View source for Documentation Improvement

These instructions describe the process to change the ''Tutorial & Concepts Guide'' and the ''Help'' manuals. 

If you are interested in translating the documentation, you should read [[Translation#Translating_the_GnuCash_Guide_and_Help|Translating the GnuCash Guide and Help]], too.

==Preface and Introduction -- What to expect==

The documentation update process uses the same software management tools that are used for updating the program itself. This ensures that changes are made consistently and reliably. This includes using a ''version control system (VCS)'' to coordinate contributions from disparate sources, as well as using ''eXtended Markup Language (XML)'' for the actual edits. It also requires contributors to check their contributions for compatibility by ''compiling'' the documentation before final submission. 

'''These aspects require that documentation contributors learn and use several specialized tools to engage the process.''' 

The tools and the process are outlined in this page. For background on these tools, see [[Build_Tools|Build Tools]].

Any changes you make will be inserted into local copies of the source documentation files and subsequently transferred to the main documentation set. These source files use a special markup in XML to provide structure. Later in the process, the XML files are converted to other versions (HTML, PDF, etc.) for viewing. As a documentation support person, your task is to shepherd your modifications through all stages from start to finish.

At each stage, you must validate your changes to assure that they are both valid and have the intended effect, and you must address any errors or unexpected changes that are found.

Since your changes will be carried out by software, there is a difference determination process that identifies exactly what and where changes will be made.  This process permits you to be sure that only what you intend will actually be installed. After your changes have been validated locally, you will submit your changes to the project either through a "patch," or by a git "pull request" (both of which will be explained later).

For quality control, any changes you submit will be reviewed by a developer before your changes become official. If everything is accepted without requiring further work, your changes will be applied to the main set of documentation by a developer and you will be notified of that action.

The above brief description outlines the general documentation update process.

It may be helpful to become familiar with the references given in the [[Documentation_Update_Instructions#References_to_Supporting_Technologies_Used|REFERENCES]] section below.

==Setting Up Your System==

To begin changing the documentation, you will need to set up your system with the proper software.

===Required Software===
You will need the following software:
* To manage the change sequence, you will install the ''git'' version control system. See [[Git]] for more on this.
* To edit the source files, you will need to have a ''text editor''. Any text editor will do, as long as it can save your files without extra markup.
* To illustrate your text with [[#Screenshots and Images|Screenshots and Images]], you can use 
** for '''diagrams:''' any [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics SVG] able drawing program like OfficeDraw (available from [https://www.libreoffice.org/ LibreOffice] or [https://www.openoffice.org/ OpenOffice]),
** for '''screenshots:'''
*** ''creation:'' the built in PrintScreen of your OS or desktop environment,
*** ''manipulation:'' [https://www.imagemagick.org ImageMagick] is suggested because it is used by <tt>/util/adjust-dpi.sh</tt>.

===Initial Steps===
* You will need to obtain a local copy of the files from the GnuCash repository, which is called '''cloning'''. The cloned copy is what you will work on. See [[git]] for more information.
* To stage your changes, you will need an appropriate directory structure. 
:See [[Initializing_Documentation_Build_Environment|Initializing Documentation Build Environment]] for more.
* To check your changes, you will use the ''make'' utility to compile the documentation locally. 
:See [[The_Make_Utility|The Make Utility]] for more on using and installing make.
* To test the linkages between GnuCash and help files in Linux, see [[Test_Documentation_in_Linux|Test Documentation in Linux]].

==The Documentation Change Process==
To write GnuCash documentation the following steps must be completed in the order given. When executing any command listed, do not use quotations of any sort around the commands.

'''N.B.:''' The instructions below are for a non-committer preparing a patch. If you have commit privileges in the gnucash-docs repository, the git commands you use will be somewhat different. Please see [[Git]]. If you're not familiar with using git, you'll find more details on basic commands and links to documentation there as well. You may prefer one of the many Git GUIs to the command-line instructions here, especially if you use Microsoft Windows.

===<span id="CreateBug"></span> Create a Bugzilla Documentation Bug===
Create a [[Bugzilla]] bug if one does not already exist.
  
