\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- @setfilename ledger3.info @settitle Ledger: Command-Line Accounting @dircategory User Applications @copying Copyright (c) 2003-2010, John Wiegley. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. - Neither the name of New Artisans LLC nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. @end copying @documentencoding UTF-8 @iftex @finalout @end iftex @macro ledgerprog @sc{ledger} @end macro @titlepage @title LEDGER: Command-Line Accounting @author John Wiegley @end titlepage @direntry * Ledger: (ledger). Command-Line Accounting @end direntry @contents @ifnottex @node Top, Copying, (dir), (dir) @top Overview LEDGER is an accounting tool with the moxie to exist. It provides no bells or whistles, and returns the user to the days before user interfaces were even a twinkling in their father's CRT. @c @insertcopying @end ifnottex @menu * Copying:: * Introduction to Ledger:: * Principles of Accounting:: * Keeping a Journal:: * Command-line Syntax:: * Basic Reporting Commands:: * Value Expressions:: * Format Strings:: * Journal File Format:: * Extending with Python:: @end menu @node Copying, Introduction to Ledger, Top, Top @chapter Copying @insertcopying @node Introduction to Ledger, Principles of Accounting, Copying, Top @chapter Introduction to Ledger LEDGER is an accounting tool with the moxie to exist. It provides no bells or whistles, and returns the user to the days before user interfaces were even a twinkling in their father's CRT. What it does offer is a double-entry accounting journal with all the flexibility and muscle of its modern day cousins, without any of the fat. Think of it as the Bran Muffin of accounting tools. To use it, you need to start keeping a journal. This is the basis of all accounting, and if you haven't started yet, now is the time to learn. The little booklet that comes with your checkbook is a journal, so we'll describe double-entry accounting in terms of that. A checkbook journal records debits (subtractions, or withdrawals) and credits (additions, or deposits) with reference to a single account: the checking account. Where the money comes from, and where it goes to, are described in the payee field, where you write the person or company's name. The ultimate aim of keeping a checkbook journal is to know how much money is available to spend. That's really the aim of all journals. What computers add is the ability to walk through these postings, and tell you things about your spending habits; to let you devise budgets and get control over your spending; to squirrel away money into virtual savings account without having to physically move money around; etc. As you keep your journal, you are recording information about your life and habits, and sometimes that information can start telling you things you aren't aware of. Such is the aim of all good accounting tools. The next step up from a checkbook journal, is a journal that keeps track of all your accounts, not just checking. In such a journal, you record not only who gets paid---in the case of a debit---but where the money came from. In a checkbook journal, its assumed that all the money comes from your checking account. But in a general journal, you write posting two-lines: the source account and target account. @emph{There must always be a debit from at least one account for every credit made to another account}. This is what is meant by ``double-entry'' accounting: the journal must always balance to zero, with an equal number of debits and credits. For example, let's say you have a checking account and a brokerage account, and you can write checks from both of them. Rather than keep two checkbooks, you decide to use one journal for both. In this general journal you need to record a payment to Pacific Bell for your monthly phone bill, and a transfer (via check) from your brokerage account to your checking account. The Pacific Bell bill is $23.00, let's say, and you want to pay it from your checking account. In the general journal you need to say where the money came from, in addition to where it's going to. These transactions might look like this: @smallexample 9/29 Pacific Bell $23.00 $23.00 Checking $-23.00 0 9/30 Checking $100.00 $100.00 (123) Brokerage $-100.00 0 @end smallexample The posting must balance to $0: $23 went to Pacific Bell, $23 came from Checking. The next entry shows check number 123 written against your brokerage account, transfering money to your checking account. There is nothing left over to be accounted for, since the money has simply moved from one account to another in both cases. This is the basis of double-entry accounting: money never pops in or out of existence; it is always a posting from one account to another. Keeping a general journal is the same as keeping two separate journals: One for Pacific Bell and one for Checking. In that case, each time a payment is written into one, you write a corresponding withdrawal into the other. This makes it easier to write in a ``running balance'', since you don't have to look back at the last time the account was referenced---but it also means having a lot of journal books, if you deal with multiple accounts. Here is a good place for an aside on the use of the word `account'. Most private people consider an account to be something that holds money at an institution for them. LEDGER uses a more general definition of the word. An account is anywhere money can go. Other finance programs use ``categories'', LEDGER uses accounts. So, for example, if you buy some groceries at Trader Joe's then more groceries at Whole Foods Markets you might assign the transactions like this @smallexample 2011/03/15 Trader Joe's Expenses:Groceries $100.00 Assets:Checking 2011/03/15 Whole Food Market Expenses:Groceries $75.00 Assets:Checking @end smallexample In both cases the money goes to the ``Groceries'' account, even though the payees were different. You can set up your accounts in any way you choose. Enter the beauty of computerized accounting. The purpose of the LEDGER program is to make general journal accounting simple, by keeping track of the balances for you. Your only job is to enter the postings. If a posting does not balance, LEDGER displays an error and indicates the incorrect posting.@footnote{In some special cases, it automatically balances this transaction for you.} In summary, there are two aspects of LEDGER use: updating the journal data file, and using the LEDGER tool to view the summarized result of your transactions. And just for the sake of example---as a starting point for those who want to dive in head-first---here are the journal transactions from above, formatted as the LEDGER program wishes to see them: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Pacific Bell Expenses:Pacific Bell $23.00 Assets:Checking @end smallexample The account balances and registers in this file, if saved as @file{ledger.dat}, could be reported using: @example $ ledger -f ledger.dat balance $ ledger -f ledger.dat register checking $ ledger -f ledger.dat register bell @end example An important difference between LEDGER and other finance packages is that journal will never alter your input file. You can create and edit that file in any way you prefer, but journal is only for analyzing the data, not for altering it. @section More introduction @menu * Building the Program:: * Getting Help:: @end menu @node Building the Program, Getting Help, Introduction to Ledger, Introduction to Ledger @section Building the program LEDGER is written in ANSI C++, and should compile on any platform. It depends on the GNU multiprecision integer library (libgmp), and the Perl regular expression library (libpcre). It was developed using GNU make and gcc 3.3, on a PowerBook running OS/X. To build and install once you have these libraries on your system, enter these commands: @example ./configure && make install @end example @node Getting Help, , Building the Program, Introduction to Ledger @section Getting help If you need help on how to use LEDGER, or run into problems, you can join the LEDGER mailing list at the following Web address: @example http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli @end example You