Report & Diagram Template.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 13 Mar 2013 12:16

I've only just started using FH. It's obviously a brilliant and extraordinarily good value package and the accompanying book is very comprehensive but I cannot work out how to do something very simple!

All I want to do initially is to create a standard template for an alphabetic All Individuals query and an All Individuals Diagram. I've done this for me as the Root (with a Custom Query to select the info I want and arrange the columns, etc.) but I now want to produce the same Query & Diagram for a large number of relatives with each of them as the Root. Can someone please tell me how to do this by using mine as a standard template and simply altering the Root for each recipient rather than having to set up a new Custom Query for each one. Also for each Diagram. Or should I be using Reports rather than Queries?

Many thanks in advance.

ID:6831

Post by **tatewise** » 13 Mar 2013 12:43

I am not sure what you mean by an All Individuals Query with different people as Root.

An All Individuals Query will always give a list of every Individual Record in your GEDCOM database.

Do you mean an All Relatives Query?
This begs the question 'What do you mean by All Relatives?'

Please refer to the following Standard Queries:
All Individuals lists every Individual Record.
All Relatives lists all relatives of a Root person.
Search For Orphans lists the relationship Pool for each Individual Record.
Check the General tab for a description.

Having investigated those, and better understand what you need, we can proceed to look at what you need in terms of Diagrams &/or Reports.

May I suggest you experiment on the Family Historian Sample Project.
Also checkout the Help button advice, and search the Knowledge Base here, especially the Family Historian Guide.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 13 Mar 2013 12:46

On your custom Query, just go to the Rows tab and select the selection line and tick the Parameter box and give it a name.

Each time you run the query it will prompt for a name.

If you save your diagram as a custom diagram type, you can then call that diagram with a different root from the View menu.

If you have a record selected when you run the Query or diagram it will default the selected one in.

You can't batch diagram and query running, but if you build a named list of the people you want to do you can click on each one in turn and run the report and the Diagram reasonably quickly.

Another option depending on what you want to do with the results, would be to use the Reports option for Ancestor or Descendants reports, and print those which can be batched.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 25 Mar 2013 11:41

Thanks Mike You were right - I should have been using the All Relatives Query. I've now developed a Customised All Relatives Query which, by changing the ROOT person, I can prepare for various interested relatives. However, under the heading Child, it only shows the first child. Is it possible to list all children under the Child heading? (I don't want any more columns as I've already filled 2 landscape pages). I then save as a PDF file.

I've also developed an All Relatives Custom Chart which I've managed to shrink legibly to 9 pages when printed. I now want to use this as a 'template' for other relatives but can't find a way to change the ROOT from me (the white box on the chart) to another person. Is this possible?

The final problem is that, unlike the Query above, this will not save as as PDF File. When I try, having ticked either the Use Current Page Layout button or the Adjust PDF File Page Size, I get the 'FH not responding' message for several minutes before the system reverts to normal but I cannot find any sign of a saved PDF file. Can you please help on this? Many thanks Richard

PeterR · Post by **PeterR** » 25 Mar 2013 12:37

A Query can generally produce only one row per record; where the Query Type is Family there will be one row per Family record; where the Query Type is Individual (as it is for your customized All Relatives Query) there will be one row per Individual record. The only exception to this is a Fact Query which will produce one row per Fact, were the Fact can belong to either an Individual record or a Family Record.

Thus, I don't think any sort of Query will provide the output you desire, with all the children of a given individual listed in a single column. Another possibility, mentioned by both Jane and Mike, above, would be to use a Report, for instance the standard Descendant Outline Report, which you could customize by using the various Report Options. Unlike Queries, Reports can also include images, which your interested relatives might appreciate.

Post by **LornaCraig** » 25 Mar 2013 21:09

richardar said:
I've also developed an All Relatives Custom Chart which I've managed to shrink legibly to 9 pages when printed. I now want to use this as a 'template' for other relatives but can't find a way to change the ROOT from me (the white box on the chart) to another person. Is this possible?

Use Diagram > Save Diagram as > Custom Diagram Type, and choose a meaningful name e.g. 'Custom All Relatives'. This will save all the customizations you have made to the Diagram Options. Then use View > Custom Diagram Types > 'Custom All Relatives'. You will be asked to select the root individual (or couple) for the new diagram. You will probably still need to make some adjustments so that the diagram will fit sensibly on the required number of pages, as no two trees are the same shape. Finally, save this as a new chart. (Note that the custom diagram just saves the customized options, i.e. the overall 'style' of the diagram, while the chart save the resulting layout for a particular root)

I have heard of the problem with the PDF before but can't remember the solution. Are you using the latest version, i.e. 5.0.9?

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 27 Mar 2013 15:58

I don't think the Standard Reports will help. At the moment, on my All Relatives Query, I have just one Child heading which gives me the first child only. If I expand each row can I add extra headings for other children, or am I stuck with just the first child?

