* Extracting data from Note field under Source for any Individual

[Richard_Hyland]

I would like to extract, hopefully to Excel, details that are recorded in the Notes box within Sources as per example below.

Capture.JPG

I would like to record the Individual, Source and Note.

Could someone advise me if this is possible, and if so how to do it?

Thank you.

[tatewise]

Yes Richard, that is probably possible with a Fact Query, but I need to clarify some details.

It is interesting that your example is for a Marriage Event that is a Family record Event and so relates to two Individuals.
You say you "would like to record the Individual", but for examples like this, which one?
The Result Set could identify either the Family record, or both Individual records, with their Record Id.

You also ask for the Source, by which I assume you mean the Source record Title and perhaps its Record Id.

A slight complication may arise if not all your Source Citations are on Facts.
If there are cases of Source Citations with Notes on Name fields, or Individual records, or Fact Witnesses, etc, then they will have to be dealt with separately.

An alternative approach is to use the Where Used Record Links Plugin, and Save the entire Result Set as a CSV file.
Then in Excel delete the rows and columns that are not required.
i.e. The Rows with an empty Citation Note, and all the Columns you don't want.

May I ask what is the purpose of this exercise?
Sometimes the 'problem' you are trying to solve is better handled by other tactics.
I find it quite common that users ask for advice about how to achieve certain objectives, but the core problem can be solved by a completely different approach.

Once the above details are clearer then I can advise how to proceed.

[Richard_Hyland]

Hi Mike

I agree the problem could well be solved with a better tactic.
I had a look at look at the Where Used Record Link plugin, however I don’t think that quite does what I am looking for.

As an example:
Within the note box, I have recorded details of the source record for an individual.
For example, with Individual :Jospeh Sprake;
Source : Sundry Baptism;
Note : Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
Name: Thomas Jospeh Sprake
Baptism Date: 30 Jul 1834
Baptism Place: Symondsbury, Dorset, England
Search Photos: Search for 'Symondsbury' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection
Father: Joseph Sprake
Mother: Sarah Sprake

Source Citation
Dorset History Centre; Dorchester, England; Dorset Parish Registers; Reference: PE/SYM: RE 1/1-4, 2/1

(screen capture below)

This may have not been the best way to have recorded the information, but at the time I started my tree many years ago it worked. Now the tree is much larger I have all sorts of note information recorded for each source and many different “sources information” notes within a single source note. It is now difficult to know what I have recorded where.

I feel that I need to be able to analyse what information I have recorded and putting it into an Excel spreadsheet seemed an ideal first step. I think I also need to be able to find, as an example, items that are Dorset, Church of England Births & Bap….

I hope this makes sense!

Thank you

Richard

[tatewise]

Hi Richard,
Could you explain why you think the Where Used Record Link plugin Result Set is unsuitable?
It is similar to what could be produced by a Query but is more comprehensive.
It can be exported to Excel, which is what you requested.

On the other hand, you seem to recognise that your data is somewhat irregular and inconsistent.
That suggests to me that it will be difficult to analyse with an Excel spreadsheet that requires very regular data.

You scenario is similar to others whose data has grown without a consistent strategy and now needs to be restructured.
The Source Citations in your examples are what we call Method 2 for 'source lumpers' that demand the details to be held in the Citation itself. Whereas, Method 1 for 'source splitters' will almost certainly offer a better way of identifying what you have recorded. See glossary:sources#sources_and_citations_-_how_to_use_them|> Sources and Citations - how to use them.

So instead of having one Source record for Sundry Baptisms there would be a separate Source record for each Baptism document. Your current Citation Note will be able to use all the fields within each Source record and its associated Repository record.
e.g.
The identification of the documents obtained would be in the Title, Short Title, Publication Info, and in the Repository for documents from the same place such as Dorset Church of England Births and Baptisms or Dorset Parish Registers.
A transcript of the document would be in the Text From Source field with an image (if available) attached to the Media tab.
Any general notes or assumptions can go in the Note field.
You also have the Type and Custom Id fields to categorise similar classes of Source records.
Together, that allows the Records Window for Sources to present a spreadsheet style list that can be sorted by any column.

What other users often find beneficial is to review their database Individual by Individual.
They keep track of which records have been reviewed by using Named Lists so it does not have to be done in one go.
Often Ancestral Sources is used to recapture the data in a consistent fashion.
They say that as an unexpected benefit they often discover new leads or new documents that were not available earlier.
Eventually, most of the Method 2 old Source records will have no Citations and so can be deleted.

Even if you can compile an Excel spreadsheet to analyse your data, you will still have to use FH to restructure the data as above.

Does any of that help you see a way forward?

[Richard_Hyland]

Hi Mike
Thanks for your response.

I have been trying Where Used Record Link plugin, however all that I can get is detail for a single individual / single record. Saving it as a csv file did not include any information in the note field.

You are quite correct that my data has grown without a consistent strategy! I use Custodian 4 for my ONS and only recently combined my other tree in FM with my ONS tree. However, I did not include in Custodian any on my non ONS records, just relying on FM to record all details. As the tree kept growing I suppose I thought that I really should include everything in Custodian and started to think how I could extract the data from FH into Excel, reformat as necessary and import into Custodian.

You mention Ancestral Sources and I have been using this for my census records, which has been a great help. I never considered using it for anything else but will do in future. Thanks for the tip.

It is a good reminder to read the knowledge base and thank you for the reminder. I will certainly be using Method 1 in future.

It is great to have forum which always seems to have the answer to everything.

Regards
Richard

[tatewise]

If I have interpreted your Excel screenshot correctly you are using Where Used Record Link Version 1.0 whereas the latest is Version 1.3 from the Plugin Store.

If you open the Sources tab in the Records Window, and select every Source record, the Plugin will list absolutely every Citation including the associated Individual/Family record and any Citation Notes in the right-hand column.

I note your Excel screenshot doesn't show each FH Result Set column in a separate spreadsheet column.
I suspect you have used the Save As CSV option which encoded in UTF-8 and not well supported in Excel.
So try the Save As CSV (ANSI) option instead, or even the Save As Text and choose Tab separators.
See how_to:creating_a_query:result_set_tab|> Query Window ~ Result Set Tab.
Also see :-
https://www.itg.ias.edu/content/how-imp ... encoding-0
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/open-utf ... 63726.html

[Richard_Hyland]

Thank you, Mike.

As always very helpful.

Richard