* Census Tabs

[ColinMc]

Following on from an earlier discussion on the 1921 census, here's another version of this tab that might be of interest.

I've added the common US & Canadian census years from the 20th century to this tab as shown. I know that it can make the screen quite busy, particularly on smaller screens.

Censustab.jpg (236.19 KiB) Viewed 2095 times

The dates shown are obviously dummy dates to demonstrate that the tab is selecting the right information. These areas and dates have been chosen purely because they suit my spread of data. I personally do not use Electoral Roll data as a Fact (I use it as a source for residence), so I've not included it here.

If anyone wants any alterations/inclusions let me know, and I'll see what I can do. It would be easy enough to create separate tabs for the three areas if desired, but as many of my ancestors emigrated from Scotland to the other side of the pond, it suits me this way.

I'll post it as a download in the KB soon, just in case there are any alterations wanted.

[tatewise]

Colin, that is a useful addition, but is the grouping of years a little misleading?
You say you added the common 20th century US & Canadian census years, which implies the lower set from 1900 to 1950.
However, I think only 1906, 1916 & 1926 are Canadian as most Canadian census years are the same as in UK.
Whereas, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950 are only USA census years.
So would it be better to split those two sets and perhaps prefix the years with the countries?
e.g.
UK/Canada 1841
UK/Canada 1851
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
UK/Canada 1911
UK/Canada 1921

1939 Register

Canada 1906
Canada 1916
Canada 1926

U. S. A. 1900
U. S. A. 1910
: : : : : : : : : : :
U. S. A. 1950

[Gowermick]

Colin,
The only suggestion I can make, is to change labels slightly. We already know they are censuses from the tab label, so Census in the row label is rather superfluous, so how about the following:-

For UK census change from Census 1841 to UK 1841 etc and rather than assuming the other dates refer to US or Canada, change them from Census 1900 to US 1900 or even Canada 1900 etc.

I have only just come across this Tab myself and my rows look like this:

1841, PlaceName then Address

NB putting census date in the row is, I feel a bit OTT and if you must use it, why not incoporate it in the row label?

PS Miketate beat me to it, but looks like we both had same ideas

[ColinMc]

Of course it can be re-defined in any way that people want, and if there's a demand for it, then I'm happy to do so. Just for info, my reasons for doing it this way are

• it was a quick and dirty adaptation of the original ie minimal work required

• the entire purpose of the tab (for me) is to show me gaps where census data is missing, nothing more. Keeping the format/layout simple is therefore important to me

• most of my data still is 100% UK based, so the top segment is clean and uncluttered

• the order was chosen deliberately. Most (of my) emigrating UK families (yes there are families who will have returned home) will have one or more entries in the top segment followed by one or more in the bottom segment, for them, the entries in the tab are effectively in date order as it stands. I did have it in a different order by country at one stage, but changed it to this format

• although Canada and UK share census years, they do not share census dates. As it happens Australia & New Zealand also share some of these years, but again different dates, so date data is still a bit relevant

• quite a few of my ancestors have moved between USA & Canada, the presentation in this format helps

• the place data in column 2 tells me which country's census is involved

• yes I could probably have removed the word Census from each row

So yes others might want different layouts and I'll happily deal with any such requests from anyone who wants it. Just let me know.

[fhtess65]

Colin,

I would love to see an address field as well but understand if that's too much of a bother...

And, yes, Canada's census goes to 1926 currently (and that is only for the Prairie provinces - 1921, is the most recent Federal census) - the 1931 census will be released next year - yay!

That said, most of my census entries are UK ones, but I do have some US as well.

Thanks for posting and offering to amend. Again, if the address field complicates things, I'm good.

Teresa

[ColinMc]

Never tried that, but I'll have a go next week. I seem to recall that you can only have 2 entries on a line. I will check tho!

[ColeValleyGirl]

You can only have 2 entries per line, but you're not restricted to one line per census...

[ColinMc]

Hi Teresa,

Couldn't resist having a play now.

As I suspected, there is only scope to have two entries on a line. I do not know if it is possible to have Place & Address in one section (I did try to do so but it tells me it is invalid. Any more ideas are beyond my ability, but perhaps one of the experts can say if it is possible). So the obvious thing to delete would be the date, as the year is already displayed.

