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RogerUK

Duplicate entries in Explorer

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For some reason "Project Explorer" shows duplicate entries for most (but not all) my project population. Identical names, ID Nos, dates. The only difference I can see is that one entry has an * asterisk alongside it the other hasn't. This is not a problem for me but it severely clutters up my Explorer listing to no useful purpose. Any one know how this might have come about and how I might rid myself of all these duplicate entries? thanks Roger

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Roger,

 

the Project Explorer is a list of names and not of people. Therefore you see primary names (indicated by a preceding asterisk) as well as other names, like non-primary married names, nicknames etc in the Project Explorer (PE).

 

If you really want to see primary names only within the Project Explorer (I for one would not want that because that way i.e. married names I had recorded would no longer be displayed), then you may filter the PE for primary names only.

 

For reference please see topic "Project Explorer" in TMG Help.

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OK Vera . . .I get it. I've filtered for primary names only. Seems to suit my purposes well enough for now. I'll reconsider if I find good reason as I go along. thanks Roger

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Roger,

 

Vera has explained that the Project Explorer (and Picklist) are lists of names, and thus you will see a person with multiple Name Tags listed more than once. Typically that includes married names, nicknames, alternate spellings, etc. But you said you have many people with identical names. Why do you have many people with duplicate Name Tags? To me, that's the issue you should address.

 

The most common reason for that is having merged duplicate people and then not cleaning up all the duplicate Tags that result.

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"Why do you have many people with duplicate Name Tags? To me, that's the issue you should address.

 

The most common reason for that is having merged duplicate people and then not cleaning up all the duplicate Tags that result."

 

Well that was what bothered me in the first place. I filtered for primary names and that has hidden all the non * ones so that's got them out of my way. But what were they doing there in the first place I wonder. I've not done any amount of merging duplicates so I doubt that is the cause. I will think on. Roger

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Roger,

 

It's easy enough to check. Find a person with duplicate names. Go to that person, and look for non-primary Name Tags - they will be in the main "Tag Box" in the Details view, with the Event Tags. See what they say, what citations they have, etc. Compare to the primary Name Tag at the top of the Details view to see what differences there are.

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Terry, how do I tell if a name tag is primary or not? Are Tags in bold primary and the rest not? sorry to be so dumb. Roger

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Yes it seems the bold are primary! So what it seems I have been doing is to add another self customised name tag (where I give every christian name in full). And this directly causes the duplicate entries in Explorer. Am I doing something wrong? Roger

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Roger,

 

this screenshot (from TMG's Sample Project) may help to visualize primary names and non-primary names as to be seen in the person's detail window

 

primary names - non primary names.jpg

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Roger -

 

Note there are 2 independent settings in Preferences re Bold and Asterisk.

 

Preferences / Program Options / Project Explorer / Identify Primary Name with: Bold or Asterisk.

 

Preferences / Program Options / Tag Box / Identify Primary Events with: Bold or Asterisk.

 

Virginia

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Roger,

 

As Vera's screenshot illustrates, the Primary Name Tag always appears at the top of the Details view, in the "name box." Below that are the Primary father and mother Relationship Tags. Any non-primary Name or non-primary Relationship Tags appear in the main "tag box" below. Any name or Relationship tag found there is non-primary.

 

All Event Tags also appear in the tag box. They may be either Primary or non-primary. By default the Primary ones will be marked with an asterisk, though there is an option in Preferences to make them bold instead. These are the Tags Virginia is referring to - not the Primary Name and Relationship Tags.

 

As to your practice in adding additional Name Tags, it's not at all clear you are doing anything "wrong," whatever that might mean. You can add as may name tags as you find useful. My concern is you said you found "identical" names in the Project Explorer. If in fact they are identical, that means you have more than one Tag with identical Names. I don't see a point in that.

 

But if they differ in any way you find useful, then do it. Some reasons for adding additional Name Tags:

  • To record (and perhaps include in reports) alternate names by which the person was known.
  • To allow you to find a person in the PE or Picklist under alternate names.
  • To record a full "legal" name when you choose to make an abbreviated version primary.

In some of these cases the very point is to have each variation appear in the PE or Picklist. In others it more of an unintended side effect, which you can overcome by using the "primary names only" option.

 

It sounds like your practice is like my 3rd bullet above. Increasingly, that's what I've been doing - entering a name by which the person was actually known as the primary name, then adding "baptismal" name tag in which I record the full name as given at birth or baptism. Typically I have this name appear in reports to make record of it, but use the more common version for all other mentions.

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Hi Guys, in danger of becoming confused here. But . . . In Explorer PrefsI see Primary names are denoted by an * and what I see with my Explorer duplicates are one with * one without.

 

So my primary name tag is Roger C Starkey and that appears with * in Explorer all by itself. Then I add a non primary name tag (name-full) as Roger Charles Starkey and immediately a second (duplicate) entry appears in Explorer. Not Roger C Starkey and Roger Charles Starkey but 2 identical Roger C Starkey entries. Is that what you would expect. I know how to filter out these non primary entries from Explorer but am interested in priciple to understand what is happening. thanks Roger

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Roger,

 

using your example above please open the Tag Entry screens of your primary name tag and also of your non primary name tag.

 

From each Tag Entry screen please tell us exactly in which fields you entered which data and also what the "Sort" fields show

 

i.e.:

GivenName = Vera

Surname = Nagel

SortSurname = Nagel

SortGiven = Vera

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Vera, in my example. Primary:- GivenName = Roger C, Surname = Starkey, OtherName = Charles, SortSurname = Starkey, SortGiven = Roger C (there are instances where OtherName is blank, and I have no idea how these entries got there). I migrating to TMG from Generations 8 some time ago.

 

With the Non Primary name all above fields are blank. (and all instances are the same = blank). So I am saying Roger Charles Starkey was entered into the memo field. And this action alone seems to trigger my duplicate entries.

 

Does this help explain things? thanks Roger

Edited by RogerUK

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With the Non Primary name all above fields are blank. (and all instances are the same = blank). So I am saying Roger Charles Starkey was entered into the memo field. And this action alone seems to trigger my duplicate entries.

 

Does this help explain things?

Roger,

 

It sure does. :)

 

The key issue is that you left all the name fields blank in the Tag you added. When names are displayed (in the PE, the Picklist, or in reports) from non-primary Name Tags, there is a feature applied called "inferred" name elements. That this means is that when either the Given Name or Surname field is left blank, the corresponding name is inferred from the Primary Name Tag.

 

So, for example, if you enter a Name-Mar (married name) Tag and enter only the surname, when that name appears the given name will be inferred from the Primary Name Tag. Likewise, when you enter only the given name in a Name-Nick Tag, the surname will be inferred when that name is used. The advantage of this is you not only don't have to enter un-needed name elements, but they are automatically updated should you find that the name element entered the Primary Name Tag is incorrect.

 

In your case, you didn't enter either the Given Name or the Surname, so both were inferred. Try entering something in each of those fields and you will see it does then appear in the Project Explorer as you expect.

 

BTW, the sort name elements are created automatically when you enter names in the corresponding elements. The Sort Names are what are actually displayed (and sorted on) in the PE and Picklist. Typically you just leave this process alone to work automatically. But you can edit them if you want, say if you want similar but not identical names to sort together.

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"Try entering something in each of those fields and you will see it does then appear in the Project Explorer as you expect."

 

All has suddenly become clear :holiday: thanks everybody for your help (and patience) . . . . Roger

 

I wanted to give you all a "like this tick" but the site gives me an error msg every time I try (You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day)

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