Category no longer kept

[CyberAngel]

It seems that the Category is no longer kept for payees, was that a thing because it seems that since about 4 versions ago it is just putting anything it feels like in that section now?

[whall3y]

Can you confirm what version of MMEX you are using? I'm not aware of any issues with this in the latest, v1.5.20, release.

When you enter the Payee and then tab/move pointer to the category field does it not complete with the saved category?

[CyberAngel]

Can you confirm what version of MMEX you are using? I'm not aware of any issues with this in the latest, v1.5.20, release.

When you enter the Payee and then tab/move pointer to the category field does it not complete with the saved category?

Yes, I am using the latest V1.5.20 release. However this is something I have noticed happening some version before now.

I am not sure if something else is saving an unrelated category or how it is happening, I just know that every now and then the Category for some Payees is wrong. Especially with ones I haven't used for a few years.

[MartinArmstrong]

What setting do you have in Options | Others | Default Deposit/Withdrawal Category ?

[CyberAngel]

What setting do you have in Options | Others | Default Deposit/Withdrawal Category ?

Last used for payee.

[MartinArmstrong]

The problem was discussed at length and was partially addressed for 1.5.20 here https://github.com/moneymanagerex/money ... ssues/4886. Issue closed.

But with further discussion of the less than ideal behaviour here https://github.com/moneymanagerex/money ... /4954[url][/url]. Issue still open.

[CyberAngel]

The problem was discussed at length and was partially addressed for 1.5.20 here https://github.com/moneymanagerex/money ... ssues/4886. Issue closed.

But with further discussion of the less than ideal behaviour here https://github.com/moneymanagerex/money ... /4954[url][/url]. Issue still open.

Reading through that the assumption nothing is displayed, in my case the wrong category is displayed.

[MartinArmstrong]

@CyberAngel

Reading through that the assumption nothing is displayed, in my case the wrong category is displayed.

Issue 4886 started with:

"After upgrading to 1.5.17 and 1.5.18 it does not keep the last category for a given payee. Instead it selects another category never used before, so you have to select it manually once and again for the same payee. It worked fine until 1.5.17"

That problem was fixed and 1.5.20 should work correctly.

However, you are reporting a problem with 1.5.20. You state: "I just know that every now and then the Category for some Payees is wrong. Especially with ones I haven't used for a few years."

The last category used for a payee is determined separately for each account by looking for the most recent transaction (in terms of date) having that payee and then using the category that was used in that transaction.

When you next see that a 'wrong' category has been applied, please could you filter the transactions to just show those for the payee you used, and then let us know what the 'wrong' category was applied and what category was used in the previous transactions for that payee.

[whall3y]

The last category used for a payee is determined separately for each account by looking for the most recent transaction (in terms of date) having that payee and then using the category that was used in that transaction.

For the category "LAST USED FOR PAYEE" it is not account based and is not looked up in the transaction register. It is actually stored against the PAYEE and you can see the value by opening the "Organize Payees" dialog.

The payee "LAST USED" and the transfer category "LAST USED" are looked up in the transaction register.

Is the default deposit/withdrawal and the transfer category being confused here?

[CyberAngel]

The last category used for a payee is determined separately for each account by looking for the most recent transaction (in terms of date) having that payee and then using the category that was used in that transaction.

For the category "LAST USED FOR PAYEE" it is not account based and is not looked up in the transaction register. It is actually stored against the PAYEE and you can see the value by opening the "Organize Payees" dialog.

The payee "LAST USED" and the transfer category "LAST USED" are looked up in the transaction register.

Is the default deposit/withdrawal and the transfer category being confused here?

I am not sure what you are saying, all I know is that a very few old payees had the wrong Category associated with them. If I filter them to only display them I could see the old category and the new category. This was how I fixed all the recurring entries

[MartinArmstrong]

For the category "LAST USED FOR PAYEE" it is not account based and is not looked up in the transaction register. It is actually stored against the PAYEE and you can see the value by opening the "Organize Payees" dialog.

The payee "LAST USED" and the transfer category "LAST USED" are looked up in the transaction register.

Is the default deposit/withdrawal and the transfer category being confused here?

Thank you for the correction Mark, however I am now confused as to the distinction between the 'Last used for payee' and the 'Use default for payee' settings of the 'Default Deposit/Withdrawal Category' option.

option.png (57.16 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

I thought that:

1. The 'Last used for payee' setting was analogous to the 'Last used' setting of the 'Default Transfer Category', i.e. it is looked up from the transactions (perhaps looking across all accounts, rather than per account as I suggested above)

2. The 'Use default for payee' setting applied what I thought was the user defined 'Default category' as set in Organize Payees dialog - but which I now see is indeed the 'Last Used Category'.

Organize Payees.png (63.39 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

So what is the meaning of the 'Use default for payee' if the value in Organize Categories is always updated to be the Last used value?

[CyberAngel]

Then what Martin is saying is making more confusion than ever.

I use default settings, I have never changed them.

When I enter a payee, the only time that has failed me is when I do a split, but that was understandable for me. The payee's for me that are failing are ones I have hardly used, to some that are yearly once of, or ones I have used every few weeks.

Sometimes the Category has changed without me knowing, and when I see it, I have filtered the list and found it has been an issue for about 10 transactions and the rest are as they should. That means there was one time when it failed, if it is getting the last transaction category used.

At least that is how it appears to me.

[MartinArmstrong]

Then what Martin is saying is making more confusion than ever.

Apologies for that.

With Mark's correction I now realise that I was talking about the way the 'Last used' category for transfers is looked up.

I use default settings, I have never changed them.

OK.

What I don't understand is the difference between the 'Last used for payee' and 'Use default for payee' options. I thought I did but now it's not clear.

[whall3y]

What I don't understand is the difference between the 'Last used for payee' and 'Use default for payee' options. I thought I did but now it's not clear.

The difference is....

"Use default for payee" - The category for the payee is manually maintained by the user, via the Payee Dialog, and is NEVER updated when new transactions are created.
"Last Used for Payee" - The category for the payee is updated whenever a transaction for the payee is created and hence holds the 'last used'. It is also possible for the user to change this in the Payee Dialog if needed.

In both cases you can see what the category is for the payee in the Payee Dialog.

[MartinArmstrong]

The difference is...

Ah. Thanks. That makes sense now.

Please see https://github.com/moneymanagerex/money ... ssues/5082 for a proposed small change to help make this clearer.



UPDATED TO ADD: Proposed change not needed due to Organize Payees dialog already changing the text of the category column heading depending on the Default/Last used category option.