Family Historian User Group

Is there a Plugin to move all, or portions, of the descriptive text from Place to Description for all same problem tags? E.g., I have a Place error with the Place Records Text equal "?" I want to move the "?" to the Note section. I can do this manually but this in in 10 Links. A Plugin to change the Place text, or a portion of the text to the Note field for all Links the Place is tagged would be desired. The desired result would be a new Place applied only to the indicated links. See attachment. Thanks,

Larry Chesebro'
[/size][/b]

You don't need a Plugin, just edit that Place record.
Change the Text field by clicking the [...] edit button at the right-hand end.
That will set the new Place name, and will automatically apply it to all 10 links.
That is how Place records work ~ they are the one stop record for all uses of that Place name.

I have tried to Edit the Text field but there is no option to edit the Note field associated with that specific Place. In matter of fact NO note fields for any locations are exhibited in Place Records although I have many, e.g. a Place Link with a note including the cemetery for Place of death when other same Place links do not have the note.

A better example of what I need to accomplish is in this attachment, , done in FTM 2014 should you have, or have access to, a copy and want to review it. I never had all my data in FTM v2014, only my Incomplete database of about 2k individuals which I used to create a new FH Incomplete file without the Place problem. I have over 80k in my main file which I converted to FH from FTM v16 and hesitate to convert FH to FTM and then back to FH.

I need help to change only specified links of a Place to move text from the Place field to the Note field and to either retain or delete the place which would be the intent of the "?" example originally provided. In the attached example my result is the one Place Wadena, Wadena County, MN with 16 Links 2 of which have a note and 14 have no notes.

Options to be considered would be (1) change all or only instance Place, (2) add Note/Description, (3) remove Place if Place text is eliminated but keep Fact that Place was entered, (4) option to review Link(s) of instance Place to review if existing text which would require making only manual change at that Link, and (5) combine Place with a more correct Place, e.g. just spelling or spacing with choosing the correct Place.

Thanks for any possible help,

Mike

I have had problems wit this edit button.
I have the latest FH but in earlier versions the edit button worked fine. It doesn't now
I don't see a heading saying 'change place name'

I found one way round the problem was to put the correct place name on someone else's name then merge to the two by choosing the correct one

Victor

What Mike suggested has always, and still does, work for me. I am running FH 6.2

Tried to get what you have shown.

There is no ... at the end of the row

Victor, just click the mouse in the Place: field and the dots will apear.

Thanks Lorna

Sorted. Now I don't have to go to
Tools
Work with Data
Places
and can do things more direct
but will use the tools route to combine the same places if there is more than one

Victor

In addition to what Lorna suggested, you can also do the edits of PLACES by going directly to the Records window, select the PLACES tab, and then double-click any place that you want to edit.

Bob, that is what has been being discussed all along - editing Place records.

I appreciate all the help attempts but I believe they do not help solve this problem because:

(1) The apparently preferred process using Place Records does not allow deletion of the Place text should that be required when moving all the Place text to the Place Note. Even so, when only a portion of the Place text is to be removed and added as a note, the Place Note is not available.
(2) Using the mouse pointer in an individual Facts Place entry to show the dots allows an edit or addition for the Note field. However, the Place field cannot be changed (see the grayed out options in the screen shot), and, more importantly, if only a Note change, the change only corrects the Note in the 1st link of the multiple Place links.

(1) In the Records Window only existing fields are listed.
To add a Note, right-click on say your highlighted Old Church Yard, ... and choose Add Note.

Actually in your second screenshot EditPlaceRecord.png the Note: field is clearly visible.
It is the box where you have written No Note field.
Its label is just below where it says Place:, Standardized:, and Lat./Long.:.
Can you see that?
(Sometimes I think people 'look' but do not 'see' what is glaringly obvious.)

(2) Here you have clearly discovered the Note: field, as you have added Old Church Yard to it.

The [...] button you have circled is nothing to do with editing the Note: field.
You just type directly into the Note: box, or you can use the tall [...] button on the Note: box side.
Left-click on that circled [...] button to edit the greyed out Place: field.
As you have clearly done with Edit Place Name box in the preceding screenshot EditPlaceRecord.png.

There is NO WAY that changing the Note: in the Place record can only affect one Link.
Where are you looking to make that claim?
Please post a screenshot of your evidence.

[Edit: Mike's post above, with similar comments, arrived as I was writing this]

Sorry Larry, but I don't understand why you are saying there is no note field. In the second of your three screen shots you have (handwritten) the words 'No note field' in the note field!

If you want to move part of the place name into the note field, simply open the Edit Place Name box, cut the required text from the Place name, close the Edit Place Name box then paste the text into the Note field.

I prefer not to enter a "war of words" but maybe the comments should refrain from personal "gotchas". Nothing wrong if asking "did you notice" or "sometimes overlooked" or simply "in that field "rather than some of the recent comments

(1) Re me not seeing the Place Record heading Note . Please know I did see it. I believe you will better understand my post if you try to left click (open) the Note tab on the Place Record heading and learn nothing happens unless you first expand the Place Record to include the Text field line at which time that line will be closed if you left click Note tab! I find no way to edit a Place Record Note because its editable field never opens. A Place Record Note field does not list under the Text field line in my up-to-date FH program. Please let me know if it does in yours and if so your version.

