* Proxy boxes

[modeng2000]

I have been familiarising myself with the All Relatives diagram and find a lot of 'Proxy boxes' are used.

I understand that they are there so that the diagram is easier to follow, no long lines to trace across the boxes.

However there are Proxy boxes where there seems to be no need for them and I am unable to find an explanation.

Is there anything extra about these boxes other than that in the User Manual please?

John.

ID:86

[Jane]

FH always uses proxy boxes for all ancestors of the root, on the All relations chart,  my guess would be some of your family have no siblings, so the proxy repeats existing information, however removing them would upset the balance of the chart (IMHO).

As far as I know this has not been queried here or on the Mailing list.

If you want to pass more detail of the problem I will see if I can help or pass it on to Calico.

You may find the Hourglass chart simpler in some cases.

[modeng2000]

Thanks Jane for your feedback.

As you say, the Hourglass chart is simpler and avoids the proxy box problem.

You guessed right that there are no siblings.

It is somewhat difficult to describe the all relatives chart and the box positions. If I could send you the chart in question you would understand the query. If this is not possible I'll accept things as they are.

John.

[Jane]

If you can do a screen capture of the problem you can upload it to this forum.

Just use the upload image option below the input box for a new message.

[modeng2000]

I have uploaded my image as a jpg file but do not know where it has gone.

The boxes for Edward Alfred Lon and Eliza Christina Purcell are repeated twice as proxy boxes but there does not seem to be a reason for this. There is no need to use proxies make the diagram easier to follow as the boxes are grouped close together.

I suspect that I just don't understand the use of proxy boxes.

John.

[Jane]

[Jane]

On the image, you forget to press the insert image button on the upload.

The chart looks exactly as I would expect. The proxy boxes are always used. To keep everything aligned. I am not aware of a way to turn them off other than by using the hourglass chart.

You will see another beneift of the format if you turn on the Generations Titles.

I must admit to having very few all relations charts as simple as that one. An my family seem to have at least 5 or 6 siblings. My Paternal grandmother had 12. With all thier decendants the chart get wide very quickly.

Perhaps someone else may have some comments.
[grin]

[modeng2000]

Thanks for your comments Jane.

All points noted.

I picked a simple area of the chart to illustrate the point. There are many additions yet to be made.

Can you please replace the diagram with this ammended one?

John.

[Peteben]

I have to add my gripe to John's. I've got several similar looking proxy boxes that there is no need for and at times find that they complicate the chart rather than making them more simple.

In a future version, would it be possible to turn off the proxy box where it is inappropriate, such as illustrated in John's diagram?

So far, this is my only gripe with the programme as I am being constantly amazed by its funtionality (and I'm only half way through the manual!)...if only I could get rid of those pesky unnecessary proxy boxes!

PB

[SimonOrde]

The point of proxy boxes is to solve the following problems: (a) let you see where a person fits into their parent's family amongst other sibs if any (b) provide a place for the person's other spouses to be displayed, and let you see where the person's 'proxy' spouse (ie. the one who is an ancestor of the root) fits in to the spouse list (c) provide a place for children by other spouses to be 'attached to' (d) they also (sometimes) make the diagram easier to read because you don't have to follow long lines to work out who is the child/spouse of who.

All of these reasons just have to do with the display of information.  But there is another reason, (e) which is that diagrams in F.H. can be used for diagram-editing and you need to have a place to click-and-drag from to add other spouses and other spouse children.  You can use proxy boxes for this too.

Where someone has no sibs and only one spouse, there may not seem much point to them - for example, in the diagram shown above with William LON and Emily MILLER.  However, even in that example, there is still some point in that I can 'read off' from the diagram that (a) William LON has no recorded siblings and (b) has only one recorded spouse.  I can read this off because if he had had any others, they would have been shown next to his proxy boxes.  (And of course I can click-and-drag on the proxy box to add more spouses if I want to).

All that said, one could have the rule: don't show proxy boxes if there are no sibs and only one spouse (or none).  That way you could still 'read off' from the absence of proxy boxes in a particular case, that there were no other sibs/spouses.  You might have to effectively 'switch off' click-and-drag diagram editing for this diagram if you did this.  Anyway, this suggestion is already on the Wish List.  Would that meet the requirement?

Simon Orde
Family Historian designer

[modeng2000]

Simon,

Thanks for going through all the uses of Proxy Boxes. Now I better understand them, I can see that they do have many uses in the All Relatives diagram.

The ability to switch them off could be useful in some instances, such as the one I illustrated.

John.