;Note the bug number.  You will be listed as wanting to be notified any time there is an update to the bug.  You can monitor it until it is confirmed and installed.

===<span id="UpdateLocal"></span>Update Your Local Copy===
Since others could be making changes to the documentation at the same time you are, the GnuCash documentation process employs ''git'' to coordinate the disparate contributions. ''Git'' ensures that your changes and those of any others are incorporated efficiently into one final set of source files. See [[Git]] to learn about using ''git''. ''This section assumes that you have already obtained a clone of the GnuCash repository, as outlined in [[#Setting Up Your System|Setting Up Your System]].''

Before you begin editing, you must make sure that your local copy is up to date and aligns with the GnuCash repository by following the instructions at [[An_Introduction_to_Git#Sync_your_local_master_or_maint_from_upstream_.28Pull_Requests.29|An Introduction to Git]].

===Ensure The Build Directory Is Up To Date===

As the source files get changed on your machine and on the remote repositories, the files <tt>configure.ac</tt> and <tt>Makefile.am</tt> can change. If either of these files changes, you should run autogen.sh and configure again to make sure that changes are incorporated. This might occur because you changed it yourself or because someone else committed a change in git. 

If you are not sure whether or not these files have changed, the safest course is to run these commands every time you pull. 

Remember that these commands are issued from the ''build directory''; '''if you do not yet have your build directory set up, consult [[Initializing_Documentation_Build_Environment|Initializing Documentation Build Environment]].'''

===<span id="IDLoc4Change"></span>Identify Location for Changes===
GnuCash stores documentation in one master sequence, but reformats the information in different ways for different platforms. When you build the documentation, you create a copy in final format. To make changes, you need to edit the local repository files, not the build directory files. Once you have located the correct source files, you must identify the passages that need to be changed. Your changes should roughly follow the [https://developer.gnome.org/gdp-style-guide/ GNOME Documentation Style Guide] of the [https://wiki.gnome.org/DocumentationProject/ GNOME Documentation Project].

'''Read the documentation carefully to find exactly where your change belongs.''' 

The English '''Help Manual''' source XML files are in
:/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/help/C
The English '''Tutorial and Concepts Guide''' source XML files are in
:/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/guide/C
The non-english files are in the corresponding locations with '''C''' replaced by a 2 character language code.

It may be useful to have either a printed copy or a PDF copy [3] of 
the documentation available for reference.  The PDF is often useful, 
because it allows using FIND (ctrl-F) to search for key words.  This 
can be important to assure yourself that you have covered the 
existing places in the documentation where the issue you are 
interested in has already had a mention or treatment.

===<span id="DraftChanges"></span>Draft Your Changes===
If your changes are few and easily formulated, you should be able to make your changes directly in the source XML files.

If your changes are more extensive, you may find it helpful to develop your ideas in a separate temporary text file. If you use this approach, you will need to insert your changes into the XML file(s) affected. Doing this might be easier by using a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_XML_editors specific XML Editor]. Additional resources for XML are listed in the [[#References to Supporting Technologies Used|References]] section for this step. 

Note: Remember to edit the ''source'' files in the ''repository'' directories, not in the ''build'' directories. The various ''make'' commands (run from the build directories), will copy the files from the repository to the build directories.

The source documents are saved in the XML flavour of [[Glossary#D|DocBook]] code, so all changes need to follow those formatting rules. ''DocBook'' enforces strict rules about tags and markup, so be sure to make your changes fit the XML tags in the manner of the existing documentation. 

;Note: It is ''not'' necessary to use comments to denote the start or end of your source modifications. The version control system is used to track changes. 

====<span id="DraftConvention"></span>Conventions====
Examples of commonly-used tags include: ''chapter'', ''sect1'' ... ''sect5'', ''simplelist'', ''orderedlist'', ''list item'', ''para'' and their corresponding closing tags.

