can be resolved.</p>
<p>Mike</p></div>mrnoonantag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-18T14:49:34Z2020-03-18T14:49:34ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>Hi Mike,<br>
Thank you for contacting Moneydance support.</p>
<p>Firstly, if you haven't already, I encourage you to download our free trial version and experiment with the program. You can download the trial version of Moneydance from our website on <a href="https://infinitekind.com/downloads">this page</a>.</p>
<p>The trial version is fully functional and allows you to manually enter 100 transactions. Imported transactions are not limited, so you'll be able to fully test downloading data from your bank, and importing data from other personal finance software.</p>
<p>If you decide to purchase the program at a later date you can keep all data you have entered during the trial period.</p>
<p>You can find the Moneydance Knowledge Base <a href="https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/">here</a> which will be useful if you're using the program for the first time. I'd be happy to provide guidance if you have any questions or need assistance getting setup.</p>
<hr>
<ul>
<li>If you are importing from Quicken please note, QDF and QXF files use a proprietary file format that can only be read by Quicken and Intuit programs. You need to open Quicken to export your data into one or more QIF files.</li>
</ul>
<p>Ideally you'll export one QIF file that contains all of your account data. Use the option to export 'all accounts' within one QIF file if this is available within the software you're using.<br>
If not, you should export one QIF file for each account in your file.</p>
<p>Make sure you export any closed or inactive accounts containing transfers to your open accounts. You may need to re-open these accounts before exporting.</p>
<p>If you're using Moneydance for the first time, when you open the program, you'll see the Welcome window. Choose “Create a new account set” and setup a new data file.<br>
If you have opened Moneydance previously, you can create a new data file by choosing File --> New --> Create a New File. Then follow the prompts to enter a name and currency for your new file.</p>
<p>When viewing your new data file, choose File --> Import. Then navigate to and select the QIF file.</p>
<p>You'll be asked which account you want to import your data into. If you have data for multiple accounts within one QIF file, you can pick any account.</p>
<p>Below this, Moneydance will automatically try to determine the date format and decimal character used within the QIF file.<br>
If you want to check this, open the QIF file with a text based program like NotePad or TextEdit. This will allow you to check which date format and decimal character are being used.</p>
<p>Choose 'Import' and wait a moment while your accounts and data are imported into Moneydance.</p>
<p>If it appears some of your accounts are missing from the left side bar, press the '+' button at the bottom of the side bar. Choose 'Advanced'. You should see the missing accounts in the panel on the left - highlight the account name and press 'Add' to move the accounts into the panel on the right. When you're done press OK and these accounts should then be available for selection from within the side bar.</p>
<p>Some QIF files don’t include an 'Initial Balance' for your accounts (sometimes referred to as a beginning balance or a starting balance). If this is the case, you'll see all transactions have imported but the account balance will show a discrepancy.<br>
To fix this, select the account and choose Account --> Edit Account. In this window, you can enter an amount into the 'Initial Balance' field.</p>
<p>For investment accounts, QIF file don’t always carry security prices other than buy/sell prices, so investment account balances may be wrong until you update with the current security prices.</p>
<p>Reminders are not included in QIF files as the QIF file format has no ability to include reminder data.</p>
<hr>
<p>CSV files can also be imported, but unfortunately the import process is a little more involved. CSV files were not designed to transfer data to personal finance programs, so there is no standard format or layout for these files.</p>
<p>If CSV is the only format available, you'll be able to import the file to Moneydance using File --> Import. During the import process, you'll assign the columns in your CSV file to fields within the Moneydance account register.</p>
<p>It might be useful to refer you to <a href="https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/online-banking-and-bill-pay/importing-csv-files">this article</a> of the Knowledge base.</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, the automatic assignment of categories relates to the 'confirmation process'. This is detailed in <a href="https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/online-banking-and-bill-pay/confirm-downloaded-data">this article</a> from the Knowledge Base.</p>
