Complex Families on diagrams : Simon Orde
Posted: 04 Sep 2003 11:55
It should be possible to have an All Relatives diagram that shows A and C, and all of their families and all of A's spouses (and children by all of them) and all of C's spouses (and children by all of them) as Brian wants. The trick (as Jane suggested) is that you select both A and C as the diagram root, so that the diagram is based not on either of them individually, but on both of them as a couple.
However, Jane says
>> I did try using the couple option, but it does not show alternate spouses of a couple.
Actually the diagram should have shown the alternate spouses. If it didn't, I suspect that this was because there is a 'feature' of the All Relatives which is that it won't show other spouses and/or siblings for individuals who have no parents recorded. If you don't already have a parent recorded for A or C, you need to add one (or both) to get round this problem. If you don't know anything about their parents, just leave all details including their name blank - or use '?' as the name, perhaps. Then you should see all the required relatives in one diagram. You may have to refresh the diagram once you have added the parents.
In case anyone was not previously aware of this, all diagrams can be based either on an individual or on a couple - and as this example shows, you get a slightly different emphasis of the diagram if you do it that way.
To show a diagram based on a couple, you can either select a family record instead of an individual record, and click on any diagram button. It will show a diagram for the family parents. Alternatively, if you are already looking at a diagram in which both individuals who make up the couple are visible, you can also do this: Click on the first individual to select him/her. Then press-and-hold the Ctrl key, and click on the 2nd individual in the couple (then release the ctrl key). That will select the 2nd person without unselecting the first. You will now have both individuals selected. Now click on the required diagram button and a diagram will display with them both as root.
An alternative technique to select more than one person in a diagram is to 'lasso' them
Incidentally there is also the issue, as Jane hinted - what if A adopts the child of C and D? In that case, this child should be added to the family of A and C, and marked as adopted by A (but not by C). This child will appear to have 2 sets of parent families - A+C and C+D.
Simon Orde List Administrator and Family Historian designer
However, Jane says
>> I did try using the couple option, but it does not show alternate spouses of a couple.
Actually the diagram should have shown the alternate spouses. If it didn't, I suspect that this was because there is a 'feature' of the All Relatives which is that it won't show other spouses and/or siblings for individuals who have no parents recorded. If you don't already have a parent recorded for A or C, you need to add one (or both) to get round this problem. If you don't know anything about their parents, just leave all details including their name blank - or use '?' as the name, perhaps. Then you should see all the required relatives in one diagram. You may have to refresh the diagram once you have added the parents.
In case anyone was not previously aware of this, all diagrams can be based either on an individual or on a couple - and as this example shows, you get a slightly different emphasis of the diagram if you do it that way.
To show a diagram based on a couple, you can either select a family record instead of an individual record, and click on any diagram button. It will show a diagram for the family parents. Alternatively, if you are already looking at a diagram in which both individuals who make up the couple are visible, you can also do this: Click on the first individual to select him/her. Then press-and-hold the Ctrl key, and click on the 2nd individual in the couple (then release the ctrl key). That will select the 2nd person without unselecting the first. You will now have both individuals selected. Now click on the required diagram button and a diagram will display with them both as root.
An alternative technique to select more than one person in a diagram is to 'lasso' them
Incidentally there is also the issue, as Jane hinted - what if A adopts the child of C and D? In that case, this child should be added to the family of A and C, and marked as adopted by A (but not by C). This child will appear to have 2 sets of parent families - A+C and C+D.
Simon Orde List Administrator and Family Historian designer