Quicken 2007 stock price entry limit

PershPerson

I am running for Mac both fully updated Quicken 2007 and a current Quicken subscription on macOS Mojave 10.14.6. There are features of Quicken 2007 I really like for stock price history until I am forced to abandon 2007. I have been entering one stock's price in Quicken since 1997. Today, Quicken 2007 would not accept entering the stock's price unless I remove an entry for the stock from any point in the past. Other stocks with many fewer entries allow a new price entry. Is there a limit to the number of entries for a stock price, and can this be limit be overcome somehow? Thanks much!

jacobs

Quicken 2007 has limits on lots of the tables in its database, as was typical of databases that date back to the 1980s or 90s. I've repeatedly run into a "transaction file is full" message, blocking me from entering another transaction until I delete some from the past. I don't know enough about the inner workings of the Quicken 2007 database to know how stock prices for various stocks are stored, but I think you've laid out the options: delete some of the older entries for that stock which aren't consequential, or perhaps enter them as a separate stock if it will allow that.

There are no magic buttons to push to expand the limits of tables sizes in Quicken 2007.

You could try Save A Copy, which actually re-writes the data file a record at a time into a new file. The new file structure might free up some space that's not available in your existing file (although if it did, I suspect the victory would be short-lived). 

PershPerson

Thank you very much for your response. I apparently cannot complete the save a copy procedure as I get the attached message.

PershPerson

If I click OK with the message the save a copy process stops.

Thanks

jacobs

I should have thought to ask what version of macOS are you running (or more specifically, if your hard disk is formatted in the APFS format). Save A Copy, like automatic backups, fails on APFS-formatted drives. Most Macs on Mojave (10.14) have been formatted with APFS, and some with High Sierra (10.13) depending on the type of hard drive. If you have an external drive formatted with the older HFS+ format, you can copy your Quicken application and data file there, launch it there, and it will likely work.

PershPerson

Yes, my SSD is APFS formatted. All my external drives are formatted the same way. I guess I will just have to remove really old stock prices here and there to make room for the recent prices. Thank you very much for your help!!!

smayer97

If you know how to use macOS Disk Utility you can easily create an HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) partition/volume on any drive (it is really not hard to do). Then move all copies of your data file (including backups) to that volume. THEN the "Save a copy" and other file management features will work.

jacobs

Just keep in mind that if you do all what @smayer97 correctly describes, it may not solve your problem. There are some hard limits in Quicken 2007 database tables, and you may just be up against one of them.

Oh, one other thing we haven't suggested to try: reindex your data file. First, quit Quicken and make a copy of it, just in case; this procedure is not known to create problems, but one never knows…). Relaunch Quicken, and press Command+Option+B. This will cause Quicken to re-index your data. If the error message you are seeing is a result on any corruption in the database, this may fix it; if not, you'll still be up against the same limit.

PershPerson

Yes, Command+Option+B to reindex the file was the first thing I tried.

smayer97

That is completely inaccurate. Re-index the file using CMD-OPT-B ONLY re-indexes the register transactions. To perform maintenance on the investments transactions and pricing, do one of the following, as appropriate:

1. Command (⌘)-Option (⌥)-U in Portfolio Window (window must be open) - Rebuild Prices (based on transactions) - Note you may lose any extra prices not related to specific transactions.
   
2. Command (⌘)-Option (⌥)-L in Brokerage Register Window - repair SINGLE register - also resets to FIFO method
   
3. Command (⌘)-Option (⌥)-L in Portfolio Window - repair ALL registers - also resets to FIFO method
4. There is an export/import procedure that can also be used if you want to preserve ALL price entries, but that is a little more involved (but not too complicated). Let me know if you need this and I can document.
   

NOTE: Before performing ANY re-indexing or rebuilding exercises, make sure you have sound backups.

PershPerson

for 1) I definitely don't want to lose any extra prices not related to specific transactions.
for 2) the stock is in three brokerage accounts (registers)
for 3) if I repair all registers, what are the ramifications of resetting to First in first out?
therefore, though I don't want to ask you to do more work maybe I need to perform your last procedure option.

right now I will try your third option on a backup copy.

Thanks to you both so far!

jacobs

smayer97 said:

1. Command (⌘)-Option (⌥)-U in Portfolio Window (window must be open) - Rebuild Prices (based on transactions) - Note you may lose any extra prices not related to specific transactions.

I didn't suggest that because the user says they have been manually entering stock prices, and as you note, this I thought this just updates share prices and number of shares based on transactions and would lose manually-entered prices.

What do the repair investment register commands do? I'm not familiar with those.

PershPerson

smayer97 is correct in that I have been manually entering the price on the stock since 1997 and that is exactly what I don't want to lose. I just made three backups. One Backup I will now try Command+option+L, when I am in portfolio window, and see what happens. I assume being in portfolio window means click on that window before I execute the command.