<p>When transactions have been downloaded from the bank, they'll be 'unconfirmed' which is signified by a blue dot in the account register.</p>
<p>To begin the confirmation process, select the first transaction in the register with a 'blue dot'. A panel will appear on the right of your screen which shows the 'Current Transaction' details. You should amend the category within this panel, then select 'Confirm'.</p>
<p>You'll see the solid blue dot change to a blue circle. Moneydance will then move to the next unconfirmed transaction in the register.</p>
<p>As you go through this process it will become quicker and easier. Moneydance will begin to recognise the information you have previously confirmed, and start to suggest the correct categories within 'Similar Payees' in the panel on the right.</p>
<p>The next time you download from the bank many of the correct categories will automatically be assigned, and this will improve and you confirm more transactions.</p>
<p>I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have further questions or need any assistance.</p>
<p>--<br>
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support</p></div>Maddytag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-26T02:14:19Z2020-04-28T22:04:59ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>Hello Maddy,<br>
Thanks for the very quick reply.<br>
Unfortunately, I didn't give you enough information.<br>
The bulk of your response was known to me and I had already imported a 20 year qif file. The result was not as informative as I'd hoped.</p>
<p>There were three unanswered questions were mangled by your support system. The questions were written as bullet point markers (hyphens). The resulting paragraph was such that even I wasn't sure how to read it. So I'll make another try with these 5 questions.</p>
<p>I couldn't find a way to rename an account, move all transactions from one account to another, or whether copy and paste a group of between account were possible. Is this correct?</p>
<p>My current account program recalculated a large split transaction (all paychecks) and messed up equity transactions, e.g., changed stock prices, quantities and commissions. Is there any verification of data and recalculations made on when you import?</p>
<p>The things I did read the knowledge base articlel on uncategorized transactions. It said (un)categorized can be changed only by one at a time. This is problematic for me. I need a mass category and merge capability. As an example, when importing Quicken files containing dividends, the Divx qif transaction does not record the dividend income. In my case, I had 10 years of dividends and the import resulted in many screen pages of uncategorized line items. Returning to Quicken, I found that internals categories of “_Div”, “_IntInc”, etc. were used but not exported. This information is lost. Therefore, a mass category change capability is required.<br>
Is there another way to merge categories?</p>
<p>Two other observations:<br>
I detected a noticeable lag between selecting a clinking on a function and seeing the results. My "sample" import was for 20 years. Is this normal?</p>
<p>I also found duplicate securities. This example produced two entries. Both entries are identical except for the ticker symbol. The second of the pair should have been thrown out. It has too many characters and an illegitimate character for a ticker.<br>
NAT&T CORP COM NEW<br>
ST<br>
TStock<br>
^ NAT&T CORP COM NEW<br>
SAT&T CORP COM<br>
TStock<br>
^ Is there a way to merge duplicate security tickers?</p>
<p>With a sample of 300 transactions, I could not get any useful reports to make further judgments about Moneydance. I'd need a full import to be able to reconcile the results through reports.</p>
<p>And I'd need to export your file and re-import it to a new file to see if the two files matched. Is this possible?</p>
<p>Please advise.<br>
Thank you,</p>
<p>Mike Noonan</p></div>mrnoonantag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-26T09:22:58Z2020-03-26T09:22:58ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>I am not support staff, just a user.<br>
Hi Mike</p>
<p>I can answer some of your question on others I am not sure I understand what you are trying to do.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>To rename an Account.<br>
Highlight the Account in the Side Bar, list on left. Click ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT. Edit Account name.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Move transactions from one account to another.<br>
To do this use a feature called BATCH CHANGE. This is a powerful feature and if you do something wrong it can be hard to go back, so always do a FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – EXPORT BACKUP FIRST.<br>
