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Michael Hannah

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Posts posted by Michael Hannah

  4. Posted · Report reply

    How did you create a separate Project of this group of individuals?  Did you use a Flag (e.g. FLAGNAME='Y') for a Filter and the Secondary Output of a report to create the separate Project?

    If so, you can do the reverse using a reverse filter (e.g. FLAGNAME='N') and the Secondary Output, BUT...

    As I mention in my on-line book in the section Project Files with Customizations, to retain all your customizations of your main project you must do this in steps.  If you simply create a new "Project" you will lose your customizations and create a new Project using the standard TMG defaults of any new Project.  However, if you create a new "Dataset" within an existing Project, that new Dataset will retain the customizations of that Project.  As with any major action to a Project always do a backup first.  Then do the following steps:

    • Create a new "Dataset" within your main Project using the Secondary Output with a filter which selects everyone except the large group of individuals you removed (e.g. FLAGNAME='N').  Assuming you are starting with only one Dataset this will create a new Dataset numbered "2".
    • Now use the Dataset Manager feature on the main TMG File menu and Delete the original main Dataset, which should still be the Dataset numbered "1".  (This is safe because you did do the backup first, right?)  Accept the suggestion to Optimize the Project.
    • Finally use the Dataset Manager to renumber the remaining smaller Dataset which is still numbered "2" to Dataset numbered "1".
    • To finish, run the Optimize / Validate / Optimize routines and make a new backup of this new smaller Project.

    Your Project will now retain your customizatons, and the original ID numbers for individuals, but only have everyone except your group of separated people, and thus have gaps in your ID numbers.  If you wish to use these now unused ID numbers when you add new people, use the F2 keyboard function key as described in my book here.

    Hope this is what you desire,

    Michael

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Pat,

    Yes, the PE will retain the fact that it is filtered when you exit and run that filter when you reopen even if its subwindow is not open.  That is why if I am using a filtered PE a lot I change to a saved Layout which includes the PE subwindow. While I try to remember to turn off the filter, if  I forget to turn it off when I exit, when I reopen TMG the PE subwindow will be there to remind me that it is still filtered.

    10 hours ago, Elderflower said:

    I found that working from the PE was quicker as I could just click on the right arrow and the next person to be amended loaded much faster.

    But as you observed you can also right click on a person in the Focus group and select "Change focus to this person".  I find that pretty quick and is not bothered by the entry in the Focus Group being too long.

    I prefer the Focus group method because often a cleanup needs to search for people in the PE as I am working, so I don't want the PE unavailable because of a filter.  Also since a filtered PE is often recalculating the filter, I find it a performance drain.

    Just my way of working.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, beetle3247 said:

    When creating a new project I would like to use the master source list I have in my main project.

    Maintaining sources and customizations from an existing project to a new project unfortunately is more complex than would immediately be perceived.  I have a separate chapter of my on-line book dealing just with import and export of the various parts of TMG projects and their datasets.

    https://www.mjh-nm.net/IMEXPORT.HTML

    Quote

    When I import the sources from the main project I notice two things: 1) I am missing many of the sources, and 2) they've been renumbered.

    There are many ways to do something called "import the sources".  Explaining what sources you get will depend upon understanding "exactly" what you are doing to import and what is receiving the import.  The comments in the very first section titled "Sources, Source Types and Source Elements" of that chapter include how only some of these items may wind up being imported, and discuss numbering.

    https://www.mjh-nm.net/IMEXPORT.HTML#ImportSource

    If you are actually using the TMG feature to "export" sources and then "import" sources this is likely to cause what you are seeing.  Sources and source types are specific to an individual dataset within a project. Only those sources and source types defined in the dataset of the current focus person will be available for export.

