Morbius

Yes, the pjc file. I should have mentioned, there wasn't any files in the Project folder, not even in the Sample subfolder. When I restored the backup, I closed out and opened it again, and it seems to be fine. If the program was damaged, I saw no hint of it beyond the fact that the project files had all disappeared. I didn't seen any error messages, but I was getting "thrown out" of the library (they were closing) so there may have been one that I didn't notice.

I use a modified Note Tag titled "Duplicate" to link possible duplicate people. I highlight the tag to it stands out. I then add the new people, possible relations, as unrelated persons, and link possible duplicates with the "Duplicate" tag, with both as principles. This immediately notifies me of possible duplicate people, and allows me to consider new data in that light. If it turns out they are the same, I merge the two and their families. In reports, I usually check the box to not include "Duplicate Tags" unless research into that possibility is the purpose of that report.

My trusty old laptop is beginning to show signs of giving up the ghost, and I need to make sure I can load TMG version 9.05 onto a new laptop. I have backed everything up to external hard drives, but want to make sure I have a good procedure for loading the program and my data onto a new laptop, and would like to solicit comments on how to do this. I think it is simple. Run the file "tmg9setup.exe" then import the backup file. Am I missing something?

The great thing about TMG is the incredible flexibility. The traditional purpose of repository information is, of course, to allow later researchers to find your original source. If that source is a book in a library, the library is the repository. If that source is a document in an archive, the archive is the repository. A little less traditionally, if that source is a headstone in a cemetery, the cemetery is the repository (genealogists have to deal with a lot of untraditional sources). In that regard, there is no practical difference between a library and a residence; the residence where the book can be found is the repository. Though, listing a library where that particular book can be found is likely more useful to latter researchers (people do move from time to time), since it would be easier to find a book in a library than a book in a residence. Since TMG allows for multiple repositories you can list both places as repositories, selecting the most public one as the primary. Thus providing the necessary information for future researchers to find your source.

One additional comment; Terry is absolutely right, the sources and possible data are just too varied to create a standard for data entry. I have tried several ideas, and didn't find one satisfactory. So, focus on how you intend to use the data. if you just want to record information, a MEMO field entry would probalby work. If you are wanting to sort out every one from a particular war, unit, or service, you will find it easier to a DETAIL kind of entry. In the, I think, as Terry suggests, you will find you need be flexible.

I initially used "Mil-Beg" and "Mil-End" tags for entry and exit into service information, and the memo of the more general "Mil-Svc" for all other information, but this didn't quite work. I tend to focus more on war service and the units they served in, so modified these tags to a "Mil-Svc War" and "Mil-Svc Unit", using ​the memo of the more general "Mil-Svc" for the more generalized data. For Example, in "Mil-Svc War" I might enter "Civil War (Confederate Army" and in "Mil-Svc Unit" I would enter "7th Virginia Cavalry, Company K." This give me a great ability to search and sort. In the later instance, I found seven brothers and cousins in the same company of the 7th Virginia that I hadn't realized served together.

Now that I am using reports a lot more, I find myself wishing I had paid more attention to sentence structure. One recurring problem is note tags which contain quotes. The note tag sentence structure consists of "[M]" An example is a note tag (with a single source) with the sentence: The 1910 census lists his occupation as "Grain salesman, feed store." When I generate a report with this sentence I get: The 1910 census lists his occupation as "Grain salesman, feed store.32" where "32" is an endnote. I have been trying to figure out how to get the sentence structure to generate a sentence with the endnote outside of the quotation mark, e.g. The 1910 census lists his occupation as "Grain salesman, feed store."32 I have looked through Terry's Tips and didn't find anything relating to this particular problem. Would anyone have any ideas? thanks

