* Map Life Facts 3.3/4/5 questions

[BillH]

Mike,

OK... I ran the new version. I was using [Address] ~ Place. The stats showed 82 Plotted, 2198 Defined, 951 No Data, and 3231 Total.

I switched to Address ~ Place. These 9 locations displayed in red as Deleted. The stats showed 0 Plotted, 0 Defined, 951 No Data, and 951 Total.

When I switched back to [Address] ~ Place the same 9 locations showed in red as No Data. The stats showed 82 Plotted, 2189 Defined, 960 No Data, and 3231 Total.

Bill

[tatewise]

Thanks Bill, those diagnostics gave me the clues I needed to focus on the problem, and think I have cracked it now. It was a simple coding error that has been there for years, and because it has been there for so long I was blinded from seeing the mistake, assuming it must be Ok.

Try this updated attachment dated 05 Jan 2015.

Sorry it took so long.

[BillH]

Mike,

Congratulations!!! That fixed the 9 locations getting deleted.

I'll keep testing it tonight and let you know how things go.

Thanks!

Bill

EDIT:

I played around with it for quite a bit tonight and I was unable to get any of the previous issues to occur and didn't come across any new issues. Everything worked great. This is really a great plugin. Despite the new mapping capabilities of FH, I will be using this a lot. The ability to plot address / place combinations is priceless. The geocoding by Google is so much better. The Google map is so much better. The ability to create a web page map of the places associated with an individual is fantastic. Thanks so much for updating to use the FH place records. This is a great feature.

I do have one more request for a future release though.

It isn't critical, but would really be nice to have. Could you change the plugin to remember the size of the window that opens when you click on a location on the Location: button on the Geocode Location Plots tab? If not, could you add an option to change the size somehow. I find that on my 23" monitor the window is really small and I'm constantly having to increase the size. It would be nice if it was much bigger.

All and all an irreplaceable plugin in my opinion.

Thanks,
Bill

[tatewise]

I have made the position & size of that Place/Individual List window 'sticky' as you request.
Don't know why I didn't before as I am also often increasing its size.
It should be in the Plugin Store soon.

Also to help with viewing text, I guess you know you can change font style using the Set Preference Options tab Set Window Fonts button.

[BillH]

Mike,

Wow... that was quick. Thanks again!

Bill

[tatewise]

In case you had not noticed Bill, the updated Plugin is now in the Plugin Store.

[BillH]

Mike,

Oh Oh. I ran into a problem right away. I have been changing quite a few addresses and places so I went into the plugin and it was set on Place Fields only and Place Records. I changed it to Address ~ Place and Plugin Data Folder. I then clicked on Erase Addr ~ Place Database and then on Copy Place Database. I then click on the Geocode Location Plots tab and got the following.

image1.jpg (42.14 KiB) Viewed 9432 times

I clicked on OK on the error window. At this point the plugin was totally locked up. No buttons or tabs worked. So I clicked on the X in the upper right hand corner of the plugin window. This activated the Help & Advice button and the Close Plugin button only. I clicked on Close Plugin and got the following.

image2.jpg (42.21 KiB) Viewed 9432 times

I then used Task Manager to kill the plugin and that also killed Family Historian. Sorry, I forgot to expand the windows so the entire text is visable. Not sure if what is there is any help. I was not able to reproduce the problem by starting FH and the plugin and going through the same steps.

Bill

[tatewise]

Sorry about that. I think I have a fix, but have been busy with other urgent commitments. It is another one of those special cases where pesky Place Records are involved. Should get back to it some time this weekend.

[tatewise]

Bill, try the attached V3.6 dated 10 Jan 2015.

With your excellent feedback the problem was repeatable, easily spotted, and fixed.

[BillH]

Mike,

I installed his version and went through the same steps and didn't get an error. However, it didn't happen for me every time before, so I'll keep playing around with it and see what happens.

Thanks,
Bill

[BillH]

Mike,

After using the new version for about a week now, I have had none of the problems or issues that I had seen before.

Thanks,
Bill

[tatewise]

That is good news. You have probably given it the most comprehensive run out it has ever had.

I have noticed occasionally when displaying an expanded list of Places/Addresses that one is coloured coded wrongly. Selecting it always seems to correct its colour. Its status never seems in doubt, just its colour in the list. I plan to investigate this weekend.

I was also expecting feedback from all the new users wanting to more accurately plot Places than the FH Edina geocoder, or wanting to plot Addresses. I would then incorporate any new ideas at the same time.

Expect an update to the Plugin in the Plugin Store next week.

[tatewise]

There will a slight delay in posting this updated Plugin.

The thread FH6.0.0 Problem with geocoding features (12190) highlighted that in some countries the default Decimal point symbol can be comma , instead of period .

So I checked this Plugin, and it failed in much the same way as FH.
I think I have mended it (assuming the only alternatives are comma and period) but it needs a little more testing, and I might use you as guinea pig Bill

[BillH]

Mike,

Sure thing. Just let me know what I need to do to test it.

Bill

[tatewise]

Attached is Plugin V3.6 dated 20 Jan 2015.

It should retain all the earlier features and fixes.

The Decimal Symbol update affects the period . or in some countries the comma , that acts as the decimal point in Latitude/Longitude values.

The main thing is to check that the Plugin continues to perform all the functions you want it to with the USA/UK default of a period . as the decimal point.

If you want to try it with a comma , then close FH, and use Start > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Customize this format > Decimal symbol: and replace the . with ,.

BEWARE that FH will probably corrupt all your geocoded Place Lat/Longitude values with that setting, so only experiment with a Project that you don't mind corrupting, or at least has a Backup to recover.
Probably best to run the Plugin without using Database In: Place Records.
All Lat/Longitude values will now use comma , as their decimal point, except where displayed in the Google Maps info popups on the markers.
You can even try editing or pasting values with period . decimal points into the Latitude and Longitude fields. They should automatically be converted to comma ,.

[BillH]

Mike,

I have been trying out this version for the last couple days with '.' as the default and all seems to work as expected. I don't think I'll try using ',' as the default unless you are unable to get anyone else to give it a try.

Bill

[tatewise]

Thanks for your help Bill.
I have found and fixed a couple of other problems with the Database Management tab associated with Erase .... Database options, and then using the Create Web Page Maps tab, especially when using Source or Repository records to store the Database.
Also I have found and fixed the problem I mentioned earlier where the Location List items sometimes had the wrong colour for their Statistics type.
Version 3.6 has been submitted to the Plugin Store for approval.