* Help with Queries and DRA

[ronk]

Having used Family Historian for a year now, I am interested in gaining more knowledge of FH Queries. Been looking at the various posts and the Knowledge Base for bits and pieces here and there. I see reference to theData Reference Assistant, but not sure where or it is or if there is a complete Data Reference Listing somewhere. From the Records Window, can one extract any subset of records with a particular value in any column? In MS Excel, one can Filter or Find any value in any cell fairly easily. Excuse my beginner's view, but it seems FH has help scattered in so many places that it is a bit confusing. Have looked at the sample Queries and dabbled with them, but need a more structured approach to understanding the query statements.

Sorry if this rambles a bit. Just looking for structured place to start.

[PeterR]

… if there is a complete Data Reference Listing somewhere.

The first item in FH Help if you search for "Data Reference Assistant" is Understanding Data References which includes:

Using the Query Window to Browse Data References

Sometimes it is useful to be able to browse fields and see what data reference you could use to reference them from a given starting point. You can use the Query Window for this. Open the Query Window and select a query. If you want to view data references from the point-of-view of an Individual record, choose an Individual query, such as 'All Individuals'. If you want to see data references from the point-of-view of some other record type, choose a query of that type (for facts, choose a Fact query, such as 'All Facts'). Then click on the 'Columns' tab. At the bottom of the Fields list on the left-hand side is a little black triangle. Click on this to display a dropdown menu and choose Show Data Reference in Box from this menu. Now when you click on any field in the Fields list, the appropriate data reference will be displayed in the box below the Fields list, and you can select it, and copy it by pressing Ctrl-C.

I hope this would be of some help.

[ronk]

Thanks Peter! I did browse that help section, but didn't scroll far enough to ending paragraph you quoted. Will give it a look.
Ron

[ronk]

So looking in Query Window, All Individuals, on the left are all the possible data references, with '+' signs and options to display the data reference name or id. Is there a way to expand all of the '+'s to find a particular data reference, e.g., the relationship to root data reference?
BTW...there is one named 'katie ella' in the list, what is that?

[PeterR]

As you can see in the All Individuals Query, the column named "Relationship to Root" uses the Function =Relationship(), not a Data Reference.
Where, in which list, did you see "katie ella"?

[tatewise]

Ron, firstly to complete the picture, the general construct used in Expression and Template boxes is an Expression.
See how_to:understanding_expressions|> Understanding Expressions which cross-refers to the FH Help pages, etc.
That also says that Expressions are composed of Data References and Functions plus Operators.
There are plenty of explanations and examples.
Did you Search the Knowledge Base for Data Reference Assistant ?

Have you worked through the Chapters in Getting the Most From Family Historian that deal with customisations?
e.g. Writing Custom Queries and also see how_to:creating_a_query|> Creating a Query.

In the Query window Columns tab the Fields pane IS the Data References Assistant (DRA).
In most other contexts you need to click a button on the right of the Expression/Template box.
e.g. Query window Rows tab, Records Window > Configure Columns > Edit, Diagram Options > Text tab Edit > Edit.
Did you try hitting the F1 key for Help in the Query window?
(As advised in how_to:family_historian_documentation|> Family Historian Documentation.)

You cannot expand all the branches in the DRA in one go, and should not need to.
Not all possible Data Refs are listed in a DRA for several reasons:

• Each DRA is contextual so some options are excluded.
• Some rare DRA are sometimes omitted for reasons best know to Calico Pie ( have reported some of them)
• The DRA only offer instance [1] even where multiple instances are valid, e.g. %INDI.CENS[2]% or %INDI.OCCU[3]%

Furthermore, remember that not all information is accessed via a Data Ref, as some is accessed via a Function.

[ronk]

As you can see in the All Individuals Query, the column named "Relationship to Root" uses the Function =Relationship(), not a Data Reference.
Where, in which list, did you see "katie ella"?