PeterR · Post by **PeterR** » 27 Mar 2013 17:12

You should be able to add more columns to show more children of the Individual, using the following expression for the 2nd child, etc.:

Code: Select all

%INDI.~CHIL[2]>%

But this would require, say, 16 extra columns if one of the Individuals has 17 children. But you did say earlier that you didn't want additional columns.

This additional width may prove unwieldy, which is why we have been suggesting that you see what can be achieved with a Report, e.g. Descendant Outline. Another possibility would be a Family Tree CD for any of your relatives with access to a computer.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 27 Mar 2013 17:13

I've done (I think) what you suggest. My main customization was to reduce the size of the chart from 36 pages to 9. I saved it as you said as a Custom Diagram Type but when I went to open it none of the customizations I made had been saved. I then saved as a Family Historian Chart and that has saved all the customizations. However, I cannot open it with a different Root! Help!

I am using Ver 5.0.9

Post by **LornaCraig** » 27 Mar 2013 18:23

Saving as a Custom Diagram type should save all the customizations you have made with the Diagram Options dialog except scaling. Saving the scaling would not be much help, because for every diagram root the tree will be a different size and shape: there will be different numbers of children in various family branches, those children may or may not have children of their own, there may be marriages between distant cousins, etc . You will always need to adjust the scaling on a case by case basis to get the best fit on the required number of pages, and you may also need to use the Movement Control Box to shift branches or individuals around to avoid page boundaries in a sensible way. However, with the exception of scaling, you should find that any customizations you have made on any of the 8 tabs in the Diagram Options will have been saved (e.g. text scheme, colour scheme, number of generations, position of photos in boxes).

As I said before, a Custom Diagram type saves the overall 'style' of the diagram, while saving as a Chart will save the resulting layout for a particular root person. You cannot then change the root of the chart.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 29 Mar 2013 16:47

I'm not sure I agree that saving the scaling would not be much help. I've just spent an hour or so scaling my All Relatives Diagram down from 36 pages to 9 and moving boxes around to get the page breaks in the best places for pasting the pages together after printing. The plan was for each member of my family to get the same chart but with their own ascendant links completed. If I could now have the option to save it to include all scaling work and then just open it for each family member with their root it would make life so much easier. Unless I've got it all wrong (quite possible!) I now have to go through the scaling down, etc. processes for each one - and there are quite a few!

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 29 Mar 2013 17:25

Sorry! Another question. Now that I have created a 9 page custom chart how can I send it so that the recipient can magnify it up to see each page legibly and then print out each page to paste it together? The Family historian PDF is OK to print out as it contains each page but can't be read on the screen as a single document. I've tried a number of the other methods of saving but I can't find one that will work as I want.

Post by **LornaCraig** » 29 Mar 2013 18:01

You will need to send them the multi-page PDF for printing and pasting together, and send a separate single page PDF for viewing and zooming on screen. To create the latter, use Save Diagram as > PDF file and select the option to 'Adjust File Page size so that Diagram fits into One Page'.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 30 Mar 2013 14:16

Many thanks Lorna That has worked very well.

richardar · Post by **richardar** » 01 Apr 2013 12:19

Can I please trouble you with a 'how to' question which is puzzling me? My daughter-in-law (Laura) had a child (Poppy) by donor sperm as my son (James) is infertile. Sadly, therefore, as my family line goes directly back from James through me to an important chap (let's call him X) in the 13C, Poppy cannot be the 'great (x22) granddaughter of X' (as she is styled in the record list with X as the root) as the blood line stops at James. I've searched through the book and tried various options from page 10 but I cannot see any way to overcome this other than than by setting up a second 'spouse' for Laura that I've called Donor and then linking Poppy just to Donor - but somehow this doesn't feel 'right'!

PeterR · Post by **PeterR** » 01 Apr 2013 17:22

I wonder how certain anyone can be that in over 20 generations there is no doubt about the parentage of every child. And I wonder whether the new addition to your family will think of you as her grandfather or not.

Post by **LornaCraig** » 01 Apr 2013 18:34

Richard,
It is possible to enter multiple sets of parents in the gedcom file, so you could add a second set of parents for Poppy, where the second father is Donor and the mother is the same person as the first mother. This was originally intended for use in cases of adoption, but could be used for donor fathers as well. Unfortunately you can only display one set of parents in a diagram but you could add the donor father separately to a diagram if you wanted to. If your son regards Poppy as his daughter and you regard her as your granddaughter, there is no need to unlink her from your son.

The question of whether you regard the child as a descendant of earlier generations arises in cases of adoption also. The point is that the child is legally the child of the adopting parents although not genetically related to them (or genetically related to only one of them). So the way you present your data will depend on whether you are interested only in strict genealogy or in family history, which is a wider topic. As Peter has pointed out, the more generations you go back the more scope there is for some unrecorded paternity issues, so it is probably best to embrace the wider topic of family history.

As Peter has said, it is best to start a new thread when you raise a new topic. Your latest question is not related to the original Report & Diagram Template query, so giving it a new name (e.g. How to deal with donor father) would help anyone else searching for a similar topic.

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