<null> suddenly appears in bank balance column (Q Essentials)

Joelker

I just noticed that the term "<null>" now appears on every row of the bank balance column. I'm using an old version of Quicken Essentials for Mac (ver.1.7.2) which has worked fine for years. I recently upgraded my operating system to El Capitan 10.11.6 but I don't know if the problem occurred only after I did the OS upgrade. Help!

Joelker

Well...I found out what the problem is! I had last left a filter for 'expenses only' on the checking account, which made the balance column show <null>. As soon as I cleared the filter, the balances pooped back up. Oops, I mean popped back up. ;)
You 2 are so kind to give me the benefit of your time and expertise.

jacobs

I never used Essentials, and it has been discontinued for several years, so the only thing I can think to suggest is to make sure your register is sorted in date order. I believe this is the same as the later Quicken Mac programs, where you click on the Date column heading to make the register sort by that column. The balance is undefined if you're not in ascending or descending date order.

If that doesn't fix it, perhaps someone else here who remembers using Essentials will be able to offer a different idea.  

Joelker

The register is sorted in date order already, and "<null>" shows for every entry in the balance column. Any other ideas about what to do?
If necessary, can I migrate from Essentials to a new version of Quicken and not lose my data history?
...and Thanks Jacobs for trying to help me.

jacobs

To answer your second question first, yes, you can get the current Quicken Mac and it will import your Essentials data file. 

But this seems like something that might have an easier answer; I'm just not familiar enough with Essentials. Let's see if someone more familiar with Essentials can help. @John_in_NC are you around?

Joelker

It may be useful to know that the other bank account, which has very few entries, does show bank balances.

John_in_NC

1.7.4 was the last release, but I don't know if that will resolve this.

Forgive me, as my memory as all I have to go on, but I do vaguely recall seeing something about this years ago (2011?) 

CORRUPT! would show up the in the database column fields if there is SQL database corruption. But that doesn't rule out permissions errors that can cause all sorts of weird issues if the file was not store locally.

What country and currency are you using for this account? I question if that is the source of problems.

Joelker

I'm up here in Boston and use US currency. I just updated to Essentials 1.7.4 and am still getting <VOID> in the Balance column.
Maybe the best thing for me to do is migrate to another version of Quicken.
Which product would you recommend I migrate to? I'm using it for basic checking & savings account functions for a small non-profit for which I'm treasurer.
Thanks to both of you for extending yourself to help me out.

jacobs

It still seems odd to me that this problem would have suddenly pooped up, and I can't imagine why the upgrade to your macOS would have had anything to do with it.

In terms of upgrading to the current Quicken, there is really just a single application with three different subscription levels. I wouldn't recommend the bottom-level Quicken Starter because it has a number of limitations. Quicken Deluxe is the middle level you should get. The top-tier Quicken Premier only adds online bill payment and priority telephone support, which isn't worth the added cost.

I am hopeful that if you upgrade, there isn't any corruption in your database which prevents a smooth migration. (But know that any Quicken purchase is fully refundable within 30 days of purchase, if you find the new version doesn't work for you.)

Joelker

Is there any way to check to see if the database has been corrupted before I migrate to Quicken Deluxe?

jacobs

Not that I know of. But corruption of the modern SQL database is extremely rare. 

If you have backups going back before this started happening, you could try restoring and opening one of those backups to see if the problem is absent in the backup.

Or, as I mentioned, you could try Quicken 2019 to see if it solves your problem. It won't affect your Quicken Essentials application or data file, so if you find it doesn't help and would prefer to go back to Essentials (assuming a backup file doesn't have the "null" problem), you can just ditch the Quicken 2019 application and data file. (Although it's probably better for you in the long run to jump to the current technology instead of staying on an unsupported old version.)

UKR

jacobs said:

It still seems odd to me that this problem would have suddenly pooped up, 

Uhhh, dno't yuo htae it wehn typos sneak in?

jacobs

Not when the shoe fits… "pooped up" seems to describe the situation pretty well! (I'm a terrible typist, and my posts are unfortunately riddled with them.)

John_in_NC

I agree that upgrading might not be the solution-yet.

Do the balances as calculated at the top of the register work? (Each mode? Projected, Today's, etc.) 

I fired up Essentials 1.7.4 on an old MBP running El Cap. 

Here is what I would try if it were I

1. Make a backup of your datafile
2. Go into the disobedient account
3. File:Export: Export Transactions to CSV
4. Locate this file and open it in Excel or other suitable SS program

Inspect your data. Does the balance column look correct? Do you see corrupt data? Can you sum the column to see if Excel is treating the column as numbers? 

If you see nothing out of the ordinary, then:

1. When back in Essentials, create a new account via the + sign at the lower left. (Skip the online setup: click on options and choose Manual)
2. Go back to the problematic account, and command+A to select all the transactions.
3. Drag the transactions over to the new account's name in the sidebar to move them.

Does the balance column work in this newly created account?

Oh, and Boston isn't a foreign country-it is a different world. At least to us But that shouldn't be causing your <null> problem.

Joelker

Well...I found out what the problem is! I had last left a filter for 'expenses only' on the checking account, which made the balance column show <null>. As soon as I cleared the filter, the balances pooped back up. Oops, I mean popped back up. ;)
You 2 are so kind to give me the benefit of your time and expertise.

jacobs

Great! Glad it's fixed, and that it was something easy. I thought there had to be a simple solution, but I wasn't familiar enough with the Essentials interface to know it had those filters (which have carried over the Quicken 2019).