VSCode mainbeanfile: no effect

[Dr-Nuke]

I'd love to use the autocomplete feature based on my full ledger, but i can't get it working. Any suggestions?

[SOLVED: see solution at the bottom of this opening post]

System: WSL Ubuntu 18.04 & VSCode, beancount extension

steps to reproduce:

1. in terminal, cd to main bean folder
2. enter "code ."
3. in the vscode window, look for the setting "beancount.mainBeanFile" and override default to "~/pathToLedgerFolder/LedgerFiles/main.bean" Question: should this be in user or workspace preferences? I put it in both to be sure.
4. make file child.bean and add the line "include child.bean" to main.bean. save main.bean.
5. open child.bean, enter the following incomplete transaction and observe no autocomplete suggestions:
   

intended behavior:
show suggestions from main.bean and all included files (image from within main.bean:

I also made the settings.json with

{
    "beancount.mainBeanFile": "~/pathToLedger/LedgerFolder/Ledgerfiles/main.bean"
}

according to the scheme below. I wonder how it relates to the user/workspace settings of vscode

BeanFolder
├── ledgerFiles
│ ├── .vscode
│ │ └── settings.json
│ └── main.bean

SOLUTION

The cause of the problem was

1. me specifying an absolute path of the main.bean file where a relative path is required.
2. me using "~/" instead of "home/" for specifying the python path.

so i could fix the problem by changing

{
    "beancount.mainBeanFile": "~/pathToLedger/BeanFolder/Ledgerfiles/main.bean",
    "beancount.python3Path": "~/path/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3"
}

to

{
    "beancount.mainBeanFile": "main.bean",
    "beancount.python3Path": "home/path/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3"
}

just to be clear, these lines need to be

BeanFolder
├── ledgerFiles
│   ├── .vscode
│   │   └── settings.json  <- in this file
│   └── main.bean

you can find the correct relative path by right clicking the main.bean in the explorer pane:

the correct python path you can find by entering which python3 and copy-pasting the answer

[edit]
with these 2 paths in my Workspace Setting I managed to activate auto completion without the restriction of having the main bean folder as vscode working space folder.

[Lencerf]

Have installed Python3 and beancount, and set beancount.python3Path to the correct path?

[Dr-Nuke]

yes:

{
    "beancount.mainBeanFile": "~/pathToLedger/BeanFolder/Ledgerfiles/main.bean",
    "beancount.python3Path": "~/path/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3"
}

BeanFolder
├── LedgerFiles
│ ├── .vscode
│ │ └── settings.json <- in this file
│ └── main.bean

[Lencerf]

Can you please open VSCode's Output panel and switch to beancount to show me the content like this?

[Dr-Nuke]

yes. it says

try finding a valid bean file...user specified a main bean file with a relative path...
find no valid bean files.
try finding a valid bean file...user specified a main bean file with a relative path...
find no valid bean files.

so i guess the the file specification is not at the correct place or the vscode workspace folder is a wrong one. i wondered about that and how to find out.

[Lencerf]

Can you please try opening BeanFolder as your workspace and set beancount.mainBeanFile to "main.bean" in workspace settings? If this still does not work, what is the output?

[Dr-Nuke]

[wanted to edit my previous post but you commented quicker]
i found the message say "relative path", where i specified absolute paths. i changed the settings string above to only the file name (so without path) and the file seems to be recognized now. the new output is

try finding a valid bean file...user specified a main bean file with a relative path...
running ~/path/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3 /home/path/.vscode-server/extensions/lencerf.beancount-0.5.6/pythonFiles/beancheck.py,/home/path/myfiles/Beanfolder/ledgerfiles/main.bean,--payeeNarration to refresh data...
error: Error: spawn ~/path/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3 ENOENT

this error is probably related to node.js and not of beancount's concern, according to
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27688804/how-do-i-debug-error-spawn-enoent-on-node-js
... on the verge of solveing the next error :D

[Lencerf]

I guess the issue is ~ in beancount.python3Path. Maybe you can try a full path?

[Dr-Nuke]

I guess the issue is ~ in beancount.python3Path. Maybe you can try a full path?

you nailed it. that fixed it. now the suggestions in child.bean are properly displayed. i will edid the opening post with the solution and then we can close this.

thanks a ton for your help & suggestions!

[Dr-Nuke]

reopening this thread.
I migrated my beancount setup to a new computer, and the plugin fails again.

WSL2 Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

as before, settings.json and file structure is

{
    "beancount.mainBeanFile": "home/pathToLedger/BeanFolder/Ledgerfiles/main.bean",
    "beancount.python3Path": "home/pathto/miniconda3/envs/Bean/bin/python3"
}

BeanFolder
├── LedgerFiles
│ ├── .vscode
│ │ └── settings.json <- in this file
│ └── main.bean
│ └── includeFile1.bean
│ └── includeFile2.bean
│ └── includeFile3.bean
│ └── includeFile4.beann

The beancount extension ouput reads, when I select open my main.bean file:

try finding a valid bean file...user did not specify a main bean file in settings...use the bean file in current editor.
running python3 /home/path/.vscode-server/extensions/lencerf.beancount-0.9.1/pythonFiles/beancheck.py,/home/pathtoLedger/BeanFolder/LedgerFiles/main.bean,--payeeNarration to refresh data...
try finding a valid bean file...user did not specify a main bean file in settings...use the bean file in current editor.
Data refreshed.

the affected files show

where every transaction has the tooltip for unknown accounts:

the problem seems to randomly occur and disappear when i click through the importfiles

any suggestions? Is there a way to debug the extension?
Thanks!

the beancount output mentions lencerf.beancount-0.9.1, where the installed beancount from pip has version 2.3.5

[Dr-Nuke]

Can you please try opening BeanFolder as your workspace

i indeed opened the main folder in a new vscode window, et voila, it works.
Any Idea how to tweak my standard workspace such that this still works?
However, this will be a temporary workaround.