$archiver NSKeyedArchiver $objects $null $class CF$UID 37 NS.objects CF$UID 2 $class CF$UID 33 NS.keys CF$UID 3 CF$UID 4 CF$UID 5 NS.objects CF$UID 6 CF$UID 7 CF$UID 35 Title Text Date Untitled Snapshot $class CF$UID 34 NSAttributes CF$UID 10 NSDelegate CF$UID 0 NSString CF$UID 8 $class CF$UID 9 NS.string 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. $classes NSMutableString NSString NSObject $classname NSMutableString $class CF$UID 33 NS.keys CF$UID 11 CF$UID 12 NS.objects CF$UID 13 CF$UID 30 NSParagraphStyle NSFont $class CF$UID 29 NSAlignment 4 NSLineHeightMultiple 1.1000000238418579 NSTabStops CF$UID 14 $class CF$UID 28 NS.objects CF$UID 15 CF$UID 17 CF$UID 18 CF$UID 19 CF$UID 20 CF$UID 21 CF$UID 22 CF$UID 23 CF$UID 24 CF$UID 25 CF$UID 26 CF$UID 27 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 28 $classes NSTextTab NSObject $classname NSTextTab $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 56 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 84 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 112 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 140 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 168 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 196 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 224 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 252 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 280 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 308 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 336 $classes NSArray NSObject $classname NSArray $classes NSParagraphStyle NSObject $classname NSParagraphStyle $class CF$UID 32 NSName CF$UID 31 NSSize 14 NSfFlags 16 Courier $classes NSFont NSObject $classname NSFont $classes NSDictionary NSObject $classname NSDictionary $classes KBWordCountingTextStorage NSTextStorage NSMutableAttributedString NSAttributedString NSObject $classname KBWordCountingTextStorage $class CF$UID 36 NS.time 267380389.34101999 $classes NSDate NSObject $classname NSDate $classes NSMutableArray NSArray NSObject $classname NSMutableArray $top Snapshots CF$UID 1 $version 100000