You can find a complete reference to DocBook in [https://tdg.docbook.org/tdg/{{DocbookVersion}}/docbook.html The Definitive Guide]. [https://tdg.docbook.org/tdg/{{DocbookVersion}}/ch02.html Chapter 2: Creating DocBook Documents] may be of particular assistance.
;Since GnuCash 3.3: The documents use XInclude <SyntaxHighlight lang="xml">
<xi:include href="Help_ch_Intro.xml" />
</SyntaxHighlight> instead of file inclusion by <SyntaxHighlight lang="xml"> <!ENTITY SYSTEM ...></SyntaxHighlight> and most other <code><!ENTITY ...></code> elements moved in the new [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_type_definition Document Type Definition] (DTD) [https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash-docs/blob/maint/docbook/gnc-docbookx.dtd gnucash-docs/docbook/gnc-docbookx.dtd]. Each file needs now a header <SyntaxHighlight lang="xml">
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE book SYSTEM "gnc-docbookx.dtd">
</SyntaxHighlight> to be syntactical correct and find the entities.

In particular, note that:
* Wherever possible you should use the '''Definitions''' <code><!ENTITY ''name'' ...></code> from our <tt>gnc-docbookx.dtd</tt> and the base file <tt>gnucash-guide.xml</tt> or <tt>gnucash-help.xml</tt> as <code>&''name'';</code>.
* Elements  of the '''graphical user interface''' (GUI) should have the respective markup e.g.for a label: <code><guilabel>Accounts</guilabel></code>. A incomplete list of gui elements:
::accel, guibutton, guiicon, guimenu, guimenuitem, guisubmenu, keycap, keycode, keycombo, keysym, menuchoice, mousebutton, shortcut.
:See [https://tdg.docbook.org/tdg/{{DocbookVersion}}/docbook.html DocBook Guide] for more detail.

====<span id="DraftAddRemove"></span>Adding or Removing Files====
If you are adding or deleting files from the documentation, for example adding a new chapter or appendix, you will need to announce it to several parts of the system to ensure that these new or deleted files get handled properly.

This are:
# The '''base XML file''' (i.e., ''gnucash-guide.xml'' or ''gnucash-help.xml''). This file includes <SyntaxHighlight lang="xml">
<xi:include href="Book_type_Name.xml" />
</SyntaxHighlight> declarations for each source file in the documentation. You must edit this XInclude list to reflect the changes you have made to the file list, where 
#*Book is either Help or empty, (TODO: should be dropped)
#*type should be either ch[apter] or app[endix],
#*Name describing its content.
# Tell [[Autotools]] from the change: The '''Makefile.am''' located in the same folder as the ''base XML file''. Again, you must edit the file list in this file to reflect the changes you have made to the file list. Makefile.am must include ''all'' files listed in the <code> <xi:include ...></code> section of the base XML file in its <code>entities</code> list. <!-- Is the previous statement correct? Who asks this?~Fell-->
#;Note: There are Makefile.am files in each of the language folders as well as in the base documentation folder. Make sure you edit the proper copy--that is, the copy in the specific language folder you have edited.
#;Important: Because you have changed Makefile.am, you will need to rerun <code>../configure</code>, as described in [[Initializing_Documentation_Build_Environment|Initializing Documentation Build Environment]].
# Tell [[Git]] to add/remove the file to/from the repository: <SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
git add ${MODULE}/${LOCALE}/${FILENAME} # ${MODULE}={guide|help}; ${LOCALE}={C|de|it...}; ${FILENAME}=file to add
git rm ${MODULE}/${LOCALE}/${FILENAME} # to remove it
</SyntaxHighlight>
;Note: If your update adds new modules to the full set of documentation, you should review all modules in the directory in which you are working (<tt>gnucash-docs/help/C</tt> or <tt>gnucash-docs/guide/C</tt>) to determine what changes, if any, need to be made to modules outside your original assessment.

==== Telling the Program of a New Help Context ====
In [https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash/blob/maint/gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-ui.h gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-ui.h] are 2 important sections:
# Help Files: <Syntaxhighlight lang="C">
/** Help Files ******************************************************/
:
#    define HF_GUIDE         "gnucash-guide"
#    define HF_HELP          "gnucash-help"
:
</Syntaxhighlight>
# Links ''in'' the Help Files ('''id'''): <Syntaxhighlight lang="C">
/** Links in the Help Files *****************************************/
#define HL_USAGE             "usage"
:
</Syntaxhighlight>

Ask a developer to 
# add your chapter, section, table or whatever <code>id</code> to the list and
# use it together with its <tt>HF_*</tt> as help context in <tt>gnc_gnome_help(file_name, anchor)</tt> or where else it is associated GUI elements.
;Fixme: Ways to find the ids generally in the code sources?

