List of People-Filter Group Problem

[Roy Sprunger 0]

Hi everybody.

 

A new problem.

 

I am trying to filter a List of People report where "Is a Descendant" "of ID #" equals "1448" "And then add their" "Spouses" and "Descendants" for "4" generations. However, I get a list of 1333 people versus the 400+ I expect to get.

 

Is the generations counter not working or am I trying to use it out of context?

 

For example, the youngest person in this group would have been born in the 1860s, but the results include myself and my siblings, as well as other younger relatives.

 

 

Roy Sprunger/Assyria, MI

[Terry Reigel 0]

The problem is you are asking for the descendants twice. The first time is in the filter itself, where you ask for the descendants of ID#1448. This request has no limits on the number of generations.

 

Then, you are asking for 4 generations of the folks specified above - actually there won't be any, as you can see if you check the filter progress screen, because you have already specified all the descendants of ID#1448 be included.

 

Finally, you are asking for the spouses of the people specified in the filter itself, that is, the spouses of the descendants of ID# 1448.

 

You cannot both limit the number of generations of descendants and add spouses in a simple filter. You can do it by using a temporary flag and making two filter passes. But it's probably easier to do with the Focus group, depending on what you want to accomplish with the results.

 

My article on People Filters may help with the details.

[Roy Sprunger 0]

The problem is you are asking for the descendants twice. The first time is in the filter itself, where you ask for the descendants of ID#1448. This request has no limits on the number of generations.

 

Then, you are asking for 4 generations of the folks specified above - actually there won't be any, as you can see if you check the filter progress screen, because you have already specified all the descendants of ID#1448 be included.

 

Finally, you are asking for the spouses of the people specified in the filter itself, that is, the spouses of the descendants of ID# 1448.

 

You cannot both limit the number of generations of descendants and add spouses in a simple filter. You can do it by using a temporary flag and making two filter passes. But it's probably easier to do with the Focus group, depending on what you want to accomplish with the results.

 

My article on People Filters may help with the details.

 

Hi Terry,

 

Thanks. As I continued experimenting I finally realized that TMG was creating the subset, then adding all the descendants. I made what I believe a lot of people do, is the reasonable assumption that the lower portion of the filter is a MODIFIER of the condition of the filter. I had to read the Help several times before it sank in that it is a modifier but not in the way I thought it was.

 

I read your page and unfortunately, it still doesn't answer the question, How do I limit the number of generations?

 

The filter screen clearly shows a place for limiting the number of generations. How do I use it? All I want is four generations of descendants with their spouses from one progenitor. At first that seemed easy to do.

 

Since this is a throw-away report, only to be used for comparison, and will be run for three or four generation blocks of people, I have added a date. While some people don't have a birth date, still, it will give me working list. I'll just have to fudge around the people that don't show. There may still be a way to get what I want. It just takes fiddling with the controls.

 

 

Roy Sprunger/Assyria, MI

[Terry Reigel 0]

Thanks.

You're welcome.

As I continued experimenting I finally realized that TMG was creating the subset, then adding all the descendants. I made what I believe a lot of people do, is the reasonable assumption that the lower portion of the filter is a MODIFIER of the condition of the filter. I had to read the Help several times before it sank in that it is a modifier but not in the way I thought it was.

Actually, the clues are right there on the filter screen, but they are often overlooked. Just above the Spouses, Ancestors, etc. line, it says "And then add their" - in other words, find those specified in the filter first, then add those specified below.

I read your page and unfortunately, it still doesn't answer the question, How do I limit the number of generations?

 

The filter screen clearly shows a place for limiting the number of generations. How do I use it?

You use it by not specifying descendants in the body of the filter. In the filter, specify "ID# = 1448" and then add the four generations of descendants at the bottom.

All I want is four generations of descendants with their spouses from one progenitor.

And that's the problem. As I said in my earlier resonse, you can't both limit the number of generations, and also add the spouses in a simple filter. If you put just ID# 1448 in the filter, you can add descendants for that person and add spouses for that person, but that doesn't add the spouses for the descentants.

 

You have to do it using one of the two methods I describe in the article. Ether create a temporary flag and make two passes with the report, or use the Focus Group instead of a Filter to define the people to include.

 

The FG is simpler. It still takes two passes - one to add the descendants and another to add the spouses, but it's easier than setting up a flag. The proceedure is descibed in the article. After the people are collected in the FG, set the List of People report to use the Focus Group instead of a filter.

[Roy Sprunger 0]

And that's the problem. As I said in my earlier resonse, you can't both limit the number of generations, and also add the spouses in a simple filter. If you put just ID# 1448 in the filter, you can add descendants for that person and add spouses for that person, but that doesn't add the spouses for the descendants.

 

Thanks, Terry. But if I'm going to go through that much trouble for what should be a simple query, then I would be better off buying FoxPro and creating my own queries against the database directly. I have been a database user, programmer and administrator for almost twenty years using different platforms and I always seem to gravitate towards creating my own custom queries because the application defaults for generating reports are typically handicapped along simple lines.

 

I understand TMG is still based on the FoxPro database architecture and the data is accessible to the application. Maybe its time to give serious thought to buying a copy, just so I can get what I want the way I want it. Meanwhile, I have more records to key in. Take care.

 

 

 

 

Roy Sprunger/Assyria, MI

[Terry Reigel 0]

Thanks, Terry. But if I'm going to go through that much trouble for what should be a simple query, then I would be better off buying FoxPro and creating my own queries against the database directly.

You're welcome, Roy.

 

But, it isn't a simple quiry. You want to do two things - find selected descendants of a person, then find their spouses. It takes two operations, which is pretty simple to do with the Focus Group.

 

If you think it would be easier to do in FoxPro be my guest.

 

I think you will find it to be a much more complex process.