can also find help at the @samp{#ledger} channel on the IRC server @samp{irc.freenode.net}. @node Principles of Accounting, Keeping a Journal, Introduction to Ledger, Top @chapter Principles of Accounting @node Keeping a Journal, Command-line Syntax, Principles of Accounting, Top @chapter Keeping a Journal The most important part of accounting is keeping a good journal. If you have a good journal, tools can be written to work whatever mathematical tricks you need to better understand your spending patterns. Without a good journal, no tool, however smart, can help you. The LEDGER program aims at making journal transactions as simple as possible. Since it is a command-line tool, it does not provide a user interface for keeping a journal. If you like, you may use GnuCash to maintain your journal, in which case LEDGER will read GnuCash's data files directly. In that case, read the GnuCash manual now, and skip to the next chapter. If you are not using GnuCash, but a text editor to maintain your journal, read on. LEDGER has been designed to make data transactions as simple as possible, by keeping the journal format easy, and also by automagically determining as much information as possible based on the nature of your transactions. For example, you do not need to tell LEDGER about the accounts you use. Any time LEDGER sees a posting involving an account it knows nothing about, it will create it@footnote{This also means if you misspell an account it will end up getting counted separately from what you intended. The provided Emacs major mode provides for automatically filling in account names.}. If you use a commodity that is new to LEDGER, it will create that commodity, and determine its display characteristics (placement of the symbol before or after the amount, display precision, etc) based on how you used the commodity in the posting. @menu * Most Basic Entry:: * Commodities:: * Structuring Your Accounts:: * Transaction Notes and Tags:: * File Format:: * Archiving Previous Years :: * Ledger Tutorial :: @end menu @node Most Basic Entry, Commodities, Keeping a Journal, Keeping a Journal @section The Most Basic Entry Here is the Pacific Bell example from above, given as a LEDGER posting, with the additional of a check number: @smallexample 9/29 (1023) Pacific Bell Expenses:Utilities:Phone $23.00 Assets:Checking $-23.00 @end smallexample As you can see, it is very similar to what would be written on paper, minus the computed balance totals, and adding in account names that work better with LEDGER's scheme of things. In fact, since LEDGER is smart about many things, you don't need to specify the balanced amount, if it is the same as the first line: @smallexample 9/29 (1023) Pacific Bell Expenses:Utilities:Phone $23.00 Assets:Checking @end smallexample For this transaction, LEDGER will figure out that $-23.00 must come from @samp{Assets:Checking} in order to balance the transaction. Also note the structure of the account entries. There is an implied hierarchy established by separating with colons. See (@pxref{Structuring Your Accounts}) for details and suggestions regarding your accounts. @strong{The format is very flexible and it isn't necessary that you indent and space out things exactly as shown. The only requirements are that the start of the transaction (the date typically) is at the beginning of the first line of the transaction, and the accounts are indented by at least one space. If you omit the leading spaces in the account lines LEDGER will not count the transaction and will not give an error. There must be at least two spaces, or a tab, between the amount and the account. If you do not have adequate separation between the amount and the account LEDGER will give an error and stop calculating} @node Commodities, Structuring Your Accounts, Most Basic Entry, Keeping a Journal @section Commodities LEDGER is agnostic when it comes to how you value your accounts. Dollars, Euros, Pounds, Francs, etc. are just ``commodities''. Holdings in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other financial instrument can be label using whatever is convenient for you (stock ticker symbols are suggested for publicly traded assets).@footnote{you can track ANYTHING, even time. As long as it cannot be created or destroyed inside your accounting system.} This is fundamentally different than many common accounting packages, which assume the same currency throughout all of your accounts. This means if you typically operate in Euros, but travel to the US and has some expenses, you would have to do the currency conversion BEFORE you made the entry into your financial system. With ledger this is not required. In the same journal you can have entries in any or all commodities you actually hold. You can use the reporting capabilities to convert all commodities to a single commodity for reporting purposes without ever changing the underlying entry. For example, the following entries reflect transaction made for a business trip to Europe from the US: @smallexample 2011/09/23 Cash in Munich Assets:Cash 50.00 Euros Assets:Checking $-66.00 2011/09/24 Dinner in Munich Expenses:Business:Travel 35.00 Euro Assets:Cash @end smallexample This says that $66.00 came out of checking and turned into 50 Euros. The implied exchange rate was $1.32. Then 35 Euros was spent on Dinner in Munich. @node Structuring Your Accounts, Transaction Notes and Tags, Commodities, Keeping a Journal @section Structuring your Accounts There really are no requirements for how you do this, but to preserve your sanity we suggest some very basic structure to your accounting system. At the highest level you have five sorts of accounts: Expenses, Assets, Income, Liabilities and Equity. Briefly, you can think of these as places money goes, places money sits, places money comes from and money you owe. Starting the structure off this way will make it simpler for you to get answers to the questions you really need to ask about your finances. @node Transaction Notes and Tags, File Format, Structuring Your Accounts, Keeping a Journal @section Transaction Notes and Tags LEDGER 3.0 supports entry and transaction ``notes'', which may contain new metadata and tag markers. Here's an example: @smallexample 2004/05/27 (100) Credit card company ; This is an entry note! ; Sample: Value Liabilities:MasterCard $20.00 ; This is a transaction note! ; Sample: Another Value ; :MyTag: Assets:Bank:Checking ; :AnotherTag: @end smallexample An indented paragraph starting with `;' is parsed as a persistent note for its preceding category. These notes will get printed back to you with the ``print'' command. They are accessible to value expressions using the ``note'' variable. Further, any occurrence of ``:foo:'' in a note will cause a metadata tag for "foo" to be registered for that entry. You can then search for such transactions using: @smallexample ledger reg %foo ldeger reg tag foo @end smallexample Also, if any word in the note ends (but does not start) with a colon, the remainder of that line will be taken to be the metadata value for that tag. That is: @smallexample ; :foo:bar:baz: <-- These are three tags ; name: value <-- this is a tag with a value @end smallexample Tags with value can be searched for just like tags. In addition, you can further limit your tag search by looking for only those tags that have specific values: @smallexample ledger reg %name=value ledger reg tag name=value @end smallexample The group-by and sort functions also support tags: @smallexample ledger --group-by "tag('foo')" bal @end smallexample Will produce a balance summary of all transanction with tag `foo' group by transactions wiht the same value for `foo'. @smallexample ledger reg --sort "tag('foo')" %foo @end smallexample Produces a register view with the transaction have tag `foo' sorted by the tags value. Comments that occur before an entry, or which starts at column zero, are always ignored and are neither searched nor printed back. @node File Format, Archiving Previous Years , Transaction Notes and Tags, Keeping a Journal @section File format The ledger file format is quite simple, but also very flexible. It supports many options, though typically the user can ignore most of them. They are summarized below. The initial character of each line determines what the line means, and how it should be interpreted. Allowable initial characters are: @table @code @item NUMBER A line beginning with a number denotes a transaction. It may be followed by any number of lines, each beginning with whitespace, to denote the transaction's account postings. The format of the first line is: @example DATE[=EDATE] [*|!] [(CODE)] DESC @end example If @samp{*} appears after the date (with optional effective date), it indicates the transaction is ``cleared'', which can mean whatever the user wants it to mean. If @samp{!