* AS v7.3 available to test

[NickWalker]

11th Feb: I've updated this post as I've made a new test version 7.3.3 available.

I'd recommend not downloading this yet unless you are confident you know how to make a backup copy of your Ancestral Sources settings folder (in Documents) and of course as always make sure you have a backup of your Family Historian project.

I have a new version of Ancestral Sources available for testing. Please give feedback in this forum thread. Once any serious issues are fixed I'll release this through the usual Knowledge Base download page.

What's New in v7.3

• Templates for the 1921 census have been added for England, Wales and the Isle of Man. These were adapted from templates produced by Ancestral Sources user RS3100 (Phil) on the FHUG Ancestral Sources forum.
• New options to control source template title generation. For those who use the facilities in Ancestral Sources to generate templated sources for use in Family Historian v7 or later, there are new options that control how the source title is managed. The default option is that AS will generate a source title but that if any of the template fields are updated in Family Historian, the source title will be replaced with a title generated using the title format specified in the Family Historian template. Thanks to a feature added by Calico Pie at my request, there is now an option to ignore the title generated by Ancestral Sources and have Family Historian generate it's own source title as soon as the file is loaded in. There is also an option to set the source title generated by Ancestral Sources so that it will not be updated by Family Historian if the template fields are modified.
• The auto-text templates that are built-in to Ancestral Sources are now always available and can not be over-written. This means there should be no concerns about new versions of AS overwriting existing customised auto-text templates, whilst allowing users to use the new templates if they wish. Any changes made to these bult in templates will generate a copy of the template which is referred to as a custom template. The autotext settings file in the user's document folder will only include custom templates, the built-in templates will only be stored in the Ancestral Sources installation folder.
  Any existing modified templates will be retained and flagged as custom templates.
• If there is a custom and built-in autotext template with the same name and source type, then both versions will be available on the main screen and the auto-text template screen with the title showing [custom] or [built-in]. There are options to hide the built-in versions on the main screen if a custom version exists.
• There are new options to export custom auto-text templates and import auto-text templates. This should make it easier for users to share their templates with others using similar functionality that have allowed census templates to be imported and exported for many years.
• If the option is used to make private the local census or occupation notes for census sources, the privacy brackets will now be included on their own lines in the note. This should fix an issue reported by MichaelM on the FHUG Ancestral Sources forum related to the sentence generator in FH 7.
• The {DATE.DAY.ORD} autotext keyword was adding an unwanted space after the returned value. Colin McDonald reported this and it is now fixed.
• David Potter spotted that repository names that include an ampersand were not displayed correctly on the main screen. This has been fixed.
• Fixed an issue reported by John Morrison where under certain circumstances, hyper-linked individuals in rich text auto-text couldn't be double-clicked to edit them.
• Richard Andrews reported that the census reference wasn't always cleared after changing source. This is now fixed.
• Fixed a problem reported by Colin McDonald where deleting a rich-text table column could cause data in the previous column to be deleted too.
• Colin McDonald spotted that if a different informant was selected, the informant description didn't update automatically. It should now do so unless it has been manually edited.
• Stopped the context menu from appearing on the read-only auto-text rich-text preview.
• Fixed a couple of minor issues with the help guide and Options tool-tips reported by Colin McDonald

Changes for minor update v7.3.1 (6 Feb 2022)

• The Retain Data popup wasn't showing the correct colour for the list box. Teresa Basinska Eckford reported this.
• Corrected a tooltip error reported by Lorna Craig
• Fixed an issue where starting AS for the first time didn't display the correct message if the user had previously modified census templates. This became apparent following discussions with Brent Tapscott and Colin McDonald - thanks!

Change for minor update v7.3.2 (8 Feb 2022)

• The reference id and Other Information text boxes were retaining data when changing source and ignoring the user requirements on the Data Retention dialogue. Thanks to John Morrison and Richard Hyland for pointing this out.

Changes for minor update v7.3.3 (11 Feb 2022)

• In certain circumstances the Auto text button was showing the menu of templates even if there was only one template to choose. This was reported by Colin McDonald and is now fixed.

Ancestral Sources 64 Bit v7.3.3

Ancestral Sources 32 Bit v7.3.3

Currently Microsoft Edge is warning about the download because it isn't downloaded frequently. So if you see the warning below, click on the three dots after the warning and then select Keep. I'd also appreciate it if as many of you as possible could use the Report this file as safe option.

Edge Warning.PNG (13.13 KiB) Viewed 3617 times

After this you may get a warning from Microsoft Defender Smartscreen: Choose the Show More option and then Keep Anyway.