===<span id="ValidateChanges"></span>Validate Your Changes===
'''xmllint''' (invoked by '''make check''' in the appropriate '''build''' directory or sub-directory) is used to test that your xml file has no syntax errors or incorrect references to internal sections. The program ''xmllint'' is part of the package '''libxml'''.

''xmllint'' starts with the main file ''gnucash-{guide|help}.xml''. The main file references the other xml files in the directory so all are checked.

In a Terminal, change directory to the place in the '''build''' directory structure where the changed modules are located:

For example, if you had downloaded the documentation files to a directory called <tt>/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs</tt> and created a build directory called <tt>/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build</tt>:

To validate all the guide xml files for only the ''C'' (English) language:
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide/C
</SyntaxHighlight>
To validate all the guide xml files for all languages:
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide
</SyntaxHighlight>
To validate all the guide and help xml files:
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build
</SyntaxHighlight>

Then:
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
make check
</SyntaxHighlight>

If there are any errors, fix them and repeat this step until no errors are found.

If you are unable to fix an XML error, then go to [[Mailing_Lists]] and subscribe to the developers email list '''gnucash-devel@gnucash.org'''. If you are not a subscriber, then your email will wait for the list manager to find  the time to address emails received from 
non-subscribers and you will not receive replies from developers unless they explicitly copy you. Send an email to gnucash-devel@gnucash.org asking for help. Provide as much information as possible, including the results of the <tt>xmllint</tt> command (I.e. the output from  ''make check'').

If your module(s) are free of XML errors, then the command returns no errors or warnings (if running in a terminal) or an empty file (if redirecting output to a file).

===<span id="EnsureExpected"></span>Ensure Only Expected Changes Have Been Made===
You should double check that there are no accidental changes to the documentation.

The following command will show any changes to unstaged files
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
git diff
</SyntaxHighlight>
Git status will list all files with differences to the last commit, in categories staged, unstaged, and unknown to git but not matching an ignore pattern.
<SyntaxHighlight lang="sh">
git status
</SyntaxHighlight>

===<span id="Proofread"></span>Proofreading===
After you have tested the integrity of the XML using xmllint (make check) and have verified that the 
difference file shows the correct changes, it depends on your OS/installed software, how to proceed
;Not very fast, but simple under Linux: run Gnucash after installing your version of the documentation:
: Install and run your version <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
cd ${BUILDDIR} # adjust this
sudo make install
gnucash
#choose a component from the Help menu
</Syntaxhighlight> This is also the preferred method to test the context sensitive help.
;Fast under Linux, but more typing: ''KHelpcenter'' and Gnomes help viewer ''yelp'' can both display docbook documents: <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
yelp /usr/local/share/gnome/help/gnucash-help/C/gnucash-help.xml # adjust:
# 1. $PREFIX (/usr/local/) or just use your ${SOURCEDIR},
# 2. $LANG (/C/)
# 3. document help or guide

# or after we fixed the path for our DTD:
khelpcenter /usr/local/share/gnome/help/gnucash-help/C/gnucash-help.xml
# If we create .desktop files this will become easier.
</Syntaxhighlight>

====In HTML and Other Formats====
If this are no options for you, the easiest is viewing the HTML version in your browser, but in particular, if you are using non-latin writing, you should also check the other formats.

The Guide or Help must be recreated in HTML and the results 
examined in your browser to verify that the online version appears and reads as expected.

Build the Guide or Help file in HTML. Use this command exactly as written in a terminal, from the appropriate directory within the '''build''' directory structure: <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
cd [appropriate directory or sub-directory within the '''build''' directory structure]
make html # Replace html  by pdf, epub, mobi ...
</Syntaxhighlight>

The above ''make'' command will run ''xsltproc'' and use an XSL stylesheet (.../xsl/general-customization.xsl) to turn the raw input XML into the output HTML that comprises the online version of the Guide or Help.

