
hledger-ui(1)                hledger User Manuals                hledger-ui(1)



NAME
       hledger-ui - terminal interface for the hledger accounting tool

SYNOPSIS
       hledger-ui [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]
       hledger ui -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]

DESCRIPTION
       hledger  is  a  reliable,  cross-platform  set of programs for tracking
       money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting  and
       a  simple,  editable  file  format.  hledger is inspired by and largely
       compatible with ledger(1).

       hledger-ui is hledger's  terminal  interface,  providing  an  efficient
       full-window  text  UI  for  viewing accounts and transactions, and some
       limited data entry capability.  It is easier  than  hledger's  command-
       line  interface, and sometimes quicker and more convenient than the web
       interface.

       Like hledger, it reads data from one or more files in hledger  journal,
       timeclock,  timedot,  or CSV format specified with -f, or $LEDGER_FILE,
       or       $HOME/.hledger.journal       (on       windows,        perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).   For  more about this see hledger(1),
       hledger_journal(5) etc.

       Unlike hledger, hledger-ui hides all future-dated transactions  by  de-
       fault.   They  can  be revealed, along with any rule-generated periodic
       transactions, by pressing the F key (or starting  with  --forecast)  to
       enable "forecast mode".

OPTIONS
       Note:  if  invoking hledger-ui as a hledger subcommand, write -- before
       options as shown above.

       Any QUERYARGS are interpreted as a hledger search query  which  filters
       the data.

       --watch
              watch for data and date changes and reload automatically

       --theme=default|terminal|greenterm
              use this custom display theme

       --register=ACCTREGEX
              start in the (first) matched account's register screen

       --change
              show  period balances (changes) at startup instead of historical
              balances

       -F --flat
              show accounts as a list (default)

       -T --tree
              show accounts as a tree

       hledger input options:

       -f FILE --file=FILE
              use  a  different  input  file.   For  stdin,  use  -  (default:
              $LEDGER_FILE or $HOME/.hledger.journal)

       --rules-file=RULESFILE
              Conversion   rules  file  to  use  when  reading  CSV  (default:
              FILE.rules)

       --separator=CHAR
              Field separator to expect when reading CSV (default: ',')

       --alias=OLD=NEW
              rename accounts named OLD to NEW

       --anon anonymize accounts and payees

       --pivot FIELDNAME
              use some other field or tag for the account name

       -I --ignore-assertions
              disable balance assertion checks (note: does not disable balance
              assignments)

       hledger reporting options:

       -b --begin=DATE
              include postings/txns on or after this date

       -e --end=DATE
              include postings/txns before this date

       -D --daily
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by day

       -W --weekly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by week

       -M --monthly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by month

       -Q --quarterly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by quarter

       -Y --yearly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by year

       -p --period=PERIODEXP
              set  start date, end date, and/or reporting interval all at once
              using period expressions syntax

       --date2
              match the secondary date instead (see command help for other ef-
              fects)

       -U --unmarked
              include only unmarked postings/txns (can combine with -P or -C)

       -P --pending
              include only pending postings/txns

       -C --cleared
              include only cleared postings/txns

       -R --real
              include only non-virtual postings

       -NUM --depth=NUM
              hide/aggregate accounts or postings more than NUM levels deep

       -E --empty
              show  items with zero amount, normally hidden (and vice-versa in
              hledger-ui/hledger-web)

       -B --cost
              convert amounts to their cost/selling amount at transaction time

       -V --market
              convert amounts to their market value in default valuation  com-
              modities

       -X --exchange=COMM
              convert amounts to their market value in commodity COMM

       --value
              convert  amounts  to  cost  or  market value, more flexibly than
              -B/-V/-X

       --infer-value
              with -V/-X/--value, also infer market prices from transactions

       --auto apply automated posting rules to modify transactions.

       --forecast
              generate future transactions from  periodic  transaction  rules,
              for  the  next 6 months or till report end date.  In hledger-ui,
              also make ordinary future transactions visible.

       When a reporting option appears more than once in the command line, the
       last one takes precedence.

       Some reporting options can also be written as query arguments.

       hledger help options:

       -h --help
              show general usage (or after COMMAND, command usage)

       --version
              show version

       --debug[=N]
              show debug output (levels 1-9, default: 1)

       A @FILE argument will be expanded to the contents of FILE, which should
       contain one command line option/argument per line.  (To  prevent  this,
       insert a -- argument before.)

KEYS
       ?  shows a help dialog listing all keys.  (Some of these also appear in
       the quick help at the bottom of each screen.) Press ? again (or ESCAPE,
       or LEFT) to close it.  The following keys work on most screens:

       The cursor keys navigate: right (or enter) goes deeper, left returns to
       the previous screen, up/down/page up/page  down/home/end  move  up  and
       down  through  lists.  Vi-style (h/j/k/l) and Emacs-style (CTRL-p/CTRL-
       n/CTRL-f/CTRL-b) movement keys are also  supported.   A  tip:  movement
       speed  is  limited by your keyboard repeat rate, to move faster you may
       want to adjust it.  (If you're on a mac, the Karabiner app is  one  way
       to do that.)