} appears after the date, it indicates d the transaction is ``pending''; i.e., tentatively cleared from the user's point of view, but not yet actually cleared. If a @samp{CODE} appears in parentheses, it may be used to indicate a check number, or the type of the posting. Following these is the payee, or a description of the posting. The format of each following posting is: @example ACCOUNT AMOUNT [; NOTE] @end example The @samp{ACCOUNT} may be surrounded by parentheses if it is a virtual postings, or square brackets if it is a virtual postings that must balance. The @samp{AMOUNT} can be followed by a per-unit posting cost, by specifying @samp{@@ AMOUNT}, or a complete posting cost with @samp{@@@@ AMOUNT}. Lastly, the @samp{NOTE} may specify an actual and/or effective date for the posting by using the syntax @samp{[ACTUAL_DATE]} or @samp{[=EFFECTIVE_DATE]} or @samp{[ACTUAL_DATE=EFFECtIVE_DATE]}. @item = An automated transaction. A value expression must appear after the equal sign. After this initial line there should be a set of one or more postings, just as if it were normal transaction. If the amounts of the postings have no commodity, they will be applied as modifiers to whichever real posting is matched by the value expression. @item ~ A period transaction. A period expression must appear after the tilde. After this initial line there should be a set of one or more postings, just as if it were normal transaction. @item ! A line beginning with an exclamation mark denotes a command directive. It must be immediately followed by the command word. The supported commands are: @table @samp @item !include Include the stated journal file. @item !account The account name is given is taken to be the parent of all postings that follow, until @samp{!end} is seen. @item !end Ends an account block. @end table @item ; A line beginning with a colon indicates a comment, and is ignored. Comments will not be returned in a ``print'' response. @item indented ; If the semi colon is indented and occurs inside a transaction, it is parsed as a persistent note for its preceding category. These notes or tags can be used to augment to reporting and filtering capabilities of LEDGER. @item Y If a line begins with a capital Y, it denotes the year used for all subsequent transactions that give a date without a year. The year should appear immediately after the Y, for example: @samp{Y2004}. This is useful at the beginning of a file, to specify the year for that file. If all transactions specify a year, however, this command has no effect. @item P Specifies a historical price for a commodity. These are usually found in a pricing history file (see the @option{-Q} option). The syntax is: @example P DATE SYMBOL PRICE @end example @item N SYMBOL Indicates that pricing information is to be ignored for a given symbol, nor will quotes ever be downloaded for that symbol. Useful with a home currency, such as the dollar ($). It is recommended that these pricing options be set in the price database file, which defaults to @file{~/.pricedb}. The syntax for this command is: @example N SYMBOL @end example @item D AMOUNT Specifies the default commodity to use, by specifying an amount in the expected format. The @command{transaction} command will use this commodity as the default when none other can be determined. This command may be used multiple times, to set the default flags for different commodities; whichever is seen last is used as the default commodity. For example, to set US dollars as the default commodity, while also setting the thousands flag and decimal flag for that commodity, use: @example D $1,000.00 @end example @item C AMOUNT1 = AMOUNT2 Specifies a commodity conversion, where the first amount is given to be equivalent to the second amount. The first amount should use the decimal precision desired during reporting: @example C 1.00 Kb = 1024 bytes @end example @item i, o, b, h These four relate to timeclock support, which permits LEDGER to read timelog files. See the timeclock's documentation for more info on the syntax of its timelog files. @end table @node Archiving Previous Years , Ledger Tutorial , File Format, Keeping a Journal @section Archiving Previous Years @node Ledger Tutorial , , Archiving Previous Years , Keeping a Journal @section Ledger Tutorial @node Command-line Syntax, Basic Reporting Commands, Keeping a Journal, Top @chapter Command-line Syntax @menu * Cookbook:: * Quick Reference:: * Commands:: * Options:: * Period Expressions:: @end menu @node Cookbook, Quick Reference, Command-line Syntax, Command-line Syntax @section Cookbook @subsection Invoking Ledger @example ledger --group-by "tag('trip')" bal legder reg --sort "tag('foo')" %foo ledger cleared VWCU NFCU Tithe Misentry ledger register Joint --uncleared ledger register NFCUChecking --sort d -d 'd>[2011/04/01]' until 2011/05/25 @end example @subsection Ledger Files @example = /^Income:Taxable/ (Liabilities:Tithe Owed) -0.1 = /Noah/ (Liabilities:Tithe Owed) -0.1 = /Jonah/ (Liabilities:Tithe Owed) -0.1 = /Tithe/ (Liabilities:Tithe Owed) -1.0 @end example @node Quick Reference, Commands, Cookbook, Command-line Syntax @section Quick Reference This chapter describes LEDGER's features and serves as a quick reference. You may wish to survey this to get an overview before diving in to the @ref{Ledger Tutorial} and more detailed examples that follow. LEDGER has a very simple command-line interface, named---enticingly enough---@command{ledger}. It supports a few reporting commands, and a large number of options for refining the output from those commands. The basic syntax of any ledger command is: @example ledger [OPTIONS...] COMMAND [ARGS...] @end example Command options must always precede the command word. After the command word there may appear any number of arguments. For most commands, these arguments are regular expressions that cause the output to relate only to postings matching those regular expressions. For the @command{transaction} command, the arguments have a special meaning, described below. The regular expressions arguments always match the account name that a posting refers to. To match on the payee of the transaction instead, precede the regular expression with @samp{--}. For example, the following balance command reports account totals for rent, food and movies, but only those whose payee matches Freddie: @example ledger bal rent food movies -- freddie @end example There are many, many command options available with the @command{ledger} command, and it takes a while to master them. However, none of them are required to use the basic reporting commands. @node Commands, Options, Quick Reference, Command-line Syntax @section Commands @subsection balance The @command{balance} command reports the current balance of all accounts. It accepts a list of optional regexps, which confine the balance report to the matching accounts. If an account contains multiple types of commodities, each commodity's total is reported separately. @subsection register The @command{register} command displays all the postings occurring in a single account, line by line. The account regexp must be specified as the only argument to this command. If any regexps occur after the required account name, the register will contain only those postings that match. Very useful for hunting down a particular posting. The output from @command{register} is very close to what a typical checkbook, or single-account ledger, would look like. It also shows a running balance. The final running balance of any register should always be the same as the current balance of that