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Linda D

Descendent chart

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I've just started learning this program.

 

The Descendent Chart...

 

When there are a lot of children, say 6 or 8 or so, they appear as boxes one right next to each other in their generation ---

is there a way to stagger their location (like 3 above and 3 below), or a two-tier method of stacking the boxes, in order to reduce the horizontal length? ... I've seen other charts organized like that and that helps minimize the horizontal length more.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Linda

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Currently, there is no TMG chart layout available that does what you are asking.

 

These staggered alternate children or a one column of boxes per family layout strategies only work sensibly for the last generation of a chart. It becomes problematic in interpretation when some children have spouses and others do not. This often happens in larger families where older children have already married when younger ones are still at home.

 

The best and quickest solution to create a more compact chart is to change the orientation to left to right from top to bottom (Chart Options, General tab).

 

Another compact descendant summary is provided by the Descendant Indented Chart which is text-based file that can include names and birth, death, burial and marriage info but not other tags.

 

There are other methods of creating more compact charts, but each of these can't be easily automated. They rely on analysis of the internal structure of the descendancy tree, e.g. which branches are large and how are they positioned with respect to one another. One of the advantages of Visual Chartform is that it permits you edit, cut and combine charts to achieve the presentation that best suits your needs.

 

COMMENT: Occasionally, someone on the forum asks for a chart that includes "everyone". I have not seen a satisfactory layout for these charts when they have been applied to to data sets over about 300 people. The positioning of persons means that almost always there are long lines connecting individuals and these lines cross many other lines. It is often difficult to follow such a long line when it placed amongst many other parallel long connecting lines. The reader just gets lost.

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Welcome to the program, Linda.

 

As Robin suggested, the left-to-right chart orientation is more compact. There are examples on the WG Sample Reports page at

 

http://www.whollygenes.com/samplereports.p...CENDANTBOXCHART

 

I have examples of one- and two-page charts at

 

http://www.vblakelock.com/little_charts

 

If you are new to TMG, you will find the TMG rootsweb mailing list particularly helpful for how-to questions:

 

To subscribe:

http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html

 

Monthly archives:

April: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/TMG/2008-05

 

Search engine:

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=TMG

 

Virginia

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Thank you both for the wonderful help and information!

 

Datasets of over 300?? So far mine is only about 80 people. Mine isn't my family history but rather that of an historic figure, the info being provided to me.

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

 

Linda

 

 

P.S. Robin, I was stunned when I saw where you're from, as I have a close friend who lives in Adelaide. I've come to know a lot about the city and the area and hope to visit one day, he's visited with me. Everything from the Fringe, the Stag Hotel, Vili's, the Capri Theatre, Moonlight Cinema and so much more -- seems like a wonderful place to live.

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Linda,

 

I work with many persons' data sets to produce charts. The biggest that I have generated but not printed was 302ft across. I often work with projects that contain more than 1000 persons, and occasionally with projects over 10,000 persons. The real issue is what do want the chart for and can you display it or use when you produce it. That is why I advocate cutting the tree into a number of parts that are cohesive and yet small enough to display (that usually mean less than 20ft wide or less than 6ft high). If you are looking to create a fold out for a family history book, create a chart and then reduce its size in VCF before printing.

 

Yes, Adelaide has its advantages as a place to live. Just recently created a new all-time weather record 15 concecutive days over 35C (95F), but that is unusual!

 

I hope you work out what chart is best for you.

 

Robin

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Robin,

 

Wow, I knew there was a heat wave but I didn't know it set a record.

 

The data set I'm working with is about Harriet Tubman (her ancesters and descendents), the famous conductor of the Underground Railroad here during the slavery period.

 

I haven't learned all the features yet, but maybe you could give me some idea........ If there were a separate data set for a family unrelated (I'm thinking of slave owner families), could there be links or relationships or associations made between those two seemingly unrelated data sets?

 

For example, if I create a tag called slave or enslaved in the Tubman data set, identifying someone as a slave, and include info about their owner (name and location), is there a way of linking or creating a relationship with a data set for a slave owner?

 

Sorry, I'm so terribly new at this. I haven't made my way through all of the training videos yet.

 

 

 

Linda

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Robin,

 

I haven't learned all the features yet, but maybe you could give me some idea........ If there were a separate data set for a family unrelated (I'm thinking of slave owner families), could there be links or relationships or associations made between those two seemingly unrelated data sets?

 

For example, if I create a tag called slave or enslaved in the Tubman data set, identifying someone as a slave, and include info about their owner (name and location), is there a way of linking or creating a relationship with a data set for a slave owner?

 

Linda

Linda,

 

I would put all persons in a single data set in a project - this has significant adavantages later on.