       With  shift pressed, the cursor keys adjust the report period, limiting
       the transactions to be shown  (by  default,  all  are  shown).   shift-
       down/up  steps downward and upward through these standard report period
       durations: year, quarter, month,  week,  day.   Then,  shift-left/right
       moves  to the previous/next period.  t sets the report period to today.
       With the --watch option, when viewing a "current" period  (the  current
       day, week, month, quarter, or year), the period will move automatically
       to track the current date.  To set a non-standard period, you can use /
       and a date: query.

       /  lets  you  set a general filter query limiting the data shown, using
       the same query terms as in hledger and hledger-web.  While editing  the
       query,  you  can  use CTRL-a/e/d/k, BS, cursor keys; press ENTER to set
       it, or ESCAPEto cancel.  There are also keys for quickly adjusting some
       common  filters  like account depth and transaction status (see below).
       BACKSPACE or DELETE removes all filters, showing all transactions.

       As mentioned above, by default hledger-ui hides future  transactions  -
       both ordinary transactions recorded in the journal, and periodic trans-
       actions generated by rule.  F  toggles  forecast  mode,  in  which  fu-
       ture/forecasted transactions are shown.  (experimental)

       ESCAPE  removes  all  filters and jumps back to the top screen.  Or, it
       cancels a minibuffer edit or help dialog in progress.

       CTRL-l redraws the screen and centers the selection if possible (selec-
       tions  near  the top won't be centered, since we don't scroll above the
       top).

       g reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and  any
       previous  screens.   (With  large  files, this could cause a noticeable
       pause.)

       I toggles balance assertion  checking.   Disabling  balance  assertions
       temporarily can be useful for troubleshooting.

       a  runs  command-line  hledger's  add  command, and reloads the updated
       file.  This allows some basic data entry.

       A is like a, but runs the hledger-iadd tool, which provides a  terminal
       interface.   This key will be available if hledger-iadd is installed in
       $PATH.

       E runs $HLEDGER_UI_EDITOR, or $EDITOR, or a default (emacsclient -a  ""
       -nw)  on  the  journal file.  With some editors (emacs, vi), the cursor
       will be positioned at the current transaction  when  invoked  from  the
       register  and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possi-
       ble) when invoked from the error screen.

       q quits the application.

       Experimental:

       B toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's  com-
       modity (like toggling the -B/--cost flag).

       V  toggles  value  mode, showing amounts' current market value in their
       default valuation  commodity  (like  toggling  the  -V/--market  flag).
       Note,  "current market value" means the value on the report end date if
       specified, otherwise today.  To see the value on another date, you  can
       temporarily  set that as the report end date.  Eg: to see a transaction
       as it was valued on july 30, go to the  accounts  or  register  screen,
       press /, and add date:-7/30 to the query.

       At most one of cost or value mode can be active at once.

       There's  not yet any visual reminder when cost or value mode is active;
       for now pressing B B V should reliably reset to normal mode.

       With --watch active, if you save an edit  to  the  journal  file  while
       viewing the transaction screen in cost or value mode, the B/V keys will
       stop working.  To work around, press g to force  a  manual  reload,  or
       exit the transaction screen.

       Additional screen-specific keys are described below.

SCREENS
   Accounts screen
       This  is  normally  the  first screen displayed.  It lists accounts and
       their balances, like hledger's balance command.  By default,  it  shows
       all  accounts  and their latest ending balances (including the balances
       of subaccounts).  if you specify a query on the command line, it  shows
       just the matched accounts and the balances from matched transactions.

       Account  names  are shown as a flat list by default.  Press T to toggle
       tree mode.  In flat mode, account  balances  are  exclusive  of  subac-
       counts,  except  where subaccounts are hidden by a depth limit (see be-
       low).  In tree mode, all account balances are inclusive of subaccounts.

       To see less detail, press a number key, 1 to 9, to set a  depth  limit.
       Or use - to decrease and +/= to increase the depth limit.  0 shows even
       less detail, collapsing all accounts to a single total.  To remove  the
       depth limit, set it higher than the maximum account depth, or press ES-
       CAPE.

       H toggles between showing historical balances or period balances.  His-
       torical  balances  (the  default) are ending balances at the end of the
       report period, taking into account all transactions  before  that  date
       (filtered  by  the  filter query if any), including transactions before
       the start of the report period.  In other  words,  historical  balances
       are  what  you  would  see on a bank statement for that account (unless
       disturbed by a filter query).  Period balances ignore transactions  be-
       fore  the  report start date, so they show the change in balance during
       the report period.  They are more useful eg when viewing a time log.

       U toggles filtering by unmarked status, including or excluding unmarked
       postings in the balances.  Similarly, P toggles pending postings, and C
       toggles cleared postings.  (By default, balances include all  postings;
       if  you activate one or two status filters, only those postings are in-
       cluded; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.)