account. If you have Gnuplot installed, you may plot the amount or running total of any register by using the script @file{report}, which is included in the LEDGER distribution. The only requirement is that you add either @option{-j} or @option{-J} to your register command, in order to plot either the amount or total column, respectively. @subsection print The @command{print} command prints out ledger transactions in a textual format that can be parsed by LEDGER. They will be properly formatted, and output in the most economic form possible. The ``print'' command also takes a list of optional regexps, which will cause only those postings which match in some way to be printed. The @command{print} command can be a handy way to clean up a ledger file whose formatting has gotten out of hand. @subsection output The @command{output} command is very similar to the @command{print} command, except that it attempts to replicate the specified ledger file exactly. The format of the command is: @example ledger -f FILENAME output FILENAME @end example Where @file{FILENAME} is the name of the ledger file to output. The reason for specifying this command is that only transactions contained within that file will be output, and not an included transactions (as can happen with the @command{print} command). @subsection xml The @command{xml} command outputs results similar to what @command{print} and @command{register} display, but as an XML form. This data can then be read in and processed. Use the @option{--totals} option to include the running total with each posting. @subsection emacs The @command{emacs} command outputs results in a form that can be read directly by Emacs Lisp. The format of the sexp is: @example ((BEG-POS CLEARED DATE CODE PAYEE (ACCOUNT AMOUNT)...) ; list of postings ...) ; list of transactions @end example @subsection equity The @command{equity} command prints out accounts balances as if they were transactions. This makes it easy to establish the starting balances for an account, such as when @ref{Archiving Previous Years}. @subsection prices The @command{prices} command displays the price history for matching commodities. The @option{-A} flag is useful with this report, to display the running average price, or @option{-D} to show each price's deviation from that average. There is also a @command{pricesdb} command which outputs the same information as @command{prices}, but does in a format that can be parsed by LEDGER. @subsection xact The @command{xact} commands simplifies the creation of new transactions. It works on the principle that 80% of all postings are variants of earlier postings. Here's how it works: Say you currently have this posting in your ledger file: @smallexample 2004/03/15 * Viva Italiano Expenses:Food $12.45 Expenses:Tips $2.55 Liabilities:MasterCard $-15.00 @end smallexample Now it's @samp{2004/4/9}, and you've just eating at @samp{Viva Italiano} again. The exact amounts are different, but the overall form is the same. With the @command{xact} command you can type: @example ledger xact 2004/4/9 viva food 11 tips 2.50 @end example This produces the following output: @smallexample 2004/04/09 Viva Italiano Expenses:Food $11.00 Expenses:Tips $2.50 Liabilities:MasterCard $-13.50 @end smallexample It works by finding a past posting matching the regular expression @samp{viva}, and assuming that any accounts or amounts specified will be similar to that earlier posting. If LEDGER does not succeed in generating a new transaction, an error is printed and the exit code is set to @samp{1}. There is a shell script in the distribution's @file{scripts} directory called @file{xact}, which simplifies the task of adding a new transaction to your ledger. It launches @command{vi} to confirm that the transaction looks appropriate. Here are a few more examples of the @command{xact} command, assuming the above journal transaction: @example ledger xact 4/9 viva 11.50 ledger xact 4/9 viva 11.50 checking # (from `checking') ledger xact 4/9 viva food 11.50 tips 8 ledger xact 4/9 viva food 11.50 tips 8 cash ledger xact 4/9 viva food $11.50 tips $8 cash ledger xact 4/9 viva dining "DM 11.50" @end example @node Options, Period Expressions, Commands, Command-line Syntax @section Options With all of the reports, command-line options are useful to modify the output generated. These command-line options always occur before the command word. This is done to distinguish options from exclusive regular expressions, which also begin with a dash. The basic form for most commands is: @example ledger [OPTIONS] COMMAND [REGEXPS...] [-- [REGEXPS...]] @end example The @var{OPTIONS} and @var{REGEXPS} expressions are both optional. You could just use @samp{ledger balance}, without any options---which prints a summary of all accounts. But for more specific reporting, or to change the appearance of the output, options are needed. @subsection Basic options These are the most basic command options. Most likely, the user will want to set them using environment variables (see @ref{Options}), instead of using actual command-line options: @option{--help} (@option{-h}) prints a summary of all the options, and what they are used for. This can be a handy way to remember which options do what. This help screen is also printed if ledger is run without a command. @option{--version} (@option{-v}) prints the current version of ledger and exits. This is useful for sending bug reports, to let the author know which version of ledger you are using. @option{--file FILE} (@option{-f FILE}) reads FILE as a ledger file. This command may be used multiple times. Typically, the environment variable @env{LEDGER_FILE} is set, rather than using this command-line option. @option{--output FILE} (@option{-o FILE}) redirects output from any command to @var{FILE}. By default, all output goes to standard output. @option{--init-file FILE} (@option{-i FILE}) causes FILE to be read by ledger before any other ledger file. This file may not contain any postings, but it may contain option settings. To specify options in the init file, use the same syntax as the command-line, but put each option on it's own line. Here's an example init file: @smallexample --price-db ~/finance/.pricedb --cache /tmp/ledger-cache ; ~/.ledgerrc ends here @end smallexample Option settings on the command-line or in the environment always take precedence over settings in the init file. @option{--cache FILE} identifies FILE as the default binary cache file. That is, if the ledger files to be read are specified using the environment variable @env{LEDGER_FILE}, then whenever a command is finished a binary copy will be written to the specified cache, to speed up the loading time of subsequent queries. This filename can also be given using the environment variable @env{LEDGER_CACHE}, or by putting the option into your init file. The @option{--no-cache} option causes LEDGER to always ignore the binary cache. @option{--account NAME} (@option{-a NAME}) specifies the default account which QIF file postings are assumed to relate to. @subsection Report filtering These options change which postings affect the outcome of a report, in ways other than just using regular expressions: @option{--current}(@option{-c}) displays only transactions occurring on or before the current date. @option{--begin DATE} (@option{-b DATE}) constrains the report to transactions on or after @var{DATE}. Only transactions after that date will be calculated, which means that the running total in the balance report will always start at zero with the first matching transaction. (Note: This is different from using @option{--display} to constrain what is displayed). @option{--end DATE} (@option{-e DATE}) constrains the report so that transactions on or after @var{DATE} are not considered. The ending date is inclusive. @option{--period STR} (@option{-p STR}) sets the reporting period to @var{STR}. This will subtotal all matching transactions within each period separately, making it easy to see weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc., posting totals. A period string can even specify the beginning and end of the report range, using simple terms like ``last june'' or ``next month''. For more using period