* TMG census "persons"

[kbella]

Hello All,

I am a convert from TMG 8 and have a problem I never took care of before but now must attend to.

My census records were set up in "families" by year, country, county, location, etc. and now I want to delete them and record the census data "normally."

I can set up a named list for Census (both forename and surname) but there are a lot "child" relationships that can be a little more complicated. Should I just add the leftovers manually and then delete the lot using the split tree helper?

At the time, this was useful, as I could see who was recorded where and when. However, dismantling the system is proving to be a major pain.
Any TMG users who have done this out there?

Thanks,

[brianlummis]

Hello Kathleen

I am an ex TMG user but I did not use the "family" system for recording census data so not quite sure if my input is going to help!

My starting point was that all my census data was in paper form, having started over 25 years ago when storing media files was not the thing to do, and I therefore wanted to reduce my paper mountain. The only way this could be achieved was by downloading each census again and then re-entering the data using the very useful Ancestral Sources. By working slowly through entering a few items a day it took me around 9 months but I now have got rid of over 1000 pieces of paper and have seen my paper records reduce by 75%. By using Method 1 (see the help for Ancestral Sources) I now have distinct sources for each census entries but this has left some cleaning up to do as some of the old sources are still there where they had been used for names, births etc. However my data is far better organised now and easier to handle.

I don't think that there is an easy way to solve your dilemma and in my case the long way round produced the best result.

Brian

[tatewise]

If I understand correctly, you do NOT need to use the Split Tree Helper, and selecting records for the Named List should be straightforward.

Before anything else, use File > Backup/Restore > Small Backup to preserve the Gedcom just in case!

From your screenshots, every record you need has a Surname that starts with UK or a year followed by Census. So open the Records Window and on the Individuals tab click the Individuals Records column heading to sort into Surname order.

Then all the reqired records will be in two consecutive groups:
1) All those starting with a year followed by Census.
2) All those starting with UK.
So select the 1st consecutive group and add to your Named List.
Select the 2nd consecutive group and add to same Named List.
(To select a consecutive group, select first record, hold down Shft key, and select last record.)

Finally right-click the Named List and choose Delete Listed Records.
Job done!

[kbella]

Brian,

I do thank you for your reply, as that is the second part of my task. Fortunately, I have always downloaded census records, so that will be one step I can skip for the most part. And I will definitely use Ancestral Sources!

Cheers,
Kathleen

Hello Kathleen

I am an ex TMG user but I did not use the "family" system for recording census data so not quite sure if my input is going to help!

My starting point was that all my census data was in paper form, having started over 25 years ago when storing media files was not the thing to do, and I therefore wanted to reduce my paper mountain. The only way this could be achieved was by downloading each census again and then re-entering the data using the very useful Ancestral Sources. By working slowly through entering a few items a day it took me around 9 months but I now have got rid of over 1000 pieces of paper and have seen my paper records reduce by 75%. By using Method 1 (see the help for Ancestral Sources) I now have distinct sources for each census entries but this has left some cleaning up to do as some of the old sources are still there where they had been used for names, births etc. However my data is far better organised now and easier to handle.

I don't think that there is an easy way to solve your dilemma and in my case the long way round produced the best result.

Brian

[kbella]

Thanks, Mike, I was hoping it would be as straightforward as that, but didn't want to get midway through and discover I had missed something. I will, just in case, inspect the entries and make sure no "real" people will be in danger of being deleted through links, etc.

You are such a great resource for these nitty gritty problems!

Cheers,
Kathleen

If I understand correctly, you do NOT need to use the Split Tree Helper, and selecting records for the Named List should be straightforward.

Before anything else, use File > Backup/Restore > Small Backup to preserve the Gedcom just in case!

From your screenshots, every record you need has a Surname that starts with UK or a year followed by Census. So open the Records Window and on the Individuals tab click the Individuals Records column heading to sort into Surname order.

Then all the reqired records will be in two consecutive groups:
1) All those starting with a year followed by Census.
2) All those starting with UK.
So select the 1st consecutive group and add to your Named List.
Select the 2nd consecutive group and add to same Named List.
(To select a consecutive group, select first record, hold down Shft key, and select last record.)

Finally right-click the Named List and choose Delete Listed Records.
Job done!