In an account register highlight all the transactions you want to move, in Windows select using Ctrl or Shift key as appropriate to select multiple transaction. In Mac or Linux use the equivalent keys to highlight multiple transactions. Right click and select BATCH CHANGE – ACCOUNT and select the destination Account.<br>
See <a href="https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/register-and-transactions/batch-change">https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/register-and-transactions/bat...</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>“My current account program recalculated a large split transaction (all paychecks) and messed up equity transactions, e.g., changed stock prices, quantities and commissions. Is there any verification of data and recalculations made on when you import?” I suspect if the QIF file contains rubbish the result will be rubbish, Moneydance second guess what rubbish is meant to mean.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Under BATCH CHANGE you can also change Categories. However, I have never used it in relation to Investments so don’t know if it is applicable. So, if you want to experiment DO A EXPORT BACKUP FIRST.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>“I detected a noticeable lag between selecting a clinking on a function and seeing the results. “ Give an example. In general, the answer is there should not be a no lag unless the process involves a lot of data manipulation. Then lag depends on your computer speed and operating system. What is your computer operating system? On Mac a small number of users have had issues with certain types of mouse. As a Windows and Linux Mint user I have not encountered this.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In Quicken if you have duplicate securities were the only difference is the ticker symbol these would be exported by Quicken to the QIF file as different Securities and imported into Moneydance as such. Sort thing out before you do a QIF export from Quicken, in the QIF file itself or manually sort things out in Moneydance. In investment accounts as far as I know you can’t merge what Moneydance sees two different securities.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>“And I'd need to export your file and re-import it to a new file to see if the two files matched. Is this possible?” not sure what you mean? By doing a EXPORT BACKUP and then a RESTORE FROM BACKUP you end up with two identical data sets (files) but with different names. To switch between data sets use FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – OPEN. If you mean export a QIF file and then re-import it then yes you can, but not sure why you would want to.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry I can’t be more helpful.</p></div>derekkent23tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-30T01:58:15Z2020-04-28T22:04:59ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>Hi Derek,<br>
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.</p>
<p>Let me start with an explanation. My current accounting app has failed me miserably with qif importing and internal program logic. For example, I changed an imported Buy transaction to a Shares In to correct it, exported it as .cvs file, and saw a $6,000.00 commission! The math was correct for the total amount but the stock price is wrong for establishing the basis on future transfers. So I'm gunshy about the capabilities of other accounting programs hence my questions about features/capabilities, i.e., what will help and what will bite me.</p>
<p>To your response.<br>
Questions 1 2, and 4. Great answers. I imported 10 years but could only see 300 transactions. This isn't enough to experiment with.</p>
<p>Question 3. I generated (see my Excel work below in the original query) qif transactions and they correct. In the payroll example (a 14 line split) was imported correctly. Two category names needed to be renamed. This name change had nothing to do with the dollar value, and yet, a recalculation occurred that changed all the dollar amounts. In another case, I had open trades where the Buy or Sell half was incomplete. I calculated the missing parts of the transaction, even the SEC commission, down to the rounded Millicent. Upon import, those transactions were recalculated with un-unrounded stock prices and commissions basically destroying my work.</p>
<p>Questions 4. I want to consolidate portfolios by moving equities but not the transfers. I read in the Batch Change doc and it said that this was not done which is what I want. BTW, to date, all equities but one has been sold. I don’t need pricing.</p>
<p>Question 5. I have a Mac Book Pro (late 2013) with Intel quad-core i7 and Turbo Boost to 3.4 GHz, with 16GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD drive. And, no problems with either the Bluetooth Magic mouse or keyboard. With only 300 displayed trans, lag should not be an issue. I'll have to wait to see if this is still the case later on.</p>
