Jump to content
wrichards

Focus Groups

Recommended Posts

I was wondering if anyone is experiencing a slow response using focus groups similar to what happened with the flags group in v6.02.

 

I am running v6.03 and today I selected my father for the focus group and then selected ancestors for 25 generations. The focus group quickly came back with a list of 1200 names. I then selected all 1200 names and asked for descendants for 20 generations. This report which contained 6706 names took almost 45 minutes to produce. I then selected all 6706 names and asked for ancestors for one generation. The response was very quick but no one was added. I then tried two generations and realized that even though I clicked on the "select all" button and all the names were highlighted the box at the top that says selected names still showed only one. I had to click on the "select all" button again to get the selected names to change to 6706. I gave up on trying to get the results because it took too long.

 

I know I have an old machine. I am running Window XP Pro SP2 on a 650Mhz processor with 384Mb of memory but I have not had a delay like this before. Is this what I should expect from my machine or is it a bug like changing flags.

 

Bill Richards

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I used a comparable project and got comparable times.

 

This can't be compared to a flag change operation. What you asked the program to do is an extraordinarily complex and time consuming operation and the times are not surprising. You not only need to calculate ancestors or descendants which should be fairly quick but then you need to determine person-by-person whether or not that individual is already in the focus group and add them if necessary.

 

Focus groups are more useful with more limited group sizes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What I am trying to do is determine all ancestors and related people on my fathers branch of the family and set a flag to use in SS. I asked for my fathers ancestors to obtain all grandparents. I then asked for descendants of the 1200 grandparents found so I would get all aunts, uncles and cousins on that side of the family. I also asked for spouses. Then I wanted to get parents of any unrelated spouses who had been included. Rather than try to figure out who the spouses were I just asked for ancestors of all 6706 persons for one generation.

 

Along the line of what GenerationGoneBy suggested I used the focus group to add one generation but instead of selecting the entire list I limited it to about 300 names. In that case the time to search was reasonable. I realized however that by selecting the first 300 and adding a generation I probably added people whose names came after 300. When I added another generation to names 301 to 600 etc. I could be getting more ancestors than I really wanted. That may not be too bad however because I usually don't have anyone in my data past the parents of unrelated spouses.

 

Now that I am aware that some of these processes will take time I probably will just plan to do them at a time when I can just let the computer run. Thats what night time is about.

 

Thanks to Jim and GenerationGoneBy for your input.

 

Bill Richards

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bill,

 

I am doing the same as you... using a flag to determine which individuals are output by Second Site. However I find no need to use the Focus Group to accomplish this.

 

I have four List of People reports, three with specific filters.

 

1) The first clears the flag.

2) The second filters for four progenitors. And includes the spouses, ancestors and descendents of those four specified by the filter. And the report sets the SS flag for those persons.

3) The third filters for all those with the flag now set. It includes the spouses for those specified by the filter. (In other words, I'm now adding all spouses of spouses.) And the report sets the SS flag for all those specified by the filter.

4) The fourth filters for all those with the flag now set. It includes the ancestors for 1 generation. (In other words, it adds the parents for all spouses). And the report sets the SS flag for all those specified by the filter.

 

Then I have a Book Manager report that runs the above four reports in order.

 

So I can update my SS flag at any point simply by running a single Book Manager report. You can devise a similar group of reports to deal with setting your SS flag.

 

(Looking at this, I'll probably add a fifth step.

5) The fifth filters for all those with the flag now set. It includes the descendants for 1 generation. (In other words, it adds the siblings and step-siblings for all ancestors and descendants). And the report sets the SS flag for all those specified by the filter.

Have to look at the exact results of that before deciding. Might want this step before step 3.)

 

Jim

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Jim,

 

I have been very busy today and tomorrow so I haven't had a chance to try your suggestion. It certainly looks like a much better option than what I was doing. I printed your reply and will try it soon. I have many people who would be interested in only the parts of my data which apply to them. It looks like your suggestion would not only do that but allow an easy way to update after making changes and additions to the data.

 

I really appreciate your comments. Thank You.

 

Bill Richards

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

×