* Tweaking charts

[arthurk]

First a bit of background: I've been considering switching to FH for nearly a year, and experimented a bit with the free trial, but this has now expired. I later bought a boxed copy of the program, but urgent family circumstances intervened and it's still sitting unopened. So although I've been following discussions here, I don't have a working copy of FH to try things out on. I've also dipped into "Getting the most..." for v.5.

A question occurred to me today about charts in FH - I think it might have been prompted by someone else's post, but I can't now find that.

In other programs that I've used, charting seems to operate as a kind of add-on, so that once a chart has been created, it can be edited without affecting the underlying data. This means, for example, that you can selectively edit parts of a chart, perhaps to make it more appropriate for a particular recipient, such as adding a brief description or occupation details under a person's name, tweaking a place name, or bolding the names in a particular line of descent.

What I'd like to know is, can the same thing be done in FH, or (as I'm beginning to suspect) is the charting so tightly bound to the database that if you do make ad hoc changes like this, you also need to remember to change things back again afterwards?

I'd be grateful for any guidance on this - I don't produce that many charts, but being able to tweak them if necessary without affecting the underlying data seems quite a useful feature to me.

I appreciate that Christmas Eve may not be the best time to be asking a question here, as no doubt many people will be busy with other things. In fact I might not be able to return to this myself for a day or so, but I thought I'd put it out there while it was on my mind, and I'll pick it up again when I can.

Arthur

[tatewise]

Some things can be customised such as "bolding the names in a particular line of descent" or using the Family Connection Mapper to colour various lines of ascent/descent differently. Many presentation features allow fonts, colours, pictures, text boxes, etc, to be added without affecting underlying data.

But you are correct, simply 'tweaking' text derived from underlying data is not at all easy without changing the data. However, it is easy to Copy the entire Project, including the Chart, tweak the data, export the Chart, and Delete the Project.

Alternatively, if you export the Chart as a PDF then small textual alterations may be possible with various PDF editors, or if you export it as a JPG, then a graphic image editor may be able to tweak the text.

[arthurk]

Many thanks for the reply and clarification. I don't think this issue is going to be a deal-breaker for me, but it's probably as well to know beforehand what would happen if I started editing data in a chart.

To respond to a couple of points:

But you are correct, simply 'tweaking' text derived from underlying data is not at all easy without changing the data. However, it is easy to Copy the entire Project, including the Chart, tweak the data, export the Chart, and Delete the Project.

Copying an entire Project sounds a bit cumbersome, but for now I'll have to take your word for it that it's easy. However, thinking of other alternatives, which might be useful on occasion:

Alternatively, if you export the Chart as a PDF then small textual alterations may be possible with various PDF editors, or if you export it as a JPG, then a graphic image editor may be able to tweak the text.

I've never used a PDF editor, as they've mostly tended to be expensive, but do you have any suggestions for free or low cost ones?

I've also noticed that it's possible to copy all or part of a diagram to paste into a word processor (see "Getting the Most... v.5", last part of Chapter 10). Does an enhanced metafile include editable text, or is it simply a graphics format?

I understand a third-party program such as TreeDraw or Charting Companion might provide the kind of editing I've been asking about: do FH users typically find these useful, or mostly unnecessary?

Lastly, I see that Charting Companion offers .rtf output, which clearly would allow for further editing in a word processor. Has this ever been suggested/considered for FH?

Thanks for any further help.

Arthur

[AnneEast]

Not sure if this is what you want but sometimes I produce a chart for a particular purpose and needing some additions and explanations. I do this mainly by adding text boxes and arrows and such like. All these can be freely added without affecting the data of each individual.
Anne

[tatewise]

Yes, on reflection, Anne's suggestion works well even to the extent that a Text Box can have its border removed and background filled with same colour as Diagram Box, so it sits over the Diagram Box text. The Diagram Boxes can even be resized to accomodate the Text Box.

[arthurk]

Not sure if this is what you want but sometimes I produce a chart for a particular purpose and needing some additions and explanations. I do this mainly by adding text boxes and arrows and such like. All these can be freely added without affecting the data of each individual.
Anne

Yes, on reflection, Anne's suggestion works well even to the extent that a Text Box can have its border removed and background filled with same colour as Diagram Box, so it sits over the Diagram Box text. The Diagram Boxes can even be resized to accomodate the Text Box.

Thank you both for this. It does sound like it might provide the flexibility I'm looking for. Just to clarify, since I don't have a working copy of FH at present, are you saying that text boxes and diagram boxes can overlap, and you can choose which one is in front?

Meanwhile, in "Getting the Most..." for v.5, I've found a reference to overriding text in diagrams (but not charts, unless that's implicit): p.88 of my pdf copy, about half way through Chapter 9. Is this saying that there is a way to change text in a box without changing the underlying data, or have I misunderstood it?

Arthur

[tatewise]

Yes, Text Boxes and Diagram Trees have a 'layer' order and any Order can be arranged.

See GtMFFH5 page 115 Text Boxes, pages 114 & 118 Front-to-Back Ordering.

Yes, Override Text is possible but if you read it carefully it is Conditional on some underlying data that is unique for that Individual.

Charts vs Working Diagrams is covered on page 84.

[arthurk]

Many thanks - I think the ideas here should meet my needs.