* Fact sentence inclusive of source details

[dewilkinson]

I am new to FH having migrated from TMG. I notice that you can include some source details in a sentence, e.g. {%FACT.SOUR[1].PAGE%} picks up from the field <Where Within Source>. I cannot seem to locate a list of such codes in the Knowledge Base or forum in order to pick up other details in sentences. Does such a list exist/explanation?

[Jane]

There are hundreds of possible codes,. The best way is to use the data reference picker and the read the advanced help for data references.

[tatewise]

To be more specific, in the Fact Definition dialogue use the <<Insert Code button and choose the Data Reference... option.

That opens the Data Reference Assistant dialogue, and as an example for that Where Within Source field you would click Fact + Source> + (Where Within Source) and when you click OK is automatically enclosed in {brackets} and inserted in the Sentence Template.

But as Jane says, it is an advanced feature and requires some knowledge of the Gedcom structure.
However, that Data Reference Assistant dialogue crops up all over FH in customisation options.
See how_to:understanding_data_references|> Understanding Data References for more details, and follow the GEDCOM trail to download the specification that defines all the tag codes.

[dewilkinson]

Mike,

Many thanks, successfully achieved what I wanted to with your guidance.

David

[E Wilcock]

I think it might be added to this thread that I too as a user of TMG looked for info on this and indeed bought the book Getting the Most from Family Historian hoping to find the codes there.
I am not sorry to have the book, but only later, after cutting and pasting a useful sentence provided on this Forum by a user who also gave full instructions on what to do with it, I discovered the route to a list of codes lay through existing help channels. And today I have learned still more from these answers.

The problem is that new users dont always know what terms to use when searching indexes for help. I looked in vain for sentence codes. But what I needed to look for was Understanding Data References. There are 9 page references to that in the book. And it then moves on to Template Codes. I dont really understand the difference, nor what a Template is and Template is not in the Index.

I appreciate that using these facilities of FH may be considered as "Advanced" and not for beginners.

But it is possibly the more advanced features of FH that attract users who have had some similar features in our previous software. And it would be great therefore to have a list of what experienced users think are their favourite features in FH and guidance on how they make use of them. Particularly good to learn of features that are not usual in other programs so we may not imagine that they exist.

Has anyone considered holding an advanced instructional day or talk on FH at Society of Genealogists or elsewhere? I did look last May on line, as I think there was once such a course, but the links to it and Jane's site were at that time broken.

[dewilkinson]

You have hit the nail on the head. The issues coming into FH are getting ones mind around the terminology and the way things work which significantly differ from TMG. I too haven't looked up things correctly in the help and on this Forum, but with such good responses on this Forum I have made great strides in a relatively short time. I am just having a go at witness roles and statements now as part of my checking that my custom Tags in TMG have come across correctly as Facts. I am very pleased with the way migration has happened (although I wish I had amended a few bits and bobs in TMG first), but a bit of manual grunt has got me passed that now.

[tatewise]

The overriding term is Expressions, see how_to:understanding_expressions|> Understanding Expressions.
These are employed in almost every customisation of Queries, Diagrams, Reports, Sentence Templates, Records Window Columns, Property Box Custom Tabs, etc, etc.
They employ both Data References to the underlying Gedcom data structure it terms of Gedcom Tags, and Functions that perform operations on that data. In addition, some Expressions as in Fact Sentences involve extra Template Codes that appear nowhere else.
I think the only reason Sentence Templates are called Templates is historical. Before FH V6 they only supported the Template Codes. But FH V6 added Data References and Functions to Sentence Templates so they became Expressions like elsewhere.