Marlene Williamson

I have to say that I have had a number of issues with TMG8 - minor but consistent. In particular, the use of the tab key, or even clicking in another field results in an open.database dialog box. So far in TMG 9. I haven't had this happen. I've had many genealogy recording programs over the years and irrespective of old platforms etc, I greatly appreciate the ability to add events to one individual and attach others to it - a feature which I use extensively and value above all others. I am delighted to have the opportunity to choose to use it or not, and in my case, I choose to. Those who do not find it suits their needs have an enormous range of other applications they can use, if it suits their needs better.

On many occasions and on various screens for data entry, using the Tab key results in the Open dialog, asking for a .dbf file. Repeated pressing of the ESC key lets me out and allows me to continue but it happens frequently. Any suggestions please? Marlene Pirongia, New Zealand

I had just installed the current version of TMG ie 8.08 and have Windows 8. It was happenning before the update, but not, I think, before on Windows 7. The update option deleted my existing installation but did not install the new version, so I downloaded the file and installed and everything looks good. My data files are in DocumentsFamilyTMG data and my program files in the default installation folders. The error is intermittent and I cannot determine any common factor except that it is when adding, viewing or editing the source, witnesses or other extra detail on a tag - no particular tag. Marlene

Have just found that the error is not limited to me using the Tab key - I was in my customised 1841 census tag, sources tab and double clicked to see the source memo. When I clicked OK to exit the same dialog requesting me to open a .dbf file came up. Once i use the Esc key (perhaps about 6 times - I didn't count) I can then click OK and return to the main screen.

It did work but as the view has changed to tabs across the top I can no longer see all the information on one screen as I prefer. My data is not in the same place as the program files - could my use of the keyboard be prompting TMG to ask where the data file is? I am much more a keyboard user than a mouse user :-)

Thanks Virginia- it was not on so have checked it and shall see if that sorts the issue. Thank you so much for your reply.

I have decided that my underlining of the date in sentences is now not as I would like, and I want to change all underlined fields to bold fields. Is there a way to do this that doesn't require each one being changed individually?

I have 9 flags set in my project and 5 accents - but find I am now unable to change a flag on some individuals. There are no error messages - just no change. When looking at the accents my original 5 have replicated themselves becoming eg Will#1 and EndOfLine# many times over. Can anyone suggest what might be going on? Marlene Pirongia, NZ

I have a source that states eg RGO UK (as opposed to RGO Australia, RGO NZ etc) and I use this for all certificates issued under civil registration. The reference for the certificate is placed in the detail and the information from the certificate is in the memo. For me, it is unimportant where I got the certificate as the reference will enable anyone to check it in future, either online, in person or by post. Perhaps this would also work for you. Marlene

Could someone recap and summarise what the latest information from WG is, in relation to the release of V8? Am unable to find it anywhere....

Can anyone tell me how to set an accent for all people who died before reaching a set age eg. 17? Marlene

Brilliant. Thank you.

Hi Ben Here's my solution: 1. Create a custom Tag in the death group (mine is called Buried) 2. Close TMG 3. Use the TMG Utilities program to change all Burials to the new tag. 4. Open TMG again and run the optimise, then Reindex, then Validate File Integrity 5. Check on Children window and you should see that burial dates now appear when death date is not present. I had a look on the fan chart, and provided you choose Show birth and death YEARS rather than Birth and Death dates, it should work. I haven't yet, but am now going to deactivate the original Burial Tag so that I always use my new Buried tag without making mistakes. Hope it works for you. Marlene

I was particularly hoping that the new Buried Tag date would appear in the Death column of the Children window. The individual has a primary christening tag and a primary Buried Tag (my new one created in the Death group). When I select their parent they are shown in the Person Window with a Son-Bio Tag and the christening year appeared in Birth Column of the Children window but the Buried year did not. I had already run the Optimise and reindex routines from Maintenance but have just now run the Validate File Integrity which is the one that worked! So now I can see if I have found burials for children without going to check everyone. Thanks for your help Michael.

Following this conversation and wishing the same result as Paul I created a Buried Tag within the Death group and using the TMG utilities converted all my Burial Events to Buried Events. However, while they are still primary events they do not appear in life spans. Is there a further step? Marlene

Have you found an answer Ben? I also want to amend life span dates without entering extra death events. Marlene

For many individuals I have only christening and burials rather than births and deaths. These are entered as primary tags and there are no Birth nor Death tags at all.. When I look at an individual in the Details: Person window and also have the children window open below, the christening year is shown in the birth column of the children window, but the burial year is not shown in the death column. Is this a setting or is there a way to make this appear? Marlene

Thanks Neil. As an aside I have just tried creating a Buried tag in the Death group in the hopes that it would now appear in the life span but it still doesn't show in the children window. I'm trying not to have to enter extra dates for more than 2000 individuals so will explore every option first.

In my previous software I assigned a number of events to the wrong person (same name). Having just discovered this after my Gedcom import, is there a way to more these 28 events (custom Tag: Newspaper) to the correct person? Marlene

Is there a way to change Lifespan options show baptism and burials where no birth and deaths data is entered? I don't want to add circa yyyy entries for births and deaths for all my individuals ... Marlene

I have sorted it - merely edit the event and change the Principal Persons ID to the desired one....

Is there a way to ensure that a place name in a new tag conforms to the ones already entered in the Master Place List? It would be very helpful to be able to access the Master Place List from the tag entry screen and choose a location, with the fields then being filled in on the Tag screen, rather than to have to attend to any discrepancies afterwards by going into the Master Place List and fixing it up. I am new to TMG so am working out what I can and cannot do before I permanently change over.... Marlene

Thank you both. A related question - can you repeat the previous place style when editing places in the MPL? Or is there a keyboard shortcut to access the place styles list?

I will indeed. I am enjoying TMG so far - its always the transition from the the control of knowing how to do things to learning a new method that is the problem! Perseverance and learning how I can change the system is the key. They say that women always want control! Marlene

Thanks for your ideas Mike. I am currently evaluating whether to change my database of more than 20k individuals over to TMG and I have found in the past that other programs also do not deal with the absence of birth data very well. TMG is unique in its ability to show the baptism date in the pick list, where the birth date is absent and that is great. I currently create my charts manually but was impressed by the TMG charting facility which is very flexible. However more than half of my database individuals have no birth date and I am reluctant to add data just to make reports easier, my plan being to add it only when it adds knowledge or understanding to that individuals life eg. when it becomes obvious that they were baptised at an older age than is usual. I too have many individuals of the same name - at last count more than 160 named John Snell - and find that a suffix denoting origin, and the choice to use expanded pick list and bookmarks enables to find the correct one when adding data. I appreciate your suggestions - thank you for taking time to reply. Marlene