* Tidying up Notes

[peterbel]

I have been looking through a GED supplied by a relative that I want to add to my FH data and it looks like some Notes have been duplicated. For example the same note detail for a husband and wife but in separate records. I would have expected there to be one Note record but linked to two individuals, am I right?
If I am what is the simplest way to correct this? I have had a look through the Plugins but didn't see one that seemed to do this.

[tatewise]

Certainly, if identical Note text applies to Family partners (married couples) then it need not be duplicated.
However, it does not have to be a shared Note record linked to the two Individuals. It can be a Family record local Note.

Without knowing how the original Note was entered, nor the product that created the GEDCOM, it is difficult to comment on what would be expected.

It would be a relatively rare scenario, so I'm not surprised there is no suitable plugin.

A custom Family Query would be able to detect partners with identical local Note text.
i.e. %FAM.HUSB.NOTE2% = %FAM.WIFE.NOTE2%
Then you can use the Notes tab of their Property Boxes to manually adjust the Note text location.

[peterbel]

Thanks Mike.

Without knowing how the original Note was entered, nor the product that created the GEDCOM, it is difficult to comment on what would be expected.

I believe the GED was made by Family Tree Maker. Is there any software info buried in the GED itself?
I will try your Custom Query and see what it reveals

[tatewise]

I have chosen not to buy FTM so my knowledge of it is somewhat limited as there is no free/trial version.
The HEAD record at the start of the GEDCOM should provide details of the software that created it.
Anyway, it is also possible that the original user pasted the same Note text into both the Husband and Wife records.

[Woodg]

Most GEDCOMs I've seen have a HEAD tag at the start of the file with details on the source of the data. It usually shows the software that produced it, along with the version number and date extracted. Here's an example:

0 HEAD
1 SOUR Reunion
2 VERS V8.0
2 CORP Leister Productions
1 DEST Reunion
1 DATE 7 MAY 2012
1 FILE SMITH FAMILY TREE 31/1/2012
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5
1 CHAR MACINTOSH

Glenn

(edit: beaten by Mike)

[peterbel]

Yes it was Family Tree Maker.

3 VERS 5. 5.1
1 CHAR UTF-8
1 SOUR FTM
2 NAME Family Tree Maker for Windows
2 VERS 24.1.0.1520
2 CORP The Software MacKiev Company
3 ADDR 30 Union Wharf
4 CONT Boston, MA 02109
3 PHON (617) 227-6681

[peterbel]

A custom Family Query would be able to detect partners with identical local Note text.
i.e. %FAM.HUSB.NOTE2% = %FAM.WIFE.NOTE2%
Then you can use the Notes tab of their Property Boxes to manually adjust the Note text location.

On examination it seems the Notes are only found against Individuals (%INDI.NOTE[1]>TEXT%) not Family.
So I now need a test that finds matching text.

[tatewise]

Peter, those are links to shared Note Records.

So, are you saying that the Husband's and the Wife's individual records both link to the same shared Note record?
i.e. The note Text is not duplicated but shared in a single record.

You can view those records in the Records Window on the Notes tab.
Are there any duplicates that only have 1 Links reference, or does each such Note exist once with 2 Links?

If the Note records are duplicated then they can be merged.

If you wish you can transfer the Note record Text to a Family record local Note.

Does that give enough clues are do you need more specific advice?

[peterbel]

Thanks again Mike.
The reason I 'found' these duplicated records was because they were listed under the Records>Notes tab, for example.

Capture.JPG (92.79 KiB) Viewed 1318 times

Same text but different text record number, have I got this wrong?

[tatewise]

You are correct. They seem to be duplicated Note records. I cannot see the entire Text, so cannot be certain, but you can.

Therefore, as I said, they can be merged into one Note record, or the Text transferred to a Family local Note and both Note records deleted.

[peterbel]

Thanks for nursing me through this.

So the process would be something like:
Find all the Notes that are duplicated for 'partners'. A Custom Query
Delete one of the Note records. A Manual operation
Link the remaining Note record to the other partner, OR A Manual operation
Link the remaining record to the Family, then delete the remaining Individual Note record. 2 Manual operations

Is that the way to do it, or is there a better method?

[tatewise]

I presume there are too many Note Records to easily find the duplicated pairs.
Clicking on the Note Records column header sorts them into alphanumeric order so the duplicates will be adjacent.

If you really need a custom Family Query the Row filters to find the duplicate Notes are:
Add if =IsTrue(%FAM.HUSB>NOTE>TEXT% = %FAM.WIFE>NOTE>TEXT%) is true
Exclude if %FAM.HUSB>NOTE>TEXT% is null

What you do depends on what your objective is.

1. A single Note Record linked to both Individual partner records. Not ideal.
2. A single Note Record linked to the Family Record of the partners. This is over complex and 3. is simpler.
3. A local Note field within the Family Record. IMO this is best.
   i.e. Copy the Note record Text into the Note box on the Main tab of the Family Property Box, which can be opened from the Query Result Set. Delete both the Note Records.