expressions, see @ref{Period Expressions}. @option{--period-sort EXPR} sorts the postings within each reporting period using the value expression @var{EXPR}. This is most often useful when reporting monthly expenses, in order to view the highest expense categories at the top of each month: @example ledger -M --period-sort -At reg ^Expenses @end example @option{--cleared} (@option{-C}) displays only postings whose transaction has been marked ``cleared'' (by placing an asterix to the right of the date). @option{--uncleared} (@option{-U}) displays only postings whose transaction has not been marked ``cleared'' (i.e., if there is no asterix to the right of the date). @option{--real} (@option{-R}) displays only real postings, not virtual. (A virtual posting is indicated by surrounding the account name with parentheses or brackets; see the section on using virtual postings for more information). @option{--actual} (@option{-L}) displays only actual postings, and not those created due to automated postings. @option{--related} (@option{-r}) displays postings that are related to whichever postings would otherwise have matched the filtering criteria. In the register report, this shows where money went to, or the account it came from. In the balance report, it shows all the accounts affected by transactions having a related posting. For example, if a file had this transaction: @smallexample 2004/03/20 Safeway Expenses:Food $65.00 Expenses:Cash $20.00 Assets:Checking $-85.00 @end smallexample And the register command was: @example ledger -r register food @end example The following would be output, showing the postings related to the posting that matched: @smallexample 2004/03/20 Safeway Expenses:Cash $-20.00 $-20.00 Assets:Checking $85.00 $65.00 @end smallexample @option{--budget} is useful for displaying how close your postings meet your budget. @option{--add-budget} also shows unbudgeted postings, while @option{--unbudgeted} shows only those. @option{--forecast} is a related option that projects your budget into the future, showing how it will affect future balances. @xref{Budgeting and Forecasting}. @option{--limit EXPR} (@option{-l EXPR}) limits which postings take part in the calculations of a report. @option{--amount EXPR} (@option{-t EXPR}) changes the value expression used to calculate the ``value'' column in the @command{register} report, the amount used to calculate account totals in the @command{balance} report, and the values printed in the @command{equity} report. @xref{Value Expressions}. @option{--total EXPR} (@option{-T EXPR}) sets the value expression used for the ``totals'' column in the @command{register} and @command{balance} reports. @subsection Output customization These options affect only the output, but not which postings are used to create it: @option{--collapse} (@option{-n}) causes transactions in a @command{register} report with multiple postings to be collapsed into a single, subtotaled transaction. @option{--subtotal} (@option{-s}) causes all transactions in a @command{register} report to be collapsed into a single, subtotaled transaction. @option{--by-payee} (@option{-P}) reports subtotals by payee. @option{--comm-as-payee} (@option{-x}) changes the payee of every posting to be the commodity used in that posting. This can be useful when combined with other options, such as @option{-s}. @option{--empty} (@option{-E}) includes even empty accounts in the @command{balance} report. @option{--weekly} (@option{-W}) reports posting totals by the week. The week begins on whichever day of the week begins the month containing that posting. To set a specific begin date, use a period string, such as @samp{weekly from DATE}. @option{--monthly} (@option{-M}) reports posting totals by month; @option{--yearly} (@option{-Y}) reports posting totals by year. For more complex period, using the @option{--period} option described above. @option{--dow} reports postings totals for each day of the week. This is an easy way to see if weekend spending is more than on weekdays. @option{--sort EXPR} (@option{-S EXPR}) sorts a report by comparing the values determined using the value expression @var{EXPR}. For example, using @option{-S -UT} in the balance report will sort account balances from greatest to least, using the absolute value of the total. For more on how to use value expressions, see @ref{Value Expressions}. @option{--wide} (@option{-w}) causes the default @command{register} report to assume 132 columns instead of 80. @option{--head} causes only the first N transactions to be printed. This is different from using the command-line utility @command{head}, which would limit to the first N postings. @option{--tail} outputs only the last N transactions. Both options may be used simultaneously. If a negative amount is given, it will invert the meaning of the flag (instead of the first five transactions being printed, for example, it would print all but the first five). @option{--pager} tells LEDGER to pass its output to the given pager program---very useful when the output is especially long. This behavior can be made the default by setting the @env{LEDGER_PAGER} environment variable. @option{--average} (@option{-A}) reports the average posting value. @option{--deviation} (@option{-D}) reports each posting's deviation from the average. It is only meaningful in the @command{register} and @command{prices} reports. @option{--percentage} (@option{-%}) shows account subtotals in the @command{balance} report as percentages of the parent account. @option{--totals} include running total information in the @command{xml} report. @option{--amount-data} (@option{-j}) changes the @command{register} report so that it outputs nothing but the date and the value column, and the latter without commodities. This is only meaningful if the report uses a single commodity. This data can then be fed to other programs, which could plot the date, analyze it, etc. @option{--total-data} (@option{-J}) changes the @command{register} report so that it outputs nothing but the date and totals column, without commodities. @option{--display EXPR} (@option{-d EXPR}) limits which postings or accounts or actually displayed in a report. They might still be calculated, and be part of the running total of a register report, for example, but they will not be displayed. This is useful for seeing last month's checking postings, against a running balance which includes all posting values: @example ledger -d "d>=[last month]" reg checking @end example The output from this command is very different from the following, whose running total includes only postings from the last month onward: @example ledger -p "last month" reg checking @end example Which is more useful depends on what you're looking to know: the total amount for the reporting range (@option{-p}), or simply a display restricted to the reporting range (using @option{-d}). @option{--date-format STR} (@option{-y STR}) changes the basic date format used by reports. The default uses a date like 2004/08/01, which represents the default date format of @samp{%Y/%m/%d}. To change the way dates are printed in general, the easiest way is to put @option{--date-format FORMAT} in the LEDGER initialization file @file{~/.ledgerrc} (or the file referred to by @env{LEDGER_INIT}). @option{--format STR} (@option{-F STR}) sets the reporting format for whatever report ledger is about to make. @xref{Format Strings}. There are also specific format commands for each report type: @itemize @item @option{--balance-format STR} @item @option{--register-format STR} @item @option{--print-format STR} @item @option{--plot-amount-format STR} (-j @command{register}) @item @option{--plot-total-format STR} (-J @command{register}) @item @option{--equity-format STR} @item @option{--prices-format STR} @item @option{--wide-register-format STR} (-w @command{register}) @end itemize @subsection Commodity reporting These options affect how commodity values are displayed: @option{--price-db FILE} sets the file that is used for recording downloaded commodity prices. It is always read on startup, to determine historical prices. Other settings can be placed in this file manually, to prevent downloading quotes for a specific, for