<p>Question 6. My miserable accounting program created duplicate security entries where both ticker names were "TTN" and the names differed by a character, i.e. "Titan Corp" and "Titan Corp.". I've found a way to fix this by changing the supposedly errant one to "xyzTitan Corp". The update re-sorts it to the bottom of the security list with all the other similarly renamed securities for bulk deletion later. I use "Titan" in the Find function which returns all uses of Titan. I make a bulk correction to the correct one.<br>
So, I can fix my qif generated names but the question remains, what will Moneydance do on multiple imports where the security name was changed in one or more of the imports? I'll have to experiment with Moneydance I guess.</p>
<p>Question 7. If I understand Export a Backup, it simply is a snapshot of the current state of the file which I assume is equivalent to Save As. (This saved file goes to a specified location but not the regular Backup file.) When changes are made to then (new) current file, the backup is now different. If the change makes an error, you simply open the exported backup to revert to the old current state.<br>
As a former developer, one of my QA tests is to "eat your own dog food". Exporting qif is different than Export Backup. The qif file is the dog-food file. The idea is to import qif (eat the dog food) to a new file and compare them by reports, account totals, etc. They should be identical. If not, either the qif export file, export program logic, import program logic, and/or the original Moneydance data file are incorrect.</p>
<p>Derek, Once again, thank you for your very helpful reply. Not only were your responses helpful, but you made me re-think of a way to eliminate duplicate securities, but also to determine what I have to do to my export programs to build clean qif files for the final 10 years.</p>
<p>regards, Mike<br>
Stay safe.</p></div>mrnoonantag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-03-30T08:38:56Z2020-03-30T08:38:56ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>I am not support staff, just a user.<br>
Hi Mike</p>
<h2><a name="before-i-get-to-your-post-the-following-is-some-background-to-switching-to-moneydance-this-may-be-to-late-for-you-but-on-the-other-hand-may-help-in-understanding-some-of-the-issues-you-face-" class="anchor" href="#before-i-get-to-your-post-the-following-is-some-background-to-switching-to-moneydance-this-may-be-to-late-for-you-but-on-the-other-hand-may-help-in-understanding-some-of-the-issues-you-face-"></a>Before I get to your post the following is some background to switching to Moneydance. This may be to late for you but on the other hand may help in understanding some of the issues you face.</h2>
<p>The downloaded version of Moneydance is a full working version with the only limit being a maximum of 100 manually entered transactions, with no time limit. Imported files from other financial programs and your bank have no limit on imports, provided that you do not confirm them. If you decided to purchase you are sent a key by email that unlocks the 100-manual transaction limit. If after testing with this free trial version you purchase and change your mind see the 90 day money back guaranty at <a href="https://infinitekind.com/refunds">https://infinitekind.com/refunds</a><br>
For the future Moneydance never sunsets the version it releases. So, you don’t have to upgrade. If you won’t to upgrade the next version is free (say 2017 to 2019) and from then on you get a 50% discount. All upgrades within a version are free.</p>
<p>Make sure you are running this build of Moneydance <a href="https://infinitekind.com/preview">https://infinitekind.com/preview</a></p>
<p>You need to export your data in a QIF file type. Ensure any closed account that have transfers to any open accounts are included in the QIF file, re-open these accounts if necessary.</p>
<p>Open the QIF file in a text editor. You are looking for the date format used in the file e.g. D25/03'2019 Day Month Year or D5/ 17'19 or D05/31/2017 Month Day Year etc. You will need this information later. If you get this wrong it will be apparent as the dates in Moneydance will be all over the place and you will need to start again creating a new data set.</p>
<p>QIF files were never meant for transferring data from one program to another, but it’s all that is available, you will need to spend time cleaning thing up when import is complete.</p>
<p>When you first start Moneydance it opens in the Welcome window click on “Create a new account set”. If you have opened Moneydance before create a new data set under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – NEW.</p>
<p>Select “Create New File” (Data Set) and click NEXT. Type in an Account Set Name (Data Set) and click NEXT. Change Primary Currency (base currency), if required. File Type, leave at “Standard Account set”, click FINISH.</p>
