GnuCash currently provides rudimentary automated stcok quote abilities. If an account is properly configured, and the host computer is connected to the internet, the binary gnc-prices can be used to load stock or mutual fund price quotes from various web sites directly into GnuCash.
To make use of this feature, the following must be done:
A sample image is shown below:
To update the prices stored in a gnucash account file, run the command line command gnc-price, specifying the filename; for example:
gnc-prices myaccts.xacRunning this command will print various diagnostic messages to the screen while it loads data. It will work only when the host computer is attached to the internet. It will work if the host is behind a masq-style firewall. It does not currently work from behind proxy or socks-style firewalls. The command can be run many times in one day; however, it will update the accounts at most once with the most recent trading days price data. Thus, if gnc-prices is run on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, only two price entires will be made: one containing Friday's data, and one containing Monday's data, since the Saturday and Sunday runs will only retreive the Friday closing price. To keep gnc-prices from updating one account, while allowing it to update another account, merely mark the data source for that account as "(none)". You can do this from the "Edit Account" window.
After running gnc-prices for a few days, your accounts will begin to resemble the following: