dennis 0 Report post Posted July 6, 2006 Ok. Usually I can figure these out. Not today though... I've been playing around with a Probate tag (trying to make it as complex as possible). First, I've set up 15 witness roles (i.e. Heir1 thru Heir15). The Principal sentence structure is: [PP] estate was probated <[D]> <[L]>. <In [PS] Will, [PP] left [WM1] to [R:Heir1]><, [WM2] to [R:Heir2]><, [WM3] to [R:Heir3]><, [WM4] to [R:Heir4]><, [WM5] to [R:Heir5]><, [WM6] to [R:Heir6]><, [WM7] to [R:Heir7]><, [WM8] to [R:Heir8]><, [WM9] to [R:Heir9]><, [WM10] to [R:Heir10]><, [WM11] to [R:Heir11]><, [WM12] to [R:Heir12]><, [WM13] to [R:Heir13]><, [WM14] to [R:Heir14]><, [WM15] to [R:Heir15]> While the Heir1 (and other Heirs) sentence structures are: <On [D],> [R:Heir1] was left [WM1] from the Will of [P1] This doesn't work. I've also tried: <On [D],> [R:Heir1] was left [RM:Heir1] from the Will of [P1] That doesn't work either. Any ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Lawrence 0 Report post Posted July 6, 2006 Ok. Usually I can figure these out. Not today though... I've been playing around with a Probate tag (trying to make it as complex as possible). First, I've set up 15 witness roles (i.e. Heir1 thru Heir15). The Principal sentence structure is: [PP] estate was probated <[D]> <[L]>. <In [PS] Will, [PP] left [WM1] to [R:Heir1]><, [WM2] to [R:Heir2]><, [WM3] to [R:Heir3]><, [WM4] to [R:Heir4]><, [WM5] to [R:Heir5]><, [WM6] to [R:Heir6]><, [WM7] to [R:Heir7]><, [WM8] to [R:Heir8]><, [WM9] to [R:Heir9]><, [WM10] to [R:Heir10]><, [WM11] to [R:Heir11]><, [WM12] to [R:Heir12]><, [WM13] to [R:Heir13]><, [WM14] to [R:Heir14]><, [WM15] to [R:Heir15]> While the Heir1 (and other Heirs) sentence structures are: <On [D],> [R:Heir1] was left [WM1] from the Will of [P1] This doesn't work. I've also tried: <On [D],> [R:Heir1] was left [RM:Heir1] from the Will of [P1] That doesn't work either. Any ideas? Witness memos can only be referenced in the sentence for the witness. You can divide the witness memo into segments WM1 through WM9 for that one witness if you desire. For example, the witness sentence for one of my census tags: [:CR:][:CR:][:TAB:][W] was listed as [WM1]<at age [WM2]><, occupation as [WM3]><, born in [WM4]>, in the household of [R:Household head] <[L]> in the Census of <[M1]>< enumerated [D]> The witness memo looks like this: a son||21||a farmer||Tennessee Witness memos also cannot be reference in the sentence for the principals of the tag. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dennis 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks for your input. I have made adjustments based on your comments. It would be nice, in future versions, if the Principal could reference the Witness Memos however. It would also be nice if people could have more than one Role in a Tag. Reason? Because sometimes people serve more than one purpose in an event! For instance, in a Will/Probate situation, a person could be both an Heir and an Executor. Both are significant roles. In the meantime I've revamped my sentences to look like this: Principal: [:CR:][:CR:][:TAB:][PP] estate was probated <[D]> <[L]>. <In [PP] Will, [P] left [M1] to [R:Heir1]><, [M2] to [R:Heir2]><, [M3] to [R:Heir3]><, [M4] to [R:Heir4]><, [M5] to [R:Heir5]><, [M6] to [R:Heir6]><, [M7] to [R:Heir7]><, [M8] to [R:Heir8]><, [M9] to [R:Heir9]><, [M10] to [R:Heir10]><, [M11] to [R:Heir11]><, [M12] to [R:Heir12]><, [M13] to [R:Heir13]><, [M14] to [R:Heir14]><, [M15] to [R:Heir15]> Witness (Role-Heir): On [D], [R:Heir1] was listed to receive [M1] by the Will of [P1] And that seems to work. It would be MUCH cleaner if I didn't have to lump everything into the Prinicpal's memo field, and instead use the individual Witness Memos but... The output looks like this: His estate was probated on 10 May 1734. In his Will, Hugh Spedden (11967) left the dwelling plantation with lands adjoining to Robert Spedden (4446), two Talbot County tracts: "Clifton" 200 acres, and "Foxhill's Hope" 100 acres to John Spedden (19008), a share of the same two tracts to Edward Spedden (19009), personalty to Alice Spedden (19010), personalty to Marie Spedden (19012), personalty to Catherine Spedden (4433). Not so bad. It would also be interest (to me, maybe others?) if a Relation variable could be added, such as [PREL] (principal relation) or [WREL] (witness relation). That way you could construct sentences that look like: [W] was the [WREL] of [P1] Rebecca Smith was the daughter of John Smith. Or: [P1] was the [PREL] of [W] John Smith was the father of Rebecca Smith. Oh well, I'm getting off-track here. Thanks for the help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terry Reigel 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2006 It would be nice, in future versions, if the Principal could reference the Witness Memos however. It would also be nice if people could have more than one Role in a Tag. Reason? Because sometimes people serve more than one purpose in an event! For instance, in a Will/Probate situation, a person could be both an Heir and an Executor. The problem is, simply tacking two roles together really doesn't work. Take your example... you would get something like: "On 3 May 183 he was was listed to receive two goats and a dog by the Will of James Wilson Carver dated 3 May 1853. On 3 May 1853 he was named as an executor in the will of James Wilson Carver." Instead, what I think is required is a combined role, like "Executor and Heir," which creates output that describes the dual roles in text that reads more reasonably. You can do that today. In the meantime I've revamped my sentences to look like this: [:CR:][:CR:][:TAB:][PP] estate was probated <[D]> <[L]>. <In [PP] Will, [P] left [M1] to [R:Heir1]><, [M2] to [R:Heir2]>... That works, if you want all that detail listed both for the principal and the heirs. I prefer to separate them, writing a brief combined statement for the principal, and then listing the details for each heir in their own narratives. So I use the main memo only for the Principal, and the witness memos for each witness. It would be MUCH cleaner if I didn't have to lump everything into the Prinicpal's memo field, and instead use the individual Witness Memos but... Since there can be an unlimited number of witnesses with each role, how would you specify which [WM] is to be used in a particular place in the Principal's sentence? It would also be interest (to me, maybe others?) if a Relation variable could be added, such as [PREL] (principal relation) or [WREL] (witness relation). I include relationships in census tags and sometimes in will tags. I design my sentences so that I can put them in the Memo or Witness Memo. If you haven't seen it, you might look at my "Enhanced Census Tag" article (link below) to see how I did that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dennis 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks for your comments everyone. After much gnashing of teeth, coding, and re-coding, I think I'm going to settle with... Principal: [:CR:][:CR:][:TAB:]The estate of [P] was probated <[D]> <[L]>. <In [PP] Will, [P] listed [PP] inheritors as: [WO] Heir: On [D], [R:Heir] inherited [WM] from the Will of [P1] Executor and Heir: On [D], [R:Executor and Heir] acted as Executor to the Will of [P1], inheriting [WM] Executor On [D], [R:Executor] acted as Executor to the Will of [P1] There might be better ways to do this, but I have to stop tweaking things at some point and get back to data entry! Thanks again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
