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+{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf949\cocoasubrtf460
+{\fonttbl\f0\fmodern\fcharset0 Courier;}
+{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;}
+\pard\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800\tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\sl264\slmult1\ql\qnatural\pardirnatural
+
+\f0\fs28 \cf0 After a while, your ledger can get to be pretty large.  While this\
+will not slow down the ledger program much---it's designed to process\
+ledger files very quickly---things can start to feel ``messy''; and\
+it's a universal complaint that when finances feel messy, people avoid\
+them.\
+\
+Thus, archiving the data from previous years into their own files can\
+offer a sense of completion, and freedom from the past.  But how to\
+best accomplish this with the ledger program?  There are two commands\
+that make it very simple: @command\{print\}, and @command\{equity\}.\
+\
+Let's take an example file, with data ranging from year 2000 until\
+2004.  We want to archive years 2000 and 2001 to their own file,\
+leaving just 2003 and 2004 in the current file.  So, use\
+@command\{print\} to output all the earlier transactions to a file called\
+@file\{ledger-old.dat\}:\
+\
+@smallexample\
+ledger -f ledger.dat -b 2000 -e 2001 print > ledger-old.dat\
+@end smallexample\
+\
+To delete older data from the current ledger file, use @command\{print\}\
+again, this time specifying year 2002 as the starting date:\
+\
+@example\
+ledger -f ledger.dat -b 2002 print > x\
+mv x ledger.dat\
+@end example\
+\
+However, now the current file contains @emph\{only\} postings from\
+2002 onward, which will not yield accurate present-day balances,\
+because the net income from previous years is no longer being tallied.\
+To compensate for this, we must append an equity report for the old\
+ledger at the beginning of the new one:\
+\
+@example\
+ledger -f ledger-old.dat equity > equity.dat\
+cat equity.dat ledger.dat > x\
+mv x ledger.dat\
+rm equity.dat\
+@end example\
+\
+Now the balances reported from @file\{ledger.dat\} are identical to what\
+they were before the data was split.\
+\
+How often should you split your ledger?  You never need to, if you\
+don't want to.  Even eighty years of data will not slow down ledger\
+much---and that's just using present day hardware!  Or, you can keep\
+the previous and current year in one file, and each year before that\
+in its own file.  It's really up to you, and how you want to organize\
+your finances.  For those who also keep an accurate paper trail, it\
+might be useful to archive the older years to their own files, then\
+burn those files to a CD to keep with the paper records---along with\
+any electronic statements received during the year.  In the arena of\
+organization, just keep in mind this maxim: Do whatever keeps you\
+doing it.}
+\ No newline at end of file