OK....data fields versus functions...makes sense, since relationships are calculated/determined not fixed. My bad.
Here's 'katie ella':

2017-04-19_15-29-36.jpg (80.89 KiB) Viewed 7823 times

[PeterR]

And higher up the same list is clayton dennis. I can only guess that you have inadvertently created them, possibly by an import of data from elsewhere.

[ronk]

Ron, firstly to complete the picture, the general construct used in Expression and Template boxes is an Expression.
See how_to:understanding_expressions|> Understanding Expressions which cross-refers to the FH Help pages, etc.
That also says that Expressions are composed of Data References and Functions plus Operators.
There are plenty of explanations and examples.
Did you Search the Knowledge Base for Data Reference Assistant ?

Have you worked through the Chapters in Getting the Most From Family Historian that deal with customisations?
e.g. Writing Custom Queries and also see how_to:creating_a_query|> Creating a Query.

In the Query window Columns tab the Fields pane IS the Data References Assistant (DRA).
In most other contexts you need to click a button on the right of the Expression/Template box.
e.g. Query window Rows tab, Records Window > Configure Columns > Edit, Diagram Options > Text tab Edit > Edit.
Did you try hitting the F1 key for Help in the Query window?
(As advised in how_to:family_historian_documentation|> Family Historian Documentation.)

You cannot expand all the branches in the DRA in one go, and should not need to.
Not all possible Data Refs are listed in a DRA for several reasons:

• Each DRA is contextual so some options are excluded.
• Some rare DRA are sometimes omitted for reasons best know to Calico Pie ( have reported some of them)
• The DRA only offer instance [1] even where multiple instances are valid, e.g. %INDI.CENS[2]% or %INDI.OCCU[3]%

Furthermore, remember that not all information is accessed via a Data Ref, as some is accessed via a Function.

Yes Mike, I did briefly touch upon some of the many places you note that DRA and Query are documented. While having a plethora of documentation may be beneficial ; the way it is scattered about (your answer speaks to that) it can also make it a bit intimidating. It's like, which path (help source) will get me a particular goal the quickest? There is the Knowledge Base, but an electronic manual for FH V6 is not available, but one can purchase a printed manual. And there are the F1 Help options. I could look at the V5 pdf, I suppose. Just a bit of a ramble on FH's documentation.

[ronk]

And higher up the same list is clayton dennis. I can only guess that you have inadvertently created them, possibly by an import of data from elsewhere.

Yes, likely imported, since migrated from Legacy Family Tree a year ago. Guess once I get a better handle on this material, I can delete those. Didn't know enough that the user can create their own data references in FH.
Thanks.

[tatewise]

In most genealogy applications you can create your own custom Facts.
In FH those Events & Attributes are built into the Gedcom data structure and thus have Data References.
The vast majority of the Attributes in your screenshot are custom Facts starting with the custom tag code _ATTR-...
Similarly, I suspect many Events listed lower down are custom Facts starting with the custom tag code EVEN-...
Any Record Flags you create will also have Data References.
This all stems from Gedcom allowing custom data tags, which leads to Gedcom dialects that complicate data migration.

Regarding the documentation, I don't think FH is significantly different to many other software products:

• It has a user guide Getting the Most From FH that is a tutorial on essential features, but not a detailed reference.
• It has built in Help pages via Help commands & buttons, plus the standard Windows F1 shortcut key, that do give detailed references.
• User Group advice that tries to pull related features together with examples and videos.

Sure it could be better, but given the feature rich nature of FH that has an inherited legacy from earlier versions, it is perhaps inevitable that there is a great deal of documentation to cope with, but better that than too little.

Things like Queries and Expressions (Data Refs & Functions) are orthogonal features.
One dimension is workspaces such as Queries, Diagrams, Reports, Property Boxes, etc.
Another dimension is Expressions (Data Refs/Functions/Operators) that are shared by many workspaces.
So the workspaces each have their own Help pages, but must share the Help pages for Expressions.