example. This is done by adding a line like the following: @example ; Don't download quotes for the dollar, or timelog values N $ N h @end example @option{--price-exp MINS} (@option{-L MINS}) sets the expected freshness of price quotes, in minutes. That is, if the last known quote for any commodity is older than this value---and if @option{--download} is being used---then the Internet will be consulted again for a newer price. Otherwise, the old price is still considered to be fresh enough. @option{--download} (@option{-Q}) causes quotes to be automagically downloaded, as needed, by running a script named @command{getquote} and expecting that script to return a value understood by ledger. A sample implementation of a @command{getquote} script, implemented in Perl, is provided in the distribution. Downloaded quote price are then appended to the price database, usually specified using the environment variable @env{LEDGER_PRICE_DB}. There are several different ways that ledger can report the totals it displays. The most flexible way to adjust them is by using value expressions, and the @option{-t} and @option{-T} options. However, there are also several ``default'' reports, which will satisfy most users basic reporting needs: @table @code @item -O, --quantity Reports commodity totals (this is the default) @item -B, --basis Reports the cost basis for all postings. @item -V, --market Reports the last known market value for all commodities. @item -G --gain Reports the net gain/loss for all commodities in the report that have a price history. @end table @subsection Environment variables Every option to ledger may be set using an environment variable. If an option has a long name such @option{--this-option}, setting the environment variable @env{LEDGER_THIS_OPTION} will have the same affect as specifying that option on the command-line. Options on the command-line always take precedence over environment variable settings, however. Note that you may also permanently specify option values by placing option settings in the file @file{~/.ledgerrc}, for example: @example --cache /tmp/.mycache --pager /bin/cat @end example @node Period Expressions, , Options, Command-line Syntax @section Period Expressions A period expression indicates a span of time, or a reporting interval, or both. The full syntax is: @example [INTERVAL] [BEGIN] [END] @end example The optional @var{INTERVAL} part may be any one of: @example every day every week every monthly every quarter every year every N days # N is any integer every N weeks every N months every N quarters every N years daily weekly biweekly monthly bimonthly quarterly yearly @end example After the interval, a begin time, end time, both or neither may be specified. As for the begin time, it can be either of: @example from since @end example The end time can be either of: @example to until @end example Where @var{SPEC} can be any of: @example 2004 2004/10 2004/10/1 10/1 october oct this week # or day, month, quarter, year next week last week @end example The beginning and ending can be given at the same time, if it spans a single period. In that case, just use @var{SPEC} by itself. In that case, the period @samp{oct}, for example, will cover all the days in october. The possible forms are: @example in @end example Here are a few examples of period expressions: @example monthly monthly in 2004 weekly from oct weekly from last month from sep to oct from 10/1 to 10/5 monthly until 2005 from apr until nov last oct weekly last august @end example @node Basic Reporting Commands, Value Expressions, Command-line Syntax, Top @chapter Basic Reporting Commands @menu * Budgeting and Forecasting:: @end menu @node Budgeting and Forecasting, , Basic Reporting Commands, Basic Reporting Commands @section Budgeting and Forecasting @node Value Expressions, Format Strings, Basic Reporting Commands, Top @chapter Value Expressions Value expressions are an expression language used by LEDGER to calculate values used by the program for many different purposes: @enumerate @item The values displayed in reports @item For predicates (where truth is anything non-zero), to determine which postings are calculated (@option{-l}) or displayed (@option{-d}). @item For sorting criteria, to yield the sort key. @item In the matching criteria used by automated postings. @end enumerate Value expressions support most simple math and logic operators, in addition to a set of one letter functions and variables. A function's argument is whatever follows it. The following is a display predicate that I use with the @command{balance} command: @example ledger -d /^Liabilities/?T<0:UT>100 balance @end example The effect is that account totals are displayed only if: 1) A Liabilities account has a total less than zero; or 2) the absolute value of the account's total exceeds 100 units of whatever commodity contains. If it contains multiple commodities, only one of them must exceed 100 units. Display predicates are also very handy with register reports, to constrain which transactions are printed. For example, the following command shows only transactions from the beginning of the current month, while still calculating the running balance based on all transactions: @example ledger -d "d>[this month]" register checking @end example This advantage to this command's complexity is that it prints the running total in terms of all transactions in the register. The following, simpler command is similar, but totals only the displayed postings: @example ledger -b "this month" register checking @end example @menu * Variables:: @end menu @node Variables, , Value Expressions, Value Expressions @section Variables Below are the one letter variables available in any value expression. For the register and print commands, these variables relate to individual postings, and sometimes the account affected by a posting. For the balance command, these variables relate to accounts---often with a subtle difference in meaning. The use of each variable for both is specified. @table @code @item t This maps to whatever the user specified with @option{-t}. In a register report, @option{-t} changes the value column; in a balance report, it has no meaning by default. If @option{-t} was not specified, the current report style's value expression is used. @item T This maps to whatever the user specified with @option{-T}. In a register report, @option{-T} changes the totals column; in a balance report, this is the value given for each account. If @option{-T} was not specified, the current report style's value expression is used. @item m This is always the present moment/date. @end table @subsection Posting/account details @table @code @item d A posting's date, as the number of seconds past the epoch. This is always ``today'' for an account. @item a The posting's amount; the balance of an account, without considering children. @item b The cost of a posting; the cost of an account, without its children. @item v The market value of a posting, or an account without its children. @item g The net gain (market value minus cost basis), for a posting or an account without its children. It is the same as @samp{v-b}. @item l The depth (``level'') of an account. If an account has one parent, it's depth is one. @item n The index of a posting, or the count of postings affecting an account. @item X 1 if a posting's transaction has been cleared, 0 otherwise. @item R 1 if a posting is not virtual, 0 otherwise. @item Z 1 if a posting is not automated, 0 otherwise. @end table @subsection Calculated totals @table @code @item O The total of all postings seen so far, or the total of an account and all its children. @item N The total count of postings affecting an account and all its children. @item B The total cost of all postings seen so far; the total cost of an account and all its children. @item V The market value of all postings seen so far, or of an account and all its children. @item G The total net gain (market value minus cost basis), for a series of postings, or an account and its children. It is the same as @samp{V-B}. @end table @section Functions The available one letter functions are: @table @code @item - Negates the argument. @item U The absolute (unsigned) value