I have reached a point where I have to start generating useful results from years of research. I think the Journal Report would be the best method, but I have no real experience with this report, and was wondering if anyone had any hints or recommendations. I am looking to print and save reports as digital files. All my data for several lines of research are in a single project. There are multiple family lines, and I intend to generate a report for each family, even though some individuals will show up in more than one report. The files for some families will likely be quite large, involving several thousand people with a number of photos as embedded exhibits (only photos, though some individuals have more than one). I expect to generate the reports (one per family line) in MS Word, do the editing, and save as pdf files. I haven't spent much time configuring sentence structure, so there will be significant editing (I have a daughter to help with this, so the reports will be shared via email). I want to include footnotes or endnotes (not sure which is best, but I am thinking endnotes; there will be a lot of them) and a bibliography as part of the report. I am particularly interested in hints on dealing with endnotes/footnotes and the exhibits. I am also wondering about potential problems with the very large wird files that will likely result. I would appreciate any suggestions and comments.

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions, and I have continued to experiment with this. I can see right away a major error. All this time I have been happily collecting and collating data on a variety of families, but I failed to put enough thought into sentence structure of the tags recording that data. Much of this can be done in editing, but good sentence structure would eliminate much of that effort. I am afraid it may be too late to fix a lot of that globally, but I'll try to figure out that as I go. The one journal report I have generated had only 210 people (file size 726kb) so I haven't hit the size barrier yet. But, I am thinking I am wanting to compile and ancestors family and an allied family (e.g. a spouses family) into a single report. Combining the two sets of data and footnotes shouldn't be a problem, but I am wondering if there is a simple way of combining the two bibliographies?

I forgot to mention, I have decided to use the "Custom" Journal Report format.

An update. I have continued to experiment with the journal report; with some success, though I am still struggling a little with the sometimes odd sentences that come out of the database. I tried some small files (100 people or so, of three generations) using the "Master Document File(s)" function. The files came out ok, but I had to go through a process of combined the three resulting files. Kind of a pain, but really just a matter of editing. I will continue working with this, using larger groups of people, and will report out my results, if there continues to be an interest. I also tried the "Combined Consecutive Footnotes/Endnotes." While there were much fewer endnotes, the amount of text didn't really vary all that much, and I found it hard to sort out which sources were listed in each endnote. With three or more combined endnotes, it was difficult to sort out where one citation ended and the next one started. Unless I am forced to in order to reduce overall file size, I don't think I will use this function. I am still having a little difficulty getting a good sentence structure; a couple of examples. A person with several variations of their name (my grandmother has about 20 such variations), and residence tags. As set up, the database generates a single sentence for each name (I track all of the name variations I find, as an aide to searching for people in the pick list). I know that these sentences can be combined, but I would have to find and combine all the names for each person. I am wondering if there is a way to rewrite the basic sentence structure in the tag to combine (concatenate?) with other name tags that may or may not be there. For residence tags, I include all members of the household as a means of tracking the ebb and flow of a families residences over time (census records would be the best example of this); with parents as the primaries and others (children, relatives, etc.) as witnesses. The resulting residence tag makes for an easy way of tracking families, but for some clumsy sentence structure. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the information. I have been experimenting some with the journal report. One, to decide which format to use (FEHGR, NGSQ, TAG or custom), and there doesn't seem to be any significant difference in the formats. Two, to understand the file size problem. I am anticipating some really large files (I have been at this since 1987), and I am wondering. In the report options tab, there is something called "Master Document File(s)." One option is "One Per Generation." If I understand this, it would break up the single journal report files, into multiple files; one for each generation. It seems like this would greatly ease the file size problem, if I truly understand it.. Once the files are generated and edited, it should be too difficult to combine them into a single document. One other thing I noticed while fiddling around, was something called "Combined Consecutive Footnotes/Endnotes." I experiment with this some, and while it doesn't much reduce the test associated with endnotes, it does greatly reduce the number of endnotes. I wonder if this would also help the file size problem. thanks

I am wondering if anyone else has encountered the problem of self replicating tasks; as in a research task that seems to mysteriously make additional copies of itself. In each case, I type in a single task, only to later find multiple copies of that same tasks in the database in the task list for that person. I find it periodically, usually two or three copies of the same task; the record is nineteen copies of the same task. It is annoying, but aside from having to go the to trouble to delete the excess tasks, there seems to be no adverse effect. I have no idea what causes it, and was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience.

