Family Historian User Group

Is it or could it be possible to sort on the Name Suffix? the reason being I have a large number of titled people who are often referred to by their title rather than their surname. Which is at times becoming increasingly difficult to find them, if I cannot recall the surname.

You could either simply add an extra column to the Records list with

%INDI.NAME[1].NSFX%

for the expression to display the suffix then just click on the header to sort, or write yourself a query on the suffix with a Rows selection for Contains for the suffix, that way you could type the title or part of it and see the matching list.

Thanks Jane. I have had a play and managed to get the column working but I am struggling with the Query, having never written my own before. I've been following the Knowledge Base guide but have not managed to get it to display a list yet, just an empty column. I'll have another try over the weekend. One problem I have noticed with the column is that I have used say 1st Earl of somewhere and 2nd... and 3rd... etc but it sorts on the number first. So that I get all the 1st Earls then all the 2nd etc etc. Will it be possible with a Query to sort on the somewheres and then the numerical order?

Try the attached Query.

It prompts for some Name text as a filter.
If you enter say Earl it will list just those that contain Earl in alphanumerical order.
Assuming they all have at least one space character, enter a space in the Name prompt to list them all.

Unfortunately, I cannot think of another way of sorting, unless you were to split up the names with a comma between 1st and Earl rather like Place names.
e.g.
1st, Earl
2nd, Earl
Then the =TextParts(...) function can split the field and sort on the parts separately.
BTW: It is a shame that function can only split on comma separators. If the separator could be chosen, and that choice was a space, then it could split those Name Suffix fields into space separated 'words' and sort each 'word' independently.

Thanks Mike,

That is looking good, I will have a good look over the weekend.

Keith, when I was working with the McAlpine family what we did was also to record titles as attributes as different members have different titles over time. So if you are actively researching your titled families you might find it useful to do the same as you can then easily find the dates they held the titles. Having an attribute means you can have sentences which say things like "He was appointed Earl of Northumberland on the death of his Uncle John Smith 25h December 1899".

Jane,
I hadn't realised until I used your column that I had collected over 300 titled people (great after so many years of Ag Labs) so yes I would be interested in what you have done. A while back I was asking how people recorded such information but I still am not sure how to, or how I want to record it.

Keith, what Jane is proposing is supported by the Names/Titles dialogue reached via the more(+)... link.
When you click Add choose Title instead of Name.
That adds a standard Gedcom Title Attribute to the Facts tab as well as appearing in the Names/Titles dialogue.
In the Facts tab you can add Date, Age, Place, Address, Note, and Citation details just like any other fact, and be creative with the Narrative Sentence.

I am going to include, also recording Titles as Attributes. Is it possible you could modify the query to sort on the Attribute instead please.
Also I have been looking at reports and note that Titles are included in the Summary Reports but not in the Narrative Reports is that so, or is there something I have to alter in the settings? Checking a bit further, no other facts / attributes, (except b, m, d,) are displayed in the narrative. But all ,except Title, are identified below under Sources.

The attached Show Titles Query will show all Individuals with a Title that contains the selected Title text.
Remember, assuming they all have a space character, then a single space will list them all.
Click on the column headings to change sort order.

By default both Individual Summary Reports and all Narrative Reports include ALL facts (Events & Attributes).
So you must have customised some Options to exclude certain facts from Narrative Reports.

In the Report > Options > Main tab, what is the Individual Events/Attributes setting top right?
That must be set to All to include all facts.

In the Property Box on the Facts tab for a Title attribute, what is in the Sentence box at the bottom?
That should appear in Narrative Reports.
If it is empty then you have customised the Tools > Fact Types definition for Title Attributes.

Thank-you Mike,

Reports are sorted I did not have the settings on "All"

With the query I have a problem with using just "Title" as the search in the query. As was discussed in an earlier post Fact Types (14169) I am now also using "office" and "rank" in the sentence along with "title". So would it be possible to also include those with title in the Query search?

I am sorry Keith, you will have to give me few more clues.
Clearly you know how you are using "office" and "rank" in the sentence along with "title", but I do not.
Can you explain in more detail, post a screenshot, or something.

Perhaps you mean you have edited the Sentence box at the bottom of some Title Attribute facts to say He had the office of... or He had the rank of... instead of He had the title of...?
If so, they ONLY affect the wording in Narrative Reports and everything else treats them as Title Attributes.
So in Individual Summary Reports and in that Show Titles Query they will still be Titles.

Sorry Mike I've managed to confuse myself as well! I thought the Query was searching for "Title". The query works very well as it is thank-you very much. The only other possible option I can think of is a method of being able to select all of those with a "Title" attribute entry.

As I said, assuming they all have a space character in the Title value, then a single space in the Title prompt will list them all.

Alternatively, use the standard All Facts Query, click on Fact Type heading to sort, and scroll down to Title.