* Flags

[laz_gen]

I have created a number of flags for each a census or birth/death certificate etc. and have created a custom property box tab to show these various flags.

I thought I would like to do the same in the family property box to display the presence of a marriage certificate, parish marriage, GRO marriage etc.

I see I can create a flag in the Family All tab under the marriage but when I search for that flag using the Data Reference Assistant I can't find that new flag in the list.

I can however see two newly created individual flags, one under the groom and one under the bride but it won't let me add these to a custom family tab reporting "links to other records are not permitted in this context" .

Am I right in thinking it is not actually possible to create a "family flag" that will display in a custom tab in the family property box.

I also presume when it lets me create a "family" flag it is really creating two individual flags, one for each person in the marriage.

Or am I doing something wrong?

[tatewise]

I am not sure exactly what Flag(s) you have created. A screenshot would help.

It is only possible to create Individual record Flags. No other type of record (including Family records) can have a Flag.

In addition, Facts can have a Flag but that is rather different.

There is certainly no top-level option in the Family All tab to add a record Flag.
I suspect you have navigated down to the Husband &/or Wife and added a record Flag to them.

Instead of record Flags it is often more reliable to use an Expression that tests the existence of a Fact.
i.e. Does the %INDI.FAMS.MARR% item exist?
Then the desired consequence happens automatically as soon as you add (or remove) the Fact.

[laz_gen]

Yes I created the flag for the marriage event and was hoping to use that flag in a custom tab in the family property box to manually tick and indicate the presence of a marriage certificate.

[tatewise]

Ok, that is possible, but first close and reopen FH so that it learns about the Fact custom Flag: Marriage Certificate.
Just be aware that Flag becomes an option for any Fact.

In the custom tab settings, you will see the Data Ref: %FAM.MARR[1]._FLGS.__MARRIAGE_CERT% is now available.

As a matter of interest, how do you use such Flags?
Have you considered using an expression such as:
=IsTrue( %...MARR.SOUR>_TYPE% = "Marriage Certificate" )
OR
=ContainsText( %...MARR.SOUR>TITLE%, "Certificate" )
Then the condition is automatically true as soon as the Source Citation is added and you don't need to keep setting Flags.

[laz_gen]

The data reference FAM.MARR[1]._FLGS.__MARRIAGE_CERT% works perfectly in the custom tab, thank you. I can tick that manually when I possess a certificate for the marriage.

The two expressions I presume are not intended for the custom tab as they reported errors of being in the wrong context.

Are they meant to be used elsewhere?

[tatewise]

The examples I posted are not completely valid expressions because it depends on your answer to the question:
"As a matter of interest, how do you use such Flags?"

You say "I can tick that manually when I possess a certificate for the marriage." which suggests you use the Flag to remind you that you have obtained a Certificate but have not yet added it as a Source Citation. Am I correct?
In that case, my expressions are useless because they only help after the Source Citation has been added.

Flags have historically been used to add Icons to Diagram Boxes and that is where Expressions are often better.
The exact expression depends on how your Source Citations identify Marriage Certificates.
Do the Source records have a specific Generic Type, or do the Titles include the words Marriage Certificate, or what?

[laz_gen]

In this session I am working my way through my records ensuring I have a suitable source for each marriage certificate, recreating sources as I see the need and plan to manually tick the flag as I am satisfied with each certificate/event/source situation.

So far I have been using templated sources in particular "Civil Registration Certificate" from the Essentials Collection which results in a source title beginning with Marriage Certificate of... so I suppose that could be used to uniquely identify the appropriate source type, or possibly the template name.

I think it would be useful if I could configure a new column of the Family records window to show the marriage certificate status, if that is possible.

I have tried this expression =ContainsText(%FAM.SOUR[1]>_SRCT>NAME%, "Civil Registration Certificate"). It is being accepted as valid but is producing no results for the source records I have already completed.

I am guessing this needs to be surrounded by another construct to test and output a TRUE/FALSE result.

[tatewise]

The expression needs to refer to the Marriage Event's Source Citation (not the Family record Source Citation).
e.g.
=IsTrue( %FAM.MARR.SOUR[1]>_SRCT>NAME% = "Civil Registration Certificate" )

I'm using = to check for an exact match of the template name.

=ContainsText( %FAM.MARR.SOUR[1]>_SRCT>NAME%, "Civil Registration Certificate" )
would no doubt work but is actually checking for any combination of the three words (or partial words) in any order in upper or lower case. So Registration of a civilian certificate would match!

[laz_gen]

Well I was very close, by my reckoning anyway.

I did try the =IsTrue function but I was trying it on FAM.SOUR instead of FAM.MARR.SOUR.

Your solution is working nicely as a new column in the Family record window and as it works automatically I think I may use it instead of the manual flag that I could possibly forget to tick.

One day I will fully get my head around these data references!

Thank you