Family Historian User Group

Hi all,

Something I have struggled to wrap my head around is the way that diagrams are managed and options saved, etc. I have read the help files, knowledge base and many FHUG posts, but it is still unclear to me...

For example, if I create an All Relatives diagram, then change a bunch of settings (background colour, box types, text scheme, lines, etc), save the diagram options, close it, then recreate another All Relatives diagram, the options that I changed seem to stick.

If, however, I create a Waterfall diagram, and do as above by changing settings and saving them, FH asks if I want to save the diagram as a chart before I close. Saving it as a chart or not, when I recreate the Waterfall diagram, the options appear to revert to the defaults. In both cases, I don't think I've altered the diagram such that it needs to be saved as a chart...

So are custom diagram options only saved for the basic diagram types (Ancestors, Descendants, All Relatives), or am I missing something about the options? Is there a plugin or some built-in functionality that lets me save different diagram schemas so that I don't have to re-enter many different box type expressions, etc, for different diagrams?

Hopefully it's clear what I mean! Thanks in advance!

Yes, there are some inconsistencies and it can take a while to get your head round it all. There was a discussion about these issues in this topic late last year Saving Diagram Options (21244) as a result of which Mike raised a ticket with CP, listing some of the inconsistencies.

So are custom diagram options only saved for the basic diagram types (Ancestors, Descendants, All Relatives)

The brief answer is yes, see the FH Help page Diagram Options Dialog says in 5th paragraph:

Only the 4 default diagram types use default settings. Other standard diagrams do not. Nor do custom diagrams or saved charts (all accessible from the View menu). They all have their own settings. Consequently they are not affected if you change the default settings.

However, as you will see from the topic I referred to (if you have the stamina to read it all) there are some default settings which affect other chart types.

Is there … some built-in functionality that lets me save different diagram schemas so that I don't have to re-enter many different box type expressions, etc, for different diagrams?

Yes! The answer is to use Diagram > Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type, giving each type a meaningful name. These can then be accessed from Charts > Custom Diagrams.

IMO the best strategy is to leave all the standard Diagrams at the default installation settings.
Then if one of your custom diagrams is misbehaving you can use the standard diagram to check whether it is an inherent way diagrams work or something to do with your custom settings.

As Lorna suggests, use Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type to save custom settings for all the Diagram Options tabs.
Note that it only saves those tab settings, not the Diagram Root, not moved/resized boxes, not inserted trees or boxes, etc.
To save those customisations you must use Save Diagram As > Family Historian Chart.

Thank you, Lorna and Mike - very helpful!