    If you wish to create a new empty project which contains all the master sources, source types, and source elements from an existing dataset within an existing project, there is a way to do it, but it is more complicated.  I describe this in the section "Project Files with Customizations" in the subtopic "Retain Sources and Repositories".  The trick is NOT to create a new empty "Project" and then later try to import.  Instead:

    • Create a new "dataset" within the project specifying what you wish to retain from the current dataset, e.g. the sources, etc.
    • Close the project within TMG and then use TMG to copy the entire project with its new empty dataset into a new named project
    • Open and delete all datasets in the new project except the new empty one, and renumber the empty dataset to ‘1’ (This is a good time to do the maintenance routines on this new project)
    • Go back to your original project and delete the added empty dataset

    Now you can begin adding data to the empty dataset in the new Project.  If you have already added data which you wish in this new project to some other dataset or project you can then take the appropriate actions to merge or import that data into this empty dataset.

    Hope this gives you ideas,

    Michael

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Hi David,

    Your confusion is common.  The term "Witness" has multiple very different uses in TMG which is the cause of the confusion:

    First, there are all the people who are linked to a tag whether by the two boxes at the top left or by using the Add Witness area in the lower right on the Tag Entry window.  In many cases TMG considers all of these linked people using the collective term "witnesses" to the tag.

    There will be one or two of these "people/witnesses" to the tag linked by using the two boxes at the top left.  These linked people are also called principals, and by default are assigned the role "Principal" but may be assigned some other role.

    Any people/witnesses linked by using the Add Witness area in the lower right are usually what most people think of as the (only) witnesses to the tag.  These linked people by default are assigned the role "Witness" but may be assigned some other role.

    Your confusion occurs with the "List of Witnesses" report.  This report uses the first meaning above, namely all of the people linked to a tag are witnesses.  I suggest thinking of this report as a "List of Linked People" report.  So a person will be included in this report however they may be linked to the tag, and by whatever role.

    I suggest your report would be more understandable if you added an additional column.  After "witid" and before "tagtype" include the column type "Witness Role".  You will see that a person/witness listed may have the role "Principal" in one tag and "Witness" in another, etc.  Thus they may be P1 or even P2 in that tag.

    You could Filter the report by the condition Role does not begin with the text "Principal", but the report would still include people linked as a principal with some other role.

    Hope this helps explain what you are seeing,

    Michael

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Bob,

    You mention that the exhibits were not found during a backup.  Are you really including your "several thousand" image exhibits within the TMG backup?  Almost everyone will encourage you to have your image exhibits at "external" exhibits, and to NOT include them within the TMG backup.  These are much better handled by separately backing up the exhibits folder using some Windows backup facility.

    Michael

  12. Posted · Report reply

    On 10/1/2018 at 11:07 AM, Mike Rommel said:

    Additionally there may be a virus on your site.

    First, Mike, you need to understand the term "your site" is not really correct. WhollyGenes discontinued its support for TMG on July 29, 2014. The only people responding on this list are users like Jim and I who are trying to continue to help other users as best we can.

    As for a virus on the site, while that may be the case downloads have just been done by others as a test without an issue. So it seems more likely your own computer has an issue.

    Quote

    When I downloaded the TMG file, I received an automatic download of the 'Web Discover Browser' and additional content...

    WebDiscover Browser is definately considered to be malware by many people. What may be the case is that some action has hijacked your computer's download process and will try to (also) download WebDiscover every time you try to download anything else. A quick Google search for "WebDiscover Browser" noted many sites with various instructions on how to try to remove this.

    Sorry you are having problems. Good luck,

    Michael

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Charles,

    As Jim and Terry noted, if you specified 50 people as the Subject(s) of the report in the Report Definition (possibly by specifying a Focus Group created by adding descendants) you will get 50 reports each starting its own page.  And if you are getting only that one person per each page, check what you have specified as the number of generations of descendants to list for each subject.  That value is in the Report Options on the General tab just under the report title.  It sounds like that value may be just one.  Instead you probably want only one person as the Subject of the report (e.g. the farthest back person in the Focus Group), but set the number of generations to some large enough number to get all their 50 descendants.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    When you want something to appear in TMG output but not SecondSite, and vice versa, the embedded formatting codes Terry mentions generally are the answer.  One way to use these codes is to use two separate tags, one which hides its output from TMG but not from SecondSite, and the other the reverse.