The built html files with be placed in an automatically created directory, which if using the example directories will be: <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/<guide|help>/C/gnucash-<guide|help>
</Syntaxhighlight>

Review the results in your browser. [https://calibre-ebook.com/about Calibre] is a good choice as viewer for ebook formats (epub, mobi, ...).

If you need to make changes, do so, then check, rebuild and review again. It's amazing how errors which are obscure in XML--''everything is obscure in XML''--become blindingly obvious when rendered in the browser. Look for spelling errors, formatting oddness, incomplete tags, and missing or incorrect entities.

To view the results in a web browser, in a file manager (or for Windows: Windows Explorer/File Explorer) double click on either: <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/help/C/gnucash-help/help.html
# or
/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide/C/gnucash-guide/index.html
</Syntaxhighlight>

Once your inspection shows that the online Guide/Help is now acceptable in all respects, you should make certain that the build directory and its contents are not included in any respect in your patch. 

If you are using ''build'' as the name of your build subdirectory in your repository directory, as in this example, it is not necessary to remove the build directory as the <repository>/.gitignore file includes '''build*''', so git will ignore it.

To remove the build directory structure, before building the patch, use this terminal command: <Syntaxhighlight lang="sh>
rm -rf "/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build"
</Syntaxhighlight>

===<span id="AddExtras"></span>Add Extra Files===
Git automatically tracks changes to files it knows are part of the repository. However, if you have added any files that should be included in your commit (xml or others, for example, illustrations), add (stage) them with the command:
  git add path/to/file
  
Note:  Do '''NOT''' add file(s) from your ''build'' directory structure.

Here is another way to check your changes. Unless you're a programmer, you're probably not well practiced at examining diffs. If you have touched several files, the first thing to check is
  git status -uno
The <tt>-uno</tt> tells it to show only the repository files affected by your changes; all of the build products are ignored. Of course, if you've made a new file, that's ignored too, so make sure that all of the files you worked on ''and only those files'' are in the list. You can add new files with 
  git add path/to/new-file
and revert files that you didn't mean to change with
  git checkout path/to/ignored-file

===<span id="PubAuthor"></span>Publish your Authorship===

The first page, which can also be shown as ''About'' of the document is in the file '''<tt>gnucash-</tt>{<tt>guide</tt>|<tt>help</tt>}<tt>-C.omf</tt>'''. OMF means [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Media_Framework Open Media Framework]. Add a maintainer section with your data and check the other items like the date, which also needs an update.

Add your name and email address to the file AUTHORS. Create a separate patch for this change and ask to apply this patch also on gnucash/DOCUMENTERS - in both ''maint'' and ''master'' branches. The AUTHORS file can usually be shown in the packet manager while gnucash/DOCUMENTERS is shown in GnuCashs About->Credits->Documenters

===<span id="CommitChanges"></span>Commit Your Changes===
Once you're satisfied with your changes, it's time to commit them.
You can commit everything that's been changed with
 git commit -a
:('''-a''' also causes git to notice and commit any deleted files)
or you can commit a few files at a time with 
 git add path/to/file
 git commit
If you need to make further changes, you can update your commit instead of creating a new one with
  git commit -a --amend
But <tt>--amend</tt> should only be used as long, as you did not publish your commit by pushing it to some public github repository.

There are even finer-grained ways to pick out bits and pieces to group into a commit, but they're beyond the scope of this tutorial.

When you make a commit git will open a screen editor; which one depends on how you set your environment. The default on most Unixes is ''vi'', but you can select a different one with the $EDITOR environment variable. Use the editor to make a good commit message. It should have a one-line (< 80 character) summary followed by a blank line, and a brief description of the change and its motivation. Don't get carried away here: If you need more than a couple of lines it should have been a smaller change.

The release announcement comes from commit messages, so include any information that should be passed on.
You could even say ''This needs to be mentioned in the release announcement'' followed by the text you want in the announcement.

To add extra information to a previously pushed commit message, make some trivial change to a comment and write a commit message using the same subject line as the previous commit.