<p>In the side bar (list on left) under BANK deleted the two default Bank accounts, highlighting them in turn and using ACCOUNT – DELETE ACCOUNT.</p>
<p>NOTE: If you have accounts with currencies that are not in your base currency (foreign currencies) perform the steps under NOTE 1 before importing your QIF file as follows.</p>
<p>Drag and dropped the QIF file into the side bar (list on left).<br>
Waited for import window to appear, this can take a few minutes.</p>
<p>IMPORTANT: Checked all listed accounts are of the correct type and currency and changed if required.</p>
<p>The “Date Format” should be set to the date format used in the QIF file not the date format you want to use in Moneydance. Select the correct Decimal Character.</p>
<p>Click import and waited to account values to file in, again this can take some time, it may appear nothing’s happening.<br>
Some accounts maybe hidden under the “+” at the bottom of the side bar, added them back.</p>
<p>Some QIF files don’t include initial account balances. If you think this is the case you can add initial balance to affected accounts as follows.<br>
Highlighting an account, then click ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and add an Initial Balance.</p>
<p>For investment accounts QIF file don’t always carry security prices other than buy sell prices, so investment account balances maybe wrong until you update with current security prices.</p>
<p>Reminder are not included in QIF files.</p>
<p>Any accounts that are inactive (closed) should be made inactive by highlighting the account in the side bar and clicking ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and ticking the inactive box. To remove them from the side bar, right click and select REMOVE FROM SIDE BAR.</p>
<p>Now the real work starts to check balances and tidy thing up. This is especially true of investment accounts as not all action types are supported. But worth it in the end.</p>
<p>For information on how to use Moneydance see <a href="https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb">https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb</a></p>
<h2><a name="note-1-this-section-only-applies-if-you-have-accounts-with-currencies-that-are-not-in-your-base-currency-ensure-show-on-summary-page-box-is-ticked-under-tools-currencies-highlight-subject-currency-and-double-click-edit-note-qif-file-do-not-contain-exchange-rates-to-overcome-this-qif-file-shortcoming-the-currency-security-history-window-must-have-current-and-dated-exchange-rates-filled-in-which-cover-the-date-range-of-transactions-in-non-base-currency-account-as-well-as-manually-adding-exchange-rates-you-can-import-csv-exchange-rate-files-downloaded-from-sites-on-the-web-use-import-button-in-the-currency-security-history-window-if-you-have-investment-account-their-balances-will-probably-be-incorrect-this-is-due-to-the-fact-that-the-currency-set-in-the-security-history-windows-will-be-in-the-moneydance-base-currency-you-can-change-to-the-correct-security-currency-and-provided-exchange-rates-exist-the-values-will-be-converted-as-you-do-this-re-calculation-occurs-but-i-think-the-results-should-to-be-correct-no-guarantees-the-section-will-work-correctly-" class="anchor" href="#note-1-this-section-only-applies-if-you-have-accounts-with-currencies-that-are-not-in-your-base-currency-ensure-show-on-summary-page-box-is-ticked-under-tools-currencies-highlight-subject-currency-and-double-click-edit-note-qif-file-do-not-contain-exchange-rates-to-overcome-this-qif-file-shortcoming-the-currency-security-history-window-must-have-current-and-dated-exchange-rates-filled-in-which-cover-the-date-range-of-transactions-in-non-base-currency-account-as-well-as-manually-adding-exchange-rates-you-can-import-csv-exchange-rate-files-downloaded-from-sites-on-the-web-use-import-button-in-the-currency-security-history-window-if-you-have-investment-account-their-balances-will-probably-be-incorrect-this-is-due-to-the-fact-that-the-currency-set-in-the-security-history-windows-will-be-in-the-moneydance-base-currency-you-can-change-to-the-correct-security-currency-and-provided-exchange-rates-exist-the-values-will-be-converted-as-you-do-this-re-calculation-occurs-but-i-think-the-results-should-to-be-correct-no-guarantees-the-section-will-work-correctly-"></a>Note 1: This section only applies if you have accounts with currencies that are not in your base currency. Ensure “Show on summary page” box is ticked under TOOLS – CURRENCIES – highlight subject currency and double click – EDIT. Note: QIF file do not contain exchange rates. To overcome this QIF file shortcoming the Currency/Security History window must have current and dated exchange rates filled in which cover the date range of transactions in non-base currency account. As well as manually adding exchange rates you can import CSV exchange rate files downloaded from sites on the web. Use IMPORT button in the Currency/Security History window. If you have investment account their balances will probably be incorrect. This is due to the fact that the currency set in the security history windows will be in the Moneydance base currency. You can change to the correct security currency and provided exchange rates exist the values will be converted. As you do this re-calculation occurs, but I think the results should to be correct. No guarantees the section will work correctly.</h2>
