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Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 02 Dec 2019 15:55
by quarlton
Hi Mike

I use TNG for my web database.

Unfortunately one of the issues is that TNG is not very good at handling additional names.

TNG loads the first instance of NAME into the 'tng_people' table.

Subsequent instances of NAME are loaded into tng_events.

This means that, whilst additional names are displayed (but after dated Events) they are not easily spotted, and cannot be searched for.

However if we create subsequent instances as 'Nicknames' then TNG can display them immediately after the original instance of NAME and they can be searched for.

My first thought was to change all existing Alternate names to Nicknames.


Unfortunately, whilst this works for TNG, FH doesn't search on Nicknames.

Is there anyway that Export Gedcom File could detect additional instances of NAME and convert them to NICK?

Or, could I run some code (on my copy.ged), prior to using Export Gedcom File, to convert extra instances of NAME to NICK?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated


Many thanks

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 02 Dec 2019 18:09
by tatewise
Let me think about the options.

In the meantime can any other TNG users offer any advice?

It is odd that none of them have mentioned this problem before.
Also I'm surprised that a mature product like TNG does not support multiple instances of the NAME tag, but according to https://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php ... _in_Gedcom that is the case.

In https://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php/Desktop_gotchas it says under Family Historian (FH):
Alternative Name(s)
FH allows the entry of multiple Alternative Names (Forename & Family Name); some applications call this 'Also Known As'. FH assigns these to a NAME tag which can be assigned a label of your choice in Admin / Custom Events. Labelling it with a leading asterisk (*), '*Alternative Name' or '*AKA', for example, will ensure that it is placed immediately after 'Nickname', at the top of the list in 'Other search Criteria' in the 'Advanced Search' dialogue.
Might this offer a workaround, albeit that such *AKA names would need to be search for via 'Other search Criteria'?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 02 Dec 2019 18:49
by quarlton
Hi Mike

Many thanks for the quick response.

It may be that other users don't have as many alternative names as I do, hence it isn't an issue for them.

Two of my trees contain a lot of Jewish people and have approximately 450 people who have alternative names, either through Anglicisation, or for other more devious purposes.

There has been some discussion on the TNG forum about the subject but no real resolution. Again, it may be an issue of scale.

I obviously don't want you to go to the trouble of doing a mod to the plugin if there isn't enough interest.

I've started on some code to change extra instances of NAME to NICK which I can run on my copy for export.

Many thanks

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 02 Dec 2019 19:24
by tatewise
I've updated my original reply for FH Alternative Name(s) using *AKA and 'Other search Criteria'.
Does that offer any workaround?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 02 Dec 2019 19:58
by quarlton
Thanks Mike

I'll do some experimenting tomorrow.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 16:02
by quarlton
Back to the drawing board I think :cry:

I managed to get my code working and it replaces the FIRST additional name correctly.

However, it appears that FH only allows one nickname per name.
So it seems that red-headed William Smith can have a nickname of "Billy" OR "Red", but not both.

So whilst you can (through code) create multiple nicknames, it appears that only the first gets attached to the original name. Any additional nicknames appear to get attached to a blank name.

Working on the Alternate Names & Titles input screen exhibits the same behaviour.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 17:08
by PeterR
What you have observed is FH's compliance with the GEDCOM standard.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 19:25
by tatewise
David, there are two aspect to this posting.

Peter is correct, FH is only being compliant with GEDCOM, as will most other genealogy products such as TNG.
Yes, the NAME tag only allows one subsidiary NICK tag; any extra are invalid.
You can edit the GEDCOM file and break the rules, but that gets you nowhere, as you have found.
If you import such a GEDCOM to FH you will see the extra NICK fields on the All tab as UDF.
However, you could append the various names into one NICK tag, although the edit is a bit trickier.
( That is what Export Gedcom File would do if I implemented the feature. )
So using your example you would get 2 NICK Billy, Red or possibly 2 NICK Billy & Red.
That is what I would do within FH in Names & Titles in the Nickname box if someone had two nicknames.
As I understand it, TNG searches for names in any name fields, so will find Billy or Red whichever you search for.

The other idea I thought you were going to try was the *AKA and 'Other search Criteria' concept that I discovered in https://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php/Desktop_gotchas.
It seems that putting an asterisk at the start of a custom field label moves it up below the name fields where you want it.
Presumably the 'Other search Criteria' allow such fields to be searched for AKA names.
Might it be possible to somehow combine name searches and 'Other search Criteria' to achieve what you want?
I am not a subscriber to TNG so cannot experiment, but perhaps other TNG users could assist here?

You could also contact Darrin and add your weight to the many requests for multiple names.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 19:35
by quarlton
Peter, Mike

Thanks for the feedback.

I will try the *AKA method tomorrow.

I went to bed last night with snippets of code in my head so wanted to try it out.

Thanks

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 22:28
by quarlton
Hi Mike

I tried the TNG mod that you suggested and it worked as you describe.
Unfortunately it still leaves the additional names (*AKAs) down at the bottom after all the other events.
This means that it takes some scrolling to find them.

I might have to try your suggestion of concatenating them into Nickname.

I've also dropped Darrin a line to add my name to the requests.

Thanks for the guidance.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 23:06
by tatewise
So it seems that the leading asterisk in the label has no effect?
Which suggests that TNG has changed since 23 April 2012 when that suggestion was posted.
I've looked in the TNG Wiki under TNG Events and Event Types and for Custom Events it defines a Display Order where those with value 0 are displayed before those with value 1, etc.
So maybe that feature has been added and supersedes the leading asterisk trick?
Could you investigate that option please?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 07:40
by quarlton
I've had a reply from Darrin at TNG:-
Under Admin/Custom Event Types, you can edit the "Display Order" for each type. Event types with a lower value should be displayed first, so edit the NAME event and assign it a display order lower than all of your other events types (I think negative numbers will work too). Unfortunately there isn't existing way to get those names to show at the top of the page.
The answer is to set the display order of Name in Events to -1.
This then forces the extra names / AKA to appear more or less at the top of the page.
They follow after Name, Born, Gender so that they are clearly visible when landing on the individual's page.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 09:53
by tatewise
Does that give you a workable solution for displaying your multiple names?
What about names searches?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 10:00
by quarlton
Yes to displaying the names.

The search using the Advanced search works, but it's not the most instinctive thing to do.

Thinking about adding a bit of text to the home page to point people in the right direction.

Thanks for the input.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 11:30
by tatewise
I have updated the plugins:help:export_gedcom_file:tng_the_next_generation#custom_event_types_add_new_event_type|> Export Gedcom File ~ (TNG) > Custom Event Types > Add New Event Type import advice to explain how to cope with multiple instance Alternate Names as AKA entries.

Could you please review that for me and confirm whether it is accurate or not?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 12:33
by quarlton
That seems quite clear to me Mike.

However, if you make the label *AKA, as you pointed out to me, this moves the search field up the list of 'Other Events' in the Advanced Search.

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 13:23
by tatewise
Thank you. I have reworded it to include your comments. Is that better?

Re: Export Gedcom File - TNG - Nicknames

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 14:36
by quarlton
I think that covers it very well Mike.