<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<chapter id="faq">
<chapterinfo>
  <authorgroup>
    <author> &Jack.H.Ostroff; &Jack.H.Ostroff.mail; </author>
  </authorgroup>
  <date>2014-08-30</date>
  <releaseinfo>4.7.01</releaseinfo>
</chapterinfo>

<title>Questions and Answers</title>

<para>
  This chapter addresses a number of issues that frequently cause confusion,
  especially in new users of &kappname;. If you find that &kappname; is doing
  something you don't understand (or sometimes not doing something you want it
  to do,) please check this list before asking for help on one of the mailing
  lists.  If your problem is not mentioned here, refer to the section on <link
  linkend="firsttime.contact">getting help</link>.
</para>

<qandaset>

<qandadiv><title>Installation and Startup Questions</title>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>&kappname; crashes when I try to launch it.</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>There are many reasons &kappname; might crash or give an error instead
   of starting up normally.  You first need to determine if the problem is with
   the software or with your data.  So, the first thing to try is to <link
   linkend="firsttime.launch">launch &kappname;</link> without opening your data
   file.  If the application starts up, but crashes when you try to load your
   data file, try loading an older copy of your file.  (You did make a backup,
   didn't you?)</para>
   <para>If &kappname; crashes on startup without trying to load a data file,
   there may be a problem with your installation.  See the section on <link
   linkend="installation">installing &kappname;</link> or the section on <link
   linkend="firsttime.contact">getting help</link>.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>When I start KMyMoney I get a "Malformed URL" error. What's
   wrong?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Usually the reason for this is that you didn't run 'make install' as
   root. This step actually copies all of the icons, and other files needed by
   KMyMoney to run properly. If you did run this, make sure you passed the
   correct prefix to cmake at the beginning of your compile.  See the section on
   <link linkend="installation.fromsource">compiling from source</link> for more
   information.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>When I compile from source, all the icons show up as missing.  What
   did I do wrong?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Usually the reason for this is that you didn't run 'make install' as
   root. See the previous question/answer for more information.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>What options are useful to pass to cmake?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>The most important option is -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX.  This specifies
   where you want to install KMyMoney; it should be the same location where
   &kde; is installed. In many distributions, cmake will find this location on
   its own, but if it can't, you can use the command line tool
   <command>kde4-config --prefix</command> to read out what the prefix should
   be. For &RedHat;-based distributions, including Mandriva and Fedora, &kde; is
   installed in <filename role="directory">/usr</filename>.</para>
   <para>Another useful option is -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE.  Normally this is not set,
   but if it is set to Debug, it will allow you to build KMyMoney with debug
   symbols, which help in trying to figure out crashes. This option is essential
   if you are a developer and want to contribute.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>The Git version is broken! What do I do now?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Usually the reason for this is that one of the developers made a change
   to the code that requires a clean reconfigure.  See the end of the section on
   <link linkend="installation.fromsource">compiling from source</link> for
   instructions.  If you follow these steps carefully, and still have a problem
   compiling, please post a message to the &kappname; Developers List at
   &devlist;, and include the failed output of either the cmake or
   make command.
</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>I compiled from source, but the version number in the Help->About
   dialog no longer gets changed to show the latest git commit, like it used
   to?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>You probably ran <command>$ make</command> without running <command>$
   cmake</command> or <command>$ ccmake</command> first.  If you update the
   code, using <command>$ git pull</command>, one of those two commands is
   necessary to put the updated version number/git commit in the right place.
</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Will &kappname; work on my X/&ubuntu; desktop? Will &kappname; work
   without a full KDE desktop?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Yes, &kappname; will work without a full &kde; desktop, but you will
   have to install the basic &kde; libraries first.  The easiest way to do this
   is to use <link linkend="installation.distribution">your distribution's
   package management system</link>, which will handle these requirements
   automatically.  If you are going to install from source, you will probably
   need development versions of those libraries; refer to these <link
   linkend="installation.fromsource">instructions</link> for details.</para>
   <para>There has been at least one report of an error message about a
   &kappname; process which did not come from any &kappname; or &kde;
   source.  This is not necessarily bad, but it can be very difficult to
   determine the actual cause.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>

<qandadiv><title>Configuration Questions</title>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Can I change the start of the fiscal year, to match my tax year or accounting year?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Yes, you can easily set the start of the year in the <link
   linkend="details.settings.general.global">Global Options</link> section of
   the <guilabel>Configure &kappname;</guilabel> dialog.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>