of the argument. @item S Strips the commodity from the argument. @item A The arithmetic mean of the argument; @samp{Ax} is the same as @samp{x/n}. @item P The present market value of the argument. The syntax @samp{P(x,d)} is supported, which yields the market value at time @samp{d}. If no date is given, then the current moment is used. @end table @section Operators The binary and ternary operators, in order of precedence, are: @enumerate @item @samp{* /} @item @samp{+ -} @item @samp{! < > =} @item @samp{& | ?:} @end enumerate @section Complex expressions More complicated expressions are possible using: @table @code @item NUM A plain integer represents a commodity-less amount. @item @{AMOUNT@} An amount in braces can be any kind of amount supported by ledger, with or without a commodity. Use this for decimal values. @item /REGEXP/ @item W/REGEXP/ A regular expression that matches against an account's full name. If a posting, this will match against the account affected by the posting. @item //REGEXP/ @item p/REGEXP/ A regular expression that matches against a transaction's payee name. @item ///REGEXP/ @item w/REGEXP/ A regular expression that matches against an account's base name. If a posting, this will match against the account affected by the posting. @item c/REGEXP/ A regular expression that matches against the transaction code (the text that occurs between parentheses before the payee name). @item e/REGEXP/ A regular expression that matches against a posting's note, or comment field. @item (EXPR) A sub-expression is nested in parenthesis. This can be useful passing more complicated arguments to functions, or for overriding the natural precedence order of operators. @item [DATE] Useful specifying a date in plain terms. For example, you could say @samp{[2004/06/01]}. @end table @node Format Strings, Journal File Format, Value Expressions, Top @chapter Format Strings Format strings may be used to change the output format of reports. They are specified by passing a formatting string to the @option{--format} (@option{-F}) option. Within that string, constructs are allowed which make it possible to display the various parts of an account or posting in custom ways. Within a format strings, a substitution is specified using a percent character (@samp{%}). The basic format of all substitutions is: @example %[-][MIN WIDTH][.MAX WIDTH]EXPR @end example If the optional minus sign (@samp{-}) follows the percent character, whatever is substituted will be left justified. The default is right justified. If a minimum width is given next, the substituted text will be at least that wide, perhaps wider. If a period and a maximum width is given, the substituted text will never be wider than this, and will be truncated to fit. Here are some examples: @example %-P a transaction's payee, left justified %20P The same, right justified, at least 20 chars wide %.20P The same, no more than 20 chars wide %-.20P Left justified, maximum twenty chars wide @end example The expression following the format constraints can be a single letter, or an expression enclosed in parentheses or brackets. The allowable expressions are: @table @code @item % Inserts a percent sign. @item t Inserts the results of the value expression specified by @option{-t}. If @option{-t} was not specified, the current report style's value expression is used. @item T Inserts the results of the value expression specified by @option{-T}. If @option{-T} was not specified, the current report style's value expression is used. @item | Inserts a single space. This is useful if a width is specified, for inserting a certain number of spaces. @item _ Inserts a space for each level of an account's depth. That is, if an account has two parents, this construct will insert two spaces. If a minimum width is specified, that much space is inserted for each level of depth. Thus @samp{%5_}, for an account with four parents, will insert twenty spaces. @item (EXPR) Inserts the amount resulting from the value expression given in parentheses. To insert five times the total value of an account, for example, one could say @samp{%12(5*O)}. Note: It's important to put the five first in that expression, so that the commodity doesn't get stripped from the total. @item [DATEFMT] Inserts the result of formatting a posting's date with a date format string, exactly like those supported by @code{strftime}. For example: @samp{%[%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S]}. @item S Insert the pathname of the file from which the transaction's data was read. @item B Inserts the beginning character position of that transaction within the file. @item b Inserts the beginning line of that transaction within the file. @item E Inserts the ending character position of that transaction within the file. @item e Inserts the ending line of that transaction within the file. @item D By default, this is the same as @samp{%[%Y/%m%/d]}. The date format used can be changed at any time with the @option{-y} flag, however. Using @samp{%D} gives the user more control over the way dates are output. @item d This is the same as the @samp{%D} option, unless the transaction has an effective date, in which case it prints @samp{[ACTUAL_DATE=EFFECTIVE_DATE]}. @item X If a posting has been cleared, this inserts @samp{*} followed by a space; otherwise nothing is inserted. @item Y This is the same as @samp{%X}, except that it only displays a state character if all of the member postings have the same state. @item C Inserts the checking number for a transaction, in parentheses, followed by a space; if none was specified, nothing is inserted. @item P Inserts the payee related to a posting. @item a Inserts the optimal short name for an account. This is normally used in balance reports. It prints a parent account's name if that name has not been printed yet, otherwise it just prints the account's name. @item A Inserts the full name of an account. @item W This is the same as @samp{%A}, except that it first displays the posting's state @emph{if the transaction's posting states are not all the same}, followed by the full account name. This is offered as a printing optimization, so that combined with @samp{%Y}, only the minimum amount of state detail is printed. @item o Inserts the ``optimized'' form of a posting's amount. This is used by the print report. In some cases, this inserts nothing; in others, it inserts the posting amount and its cost. It's use is not recommend unless you are modifying the print report. @item n Inserts the note associated with a posting, preceded by two spaces and a semi-colon, if it exists. Thus, no none becomes an empty string, while the note @samp{foo} is substituted as @samp{ ; foo}. @item N Inserts the note associated with a posting, if one exists. @item / The @samp{%/} construct is special. It separates a format string between what is printed for the first posting of a transaction, and what is printed for all subsequent postings. If not used, the same format string is used for all postings. @end table @node Journal File Format, Extending with Python, Format Strings, Top @chapter LEDGER Journal File Format This chapter offers a complete description of the journal data format, suitable for implementors in other languages to follow. For users, the chapter on keeping a journal is less extensive, but more typical of common usage (@pxref{Keeping a Journal}). Data is collected in the form of @dfn{transactions} which occur in one or more @dfn{journal files}. Each transaction, in turn, is made up of one or more @dfn{postings}, which describe how @dfn{amounts} flow from one @dfn{account} to another. Here is an example of the simplest of journal files: @example 2010/05/31 Just an example Expenses:Some:Account $100.00 Income:Another:Account @end example In this example, there is a transaction date, a payee, or description of the transaction, and two postings. The postings show movement of one hundred dollars from an account within the Income hierarchy, to the specified expense account. The name and meaning of these accounts in arbitrary, with no preferences implied, although you will find it useful to follow standard accounting practice (@pxref{Principles of Accounting}). Since an amount