       R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored.

       Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only accounts  with  nonzero  balances
       are  shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike command-line
       hledger).

       Press right or enter to view an account's transactions register.

   Register screen
       This screen shows the transactions affecting a particular account, like
       a check register.  Each line represents one transaction and shows:

       o the  other  account(s)  involved, in abbreviated form.  (If there are
         both real and virtual postings, it shows only the  accounts  affected
         by real postings.)

       o the  overall change to the current account's balance; positive for an
         inflow to this account, negative for an outflow.

       o the running historical total or period total for the current account,
         after  the  transaction.  This can be toggled with H.  Similar to the
         accounts screen, the historical total  is  affected  by  transactions
         (filtered  by  the  filter query) before the report start date, while
         the period total is not.  If the historical total is not disturbed by
         a  filter  query, it will be the running historical balance you would
         see on a bank register for the current account.

       Transactions affecting this account's subaccounts will be  included  in
       the register if the accounts screen is in tree mode, or if it's in flat
       mode but this account has subaccounts which are  not  shown  due  to  a
       depth  limit.   In  other words, the register always shows the transac-
       tions contributing to the balance shown on the accounts  screen.   Tree
       mode/flat mode can be toggled with T here also.

       U  toggles  filtering  by  unmarked  status, showing or hiding unmarked
       transactions.  Similarly, P toggles pending transactions, and C toggles
       cleared  transactions.  (By default, transactions with all statuses are
       shown; if you activate one or two status filters, only  those  transac-
       tions are shown; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.)

       R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored.

       Z  toggles  nonzero  mode, in which only transactions posting a nonzero
       change are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default,  unlike  com-
       mand-line hledger).

       Press right (or enter) to view the selected transaction in detail.

   Transaction screen
       This  screen  shows  a  single transaction, as a general journal entry,
       similar to hledger's print command and  journal  format  (hledger_jour-
       nal(5)).

       The  transaction's  date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction code, de-
       scription, comments, along with all of its account postings are  shown.
       Simple  transactions  have  two  postings, but there can be more (or in
       certain cases, fewer).

       up and down will step through all transactions listed in  the  previous
       account  register screen.  In the title bar, the numbers in parentheses
       show your position within that account register.  They  will  vary  de-
       pending on which account register you came from (remember most transac-
       tions appear in multiple account registers).  The #N  number  preceding
       them is the transaction's position within the complete unfiltered jour-
       nal, which is a more stable id (at least until the next reload).

   Error screen
       This screen will appear if there is a problem, such as a  parse  error,
       when  you  press g to reload.  Once you have fixed the problem, press g
       again to reload and resume normal operation.  (Or, you can press escape
       to cancel the reload attempt.)

ENVIRONMENT
       COLUMNS The screen width to use.  Default: the full terminal width.

       LEDGER_FILE The journal file path when not specified with -f.  Default:
       ~/.hledger.journal (on  windows,  perhaps  C:/Users/USER/.hledger.jour-
       nal).

       A  typical  value  is  ~/DIR/YYYY.journal,  where DIR is a version-con-
       trolled finance directory and YYYY is the current year.  Or  ~/DIR/cur-
       rent.journal, where current.journal is a symbolic link to YYYY.journal.

       On Mac computers, you can set this and other environment variables in a
       more thorough way that also affects applications started from  the  GUI
       (say, an Emacs dock icon).  Eg on MacOS Catalina I have a ~/.MacOSX/en-
       vironment.plist file containing

              {
                "LEDGER_FILE" : "~/finance/current.journal"
              }

       To see the effect you may need to killall Dock, or reboot.

FILES
       Reads data from one or more files in hledger journal, timeclock,  time-
       dot,   or   CSV   format   specified   with  -f,  or  $LEDGER_FILE,  or
       $HOME/.hledger.journal          (on          windows,           perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).

BUGS
       The  need  to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk-
       ward.

       -f- doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin).

       -V affects only the accounts screen.

       When you press g, the current and all previous screens are regenerated,
       which  may cause a noticeable pause with large files.  Also there is no
       visual indication that this is in progress.

       --watch is not yet fully robust.  It works well for normal  usage,  but
       many  file  changes  in  a  short time (eg saving the file thousands of
       times with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX.   Symp-
       toms  include:  unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the cursor posi-
       tion, momentary display of parse errors, high CPU usage eventually sub-
       siding, and possibly a small but persistent build-up of CPU usage until
       the program is restarted.

       Also, if you are viewing files mounted from  another  machine,  --watch
       requires that both machine clocks are roughly in step.



REPORTING BUGS
       Report  bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel
       or hledger mail list)


AUTHORS
       Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2007-2019 Simon Michael.
       Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.


SEE ALSO
       hledger(1),     hledger-ui(1),     hledger-web(1),      hledger-api(1),
       hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timeclock(5), hledger_time-
       dot(5), ledger(1)

       http://hledger.org



hledger-ui 1.18.1                  June 2020                     hledger-ui(1)
