* Ancestral Sources 1939 Register

[SpencerDudeUK]

I have started to look at Ancestral Sources (v7.2.7), but find the help files woefully inadequate for someone who's never used it before. For instance, I'm trying to enter a 1939 register entry, and one of the columns is 'Status' and the dropdown options are: O,V,S,P,I, but I can't fathom what they represent.
I'm assuming it's going to be blindingly obvious when someone tells me, but for now I'm stumped...

[tatewise]

They are short for Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient, Inmate.
That is revealed by reviewing the Tools > Census Templates... for the 1939 Register.

The Help files are generic and don't deal with all the various custom settings in templates.
Remember it is free/donation software.

[ColeValleyGirl]

It's often a good idea to get to grips with the possible contents of an original source before using it via AS or entering it directly.

1939 Register at the National Archives is a good overview, and explains that the Role (Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient, Inmate) applies to institutions only.

[SpencerDudeUK]

Thanks, tatewise. I thought it would be obvious.
I didn't intend to belittle the software - I think it will be great and really timesaving when I get used to it. However, even when you are extremely adept at things (which I don't pretend to be), if you don't know the answer, even the simplest thing becomes an impenetrable wall...
Anyway, thanks for the quick response - always good to come on here and find out from the experts

[SpencerDudeUK]

Thanks ColeValleyGirl, that makes much more sense now...so basically it can be ignored in the vast majority of cases, and I was flapping about nothing

[jbtapscott]

You might want to have a look within AS at the Tools / Census Templates where you can find the templates for every census / year combination - I found these invaluable, when I initially started using AS, to understand how the census data was formatted and the variables, etc., that were used in various years.
As I got a greater understanding, I modified a few of them - not so much for the data input but more for the way some fields were subsequently stored in FH, and, ultimately, their appearance on my website