You may then get a further warning from SmartScreen when you run the install. Choose the More Info option and then Run anyway.

[fhtess65]

Hi Nick,

I'm trying AS out again...have always struggled with it before, so am now testing this new version with a small database. Did mostly ok adding a 1921 census, but at the very end, this screen popped up and I can't read what it says. Using on a Win10Pro laptop with a file from FH7 (most recent build).

AS-RetainData-popup.jpg (62.81 KiB) Viewed 3549 times

[fhtess65]

ReferenceInfoNotShowingUp.jpg (497.31 KiB) Viewed 3544 times

So, this is what I got in FH after entering a baptism for my granddad in AS. While all the information is there, the resulting footnote is rather skimpy, compared to the amount of detail I entered. Is there any way to edit the AS template to include more information, similar to the footnote I have created below (based on the Strathclyde method):

Baptisms (PR). England. St. Mary, Battersea, Wandsworth, London. 17 May 1901. Spong, Frank Keil (b. 30 Apr 1901), son of George Daniel, carriage lamp maker, and Emma; Page: 292, Entry No.: 2332; citing: Board of Guardian Records and Church of England Parish Registers. London Metropolitan Archives, London; Reference Number: P70/MRY2/024. Collection: London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917 - digital image (no. 146 of 150). Ancestry. acc.: 31 Dec 2019.

I entered pretty much everything there into the AS template (barring George's occupation).

I'm probably just asking for too much, but figured it was worth bringing up, just in case it's possible.

Thanks.

[ColinMc]

Nick

Many thanks for another version, it is very much appreciated. So far, all I've done is installed and looked at the various changes with Autotext, and with re-importing all my census templates. (I don't have any new 21 details to enter anyway)

At the moment, I cannot seem to find

There are options to hide the built-in versions .....

Must be missing it somewhere.


Colin

[tatewise]

Teresa, I think the way to improve the Footnote (& Bibliography) is to update the Format templates in the FH 'Church Register' Source Template via the Tools > Source Template Definitions... command.
I don't think it is something that AS could or should do.

[tatewise]

Nick, the AS7.2.7 to FH7.0.9 tables not moving over (20278) found a problem with Method 2 settings.
It seems that the default AS Tools > Options... setting for all Method 2 data is to save Source Text 'In shared note'.
The user may not notice that and so does not change it to 'In local citation text'.

In FH v7 the new Citation Window does not show Citation-specific linked shared Note records in the Notes tab.
The Citation Window can be customised on the Citation tab to show a linked Note using the SOUR.NOTE data ref.
However, without that, as illustrated in the thread above, for a relatively new user the linked Note appears to go missing.

Strangely, Citation Window Source Record linked shared Note records are shown in the Notes tab.

As you seem to have a closer relationship with CP than most, would a request to show Citation-specific linked Notes in the Citation Window on its Notes tab come best from you?

[NickWalker]

...t the very end, this screen popped up and I can't read what it says.

Hi Teresa. Thanks for reporting this and I'm amazed no one has noticed or reported it before. I think you must be using one of the dark colour schemes under the Tools->Customise option. The list box on the 'retain data' screen should be showing in a dark colour but isn't. If for now you revert to one if the standard themes (e.g. OIive) it should display correctly. This will be fixed in the next version.

Is there any way to edit the AS template to include more information, similar to the footnote I have created below (based on the Strathclyde method):

As Mike has pointed out, the format of the footnote is controlled by Family Historian rather than Ancestral Sources.

At the moment, I cannot seem to find

There are options to hide the built-in versions .....

Hi Colin. It's on the General settings - source text options page - the final options headed Autotext Template List. You probably want the hide built-in if modified option.

As you seem to have a closer relationship with CP than most, would a request to show Citation-specific linked Notes in the Citation Window on its Notes tab come best from you?

I still believe it is better to store this data in a shared note to avoid having duplicated information, requiring multiple edits across the file. Although a user who uses method 2 probably shouldn't be transcribing the source document anyway. I am fairly certain I reported this issue during FH 7 beta testing. I can report it again, but I don't necessarily think I have any more influence than anyone else. Calico will always weigh up the time a change will take to implement versus the impact the change will have.

[ColinMc]

I have modified most of the default census settings (minor text changes for my choice of presentation only), and so I appreciated the warning message when I started 7.3.

Of course by the time I came to import the old file, the message was no longer in view to remind me what file I' was looking for, and I was left scratching about to find the census settings file.

