I've been busy once again making a number of changes. When this has been tested sufficiently, I expect I'll end up releasing this as v7.8 as it is a bit more than a minor update. I do appreciate that some of these changes are a bit niche as a lot of users don't use Source Templates and only a very small number use Source Templates with Method 2 (Lumper) sources but ideally these need to be tested before I unleash them on the unsuspecting public
. Any help you can give in testing these is, as always, gratefully received.New Features in v7.7.4 (Beta Test)
- Ancestral Sources will now allow templated sources to be used for those who use Method 2 (lumper) sources. Various changes have been made to the user interface to accomodate this. For example the link to create a Repository will now only be shown if a repository is referred to in the source template.
- When editing the fields of a source template that are not auto-completed, Ancestral Sources will now remember the previous value entered and gives the option to carry forward that previous value. This should save time when entering data using templated sources, particularly if a batch of records from the same source are being entered. A query from Gary Gauthier prompted me to add this feature.
- There is now a new accents/diacritics feature that works in a similar way to the facility in Family Historian. Hold down a letter in a text box to reveal alternative accented versions. Up to 9 alternatives can be allocated to any letter key and some other keys. Thanks to Gary Gauthier for suggesting this.
- The Batch Flag Add screen wasn't correctly handling changes to scaling but should do now. This issue was reported by Richard Andrews.
- Removed the ability to type into the zoom drop-down list on the Image Viewer form, because it didn't really work anyway and could cause an error as reported by Alan Medows.
- Alan Medows also pointed out that AS would display an error if the columns of a census grid with records added had an additional column added in the Census Template Editor. This is now fixed.
- There is now a toolbar button that allows the 'Key Person' to be selected for census records. By default the key person is the individual in the first row of the table, but this can now be changed via a new Key Person toolbar button. The default census method 1 title template has also been changed to use the {KEYPERSON} tag rather than {OTHER} - this will only affect new users or anyone who resets their settings. Thanks to Peter Rollin for suggesting this.
- When entering the birth place for a birth source, or place of death for a death source, there is now an option, set by default, to automatically duplicate the place and address to the residence for the parents or spouse (if applicable). Thanks to John Rosser for suggesting this.
- When recording death or burial entries, previously if the default 'Suggest occupation' setting was set, the occupation of the parents and spouse (if specified) were also suggested. 'Suggest occupation' now only applies to the deceased individual. There is a new option 'Suggest occupation for others' that controls whether the occupation is also suggested for parents or spouse. This is not set by default.
- Various text boxes on the Options screen will now also allow the use of accents/diacritics. Thanks for Gary Gauthier for pointing out that this wasn't possible in v7.7.4.
- The accents/diacritics screen now has an option to import the accent settings from Family Historian.
- Fixed some errors that could occur if only a year was specified for a census.
- Made a small improvement to the way the baptism and birth places synchronise.
- Peter Rollin reported that the KEYPERSON.CUSTOMID tag was incorrectly returning the name of the person if the key person was a 'person not in file' in a census entry. This is now fixed - it will return no data in this scenario.
- AS would generate an error if the Options screen was used when a project or standalone GEDCOM file wasn't loaded. This is now fixed. Thanks to Gary Gauthier for reporting this.
- Fixed a silly error that had crept in to 7.7.5 and effectively made AS get Birth and Death records mixed up. Apologies for any inconvenience caused!
- Tab pages, for all source types except Census, can now be selected using short-cut keys Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, etc. Choosing a tab page will now focus the cursor on the first control in the tab.
- Added menu items with keyboard shortcuts to allow alternative methods of selecting repositories, editing source templates, editing source text. Added a CTRL + F option to set the focus on the Find Name text box. Added a new Keyboard Shortcuts help page. This work was inspired by discussions with Alan Medows.
- John Morrison pointed out that the {KEYPERSON} didn't get correctly allocated if individuals were added using the Tree View method of ticking and clicking the 'Add Chosen' button. This now fixed.
- Fixed an issue reported by John Morrison where some additional text was incorrectly added to census headings if the 'Census: Blank line after titles' option was being used.
- Now includes a 1931 Canadian census template. This is a slightly modified version of a template produced and kindly shared by Teresa Eckford.
- Alan Medow pointed out that using the buttons to move a row up or down lost the changed text in a cell if it is in edit mode. This is now fixed.
- When using templated sources, the retain data screen offered to retain repository which could lead to a repository being created even if the source template doesn't include a repository. The option to retain repository will no longer be shown if the option to use Templated Sources is selected. The retention will be dealt with on the template screen.
- The Find Name and ID text boxes will now select any text in those boxes when they get the cursor focus to make it easier to clear them if necessary. Another Alan Medow suggestion.
- When saving a burial entry it was possible to enter an invalid death date and for the entry to be saved. This is now fixed.
- The event date and death date error indicators weren't cleared if the entry was cleared, they are now. Thanks again to Alan Medow for reporting.
- Made some changes to census template editor to allow a date to be specified when the 'Year or Description' isn't a year.
The 32 bit version is available to test here: Ancestral Sources v7.7.8 32 Bit
You may get warnings about the download not being commonly downloaded and you may need to confirm you definitely want to install it. Based on previous experience this should eventually stop happening once this new version of AS gets more downloads.
Please report in this thread any issues you spot or email me (nick at ancestralsources dot com).
