* Vn 6 Data Error ~ Timeline

[David Hawkins]

Many thanks for the helpful responses to my query about Validate. As a Newbie I had tried to look through all the advice in the Forum before asking the question, but there is too much good stuff to take it all in. I have now successfully checked my dates for consistency as suggested and have found several errors that have been introduced by Vn 6. These all relate to the FACT TAB in the Property Box.

Vn 6 FACT includes events of relatives which Vn 4 did not. Unfortunately in several cases these have been added incorrectly by Vn 6. The main problem I have seen is where the death and burial of a relative are recorded as those of the named person so they have several more events after burial which the date query picked up and highlighted. It was on checking these messages that I found the errors. In one case, the death and burial date were of the named person's husband. I deleted the events in her FACT box only to find that her husband's death and burial record were also deleted.

Fortunately, having used computers since the early 1960s, I am always sceptical about software upgrades, so I had loaded Vn 6 on my laptop while leaving Vn 4 on my desktop computer. I was therefore able to go back and reinstate the information and was also able to confirm that the original file from Vn 4 did not contain any false information.

In another instance, a burial has inaccurately been added to FACT and I am unable to find which person it belongs to. I am loathe to delete it as it will probably also delete it from its original correct location. There are almost certainly other errors which have not been flagged up.

It also appears to be applied inconsistently. In some cases relatives' information is added after the named person's death, and in others it is not.

Is this a known problem? In any case, I shall continue to use my old version until this problem is resolved, as I cannot risk my data becoming corrupted.

[ColeValleyGirl]

FH6 is not adding facts to an individual, it is displaying facts associated with relatives of that individual to give a more complete view of an individual's timeline. These facts (as you have discovered by deleting some of them) are still associated with the correct individual.

From What's New in Family Historian 6 (within the Help file):

•Extended Family 'Timeline' Facts
◦You can optionally show extended family ‘timeline’ facts in the Facts tab of the Property Box. These ‘timeline facts’ can be easily ‘toggled’ off or on, and are distinguished from normal record facts by a light grey background. They are configurable, and can include events such as birth, marriage, divorce and death, for parents, siblings, spouses, children and grandchildren. The practical consequence is that you can now easily get a quick overview of all the important events in a person’s life from a glance at the Facts tab.
◦A new ‘Individual Timeline’ query can be used to show the same timeline facts in the Query Window, or be printed as a report.

If you go to Help > Family Historian Help > The Property Box > Facts Tab > Select Timeline Facts Dialog you can customise what's shown.

[tatewise]

I have moved this thread to the General Usage Forum for the benefit of others.

It is always a good idea when upgrading to investigate what's new in the upgrade.
See how_to:about:version_6.0|> Family Historian Version 6.0 or http://www.family-historian.co.uk/featu ... -version-6.

If upgrading by more than one release, then check what's new in the intermediate versions too.

[LornaCraig]

In another instance, a burial has inaccurately been added to FACT and I am unable to find which person it belongs to. I am loathe to delete it as it will probably also delete it from its original correct location. There are almost certainly other errors which have not been flagged up.

The 'timeline' facts always tell you which person they belong to. So if the burial is one of the 'timeline' facts, it will be displayed in the Facts tab as 'Burial of wife xxx' or 'Burial of mother xxx' etc. If you cannot see all of the text, perhaps you need to adjust the width of the Property box or adjust the relative width of the columns within the Property box. Then all will be revealed.

Incidentally, it was always possible to display births of children in an individual's Property box. So the timeline display is just a customisable extension of that. If you don't want to see these entries at all, just click the icon second from right in the toolbar below the list of facts to toggle the display off.

[tatewise]

If the Timeline Fact refers to another Individual with no Forename then only ? is displayed, although it should give the relationship.

However, just double-click the Timeline Fact and the Property Box of the other Individual will be opened with the Fact highlighted.

Alternatively, you can select the Timeline Fact and click the blue Go To arrow on the right.

Either way, to return to original Property Box click the white Go Back arrow at the top.

David said:

In some cases relatives' information is added after the named person's death, and in others it is not.

Only the chosen Events are shown, and only if they occur within a specified Cut Off Date after the person's death. See Tools > Preferences > General > Timeline Facts.

[David Hawkins]

Many thanks to all or you for your responses. I had read up on new things in Vn 6 and had already tried several of your suggestions. I have now found what has happened. Vn 6 has taken the burial FACT from Anne Nash Dugan (record ID 1046) and incorrectly inserted it into Ann Ash Dugan (record ID 229). It was on a white background and no other name was on the line, no matter now wide I made the Property Box. The program believed it was part of record 229 and alerted me to the error that there were life events after a burial. Meanwhile, the same information was still safely correctly stored in record 1046.

My original postulation was correct - there is a fault in the program allowing it to use someone else's data in another record. Records should be discrete, even with similar names.

Is there a solution to this issue?