Could the file be renamed as Census Settings, instead of just Settings to make it more obvious which one we're looking for (as far as I can see, it only has Census settings in it).

I know that It took me a long time to understand that Census templates were not "AutoTexts", and I suspect I may not be alone in that.

[tatewise]

Nick, I tend to agree that saving a transcript in a shared Note is the more efficient alternative with Method 2.
I thought that since it is the AS default, reminding CP about that issue would carry more weight.
It certainly fooled several of us in trying to help Sarah with the missing Auto-Text transcripts.

[ColinMc]

Thanks for the info on where it was. I'd looked at page 1 of the settings, but not at that one!

I'm still seeing this

Built in.jpg (31.45 KiB) Viewed 3471 times

if Hide Built-in if Modified (or if Hide all Built in is selected.)

[NickWalker]

Could the file be renamed as Census Settings, instead of just Settings to make it more obvious which one we're looking for (as far as I can see, it only has Census settings in it).

I know that It took me a long time to understand that Census templates were not "AutoTexts", and I suspect I may not be alone in that.

I do know this can be a little confusing, although most people never need to look at the settings file at all - the import, export and reset features on the Census Template screen can largely shield the user from having to know about the settings file. I'll have a think about this.

Regarding your other query about hiding built-in templates if modified. This just applies to the auto button on the main screen. The built in templates are always shown on the auto-text template editor screen. It may be useful to be able to refer back to a built in template while editing a custom one.

[ColinMc]

Thanks

Import didn't work for me however. I keep my settings at D:\Ancestral Sources\Settings so it is on a remote (ssd) drive.

So I had to hunt for it, and at bottom right it is telling me to look for an Autotext file

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[NickWalker]

Import didn't work for me however. I keep my settings at D:\Ancestral Sources\Settings so it is on a remote (ssd) drive.
So I had to hunt for it, and at bottom right it is telling me to look for an Autotext file

I can't reproduce that error. If I choose the option to import a census template file it shows this?:

Import Census.PNG (2.43 KiB) Viewed 3450 times

Not that it really matters as both the census and auto text files are xml files anyway.

I'm not really sure why you needed to hunt for your census templates. When AS 7.3 loaded the first time it should have said 'There are updated census templates with this version of Ancestral Sources. Choose 'Yes' to replace all your current templates including those you have modified. Choose 'No' if you wish to preserve the templates you have modified' and so if you clicked No you wouldn't have lost any changes, but you would still have got the new 1921 templates.

[jbtapscott]

Just to advise Nick, I did not get the "There are updated census...." message the first time I opened v7.3 - I did have modified templates but fortunately have backups of them as well.

[fhtess65]

Teresa, I think the way to improve the Footnote (& Bibliography) is to update the Format templates in the FH 'Church Register' Source Template via the Tools > Source Template Definitions... command.
I don't think it is something that AS could or should do.

Ah, I did wonder if that was the case. I've actually already done that in my main project (I'm using a small secondary one for testing - it's not tragedy if I make a mistake in this one) - so how do I get that updated template to AS? Copy it into the test project?

Thanks again...

[fhtess65]

...t the very end, this screen popped up and I can't read what it says.

Hi Teresa. Thanks for reporting this and I'm amazed no one has noticed or reported it before. I think you must be using one of the dark colour schemes under the Tools->Customise option. The list box on the 'retain data' screen should be showing in a dark colour but isn't. If for now you revert to one if the standard themes (e.g. OIive) it should display correctly. This will be fixed in the next version.

Yes, that was the issue - it was set to Blue Dark, so, for now, I've reverted to Blue.

Re: the template - sorry for misunderstanding how things work. At some point I'll fully wrap my head around all this AS is an amazing tool - I used it for 1921 census entries in my test project and found it so easy...Now I just have to edit the templates in FH and get them to AS so I will have Strathclyde style footnotes.

[NickWalker]

Just to advise Nick, I did not get the "There are updated census...." message the first time I opened v7.3 - I did have modified templates but fortunately have backups of them as well.

Ah thanks for that Brent, I've found an error in my coding here and this will explain Colin's issue too I think. I'll fix this soon.

Ah, I did wonder if that was the case. I've actually already done that in my main project (I'm using a small secondary one for testing - it's not tragedy if I make a mistake in this one) - so how do I get that updated template to AS? Copy it into the test project?

Yes I think that's correct, you need to import it into your project first in FH and then into AS. Once you've imported it into your FH project, in AS go to the Source Template Editor, choose the source type and then click New and select the template from your file so that it can be imported into AS.

