Combine Categories?
I discovered that I inadvertently - and carelessly - created two Interest Categories when I switched to MD at the beginning of 2011 - Interest when I began MD and •Interest that was imported from Q. So I now have transactions that use both of those Categories.
Is there a way to combine them and then eliminate one?
Thanks.
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2 Posted by sth on 22 Jan, 2012 11:19 PM
do a search for •Interest, select all then control click on them and select batch change. Batch change the category. Then delete the category.
Support Staff 3 Posted by Ben Spencer on 23 Jan, 2012 01:15 AM
You could also use the find and replace extension to re-categorise the transactions. You can install it by selecting Extensions->Manage Extensions...
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
4 Posted by davet65 on 23 Jan, 2012 02:07 AM
Thanks for the suggestions. I knew about "batch change" but wasn't sure how it applied here, or even how to get to it.
I would like to try the extension, but it says I need Java 6. About Moneydance says "Java Version: 1.6.0_29". Is that the right one?
I WILL be sure to do it using a Save As file until I am sure it worked correctly (either method).
Support Staff 5 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 23 Jan, 2012 03:01 AM
Dave,
Yes, Java 6 is actually Java 1.6- the naming style Java uses is somewhat odd. Either batch change or the extension would be a good choice here, and you can find more details about using Batch Change here, as well as in the Moneydance User Guide.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance,
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
Angie Rauscher closed this discussion on 23 Jan, 2012 03:01 AM.
davet65 re-opened this discussion on 23 Jan, 2012 09:52 PM
6 Posted by davet65 on 23 Jan, 2012 09:53 PM
What happens with either method if the Category that I want to change is part of a split? When I do a search as suggested, the transactions often come up showing 2 or 3 splits and the Category I want to change is one of those.
7 Posted by ljb on 24 Jan, 2012 01:22 AM
The trick to merging categories is to do it from the category-account side, not the regular (bank, asset, etc) account side. Find any transaction using the category you want to remove, and right-click Show Other Side (this is only one way to get there). Now you are seeing every transaction from or to that category, and splits are not an issue. Select everything there and use Batch Change > Account (not Category) and pick the new category. That's right, you are batch changing the account, because you are looking at the "other side" of the transactions.
Be careful, as you cannot undo a category merge without locating and selecting each transaction individually.
(I know there were other threads on this, but search isn't finding them...?)
Support Staff 8 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 24 Jan, 2012 01:44 AM
LJB is correct, the way to do this if you're dealing with splits is to do it from the Category view. Please remember, changing the Category of a transaction changes the information which is currently in the Category field of the transaction. Changing the Account of the transactions will move them out of the current account (or category) register into a different account (or category) register.
Remember, always make sure you're making backups before doing any major changes to your data file, just in case!
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
9 Posted by davet65 on 24 Jan, 2012 02:46 AM
LJB & Angie and all,
Thanks for the responses and particularly the clarifications regarding handling splits. I would have made a mess, I'm sure, but I understand this now.
I had even forgotten about accessing ALL Accounts, including CategoryAccounts using the drop down at the very upper left hand corner :-) .
davet65 closed this discussion on 24 Jan, 2012 02:46 AM.