<p>Your comment “I imported 10 years but could only see 300 transactions” I would expect Moneydance to import all valid transaction certainly for bank/credit type accounts. Note the comment above “Some accounts maybe hidden under the “+” at the bottom of the side bar, added them back.”<br>
As you know you can open a QIF file in a text editor and this will give you an idea of how many transactions you should see imported into Moneydance.</p>
<p>Question 3. When it comes to import of investment data, I am not sure. One issue could be that other programs may use some different transaction types not recognised by Moneydance or do not use some of the ones that are recognised. As I understand it the QIF specification has a lot of holes with regard to investments. Others may be able to help with this. My transfer was from MS Money back in 2016 and the only issues I had was with investments, but was fixable.</p>
<p>Question 4. If I am reading you correctly you want hide investment accounts that no longer have holdings in any of its securities without affecting transfers. Any accounts that are inactive (closed) should be made inactive by highlighting the account in the side bar and clicking ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and ticking the inactive box. If you right click on an investment account in the Side Bar you can select REMOVE FROM SIDE BAR. You can always add back items by clicking on the “+” at the bottom of the side bar. You can add the same securities into other investment accounts by highlighting the account in the Side Bar and selecting its SECURITY DETAIL window and using the ADD SECURITY button. Its then available to buy in the REGISTER window.</p>
<p>Question 5 if you do encounter problems using your Mac Bluetooth Magic mouse as a small number of users have its probably due to a small incompatibility with Java on which Moneydance is build. The preview build of Moneydance at <a href="https://infinitekind.com/preview">https://infinitekind.com/preview</a> 2019.4(1904) rather than the release build 2019.3(1880) is using the latest java version which may help, but as a Windows user I cannot confirm this. The preview build is the build I use and fixes a lot of small issues.</p>
<p>Question 7. The following should help you understand how the automatic and manual Moneydance backup works.</p>
<p>Moneydance 2019 has two methods for making a backup.</p>
<p>The default backup location can be found under HELP (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – SHOW ARCHIVE FOLDER. This location is on your hard drive. In both cases you can select the backup location and as such it is good practice to set the location on a cloud server such as Dropbox, in case your hard drive fails.<br>
Manual backup. A manual backup can be made under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – BACKUP EXPORT. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname-yyyymmdd-tttt.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>Automatic backup is set under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – PREFERENCES – BACKUPS. Auto backup makes a backup every time you close Moneydance. Moneydance only keep the last auto backup of the day, overwriting any previous auto backups for that day. You can set the number of backups to be kept. When this number is exceeded the oldest backup is deleted. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname.yyyy-mm-dd.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>When a backup is made, if you were syncing, the syncing method is set to don’t sync. This prevent syncing if you restore a backup. This can be important if the need for restoring a backup was related to syncing or corrupted data has been synced. Other backup methods such as making a copy of your data set want do this and can mean a restored data set will sync and your data set will be corrupted again.<br>
If you are syncing and using say Dropbox as a backup location don’t set your computers to use the exact same backup location. When you sync you have a primary computer and secondary computers. A primary data set is not the same as a secondary data set and hence neither are there backups. But as they use the same data set name it possible to get confused. A secondary data set can be identified by the fact that the syncing method cannot be changed. It is possible to convert a secondary data set to a primary data set but it means running a python script. Your password is not reset, you still need it to open a backup. A moneydancearchive file is a compressed data set.</p>