And, if the Note tab is right clicked the options are "Sort Ascending", "Sort Descending", and "Configure Columns" (same for all tabs) which therefore I cannot do because there is no editable field. Clicking the 3 dots of the only Place Record expanded edit line, the Text line, the Name can only be edited but not removed if the editing requires all the text to be moved to a Note.

And also, contrarily, as noted in the 3rd screen shot, clicking the 3 dots in the Individual Place Record allows editing the Note field but not the Place field causing a problem responded to in (2) following.

(2) My references to the 3 dots in the Individual Place Record was to ensure my response to the response for solving my problem could be accomplished in the Individual Record was fully attempted. Trying the 3 dots only proved that the action reverted to the inability of the Place Record to solve the problem.

And, I am fully aware of what can and is normally accomplished with the Individual Place Note field - I did not just recently "discover" it. I believe it should be noted in this thread that my problem is not with an Individual Place or it's Note field. I was advised a possible solution to my problem and then responded in kind with my results. As noted in the last sentence in (1) above, the Individual Place process has different results than the Place Record process.

And also please refer to the 2 links in my previous screen shots. Those links are for Individuals ID 67238 and ID 67239. Sadly, I had to Edit Find the Place Name to identify the linked individuals rather than being able to simply click on the Links tab of the Place Record heading which like its Note tab provides nothing. These screen shots show the results of editing 1 ID in the Individual Place process as referenced in the 3rd previous screen shot:
In conclusion I cannot find a way to edit a Place Record to move all or part of the Record to its Note field so only all the affected Links are changed in a global (one or minimum actions) process, and all Links not to be changed are not changed but are combined into 1 Place Record, and an edited Place Record is removed if the editing moves all text to the Note field>.

FYI only - FTM in previous screen shot does this with ease and effectiveness.

Larry, I have had to read through this thread several times to hopefully understand the desired functions.

I know technical terminology can be a problem, and it has not helped in understanding this discussion.
For example there is some confusion between 'tabs' and 'columns'.
The Records Window has both 'tabs' and 'columns' and so do some other displays in FH.
The 'tabs' are labelled Individuals, Sources, Media, Places, etc, and when selected the whole screen changes to display a completely new set of records in a spreadsheet style of 'rows' and 'columns'.
The 'columns' are labelled ... Records, Record Id, Links, Updated, etc, and when selected simply sort the same record rows into a different order. A clue is when you right-click a 'column' heading it offers to Sort or Configure Columns.

Another problem is identifying exactly which Note field needs to be changed.
Almost every item has a Note field, so it is important to identify clearly which one is meant.
It appears in this case that it is not the Place record local Note that needs changing.
It is the local Note for all Facts that use/link to this Place record that matters.
The clue is in the very first FTM image attached to the very first posting that says:
Add description text to all facts that use this place:

First a few FH ground rules.
A Place record name/Text is not allowed to be completely blank. Instead the Place record must be deleted.
A Place record name/Text must be unique, i.e. different from every other Place record.
Writing a Plugin for this sort of one-shot editing is not worthwhile unless it is likely to be repeated a lot of times.

So going back to that first posting it seems that what is required is :-
The Place name (Calvary Cemetery), Wadena, Wadena County, MN needs to become Wadena, Wadena County, MN everywhere it is used.
The prefix (Calvary Cemetery) without the comma needs to go into the local Note of all 16 Facts that use that Place name.

The best way to achieve that is :-
In the Records Window on the Places tab, select that (Calvary Cemetery), Wadena, Wadena County, MN record.
Run the Where Used Record Links Plugin to list in a Result Set all 16 Facts that use that Place.
Double-click any one of the (Calvary Cemetery), Wadena, Wadena County, MN names to open the Property Box.
Click the Place: name [...] edit button and select & cut (Calvary Cemetery) and delete the comma & space.
Click OK and all 16 Place Record Name entries in the Result Set will change accordingly.
Close the Place record Property Box.
The Result Set column Field Where Used should list the 16 Facts of interest to be changed.
Double-click 1st cell in that column to display that Fact then right-click to Paste into the Note box.
(Calvary Cemetery) should appear in that Note box and the Property Box can be closed.
Repeat that process on the 2nd cell, 3rd cell, and so on through to the 16th cell.

On reflection, would it be better to paste Calvary Cemetery without the brackets, into the Address field of each Fact?
After all, that is what it is, the Address of the Cemetery within Wadena, Wadena County, MN.
It also keeps it separate from any Note in each Fact.
It can also be identified separately in Sentence Templates by using the {address} code, as distinct from the {note} code, should you want to name the Cemetery in Narrative Reports.

Mike - thanks for the tutorial. I have, and do, understood all the differences but I may not have been correct or made the correct reference to different items. Sadly, even my succinctly stated conclusion in my last response was not even sufficient :

"In conclusion I cannot find a way to edit a Place Record to move all or part of the Record to its Note field so only all the affected Links are changed in a global (one or minimum actions) process, and all Links not to be changed are not changed but are combined into 1 Place Record, and an edited Place Record is removed if the editing moves all text to the Note field".