If required, you can check ''committed'' changes to a particular file with
  git log -p path/to/file

===<span id="PullorPatch"></span>Create a Pull Request or a Patch===
Once you have finalized your changes, you will notify the developer team of your changes, either by creating a [[Git#Pull_Requests|pull request]], or by [[Preparing_A_Documentation_Patch|creating and uploading a patch]].

==References to Supporting Technologies Used==

:[1] https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla
:[2] https://github.com
:[3]  http://www.jedit.org/
:[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook
:[5] https://www.docbook.org/  DocBook: The Definitive Guide
:: Some Distributions have it as a package named like ''docbook-tdg''.
:[6] https://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/tools-edit.html
:[7] https://www.netlingo.com/tips/html-code-cheat-sheet.php
:[8] https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Git

==Additional Information==
===Screenshots and Images===
Screenshots and images for GnuCash documentation must be submitted in ''.png'' '''format''' or in ''.svg'' where applicable. It is better if you can use a '''theme''' similar to ''"Clearlooks"'' for Linux, in order to maintain consistency with existing images. The [https://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=19527 Clearlooks] engine has been the default theme of [https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.0/ GNOME 2] since version 2.12. 
The utility adjust-dpi.sh uses the following programs
* identify from [https://www.imagemagick.org ImageMagick], a nice toolset to manipulate images or query their parameters,
* awk from gawk
* bc from bc.

====Indexing====
To add your image to the <tt>List of Figures</tt> at the start of the ''Help'' or ''Tutorial and Concepts Guide'', put your screenshot in a figure tag, for example:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
  <figure pgwide="1">
    <title>This is the text that will appear in the List of Figures</title>
    <screenshot>
      <mediaobject>
        <!-- insert the imageobjects here -->
        <caption><para>Optionally you can here add a longer description than in the title.
          If not required, remove the caption element.</para>
        </caption>
      </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>
</syntaxhighlight>

====Display and Print Targets====
Screenshots and images added to the GnuCash documentation must fit '''two purposes''': ''video display'' (e.g. online) and ''paper printing'' (pdf creation). Each has its own way of determining width:
:video display defines image width limits in terms of '''pixels''', while
:print output sets limits on image size based on a ratio of image size and the image's ''dots per inch ('''dpi''')''.
Because we do not want to shrink the image itself, but want limit the width of
:image presentations on screen to 510px
:and 14 cm on paper, we get 2 different cases for our entry:
;width <= 510px: and insert
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
      <imageobject>
        <imagedata fileref="figures/Report_Screen.png" format="PNG"
                   srccredit="your name"></imagedata>
      </imageobject>
</syntaxhighlight>

;width > 510px: Use two <imageobject> tags, as shown below:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
      <imageobject role="html">
        <imagedata fileref="figures/Help_Pref_AccntPeriod.png" format="PNG"
                   srccredit="your name" width="510px"></imagedata>
      </imageobject>
      <imageobject role="fo">
        <imagedata fileref="figures/Help_Pref_AccntPeriod.png" format="PNG"
                   srccredit="your name"></imagedata>
      </imageobject>
</syntaxhighlight>

:The "'''html'''" attribute refers to ''display'' presentation on screens (the width is limited to 510px), while the "'''fo'''" attribute refers to pdf ''printing''.

;Note: If the viewport area (''width''|''depth'') is specified, but no content area (''contentwidth''|''contentdepth''), docbook sets ''scalefit=1'' resulting in zooming the image to viewportsize.

Now the image will fit on display and we can continue to adjust it for printing.

==== Adjusting an Image's Dots Per Inch ====
You must take another step to prepare a screenshot for print output: you must set the dots per inch (dpi) correctly. The dpi defines an image's dot density, and thus its overall quality; the higher the dpi, the better the printed image quality. The printing size, dpi and image pixel dimensions are in this relation:

 size = pixels / dpi

:So if you have a screenshot that is 800x560 pixels with a dpi of 80 you will have the screenshot in the pdf output displayed as 800/80 x 560/80 inches = 10 x 7 inches = 25 x 17.5 cm. (1 inch is about 2.5 cm). The available space in the A4 format pdf output is a maximum of about 15 cm, so you can resize the screenshot by changing its dpi (Note that the US Letter size paper is slightly wider than A4, so images scaled for A4 will also fit on US Letter size paper). Normally if you take a screenshot when the GnuCash window is almost at its minimum, the dpi will be set to 144, which for our example screenshot will result in a print size of:

 800/144 x 560/144 inches = 14 x 10 cm 

:This will stay inside the available areas.