<p>The contents of a backup file is encrypted and provided you have set a password under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – PASSWORDS can only be opened by Moneydance by entering your password after using FILE – RESTORE FROM BACKUP.</p>
<p>When you FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – RESTORE FROM BACKUP you do not overwrite your existing data set, a new data set is created with the naming convention – from manual backup yourdatasetname-yyyymmdd-tttt.moneydance the date time code taken from the backup file - from auto backup yourdatasetname (plus at number) e.g. yourdatasetname 2.moneydance The default data set location can be found under HELP (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – SHOW DOCUMENT FOLDER. You can delete old data sets you no longer want. You can rename a restored data set with Moneydance closed as you would any other folder provided you retain “.moneydance” extension. A data set is a folder not a file containing other folders and files. When you open Moneydance it will open in the “Welcome to Moneydance” window with the data set name listed on the right.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p></div>derekkent23tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-04-01T23:41:05Z2020-04-28T22:04:59ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>WOW. Thanks for the effort. I’m going to purchase MD I’ll digest this message in full. But for now, I don’t use reminders, cloud backup (I use TimeMachine which scans every 10 minutes to dual drives w/ no performance hit), no syncing, no scheduling, no budgets, no pricing. I’ve done all these things when I was much younger but today I’ve simplified everything and do not need these features.</p>
<p>Be back later. Mike Thx</p></div>mrnoonantag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/481631722020-04-02T07:22:28Z2020-04-02T07:22:28ZDuplicate transactions, merging accounts and categories, duplicate security tickers/names<div><p>I am not support staff, just a user.<br>
Hi Michael</p>
<p>Just some comments on backups.</p>
<p>Moneydance 2019 has two methods for making a backup.</p>
<p>The default backup location can be found under HELP (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – SHOW ARCHIVE FOLDER. This location is on your hard drive. In both cases you can select the backup location and as such it is good practice to set the location on a cloud server such as Dropbox, in case your hard drive fails.</p>
<p>Manual backup. A manual backup can be made under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – BACKUP EXPORT. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname-yyyymmdd-tttt.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>Automatic backup is set under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – PREFERENCES – BACKUPS. Auto backup makes a backup every time you close Moneydance. Moneydance only keep the last auto backup of the day, overwriting any previous auto backups for that day. You can set the number of backups to be kept. When this number is exceeded the oldest backup is deleted. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname.yyyy-mm-dd.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>When a backup is made, if you were syncing, the syncing method is set to don’t sync. This prevent syncing if you restore a backup. This can be important if the need for restoring a backup was related to syncing or corrupted data has been synced. Other backup methods such as making a copy of your data set want do this and can mean a restored data set will sync and your data set will be corrupted again.</p>
<p>The contents of a backup file is encrypted and provided you have set a password under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – PASSWORDS can only be opened by Moneydance by entering your password after using FILE – RESTORE FROM BACKUP.</p>
<p>When you FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – RESTORE FROM BACKUP you do not overwrite your existing data set, a new data set is created with the naming convention – from manual backup yourdatasetname-yyyymmdd-tttt.moneydance the date time code taken from the backup file - from auto backup yourdatasetname (plus at number) e.g. yourdatasetname 2.moneydance The default data set location can be found under HELP (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – SHOW DOCUMENT FOLDER. You can delete old data sets you no longer want. You can rename a restored data set with Moneydance closed as you would any other folder provided you retain “.moneydance” extension. A data set is a folder not a file containing other folders and files. When you open Moneydance it will open in the “Welcome to Moneydance” window with the data set name listed on the right.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p></div>derekkent23