[LornaCraig]

David,

Please check the records in your V4 version of FH, which you said in your first post is still on your desktop PC. Does the burial fact show in both the records (ID 229 and ID 1046) there? I think it is possible that the same event was recorded against both individuals all along, in error. This would be an understandable mistake, and I think it is much more likely than the suggestion that V6 has somehow made the error. V4 did not have any date warnings if you entered life events after a burial, so it would not have been picked up at the time.

[tatewise]

Yes, I find it difficult to understand how FH could duplicate a Fact like that.
But if there is a fault it will help Calico Pie fix it if you can provide GEDCOM details.

Can you take screenshots of the V4 Property Box for the two records in question and post them here, along with similar screenshots from V6.

[David Hawkins]

I have double checked my property boxes and the erroneous line does NOT show in record 229 in Vn 4, only in the correct record 1046. It appears in both boxes in Vn 6. I will send you screen shots of both property boxes for each version, as requested, but ....

I have searched for screen shots in the program Help and in the FHUG Forum without success. What is the easiest way to get these shots please, and where do they have to be stored in order to upload as an attachment? Bear in mind that I will have to transfer the Vn 6 ones from my laptop which is not on line at present. My apologies if I have missed something obvious.

[tatewise]

One of the easiest way to capture a screenshot is to use the Windows Snipping Tool.
It should be available in Start > All Programs > Accessories in most current versions of Windows.
Instructions on use via its Help ? button or at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/wind ... reen-shots.

Once the screenshot is captured as say a JPG or PNG file it can be copied from PC to PC and attached to a posting using the Upload attachment tab at the bottom of the Post a reply window.

[David Hawkins]

Here are the promised screen shots for Ann Ash Dugan. Can't add 4 attachments so will post another for Anne Nash Dugan

[David Hawkins]

Here are the 2 screen shots for Anne Nash Dugan

I hope these help to clarify my concerns. Please note that Anne's mother died in childbirth so the date of her death is correct, although she was obviously not age 0

[tatewise]

That certainly looks conclusive.

Could you please confirm how you transferred your FH V4 Project from desktop PC to laptop PC and opened it in FH V6.

I suggest you E-mail Support at Family Historian and report the problem, with a cross-reference to this posting.

They may well ask for a copy of both GEDCOM files.

It might a good idea to copy your FH V4 Project again, with a slightly different Project Name, and see if opening it in FH V6 reproduces the problem.

[David Hawkins]

I always make a backup copy every time I close FH. I copied my latest backup of V4 as a GEDCOM file from my desktop to my laptop and saved it in a folder in my documents library. I then double clicked on it to open V6 with that as the project.

I will change the name of the file and try again. Will let you know. I'll hang fire on reporting it to the company until I have tried this.

Many thanks for your assistance.

[tatewise]

David said: I always make a backup copy every time I close FH.

Do you mean you use the Backup on Exit option presented by FH on closure?

If so, then the GEDCOM file is a compresed zip file and not a plain text file, and may explain your problems.
To import a Small Backup zip file you should use the File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup command.

See glossary:backup_and_recovery|> Backup and Recovery for a fuller explanation.

[David Hawkins]

Yes, BACKUP ON EXIT but always the GEDCOM option and not the zipped version.

Anyway, as you suggested, I have now done a restore backup on V6 using my latest V4 GEDCOM backup file with precisely the same errors. I also copied the V4 GEDCOM backup file and changed the name, and "restored" that to V6. Again exactly the same errors, although now with a different project name of course.

Is now the time to formally report it to Calico Pie, or is there anything else to try?

[tatewise]

FYI: Even the Backup on Exit V4 GEDCOM only option creates a compressed ZIP file, albeit with only one file contents.

Yes, report it to Calico Pie, especially since it is very repeatable, and they should soon sort it out. They will probably ask you to send the Backup file.

[David Hawkins]

I have tried one further thing. I have deleted V6 and all related files from my laptop. I have then loaded V4 onto my laptop and exported/imported the V4 GEDCOM file across from my desktop, checking that the FACTs in the Property Box were as the original. I then reloaded V6 (full version) on to my laptop which updated V4 to V6, complete with all data. The result .... exactly as before with incorrect FACTs.

Clearly the method of file transfer makes no difference to the result.

I will contact Calico Pie with all the information.

[Jane]

If you look at the All tab do you see the extra event there or is it only on the Fact tab?

[David Hawkins]

The extra incorrect event also appears in the ALL tab as well as the FACTs tab.

[David Hawkins]

Calico Pie FH Support have been brilliant, even sending responses late in the evening on holidays. It transpires that it was V4 that caused the problem and NOT the transfer to V6. That would explain why it did not matter how I transferred the GEDCOM the result was always the same.

V4 clearly corrupted the data since the incorrect information had the same update date as the original correct information - ie it had not been updated by me. Even copy/paste changes the update date. FH Support said that "as it occurred in a very old version of Family Historian, it's unlikely to be possible to reproduce the problem."

I have not found any more instances, so hopefully that was a one-off glitch. Thanks to everyone who responded to my concerns.