And sadly, not being able, or not attempting, to view the process in FTM prevents you or others offering help a very specific example of how I hope FH could resolve my problem. FTM does it simply and effectively.

Adhering to the processes you noted, I have no problem solving my problem. However, there are thousands of place errors which would require an extraordinary manual edit for every instance.

And, you do not have to remind me that those errors were my fault years ago in my use of the early FTM programs Even so, again and as mentioned above, even FTM realized many users created, and continue to create, the same problem and now provides a simple solution which I had hoped FH and/or FHUG could duplicate for FH.

Now, my direct response to your comments to better help you understand the "problem", hopefully with the correct "technical terminology" bolded in my comments:

You correctly state :

• "Another problem is identifying exactly which Note field needs to be changed.
  Almost every item has a Note field, so it is important to identify clearly which one is meant.
  It appears in this case that it is not the Place record local Note that needs changing.
  It is the local Note for all Facts that use/link to this Place record that matters.
  The clue is in the very first FTM image attached to the very first posting that says:
  Add description text to all facts that use this place:"

And, I have asked for a way to do exactly that "Add description text to all facts that use this place". In context, "this place" referenced the subject Place Records place. I previously stated my problem is with Place Records not Individual Facts. The problem cannot be solved in Individual Facts which I am fully competent in FH. E.g. when adding text to a Burial Fact of an Individual Record, options include Place and Note which may be easily and correctly completed by recording Place as Wadena, Wadena County, MN and recording Note as Calvary Cemetery. However, a 2nd Place Records place, with a Note will be created if an existing Place Records place text fields, in other Burial Facts Places, have previously been incorrectly entered as Calvary Cemetery, Wadena, Wadena County, MN.

Now, for further problem explanation referring to my previous comment above, there are so many of these exemplary errors wherein there may be up to 50 links to the same Place requiring the same correction. E.g. These multiple Places are linked to 10 Individuals or Facts and should be combined to one Place Record with 10 Links of which 1 link has no Note and 3 links have separate Notes - one Note text would be "unknown county" replacing the "?," - one Note text would be "will in Buckinghamshire", and one Note text would be "during immigration, or Milford, New Haven County, CT". Only remaining Place Record would be Buckinghamshire.
Note that viewing Notes of any place in Place Records would be by viewing each of the Links of a specific place. To do so would require the clicking the number of links in the Links column to list each link - like FTM does. The "Where Used Record Links Plugin to list in a Result Set all 16 Facts that use that Place" continues to require "Repeat that process on the 2nd cell, 3rd cell, and so on through to the 16th cell" but may be a bit easier than searching for the Record ID

Finally. to paste, for e.g., "Calvary Cemetery without the brackets, into the Address field of each Fact" is OK to remove the brackets but does not solve a basic map problem. Personal genealogy applications like FTM and online genealogy WEB applications like TNG using maps easily find town, counties, parishes, states, countries, provinces and etc. so, as I have experienced and believe to be the best "standard" but not to preface churches, cemeteries and etc. in place names. Regardless, the attached screen shot elevates my problem information way beyond prefacing a place with a more specific location identity.

Thanks again for the effort. Maybe in a really slack time my problem could be reexamined for an effective FH solution based on what I have tried to provide and, especially, how FTM easily and efficiently solves the problem in FTM.

There appear to be two categories of corrective measure you want to undertake.

1. The (Calvary Cemetery), Wadena, Wadena County, MN category that needs a global Note change capability.
   
   Unfortunately, FH does not offer this feature, and would need a Plugin to be written or the program updated.
   
   I now understand the difficulty you have been experiencing when editing the Place and Note field of one Fact.
   If you cut (Calvary Cemetery), directly out of the Place field you are creating a new Place record for the new Place name Wadena, Wadena County, MN and the original Place record for (Calvary Cemetery), Wadena, Wadena County, MN is still linked to the other 15 Facts.
   
   Instead, just as in FTM, you need to start from the Place record, rather than from the linked Facts.
   Use Tools > Work with Data > Places > Where Used button to get a list of all 16 Facts (similar to using the Plugin).
   Then double-click on each Date or Place cell in turn and Paste the text Calvary Cemetery into each Note field.
   Yes, I am sorry, but that is a repetitive process in FH at present, but do NOT alter the Place name yet.
   Finally, in Tools > Work with Data > Places or in the Places tab of the Records Window delete (Calvary Cemetery), from the Place name just once.
   Job done!
2. The Buckinghamshire, England category does NOT require a global Note change capability.
   
   Each of the 3 Place records with 1 Link needs a separate edit to their Fact local Note.
   It is easy to find those 3 linked Facts either one at a time via Tools > Work with Data > Places > Where Used button, or all 3 together via the Where Used Record Links Plugin.
   
   Having edited those 3 Fact local Notes with their 3 different values, the 4 Place records need to merged into one.
   In Tools > Work with Data > Places select the 4 Place records to be merged and click the Merge button.
   You will be asked to choose the one you want to be the final master version, i.e. Buckinghamshire, England.
   Job done!