I think you may have hit upon the answer, but let me fully answer the question, in case; and on the possible of getting research tips from others reading this. With TMG, there is always more to learn. I have TMG v 90.5 Gold edition, and have been using it for about four months. I have been using TMG for quite a while, but I find there is always more to lean, and more efficient ways to do things. I notice the duplicate tasks when I open a person's research log (clicking on the "Tasks" icon in the "Person" view). I also sometimes duplicates when I print a list of tasks to take with me on a research trip. When the appear on the Task List:, they are always exact duplicates; generally two or three, but on one occasion there were a total of twenty. I deal with the situation simply by deleting the excess, always making a copy of the information in the "Comment" box, to be sure I don't lose anything. Except for the small bit of time lost deleting the extras I don't lose anything; I have lost not data. So it is really a minor - but curious - problem. I generally don't get very complicated with tasks. Normally, I only link a research task to a repository or a source; though sometimes tasks are linked to a repository and a source. I don't have any linked to an event. Often there are several tasks, from different people linked to the same repository or source, as I tend to lump tasks for the purpose of generating printable reports for research trips (e.g. all tasks associated with Harvey County, Kansas are generally linked to the Harvey County Historical Society). There are a total of about 600 tasks. Tasks for census information are a good, and probably the most common, example. When I think census information will contain data I am seeking, I add a census task. The title of all census tasks start with the word "Census" followed the census year, state, and county (if known), and sometimes additional information; e.g. such a task would be named "Census: 1850 PA Iowa Co." In the "Keyword" box I list the surname and state, as a minimum (sometimes the word "PRIORITY" for the important ones), for additional sorting. In the "Comment" box I type, as minimum, the names, birth date and birth state (to the extent known), in order to aid the search. I have created a report which searches for tasks with beginning with the word "Census," and use this to generate a report of all census tasks, sorted by year and state. This I take to the library and use to look for that record on Ancestry.com. The system works pretty well, with the occasional hiccup. But, I find it saves time typing by copying similar tasks and sources (this I do a lot), and edit for the different information; e.g. I will copy a task for 1850 census data, in order to make a task for 1860 data; editing the copied tasks for the new search parameters. This avoids retyping all that family information in the "Comment"" field. I do the same with repositories for the same reason; making a copy of a library in Harvey County, Kansas in order to create a repository for a library in Douglass County, Kansas. And this, is what your comments make me think are happening, as I didn't realize that copying a repository with linked tasks also copies the links to the task; thus making a duplicate of the tasks. If I understand your note, that is probably what it happening. I think you have figured it out; thanks.

A different take on the previous suggestions. I find it as important to know what data is incorrect as it is to know what data is correct; so I keep all data once entered, with some modifications. I useda modified NOTE tag, named ERROR. This tag serves multiple uses; mostly to keep track of data I have come across which I know or believe to be false; and the source from which it came. Thus, I might have a BIRTH tag which gives correct birth date and location *e.g. Fred was born in 1850 in Canada.". This is immediately followed with an ERROR tag, describing (in the memo field) the incorrect data (e.g. "Fred is also reported [incorrectly] to have been born in Virginia." Both tags are sourced, so I track correct data and incorrect data, and where that data came from. I sometimes include additional information in the ERROR tag; such as why I think that particular data to be incorrect; or, if there isn't sufficient information to sort out exactly which bit of data is actually correct. This has proven very useful. An example the family Bible (written by my great-grandmother) state my grand-father's brother was born in 1910. He, however, told me he was born in 1909. His BIRTH tag gives a date of "1909" with an interview of him as the source. The supporting ERROR tag state "The family Bible , presumably written by his mother, indicates he was born in 1910 [it is not entirely clear which is correct, but I use the date he has given me as it is consistent with the date of his mother's death]" with the family Bible as the source.