<qandadiv><title>Account and Transaction Questions</title>

<qandaentry>
 <question><para>
  Why can't I edit a transaction?
 </para></question>
 <answer>
   <para>You cannot make any changes to a transaction with a date before the
   opening date of the account it is in.  The most common reason for this is
   importing all the data for an account.  If the import file does not contain
   an opening date for the account, &kappname; will use the current date.  The
   way to fix this is to edit the account, and <link
   linkend="details.accounts.edit">change the opening date</link> to be earlier
   than any transaction in that account.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why is a transaction shown in red and how can I get rid of the
   color?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>A transaction is shown in red if any part of the amount has not been
   assigned to a category. This is most commonly caused by importing a QIF or
   OFX file or by downloading statement data online.  All you have to do is to
   modify the transaction such that the whole amount of the transaction is
   assigned to categories.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why can't I add an opening balance to an account?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>If you provide an opening balance when you create an account, it is
   shown as the first transaction for the account.  If you do not, then the
   transaction is not there, and because it is a special type of transaction,
   you cannot simply add it as you could a deposit or withdrawal.  However, you
   can add it later by <link linkend="details.accounts.edit">editing the
   account</link>.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>When I created an account, I used the wrong type, and now it won't let
   me change it.  I can edit the account, but the dropdown for account type is
   either disabled, or does not list all the possible types.</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>You can easily change an account type between checking, savings, and
   cash.  However, because of the way &kappname; stores the account information,
   it does not allow other changes of account type.  The way around this is to
   create a new account of the correct type, move all the transactions from the
   old to the new account, and then delete the old account.</para>
   <!-- this should have links to the sections on new acct, move transactions,
        delete account. -->
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>I have a loan with 0% interest, but I get an error in the new loan
   wizard that does not let me use this value.</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>The internal calculations of the new loan wizard do not allow a 0%
   interest rate.  The best way to handle this situation is to <link
   linkend="details.accounts.create.account">create a simple liability
   account</link> with a starting balance for the amount of the loan, and then
   <link linkend="details.schedules.new">create a schedule</link> for the
   required payments.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why don't I see all my transactions in the ledger?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>There are several settings that control which transactions are
   displayed in the ledger view of an account.  First, check the <link
   linkend="details.ledgers.view.filter">ledger filter area</link>.  If there is
   anything typed in the search box, only transactions containing that text will
   be shown.  If the status dropdown has been changed from <quote>Any
   status,</quote> then only transaction of the selected type will be shown.  In
   addition, there are two important settings in the <link
   linkend="details.settings.general.filter">filter options</link> section on
   the &kappname; Settings dialog.  If the <guilabel>Do not show transactions prior
   to</guilabel> field is set, only transactions on or after that date will be
   shown in the ledger.  If the <guilabel>Do not show reconciled
   transactions</guilabel> box is checked, then no reconciled transactions will be
   shown.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>I mistyped the name of a payee and want to change it in all
   transaction. Is there a global search/replace?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>There is no global search and replace function in KMyMoney.
   Nevertheless, it is easy to change a payees name: select the Payees view and
   find the entry with the name you want to change.  Click with the &RMB; on the
   payee, and select <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Rename
   payee</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. Enter the new name. Since the transactions
   only use a reference to the payees record, all transactions now show the new
   name.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why can't I delete an account?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>In order to delete an account, &kappname; can have no other references
   to it.  That means you must delete all transactions, or move them to another
   account.  If you still can't delete an account, there may be scheduled
   transactions referring to that account, which may not be visible in the
   ledger.  You need to delete any future transactions and the schedule itself,
   or switch them to a different account.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>

<qandadiv><title>Import and Export Questions</title>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Where do I find some more information about OFX parameters?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Here are some external sources which might give your more information:
   <ulink url="http://ofxblog.wordpress.com/">ofxblog</ulink> and <ulink
   url="http://www.ofxhome.com/">ofxhome</ulink>.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>

<qandadiv><title>Miscellaneous questions</title>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why is there no translation for 'my' language?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>&kappname; uses the &kde; settings for language, so first, make
   sure that your region and language settings are correct.  If they are, the
   most likely reason is that no one has offered to translate it yet.
   Translating &kde;/&Qt;-based applications is very simple, and does not
   require any programming skills. If you would like to translate &kappname;
   into your language, please post a message to the proper <ulink
   url="http://l10n.kde.org/teams-list.php">team mailing list</ulink>. Should
   you fail to find your language in the list or could not contact the team
   members please mail directly to the <ulink url="mailto:kde-i18n-doc@kde.org">KDE
   translation mailing list</ulink> (<ulink
   url="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-doc">subscription</ulink>
   required) and we will give you the details on how you can
   easily provide a translation for &kappname;.
</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why did the version number jump from 1.0.5 to 4.5, and what happened to
   KMyMoney2?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>The use of KMyMoney2 was a historical legacy from when the project went
   from &kde; 1 to &kde; 2.  To avoid changing the name every time there was a
   new &kde; version, we decided to stick with &kappname;.</para>
   <para>The first version of &kappname; that was considered sufficiently stable
   was labeled 1.0, even though it ran under &kde; 3.  As the project is now
   becoming more closely aligned with &kde; we decided to use the same major
   release number.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>How can I report a bug? How can I request a new feature?</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>The developers encourage your feedback.  See the section on <link
   linkend="firsttime.contact">Contacting the Developers / Reporting
   Bugs</link>.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
 <question>
   <para>Why isn't there an easy way to print some scheduled transactions, or
   part of the ledger, or ...</para>
 </question>
 <answer>
   <para>Look in the <link linkend="details.reports.avail">Reports</link>
   section.  Many of the reports actually provide an easy way to print thing you
   can't quite do directly from the ledger or other screens.</para>
 </answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>

</qandaset>

</chapter>
