Jump to content
Neil Grantham

Baptism/Marriage/Burial events

Recommended Posts

If I record an event such as a Baptism, Marriage etc, where I know the Town, but not the Church, I am getting a sentence like:

She Married John Doe circa June 1939 at Coventry, Warwickshire.

 

I'd prefer:

She Married John Doe circa June 1939 in Coventry, Warwickshire.

 

But, if the date and Church are recorded, I'd like the option for it to say:

 

She Married John Doe on 13th June 1939 at St. Mary's Church, Coventry, Warwickshire.

 

Is it possible to have this kind of combined sentence structure for each event?

 

Hope this makes sense!

Neil

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Here's how I handle it, which is a little different than you requested. I use a default sentence that is something like this:

 

[P] married [PO]

 

The key part is the location variables. If [L2] is used in the sentence, then the value of [L] will not include the detail (L2) field, and so the sentence above uses the preposition "at" before the detail field value and the preposition "in" before the rest of the place display.

 

Another way to do this is to customize the sentence for each case and specify which preposition you want:

 

[P] married [PO]

 

when you have the church name or

 

[P] married [PO]

 

when you don't. Some people use other, very involved systems for managing place prepositions but I prefer the methods above.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Here's how I handle it, which is a little different than you requested. I use a default sentence that is something like this:

 

[P] married [PO] <[D]> <at [L2]> <in [L]>

 

The key part is the location variables. If [L2] is used in the sentence, then the value of [L] will not include the detail (L2) field, and so the sentence above uses the preposition "at" before the detail field value and the preposition "in" before the rest of the place display.

John,

Thanks for this. It's a very good way to handle these and I changed my sentences straight away.

 

:thumbsup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

<at [Church]> in <[City],> <[County],> <[State],><[Country]>

One reason I don't use a custom Place Style similar to the above is some ambiguity about how the literal "in" will be handled. As far as I know, WG has not specified when "in" will appear if other variables are empty. So, for example, if [Church] is empty, I presume that "in" will still appear. But what happens if all the subfields except [Church] are empty? Does "in" appear or not? If it does, then you'll get incorrect output; "in" will be at the end of the place output.

 

In general, using literal text in style templates can be tricky. If you test the method you use, and you are consistent when you use the method, you should be fine. Given there are some ambiguities in the rules, however, the current behavior is not assured and so things could change in the future.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I use a preposition place style. L10 becomes my preposition. I place in it whatever preposition I want for this sentence. Then I also set Second Site (which is my primary output source) to not use a prepositon.

 

<[L10]> <[City],> <[County],> <[state],><[Country]>

 

The only downside (and I don't really see it as a downside) is that the preposition becomes part of the location.

 

 

Sheila Altenbernd

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

John,

 

You can always put the "in" inside the conditional brackets if you'd like. For my places, so far that hasn't been an issue because at the very least I have the state. If I didn't, I could always create another style for Churches with no city or state information. <G>

 

Usually if I know the detail like church, then I know the city and state.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sheila,

 

If you use place styles, then the preposition becomes part of the place as well. But there are times when that's not a bad thing. Near Bedford County, TN is different than In Bedford County, TN or Of Bedford County, TN.

 

The difference may be subtle, but if you want your reader to see the subtlety, then having the preposition as part of the place is a good thing. John and I discussed ways to not make the preposition hyperlinked in SS, but there's not a good way to do it for him to program. For instance do you want the comma's hyperlinked? (Most of use would say yes) Do you want the County or Province part hyperlinked? Most would say yes. So if it's part of the place style, like your example or mine, SS will hyperlink it. Place styles work so good for me, and give me such control over reports and how data is listed in the master place list, (I put the style name in L10) that I am willing to have the Near part of Near Bedford County, TN hyperlinked.

 

Like you, I don't see it as a downside. But if you do, then adding it to the sentence works just as well. As does having roles for each preposition you might want to use. So many ways...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×