 

I would create a customs flag (say TUBMAN) and give it 2 values (U, R) U = unrelated first as the default, then R = Related. Set the R flag using the secondary output of the List of People report with a suitable filter based around "is an acestor of" and "is a descendant of", etc.

 

I would enter the associate persons and make them "witnesses" to events. They can take a number of roles in n event. Take a look at Terry Reigel's site http://tmg.reigelridge.com/Roles-Tutorial.htm to give you an idea of what is possible. A witness is a person whose lifeline is impacted by the event, not just person present at an event.

 

Robin

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Thanks Robin,

 

Pretty intriguing method. I will take a look at all this.

 

This program seems pretty powerful (from what little I know so far). Are the top 4 programs pretty much the same in what they do, or does TMG have more capabilities? (Just wondering)

 

 

Linda

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I haven't learned all the features yet, but maybe you could give me some idea........ If there were a separate data set for a family unrelated (I'm thinking of slave owner families), could there be links or relationships or associations made between those two seemingly unrelated data sets?

 

For example, if I create a tag called slave or enslaved in the Tubman data set, identifying someone as a slave, and include info about their owner (name and location), is there a way of linking or creating a relationship with a data set for a slave owner?

Do you have them in separate Data Sets within a single Project, or are they in separate Projects? (See the article on Projects and Data Sets on my website, link below, if you aren't clear on the difference.) Not that it matters for this question - Data Sets, and Projects, are by design separate. That means you cannot link in any way the people in one Data Set or Project to those in another. To do that they have to be in the same Data Set, as Robins suggests.

 

The process of getting them into a single Data Set does differ depending on whether they are in the same or different Projects. If you want to to that, let us know where you are starting from and we can help with directions.

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This program seems pretty powerful (from what little I know so far). Are the top 4 programs pretty much the same in what they do, or does TMG have more capabilities? (Just wondering)
Welcome, Linda, to TMG and the forum. Different programs have different features and capabilities. What programs are "top" depends upon who is doing the ranking, and what features and capabilities that ranker values most. Some rankings on the Internet have been viewed as suspect because they were actually made by rankers that had relationships with some of the product companies. However, I do not feel it valuable or productive to compare programs. All I can give is my personal opinion that TMG is absolutely the best genealogy program for the features and capabilities I desire. My focus is on customization (the ability to store and report data "my way") and find that TMG has more flexibility than any other program I have tried. And one of its best features (in my opinion) is the wonderful and amazingly helpful collection of users participating in this forum and the TMG e-mail list who are always happy to provide ideas on how to accomplish what you want to do.

 

Again, welcome to the community of users of TMG. I feel sure TMG will meet your needs.

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Welcome, Linda, to TMG and the forum. Different programs have different features and capabilities. What programs are "top" depends upon who is doing the ranking, and what features and capabilities that ranker values most. Some rankings on the Internet have been viewed as suspect because they were actually made by rankers that had relationships with some of the product companies. However, I do not feel it valuable or productive to compare programs. All I can give is my personal opinion that TMG is absolutely the best genealogy program for the features and capabilities I desire. My focus is on customization (the ability to store and report data "my way") and find that TMG has more flexibility than any other program I have tried. And one of its best features (in my opinion) is the wonderful and amazingly helpful collection of users participating in this forum and the TMG e-mail list who are always happy to provide ideas on how to accomplish what you want to do.

 

Again, welcome to the community of users of TMG. I feel sure TMG will meet your needs.

 

Thanks for the welcome!

 

I was quickly looking for a genealogy software (very quickly). The reviews I saw said it had more flexibility but had a steeper learning curve. I certainly had nothing to compare it to, being a beginner and being in a hurry. But I figured if that's the worst it could say, I'll take flexibility over steep learning curve any day. But I've learned a lot quickly, and still have loads to learn, and I look forward to it. I suspect the term steep learning curve is misleading because it doesn't take into account your flexibility.

 

And I'm a believer in forums being helpful, because I helped create one for a national health organization for sleep apnea. So again, thanks for the welcome!

 

 

Linda

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Do you have them in separate Data Sets within a single Project, or are they in separate Projects? (See the article on Projects and Data Sets on my website, link below, if you aren't clear on the difference.) Not that it matters for this question - Data Sets, and Projects, are by design separate. That means you cannot link in any way the people in one Data Set or Project to those in another. To do that they have to be in the same Data Set, as Robins suggests.

 

The process of getting them into a single Data Set does differ depending on whether they are in the same or different Projects. If you want to to that, let us know where you are starting from and we can help with directions.

 

Thank you, I will be sure to look at your link soon. So far I only have one data set, I've not added any unrelated people yet-- I haven't yet considered using another data set or project. So I look forward to reading your tutorial. I'm glad I'm asking now, because I want to set it up in a way that's best for my purpose. Thanks ever so much for your help.

 

 

 

Linda

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