PershPerson

This is what comes up right after I complete Command+Option+L. I am not concerned about FIFO since I use FIFO anyway.

PershPerson

Well…. the portfolio window still won't accept today's price. Drat.

smayer97

jacobs said:

smayer97 said:

1. Command (⌘)-Option (⌥)-U in Portfolio Window (window must be open) - Rebuild Prices (based on transactions) - Note you may lose any extra prices not related to specific transactions.

I didn't suggest that because the user says they have been manually entering stock prices, and as you note, this I thought this just updates share prices and number of shares based on transactions and would lose manually-entered prices.

What do the repair investment register commands do? I'm not familiar with those.

I suggested it because suggesting a file reindexing using CMD-OPT-B would definitely not address the OP's issue. And sometimes it comes down to prioritizing and making tough options of possibly sacrificing something if it achieves a bigger goal.

Pre-Lion version (16.0.x) reindexing used to take only a few seconds but in the Lion version (16.1.x or higher) they changed things and now it takes up to a minute (for my file). So who knows what repairs are performed for any of these 'repair' and 're-indexing' functions, since they are not documented.

@PershingPerson the procedures I listed are for the purpose of a "it can't hurt to try" approach but there is no guarantee that any will work. Even #4 may not solve your issue. Even the "Save a copy" option may not work. BUT it can't hurt to try.

BTW, creating an HFS+ volume (needed to be able to use "Save a copy") is easily reversible if you don't get the results you want. One of the things that is known with this feature is that it makes a copy by recreating a new file entry by entry, cleaning out any "junk" and recovers deleted space in a file (as alluded to by @jacobs), so if nothing else works, it may be worth the effort to try.

smayer97

Given that downloading functionality is constantly changing, I am not sure if the following would still work with option #1, but you can also try re-importing the last 5 years of price data (assumes you have the correct symbol for your securities) by selecting Online > Get Historical Prices then select 5 years from the dropdown menu.

smayer97

As for #4, no worries... You will be exporting and re-importing your security prices using QIF data file but deleting the prices in between... here are the steps:

1. With your data file open, select File > Export > Selected Items to QIF.
2. Select Security Prices and click the Export button.
3. Quit Quicken.

The next step is to re-import the QIF file created in step 1. Ideally, you want to import this into a new "repaired" data file, such as one created with the 'Save a Copy" feature. Once you have selected a data file, you first have to remove any existing price data, as follows:

1. Right-click on your data file (have good backups) and select Show Package Contents
   
2. Open the Contents folder.
   
3. Drag the Quotes document (should have a gold dollar sign icon) to anywhere temporarily, like the Desktop.
4. Close the folder for your data file.
5. Open the data file with Quicken.
   
6. The final step is to re-import the QIF file. Select File > Import > QIF
7. After the import is complete, check the results. If all goes well and you are satisfied, you can trash the Quotes document you dragged out in step 3.

Let us know how it goes.

PershPerson

Yesterday, so I could enter the most recent stock price I decided I would remove prices starting in 1997. In Excel, I am keeping track of the date and price removed, and the day I removed the price .

I have to go to work, but I will try option 4 on a file copy tonight after work.

Thanks to both of you for your help.

PershPerson

When I try to import the QIF file "quotes", Quicken will not allow me to select the "quotes" file. It does not matter where I place the "quotes" file; on my desktop or in my documents folder.

PershPerson

Trying to show hidden files with command+shift+dot in the finder does not work either. The faded image of the "quotes" icon as if it was a hidden file is all I can see.

smayer97

A QIF file is strictly a txt file so you should be able to vie wit with QuickLook or TextEdit.

BUT if the icon is faded, that suggests the file was not created properly. If so, this may be as a result of saving the file to an APFS formatted volume. It seems that all file management related functions are not compatible with that format.

Therefore, you may have no choice but to create an HFS+ volume to carry out all these file related functions (again, really not hard, and is easily reversible).

PershPerson

Many files were faded in the Quicken browse file window to locate the "Quotes" file, not just the "Quotes" file. At this point I am thinking, that though it may be easy to make a HFS volume, I can just remove older prices, and I just don't know that it is worth all this work if, as jacobs indicates, there eventually is a hard limit to how many prices I can load.

PershPerson

@ Smayer97 I think you may be right about all file management for Quicken 2007 under, now, APFS format.

PershPerson

When I open the quotes file with the text edit program all I see is a blinking cursor, with no content.

smayer97

Not sure WHICH Quotes file you are trying to open. The one you should be able to see with TextEdit is the exported QIF file, not the Quotes file removed from within the Quicken data file.

If that is the one you are seeing as blank, then the export did not work. If so, it seems like the only way for the export to work is to create that HFS+ volume.