:If the screenshot you are going to add to documentation is wider than 850 pixels, you should increase the dpi above 144 so that its printed size remains less than 15 cm.

===== Individual =====
:The dpi of an image be changed in one of two ways:
:# Open the screenshot in an image editor (like [https://www.gimp.org The Gimp]) and select Image->Print Size. In the dialog that opens, set the X and Y resolution to the desired dpi (check that the unit value is set to the desired value - normally pixels/in). Press "Ok" and save the image.
:# A faster approach uses Imagemagick, a library for image manipulation. From a terminal window, issue the following command:<syntaxhighlight lang="sh">
convert -units PixelsPerInch -density DPI IN OUT
</syntaxhighlight>
:where DPI is the desired dpi value (e.g. 144), IN is the input image filename and OUT the output filename (that could be the same as IN).

===== All at once =====
====== Old Method ======
# To ''convert the dpi'' of a bunch of images do this from a terminal window:
#:<syntaxhighlight lang="sh">
ls *.png > list
for i in `cat list`; do convert -units PixelsPerInch -density 144 "$i" "$i"; done
</syntaxhighlight>
#:The first line creates the file "list" with a list of all png files in the current directory
#:The second and third lines applies a dpi of 144 to all images listed in the "list" file
# Imagemagick lets you also ''see sizes and pixels per inch'' from the command line:
#:<syntaxhighlight lang="sh">
identify -format "%w x %h %x x %y" IMAGE_NAME.FORMAT
</syntaxhighlight>

====== New Method ======
:For your convenience the bash script '''adjust-dpi.sh''' has been included in the gnucash-docs repository that automatically calculates and assigns the right value of dpi to a list of png files. It is stored in the '''util''' subdirectory of the repository. To use it open a command line and run the script from the proper figures directory. For example:
:<syntaxhighlight lang="sh">
cd guide/pt/figures            # In the repo, NOT the build directory structure
../../../util/adjust-dpi.sh
</syntaxhighlight>

== Maintenance ==

In this section are collected all the standards used to work on documentation.

===Text conventions===
* There are variable definitions in the main file, which must be used e.g. for future changes to revision numbers, gnucash-guide.xml defines variable '''vers-stable'''
:<tt><!ENTITY vers-stable "2.6.6"></tt>
:and appendixa.xml uses this variable like
:<tt>The process works on &vers-stable; datafiles, and ought to</tt>
* All accounts named must be tagged with <emphasis>: e.g. <emphasis>Expenses:Tax</emphasis>
* Hyphens and dashes:
: To represent a negative number or subtraction:
:: The typographically correct symbol to use is &minus; (U+2212, <tt>&amp;minus;</tt>). The ASCII hyphen-minus - (U+002d) is commonly used and is also fine. Whichever you use, be consistent, at least on the whole page.
:: Examples:
::: Number negative 1 (&minus;1): <tt>&amp;minus;1</tt>
::: Formula GROSS_SALE &minus; TOTALBUY: <tt>GROSS_SALE &amp;minus; TOTALBUY</tt>
:: See https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html for guidance on using English language punctuation,  including  <tt>&amp;ndash;</tt> and <tt>&amp;mdash;</tt>.

* In the current state of this page there are many more. Have a look at the recently reworked chapters. If you have some free time, add them here.

===Graphics conventions===
all screenshots of the GnuCash windows must be captured under a GNOME Desktop environment with the following settings:

* GNOME desktop environment
* Under ''GTK2'' we used the '''Clearlooks''' theme. For ''GTK3'' '''Adwaita''' is the default theme.
* text besides icon
* font: Sans. 9 point for application and 11 point for window title


[[Category:Documentation]]

[[Category:Development]]

[[Category:Translation]]