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[GH-ISSUE #321] Add Transaction window should have some data validation #114409
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Reference: github-starred/actual#114409
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Originally created by @Deguello on GitHub (Dec 17, 2021).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/321
After bringing up the New Transaction window, you can immediately press Add Transaction, which will add an essentially blank transaction to the selected account. There's no validation on Payee or Category and there should be, imo. I suppose a $0 amount might be an edge case that could be allowed but, even then, some sort of confirmation dialog might be called for.
@bpaulien commented on GitHub (Dec 17, 2021):
just putting in my $.02... I agree that probably a completely empty transaction shouldn't be allowed, but I'd like to say also that I don't want it locked down so completely tight that you have to fill everything in before you are able to add the transaction. Maybe force one of payee, notes, or category to be filled? Just something to indicate that you intentionally made the transaction. And yeah, I can see a reason for leaving amounts empty or $0.00, so don't necessarily force that.
@esharden commented on GitHub (Dec 17, 2021):
Offering my own 2 cents here. I’d much prefer that empty transactions be allowed rather than being forced to completely fill out all three fields. It’s not something I do every day but often enough that it would severely limit the software’s functionality and usefulness if I couldn’t enter a transaction missing any two of the 3 major fields (payee, category, or amount).
Sometimes I don’t know the payee or it’s completely insignificant (tiny bodega I’ll never visit again or some rando from Craigslist).
Sometimes I’ll leave the category blank because I don’t know yet how I want to categorize. Or because I want to “flag” it, as it were, & have it catch my attention later. Or because it’s a new type of expense and since you can’t create a new category on the fly in Actual, I need to finish entering the details as a placeholder and then circle back and finish it after I create a new category.
And speaking of placeholders, sometimes I leave the amount empty because I don’t know the final total but I need to document that the transaction did happen or is scheduled to happen and I need to finish the transaction later when I know he amount.
@sapphirebound commented on GitHub (Dec 18, 2021):
Maybe we can consider having at least the transaction amount field to be filled as validation? I understand @esharden 's reasoning. However, can't think of a use case for leaving the amount empty.
@samschr commented on GitHub (Dec 18, 2021):
I have several use cases for empty transactions. I used to use reconciliation in YNAB, so I "reconcile" each account with an empty transaction (amount zero) when I cross check it with my bank. I also occasionally use empty transactions as account-specific notes.
With that said, I agree with @bpaulien 's suggestion that at least one of the fields has to have data before allowing the transactions.