19 replies to this topic

[LDR]

I have some reports with their associated filters and flags that I use very often. How do I create a new project, new people and everything, that will include these same reports, filters and flags. I tried to find the files in Version 8, but it appears the file structure is different? Anyway, I have reports with their associated filters and flags that I woul like to get into New projects.

Any help appreciated.

Larry

[Virginia Blakelock]

Larry -

Report configurations are located by default in the Configuration files folder in v8 (same as in v7). In v8, go to Help on the top Menu and click on Access Folders to find the location of the Configuration files folder. By default all projects access this same folder and the same reports. You can check the location in each project in Preferences / Current Project Options / Advanced. For more information see Help / Data File Storage.

Filters (and accents) are specific to a project. If you have all your projects in one folder, the filters are available to all projects. If you keep your projects in separate folders (as generally recommended), you can copy the filters from one project to another using Windows Explorer. For a list of the filter file extensions (and the more than fifty sample filters in the Sample project which can also be copied to other projects), see pages 6 and 7 of the article here (written for v7 but applicable to v8). That article can be downloaded.

For Flags - which may use different criteria in another project - it is usually easier to enter the information (values, description, etc.) anew, using copy/paste from the Flag Manager in the old project to the Flag Manager in the new project.

Virginia

[LDR]

Virginia,
Thanks for your reply.

It doesn't work very well when I do it. On reports, the secondary output does not change the correct flags even after I've added them. The report filters are not the same for the reports. I'll tell you what I'm doing. I have been doing DNA research for elevin years. The new autosomal tests are really good, if one has a complete list of related people. I have used Lee's reports generate flags that can be used to get a list of people who are related to a subject. see http://www.tmgtips.com/Related_By.htm
These filters are not easy to write and use report filters, Flags and reports. I have got them working in a project, but I want to use them in a new project. They loose all relationships in a new project, ie report 4 looses the filter criteria and works with the wrong flags. It appears that I haved to go into each new project and re-write all the filters and reports. Is there any way to get theser to work, or a better way to do it in the new version 8?

Believe me, this is an immense aid for DNA Genealogy. Using John Cardinals Second Site with the results of these filters gives a good report. I'll email you my web page if yo tell me wher to send it. This Filtering capability is one of the big selling points for TMG

Larry

[Virginia Blakelock]

Larry -

As long as the conditions for the filters and flags are not specific to the first project, they should work in the new one. Pose your question on the TMG mailing list where Lee and other experienced users will see it and may be able to suggest better ways to do what you want. You can subscribe to the list here.

Virginia

[RobinL]

Larry,

If filters use custom flags, then custom flags are only defined for a specific data set. Hence you may find that the filters will need to be adjusted for the new dataset (assuming that you are using custom flags of the same name in both places). Custom flags get a suffix added to their name of the form #<datset number> like related#3 for dataset 3.

Robin

[LDR]

Robin, that is what iscausing most of my problems. When a filter is executed, it don't find the tag, and sets everything to efault conditions. TMG has provisions to compute a relationship, but there are no hooks to it that I can find. This should be so simple -------

[LDR]

Virginia,
Does TMGT Support have any ideas about how toi do what I am trying to do. Is there any hooks into the Kinship report, or any way to get portability in Flags Filters and Reports so tha ta User doesn't have to write the filters again in a new project?

[Lee]

Larry -

You don't need to re-create the various filters and report definitions for my Related_By Flag process. Just download the "file of Report Definitions" Zip file referenced on my web page at <http://www.tmgtips.com/Related_By.htm>. Then unZip the file and move the FLP files to your project folder and the RPT and RPB files to the Configuration Files folder. Re-start TMG, open Book Manager, and making sure the Related_By process is listed in the upper left, click on the [Create Book] button. Of course, you want to make sure the Flags are created as mentioned on my web page.

Hope this helps -

Lee

[Lee]

Oh yes, One other thing, If you have the process working on one project and want to use it in another project, just copy the Related_by filters to the other project folder. Create the Flags, and go.

Hope this helps -
Lee

[LDR]

Lee, Thanks. It seems that I must be doing things out of sequence. As I said your related by is great, but when I create a new project, do I have to create the Interim Flag and the Related by flag before copying the filters? So far, every time I've tried this, all the filters get reset yto defaould Sex = flags. Also when I try to run the Book Manager, it stops on every filter and give the screen prompts, even when I have the option to suppress outputs checked. It is because all the filters get clobbered that I have to check eax=ch filter again and correct them. I suspect that if I create the project, import the GED, create the Interim and Related by flag,,then run each filter it might work. That is about the only thing I haven't tried. It would sure be nice to copy the filters aand run the book manager without all the problems and book manager stopping on every filter about thre times. Thanks Lee.

[LDR]

I have a project wherI can generate the Related_By flag correctly for members of the project.
I just tested everything with a new project. The Report definitions that are working are in the configeration directory.
I created the two appropiate flags in the new project.
I copied the working *.FLP foles from the project where they are working, to the new project.
When I select a report, and look at the defining "Filter Group", it is empty. Non of the filter definations are in any of the reports in the new project.

For some reason, all the critical information that makes the filters work, is missing. However , I can click on the empty field and get a list of defination files that have been created before. By nameing them carefully, ie setup 1 , setup 2 etc, I can rebuild the filters for the report.

The Book Manager still stops amd beeps on each report about 4 or 5 times per report.

Larry

[Virginia Blakelock]

Larry -

I added Lee's report configurations (definitions) and filters to the Sample project. Below are screenshots of the List of People configurations, the list of filters in the List of People report, and the list of filters in a project.

