* Name titles and prefixes

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E Wilcock
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Name titles and prefixes

Post by E Wilcock »

I have been using a tree made by another researcher on which my ancestors and relatives are shown as Dr John Doe, John Doe J.P. and John Doe M.P.
This is helpful as many men shared the same forenames and surname and it helps me navigate the tree.
I would like the names to appear like that on my own tree, in the focus screen. i.e. with Dr before the name and J.P. or M.P. after the name. And maybe also use Rev. for the clergy?
Can this be done?
The fh help as usual seems opaque. The Names/Titles Dialog is an example of a modeless Dialog. I dont know what a dialog is nor what is modeless.
I realise that titles and prefixes come into being at a particular date. But I dont understand why Dr. is a prefix and one is warned that it is not a Title? One might also want to show decorations like Sir for a Knight before the name, or Professor which is an appointment.
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mjashby
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Re: Name titles and prefixes

Post by mjashby »

For definitions of Prefix, Suffix and Title see http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/GEDCOM-Tags e.g. Doctor is not a true Title just as Mr., Mrs. M/s or Miss. aren't, although modern usage might suggest otherwise as we are often asked to give a 'preferred title' for written communications.

You also need to take into account that some people that you communicate with may be miss-using the terms for their own personal reasons or through ignorance of how they should be properly used; or they may not have the full facility in their software choice, e.g. FamilyTreeMaker has no option for recording a Name Prefix in any other way than including it as a First Name.

If you really want to see such details as if they applied from cradle to grave my suggested solution would be use an alternative name and switch that to the 'preferred' option. That name might for example be: Dr. Joe /Bloggs/ M.D. Whilst I never use that approach, I do use a similar approach to identify previously married women where I don't know their true birth name, i.e. I record 'Forename /Previous Husband's Family Name/ née ?' which makes it visually clear that there is some information still to be discovered.

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tatewise
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Re: Name titles and prefixes

Post by tatewise »

You ask "What is a Modeless Dialog?" but the Help you got that from does explain.
A Dialog is any window used to communicate (I.e. have a dialogue) with a PC.
A Modeless window can stay open while you continue to use the underlying program.
Whereas, a Modal window inhibits the underlying program until the window is closed.

One thing to remember is the genealogical convention of recording people with their birth name.
So, since nobody is a Dr. or a J.P. when born, those should not be in their Name.
They are NOT what genealogists call Titles which are aristocratic ranks such as Earl, Duke, etc.

However, in FH the Focus Window only ever reproduces what is the Primary Name box.
Name Prefix, Name Suffix, Alternate Name/Title, etc, box values don't show in Focus Window.
If the Primary Name is John /Doe/ J.P. then the Focus Window shows John DOE J.P..
His forename will be John and his surname will be Doe.
If the Primary Name is Dr. John /Doe/ then the Focus Window shows Dr. John DOE.
But his forename will be Dr. with middle name John and surname Doe.

Having said all that, one possible alternative is to use the Property Box Caption across the top.
If that is set to %INDI.NAME:ADORNED_FULL% then the Name Prefix & Name Suffix boxes are included.
e.g.
Primary Name is John /Doe/
Name Prefix is Dr.
Name Suffix is J.P.
Caption is Dr. John DOE J.P.
To set the Caption in the Property Box use its cog Menu > Options command.
Or use Tools > Preferences > Property Box.
Then click the Caption button in the modal dialogue and edit the Individual expression.

Another thing that helps is to include [Record Id] both in Focus Window and in Property Box Captions.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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magictrowel
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Re: Name titles and prefixes

Post by magictrowel »

I was very pleased to find your useful 2019 response on this and suggestion of changing the property box title with a piece of code. So thank you for that.
Additional name information seems to appear by default in summary text reports but is that all?
However, I discovered that chart boxes can be modified by adding the 'ADORNED_FULL' instruction to show prefix and suffix, which is useful when successive generations use the same names.
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