Here is how it could look for the first year displayed. Obviously Place and Address could be reversed, and "in" changed to suit what you want.

tab2.jpg (20.04 KiB) Viewed 1877 times

[ADC65]

You can't concatenate Address and Place unfortunately, please see my question here for the reason why: Property Box - Custom Tab - Data References (20167)

There are already quite a few of these Census tabs available to download and it is a bit confusing I think which one is which. Maybe it would be better to write a step-by-step guide of how to do it for oneself? Once you have the hang of it, it is quite simple. Custom Tabs are a very under-used feature in FH I think.

[ColinMc]

Thanks for that confirmation.

Over to you Teresa


Colin

[ColinMc]

Maybe it would be better to write a step-by-step guide of how to do it for oneself? Once you have the hang of it, it is quite simple. Custom Tabs are a very under-used feature in FH I think.

That is sensible idea, and is being planned https://www.fhug.org.uk/forum/viewtopic ... 32&t=20490

[tatewise]

See Wish List Ref 474 allow fields with qualifiers and function results on property box tabs that you can Vote for.
It proposes to extend the contents of each box to allow functions. Then Place and Address could be concatenated by using the =Text(...) function, plus many other capabilities.
Currently, each box is restricted to a subset of Data References only, that cannot have Qualifiers or refer to other Records.
One caveat is that many of those proposed enhancements will make the box values 'read-only', i.e. you cannot enter data via the custom tab.
e.g.
FHUG KB Download Census uses simple INDI.CENS[n] data refs and allows new Census Events to be entered, but spotting missing Census Years is not so easy.
FHUG KB Download Census UK uses INDI.CENS[year=yyyy] data refs that make spotting missing Census Years easy, but the boxes are 'read-only'.

[Gowermick]

Teresa

For what its worth, I thought you might like to look at my version of the Census Tab, which goes some way towards what you're looking for

Some points I considered

1. No need to specify country of census, as it is obvious just by looking at place name in 1st Column.

2. My labels contain date of each census as appropriate, (no need to include Census in the label, as it is obvious from Tab title.

3. It includes Birth and Death Dates, so one can tell at a glance if any census entry is missing
Note1: Place names in image are truncated, due to reduced width of my property box
Note 2: The spacing between Place and Address fields seem to be governed in part by the width of text in Label 2, i.e"Address->". Reducing the length of this text will bring Place and Address closer together

Census Tab.jpg (116.98 KiB) Viewed 1817 times

Edit Item.jpg (146.14 KiB) Viewed 1817 times

[fhtess65]

Thanks, Colin - appreciate the effort! I still have lots to learn about using the more advanced aspects of FH and this was a valuable lesson. It looks like Mike Loney might have a solution for me

Teresa

Thanks for that confirmation.

Over to you Teresa


Colin

[fhtess65]

Will vote for it

T

See Wish List Ref 474 allow fields with qualifiers and function results on property box tabs that you can Vote for.
It proposes to extend the contents of each box to allow functions. Then Place and Address could be concatenated by using the =Text(...) function, plus many other capabilities.

[fhtess65]

Thanks, Mike - that does look pretty good. Also like the original with the occupation, though it takes up more room. Will have to decide on one.

Also, one assumes I could create a separate Cdn Census tab for those records.

So much to do, so little time!

T

Teresa

For what its worth, I thought you might like to look at my version of the Census Tab, which goes some way towards what you're looking for

[tatewise]

Teresa, I assume by "Cdn Census" tab you mean "Canadian Census".
That is not strictly feasible as many Canadian Census years are the same as UK, Ireland, and Australian Census years.
So you will have INDI.CENS[year=1901] and INDI.CENS[year=1911] on all those Census tabs for each country.
If you enter a Census for any of those countries for any such years then they will appear on every tab!
That is because the [year=yyyy] index is only filtering the Year part of the Date.
Some of those countries even have identical Census Dates.

If the Wish List request were implemented then you could use a function to test the Place field for the country and then a Census tab for each country would be OK.

[fhtess65]

Thanks, Mike, for the explanation...that makes sense. In the end, with the majority of my database being from the British Isles, the UK census returns are dominant. I can always just create a table using software if I want a census summary for those who appear in Canadian censuses.

Teresa

Teresa, I assume by "Cdn Census" tab you mean "Canadian Census".
That is not strictly feasible as many Canadian Census years are the same as UK, Ireland, and Australian Census years.
So you will have INDI.CENS[year=1901] and INDI.CENS[year=1911] on all those Census tabs for each country.
If you enter a Census for any of those countries for any such years then they will appear on every tab!
That is because the [year=yyyy] index is only filtering the Year part of the Date.
Some of those countries even have identical Census Dates.

If the Wish List request were implemented then you could use a function to test the Place field for the country and then a Census tab for each country would be OK.