11.2. Installing Finance::Quote
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11.2. Installing Finance::Quote

To determine if the Perl module Finance::Quote is already installed on your system, type perldoc Finance::Quote in a terminal window and check to see if there is any documentation available. 

$ perldoc Finance::Quote
NAME
    Finance::Quote - Get stock and mutual fund quotes from various exchanges

SYNOPSIS
    [...]

If you are now shown documentation, then Finance::Quote is already installed and you can configure periodical quotes update as described in Section 11.3.3, “Updating Quotes Automatically with gnucash-cli”. If no documentation is displayed, you will have to continue with this chapter.

Expected Time Commitment

Depending on the quality of your internet connection and CPUs the initial installation can keep your computer one hour or more busy.

The process of installing Finance::Quote depends on the system. For the different supported systems, you can follow the instructions below:

Procedure 11.4. On Linux

  1. Close GnuCash.

  2. Next, update Finance::Quote with sudo gnc-fq-update.

    Tip

    If that fails with sudo: gnc-fq-update: Command not found enter which gnc-fq-update. It might return a path like /usr/local/bin/gnc-fq-update. Redo the command with that returned path: sudo /usr/local/bin/gnc-fq-update.

  3. Run the gnucash-cli --quotes info command to verify that the program is already in a directory that is entered in the PATH environment variable. [8]

  4. If Finance::Quote works properly, the command returns the version number of Finance::Quote module currently installed as well as a list of sources available via the Finance::Quote module. It will also inform you if there is a problem with your installation or if it is missing, and may suggest a fix.

Procedure 11.5. On macOS

Note

You must be logged in with a user id that can administer the mac to use this procedure.

  1. Close GnuCash.

  2. Install Xcode [9] if it is not installed. It contains devel tools, which are required by CPAN to build and test the needed Finance::Quote modules.

  3. Open a Finder window, select Applications from the sidebar, double-click Utilities in the file area, then double-click on Terminal to open Terminal.

  4. In the Terminal window enter sudo /Applications/Gnucash.app/Contents/Resources/bin/gnc-fq-update. That script asks lots of questions. Accept the default for each.

  5. Type exit or Ctrl+D to terminate the shell followed by Command+Q to quit Terminal.

Procedure 11.6. On Windows

  1. Close GnuCash.

  2. Run Install Online Price Retrieval for GnuCash. This is a small utility that installs Finance::Quote for you.


[8] If you’ve installed GnuCash packages provided by your distribution, gnucash-cli will be on your PATH. The Finance::Quote version provided by your package manager can be checked at Finance::Quote-versions or by using your package manager's info command.

[9] You can install Xcode from the App Store or install the much smaller Xcode command line tools by running sudo xcode-select --install from a Terminal.app prompt.

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11.1. Installing Perl Up 11.3. Using gnucash-cli for Testing and Automation.