is missing from the second posting, it is assumed to be the inverse of the first. This guarantee the cardinal rule of double-entry accounting: the sum of every transaction must balance to zero, or it is in error. Whenever Ledger encounters a @dfn{null posting} in a transaction, it uses it to balance the remainder. It is also typical---though not enforced---to think of the first posting as the destination, and the final as the source. Thus, the amount of the first posting is typically positive. Consider: @example 2010/05/31 An income transaction Assets:Checking $1,000.00 Income:Salary 2010/05/31 An expense transaction Expenses:Dining $100.00 Assets:Checking @end example @emph{Note:} It is important to note that there must be at least two spaces between the end of the post and the beginning of the amount (including and commdity designator). @section Specifying amounts The heart of a journal is the amounts it records, and this fact is reflected in the diversity of amount expressions allowed. All of them are covered here, though it must be said that sometimes, there are multiple ways to achieve a desired result. @subsection Integer amounts In the simplest form, bare decimal numbers are accepted: @example 2010/05/31 An income transaction Assets:Checking 1000.00 Income:Salary @end example Such amounts may only use an optional period for a decimal point. These are referred to as @dfn{integer amounts} or @dfn{uncommoditized amounts}. In most ways they are similar to @dfn{commoditized amounts}, but for one signficant difference: They always display in reports with @dfn{full precision}. More on this in a moment. For now, a word must be said about how Ledger stores numbers. Every number parsed by Ledger is stored internally as an infinite-precision rational value. Floating-point math is never used, as it cannot be trusted to maintain precision of values. So, in the case of @samp{1000.00} above, the internal value is @samp{100000/100}. While rational numbers are great at not losing precision, the question arises: How should they be displayed? A number like @samp{100000/100} is no problem, since it represents a clean decimal fraction. But what about when the number @samp{1/1} is divided by three? How should one print @samp{1/3}, an infinitely repeating decimal? Ledger gets around this problem by rendering rationals into decimal at the last possible moment, and only for display. As such, some rounding must, at times, occur. If this rounding would affect the calculation of a running total, special accommodation postings are generated to make you aware it has happened. In practice, it happens rarely, but even then it does not reflect adjustment of the @emph{internal amount}, only the displayed amount. What has still not been answered is how Ledger rounds values. Should @samp{1/3} be printed as @samp{0.33} or @samp{0.33333}? For commoditized amounts, the number of decimal places is decided by observing how each commodity is used; but in the case of integer amounts, an arbitrary factor must be chosen. Initially, this factor is six. Thus, @samp{1/3} is printed back as @samp{0.333333}. Further, this rounding factor becomes associated with each particular value, and is carried through mathematical operations. For example, if that particular number were multiplied by itself, the decimal precision of the result would be twelve. Addition and subtraction do not affect precision. Since each integer amount retains its own display precision, this is called @dfn{full precision}, as opposed to commoditized amounts, which always look to their commodity to know what precision they should round to, and so use @dfn{commodity precision}. @subsection Commoditized amounts A @dfn{commoditized amount} is an integer amount which has an associated commodity. This commodity can appear before or after the amount, and may or may not be separated from it by a space. Most characters are allowed in a commodity name, except for the following: @itemize @item Any kind of whitespace @item Numerical digits @item Punctuation: @samp{.,;:?!} @item Mathematical and logical operators: @samp{-+*/^&|=} @item Bracketing characters: @samp{<>[]()}@{@} @item The at symbol: @samp{@@} @end itemize And yet, any of these may appear in a commodity name if it is surrounded by double quotes, for example: @example 100 "EUN+133" @end example If a @dfn{quoted commodity} is found, it is displayed in quotes as well, to avoid any confusion as to which part is the amount, and which part is the commodity. Another feature of commoditized amounts is that they are reported back in the same form as parsed. If you specify dollar amounts using @samp{$100}, they will print the same; likewise with @samp{100 $} or @samp{$100.000}. You may even use decimal commas, such as @samp{$100,00}, or thousand-marks, as in @samp{$10,000.00}. These display characteristics become associated with the commodity, with the result being that all amounts of the same commodity are reported consistently. Where this is most noticeable is the @dfn{display precision}, which is determined by the most precise value seen for a given commodity. In most cases. Ledger makes a distinction by @dfn{observed amounts} and unobserved amounts. An observed amount is critiqued by Ledger to determine how amounts using that commodity should be displayed; unobserved amounts are significant in their value only---no matter how they are specified, it does not change how other amounts in that commodity will be displayed. An example of this is found in cost expressions, covered next. @section Posting costs You have seen how to specify either a commoditized or an integer amount for a posting. But what if the amount you paid for something was in one commodity, and the amount received was another? There are two main ways to express this: @example 2010/05/31 Farmer's Market Assets:My Larder 100 apples Assets:Checking $20.00 @end example In this example, you have paid twenty dollars for one hundred apples. The cost to you is twenty cents per apple, and Ledger calculates this implied cost for you. You can also make the cost explicit using a @dfn{cost amount}: @example 2010/05/31 Farmer's Market Assets:My Larder 100 apples @@ $0.200000 Assets:Checking @end example Here the @dfn{per-unit cost} is given explicitly in the form of a cost amount; and since cost amount are @emph{unobserved}, the use of six decimal places has no effect on how dollar amounts are displayed in the final report. You can also specify the @dfn{total cost}: @example 2010/05/31 Farmer's Market Assets:My Larder 100 apples @@@@ $20 Assets:Checking @end example These three forms have identical meaning. In most cases the first is preferred, but the second two are necessary when more than two postings are involved: @example 2010/05/31 Farmer's Market Assets:My Larder 100 apples @@ $0.200000 Assets:My Larder 100 pineapples @@ $0.33 Assets:My Larder 100 "crab apples" @@ $0.04 Assets:Checking @end example Here the implied cost is @samp{$57.00}, which is entered into the null posting automatically so that the transaction balances. @subsection Primary commodities In every transaction involving more than one commodity, there is always one which is the @dfn{primary commodity}. This commodity should be thought of as the exchange commodity, or the commodity used to buy and sells units of the other commodity. In the fruit examples above, dollars are the primary commodity. This is decided by Ledger on the placement of the commodity in the transaction: @example 2010/05/31 Sample Transaction Expenses 100 secondary Assets 50 primary 2010/05/31 Sample Transaction Expenses 100 secondary @@ 0.5 primary Assets 2010/05/31 Sample Transaction Expenses 100 secondary @@@@ 50 primary Assets @end example The only case where knowledge of primary versus secondary comes into play is in reports that use the @option{-V} or @option{-B} options. With these, only primary commodities are shown. If a transaction uses only one commodity, this commodity is also considered a primary. In fact, when Ledger goes about ensures that all transactions balance to zero, it only ever asks this of primary commodities. @node Extending with Python, , Journal File Format, Top @chapter Extending with Python @bye