Has anybody had this experience? Can anyone explain it to me? I have been going along just fine with the last version of TMG (9 something) and Windows 8.1. For no discernable reason, while I was entering information into TMG from a newspaper article, I got a message on my laptop that it was uploading Windows 10, and the computer starting (evidently) uploading Widows 10. A little startled, I shutdown the laptop and pulled out the battery, hoping to stop the process. I don't want Windows 10, and don't plan to deal with it until I replace this laptop, and will be forced into it. Now, when I start to turn it off, I don't get the choice of shutting it down, but only the choices of "sleep", "update and shutdown", or "update and restart." Not having a teenager around to explain it to me, I texted my daughter, who tells me this is just a normal update of programs already on my laptop. But, I am suspicious. Can anyone help?

To continue my bit of this saga. After a few days of continuing with Windows 8.1, my laptop updated to Windows 10 - without warning. I got a message stating it was updating and I shouldn't turn off my computer. The worrisome part is that I had TMG, MS Word, and a couple of .jpg files all open at the time. I was worried that my TMG files would get messed up. So far, that doesn't seem to have happened. I will never be a friend of B. Gates, but I guess I can live with it.

A quick follow-up; I have turned my laptop on and off three or four times over the last couple of days, and it has executed a couple of updates. But, it still hasn't updated for Windows 10. Not sure what it means, but everything seems to be working ok. Thanks for the help.

Terry, thanks for the information. Guess I am kinda stuck. I have been reviewing the problems with Windows 10 in this forum, and there seem to be quite a few. Guess all I can do is let it update and hope for the best. I am really glad that I can access someone with your knowledge with such questions. Thanks

I haven't been on this forum in quite some time, and just today learned that TMG is being discontinued. I am surely sad to hear it, it is a great research resource, and I have been using it for many years. I do have a couple of questions. Is it still possible to purchase the lasted Version 9? Are other TMG users continuing with the program (which I would like to do), or are they transitioning to something else?

A little out of the box. About fifty years ago, my uncle designed a crossword puzzle, containing information about a lot of family members. I have, probably the only remaining copies in existence. I want to include this puzzle as a source. I am thinking of using the "Research Report" as a template, but was wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar - or has any ideas. There are two original parts, both Xerox copies; one of the completed puzzle and one of the list of clues. I have converted both into pdf files, using MS PowerPoint; and have added an answer sheet, a completed puzzle, and an answer sheet explaining the family information and clues that make sense only if you are familiar with members of the family. The uncle is still alive, and I have emailed him to ask him what he remembers. But in the meantime, I though I would ask if anyone had any ideas.

The manuscript idea hadn't occurred to me; I'll try it out. By the way, I use your tutorials and articles a lot. They are very helpful. Thanks

I have been using reports more often of late, and have been experiencing a difficulty, I am not sure how to deal with - specifically how TMG handles quotes in the memo field of a NOTES tag, when used with source citations. In the MEMO field of a NOTES tag, I will have, in quotes, something like "John was big" with a cited reference (the quotation marks are also in the MEMO field). When generated into a report (an anhentafel report in this case), what I get out is "John was big.1" with the footnote ("1") inside the closing quotation mark. I haven't noticed a particular pattern, though it seems pretty consistent. It isn't a great problem, as I tend to do a lot of editing after the report is generated (I find it a good way to identify typos, inconsistencies, and research gaps). The question. How can to modify things to that the footnote number is outside of the quotation marks?

I have been running V9.09 for some days now, and have been generating Individual Narrative reports, with footnotes and bibliography. I have set all fonts to size 12. In the narratives, all fonts are generated in font size 12, except for the last ten entries in the bibliography (the bibliography is eight pages at this font size). Those are generated in font size 10. Have I set something wrong?

It does; if I understand it right it is just something I'll have to deal with. It isn't that big a problem, as I do a bit of editing to the resulting document anyway. I thought I was doing something wrong (or less effective). Thanks