What do you see differently or what is missing in your List of People report and in your project? To view your project files, in that project go to Help on the top menu, then click on Access Folders (OK the warning message). Open the current project and click on the heading for Type to sort the list by extensions.



Virginia

[LDR]

Virginia, I see the same thing. BUT, when I select a report that uses the filters, I get a message "Please Select or enter a filter definition." Have you actually tried to use one of the reports?
Larry

[Virginia Blakelock]

Larry -

The associated filter is specified in each of Lee's report definitions (the .rpt files are text files you can open in Notepad) and that filter should appear automatically in the filter window of that report definition - and that is what I see. Do you have the problem when using the Book Manager and/or when running the report directly?

It you are still working with copies from your first project, it might be simpler to install Lee's files and filters from his original download directly into the new project. That also eliminates the possibility of an errant value from the first project appearing somewhere in the sequence.

Also check Preferences / Current Project Options / Advanced to verify the locations of your folders and files.

Virginia

[LDR]

When trying to make each individual report work, I see a blank filter window. I am using Lee's filters. Of corse the Book manage will not work with the filters not there.
I am in the specified directories, the Configuratin Files Directory and the Project directory. I even went into the ASCII files and made sure that the Flags are named properly.
I probably will look at the Report files "before" and compare athe m to "after" files when they are working. I think I finally got the correct filesinto the correct directories.
Lee's instructions say "
This file contains 22 files including this one. Twelve
of these files (eleven RPT Type files and one RPB Type
file) should be moved to the folder shown in your
Preferences=>Project=>Advanced=>Reports option. The
remaining nine FLP type files should be moved to the
folder in which your project files are located.

So if you installed TMG in the usual folder and have
not changed the location of the Reports folder in
Preferences, then you should move the RPT & RPB files
to C:\Program Files\The Master Genealogist\Reports\.

And if your project was created in the default folder
as set in Preferences on installation, then you should
move the FLP files to the default projects folder, e.g.,
C:\Program Files\The Master Genealogist\Projects\. If
you have multiple projects located in separate folders,
you should place these filters in the same folder as
that of the project for which you wish to use the filters.

The files here are as follows:
ReadMe RelBy.TXT <= This file
RelBy001.RPT
RelBy002.RPT
RelBy003.RPT
RelBy004A.RPT
RelBy004B.RPT
RelBy005A.RPT
RelBy005B.RPT
RelBy006A.RPT
RelBy006B.RPT
RelBy007A.RPT
RelBy007B.RPT

Related By Flag.RPB

RelBy003.FLP
RelBy004A.FLP
RelBy004B.FLP
RelBy005A.FLP
RelBy005B.FLP
RelBy006A.FLP
RelBy006B.FLP
RelBy007A.FLP
RelBy007B.FLP

The above applies to WinXP and earlier. If you are using
Window Vista or later (Win7) then You should move the RPT &
RPB files to the "The Master Genealogist\Configuration_files"
folder in your My Documents folder. The filter files should
continue to be placed in the folder where your project files
are stored."
After all this discussion, I think that the RPT and RPB files should be in the configeration s Directory?

In the Book Generator, how do I stop all the confirmationd pop up windows. I have that option not checked.

[Virginia Blakelock]

Larry -

Yes, both the .rpt and .rpb files should be in the Configuration Files folder.

You may still get some confirmation/permission pop ups in the Book Manager - like for changing the flag - but you can globally turn off the Last Edited Date prompt in Preferences / Reports / Last Edited date.

Virginia

[Terry Reigel]

I suspect the problem is you cannot copy filters using custom flags from one Project to another. I think custom Flags are described by codes in the filter, not by name, and the codes will be different in a new Project even if the Flags have the same name. Open the filter (an .flp file) in notepad and examine the filter terms for the Flags to verify.

[Michael Hannah]

Virginia is correct. Filters refer to Flags by "the 4th Flag in Dataset 2" and not by name. And Flags are numbered based on the order in which they are created. If you created different Flags or the same Flags but in a different order in two Projects or even in two Datasets in the same Project, the filter will not tranfer correctly.

---Edited

This is incorrect, see below.

[Michael Hannah]

An addition to the above... What I said is my understanding based on my limited observations, but your own testing is always appropriate to verify. Further, if you have not created any custom Flags, or have created the exact same custom Flags in the same order, or one Project was initially created (Flags and all) as a copy of the other, then I believe copying the filters should work just fine.

----Edited----

Well, I should have first done what Terry (not Virginia) suggested, and looked at the internals of the Filter file. Seems like I was completely wrong. Custom Flags are identified in the .flp file by Name and dataset number. (I have some notes where there are some cases where the Flags are identified by number and not name, but It seems this is not the case for filters.) So copying a filter which uses custom Flag names should? be okay.

However, note that the dataset number IS part of the Flag name. I have not tested what happens when copying a filter which was set up for Flags in dataset one but is now used with dataset two.

[LDR]

Virginia, Howard, Terry and all, I think my solution is to make a New Project, with only one data set (multiple data sets were causing problems) The files in the Configuration Files Directory are stable amd work fine, And I copy the flp files to the project directory, and it seems to work fine. My main problem was finding the directory (Cinfigeration Files) for the rpt files, and having multiple data sets in one project. Now, the reports seem to work correctly, and I can use the relationship Flag with Second Site to generate a list of surnames for use of the Relative Finder and Family Finder DNA tests. I appreciate every ones assistance.
Larry