[NickWalker]

I've now made a new test version 7.3.1 available. I've updated the first post in this thread. Changes in v7.3.1 are:

• The Retain Data popup wasn't showing the correct colour for the list box. Teresa Basinska Eckford reported this.
• Corrected a tooltip error reported by Lorna Craig
• Fixed an issue where starting AS for the first time didn't display the correct message if the user had previously modified census templates. This became apparent following discussions with Brent Tapscott and Colin McDonald - thanks!

Please note you'll only see the message mentioned in the third bullet if you're upgrading from a version earlier than 7.3.0. If you've already got 7.3.0 then your census templates won't be updated in 7.3.1.

[fhtess65]

Yes I think that's correct, you need to import it into your project first in FH and then into AS. Once you've imported it into your FH project, in AS go to the Source Template Editor, choose the source type and then click New and select the template from your file so that it can be imported into AS.

Ok - I thought I did it correctly - my Custom template based on the original Essentials one for Church Registers was imported along with all my other Custom templates into the test project in FH and saved, then that project was opened in AS and I went to the AS Source Template Editor, chose the source type and clicked on New - below is what I got - no Custom templates showing. I'm sure it's user error, just not sure where along the line I got things wrong.

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[jbtapscott]

Hi Nick - coming back on the Census Templates issue. I imported all templates from my backup (rather than any "Previous Settings" type file) - checked a couple of census templates and they had imported correctly (viz. overwritten the ones that were installed with 7.3). Downloaded and ran the 7.3.1 installer (as Administrator). When I opened AS I didn't get any prompt about overwriting, etc., but a quick check showed that "my" templates were still in place within AS.

(NB. Doubt it's relevant but I did not delete the 1921 template that was installed as part of 7.3 install before I imported my templates and ran the 7.3.1 install).

[NickWalker]

Hi Nick - coming back on the Census Templates issue. I imported all templates from my backup (rather than any "Previous Settings" type file) - checked a couple of census templates and they had imported correctly (viz. overwritten the ones that were installed with 7.3). Downloaded and ran the 7.3.1 installer (as Administrator). When I opened AS I didn't get any prompt about overwriting, etc., but a quick check showed that "my" templates were still in place within AS.

Yes that's what I would expect as the census templates weren't updated in 7.3.1 so you've already installed the latest version (7.3.0).

[tatewise]

Teresa, in FH, open the Records Window and check the Source Templates tab. Are all your Custom templates listed?
If not, then AS cannot see them.

Use Tools > Source Template Definitions... and select Collection: Custom top left.
Does the Used column on the right have any green ticks or not?
If not, then select all the ones you want in the Project and use the Add to Project button below.
Close the dialogue and Save FH.

Now they will be listed in the Records Window ~ Source Templates tab and AS will see them all.

[jbtapscott]

Hi Nick - coming back on the Census Templates issue. I imported all templates from my backup (rather than any "Previous Settings" type file) - checked a couple of census templates and they had imported correctly (viz. overwritten the ones that were installed with 7.3). Downloaded and ran the 7.3.1 installer (as Administrator). When I opened AS I didn't get any prompt about overwriting, etc., but a quick check showed that "my" templates were still in place within AS.

Yes that's what I would expect as the census templates weren't updated in 7.3.1 so you've already installed the latest version (7.3.0).

Thanks Nick - I'd just expected, as I'd restored my "old" pre-7.3 templates after installing 7.3, that I would have got the message when installing 7.3.1 - no worries though as I have what I need!.

[fhtess65]

<snip>

Use Tools > Source Template Definitions... and select Collection: Custom top left.
Does the Used column on the right have any green ticks or not?
If not, then select all the ones you want in the Project and use the Add to Project button below.
Close the dialogue and Save FH.

Now they will be listed in the Records Window ~ Source Templates tab and AS will see them all.

Thanks, Mike - I knew it was user error. I always forget the Add to Project step. Not one we have to do in RootsMagic when importing templates, so I tend to overlook that in FH.

I've added it now in AS, but it still doesn't look quite right...will poke about with it after work today and see what the issue might be. I know it works in FH.

Thanks again

[fhtess65]

Ok - THIS is where I get stuck. In my template there's a place for Reference information - WHERE in AS do I enter that? I've filled out all the other necessary information, but can't see a corresponding box for Reference, other than possibly the Other Info field on the Further Info tab, for, in this case a baptism. Again, I'm sure it's blindingly obvious and I'm just missing it after a full day of work. Thanks again to anyone who can explain to me where I've gone wrong...

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