    I have used two tags, but I usually choose to include both output in a single tag.  That means you combine both the codes Terry mentioned together:

    [HID:][SS-HID:][:HID] ... TMG only content ... [HID:][:SS-HID][SS:] ... SS only content ... [:SS][:HID]

    Hope this makes things clearer,

    Michael

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Susan,

    My first question would be how the program was "restored".  If your husband used some kind of Windows backup program to simply back up the program files, and then just restored those files, that will not work.  The program must actually be "installed".  To keep a copy of the program which can be used to re-install it at any time, you only need to retain a copy of the one file which is the TMG installer program itself for that version of the software.  You probably downloaded that file at some point when either you bought the program or upgraded the program.

    At this point it may be possible to repair what you have.  If you can find that one installer program file, run that file as Administrator.  It will provide an option to "Repair" TMG.  Do that and see if that helps.

    If not, then ask again and one of us other users may have something else to try.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Since my main output is Second Site and has settings to display non-Primary parents of a child, I use the Foster relationship tag type but do not set these parents as Primary.  Then I also create a custom NarrativeChildren tag for these parents and link the Foster child as a Witness to that tag with a custom sentence template  (with separate parts for TMG and SecondSite output) so that the family list of children makes it clear which are biological and which foster children. (I choose to use the one NarrativeChildren tag type with an appropriate complex custom template rather then two tag types so I only have to create/use one type of tag for this.)

    This way one will see the foster parents listed in the child's SS page as foster parents, and the child listed in a parent's SS page as a foster child.

    I only assign biological parents as Primary, as even for foster children I want to link them if I can find them.

    Quote

    In the mid1920s he was kind of informally "adopted" by this family because he was abandoned by his own.

    I would include information about this situation in custom "adoption" event tags which link the child to both sets of parents so this information is not lost.

    I am still adding notes to the "Adoption" section of my on-line TMG book, especially dealing with the NarrativeChildren tag and its custom templates, but you might look at what I have currently described as ways to record such events.

    https://www.mjh-nm.net/TAGCUSTM.HTML#Adoption

    Hope this gives you ideas,

    Michael

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Sorry, that PAR variable will always output a leading and trailing comma.  The versions of the variables MOTH or FATH produce only the name. However, while you can customize sentences using MOTH and FATH to avoid the automated relationship and commas, the PAR variable automates the handling of all the cases of only one or both parents defined. Notice that all versions of the parent variables output only the primary full names. To obtain other versions of the names Witness roles must be used, which would also have the problem of cases of only one or both parents defined.

    Thus the only way I know to reliably do what you want is to have the sentence template only the [M] variable and manually type in the output appropriate for that person directly in the memo, possibly using Witnesses.

    Hope this gives you ideas,

  22. Posted · Report reply

    I can't think of an easy way to do this.

    However, you can produce a Columnar type of the List of Sources report which could help using a Filter of:

    Second Person- Other // Is Not Empty // END

    Output the Source "Abbrev" and "Source Number" and you should be able to work your way through these sources.

    I can think of two ways to do this. 

    A- Define a new equivalent but alternate Source Type for each current Source Type which uses "Second Person", where the "old" Type has templates which include the "Second Person" element, and the "new" Type instead has templates which use the "Record Type" element.  Then change the Source Type of all the affected Sources and cut/paste the data from the now unused Second Person element to the Record Type element.

    You will know which Source Type uses a given element in its templates by the style of the name of that element on the General Tab. A name enclosed in <conditional brackets> means its only uses are <conditional> .An Initial uppercase letter means the element is Required in at least one Pattern sentence and therefore “something” will print for this element. If the element name is all lowercase letters, this element is not defined or used in any Pattern or output sentence for this defined source or source type so anything you enter is not defined to be output anywhere.  Once you change the Type it will be easy to see which name needs its data cut/paste.

    B- This way is probably more prone to error but... Modify all the Source Types which currently use the "Second Person" element to add the new "Record Type" element in the same place in the templates, making sure both elements are conditional.  Now for of all the affected Sources cut/paste the data from the Second Person element to the Record Type element.

    Hope this gives you ideas,

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