* Index for Narrative Report

[bcrosbie]

There are a few steps involved in this process, and while on first reading it may seem complex, it is actually fairly straightforward to achieve.  The process does rely on access to a suitable text editor – I use MSWord, and cite the process sequence of that product in the instructions below:

STEP ONE – Creation of Index Reference File
Generate “special data reports” from within Family Historian for Occupations, Places, etc., as required.
In each case, once the report is generated on screen, choose the option to
Save Report As …
     Rich Text Format File …
The saved file is readable through MSWord, and has the format of a two-column table.
Copy the contents of the first column from each file produced, and paste the text into a new document file (I called mine “index_src.doc”).  This gives a full list of all Occupations, Places, Religions, etc that are used within your GEDCOM file.
You can extend the contents of this file to suit your requirements – basically, you are producing a single column list of all possible index entries to be referenced in your report.  
Hence, I have also included the output of a number of simple queries in my file.
e.g. I have a 1 column query which provides a list of Causes of Death (INDI.DEAT.CAUS)
another just lists the names of individuals (INDI)

Obviously, the more items that you have in your list, the more complex and comprehensive your indexing will be.

The file will be able to be reused against multiple reports, and will only have to be regenerated when data changes substantially.

STEP TWO – Generate Report
Generate the Narrative Report for the selected individual(s) within Family Historian , and once again ……
Save Report As …
     Rich Text Format File …
Then choose an appropriate name.

STEP THREE – Index the Document
Open the report document using MSWord.
From the Insert Menu, select Index and Tables …
Within the options box that is presented, select  AutoMark …
You will be asked to select an Index Automark File – this is the one that you created in Step One (index_src.doc) – select the file, and click on Open.
This action will mark index entries within the text of the document.  (The format of the index entry is XE (index Entry)).  The creation of these entries may have changed the page layout and format, but this should return to its previous appearance if you click  “Show / Hide [Paragraph Marker]” on the standard toolbar.

Position your cursor at the end of the document and insert a new page.
Once again choose Insert …  Index and Tables ... , but this time in the index tab choose the appropriate language and the layout of your index (number of columns, indentation format, etc.)
When content with the choices, click OK.
Your index will be inserted at the end of the document.

Of  course, nothing in life is absolutely perfect at first attempt, and it may be that you will need to refine your Index Automark File and repeat the process to achieve this.

[mchance]

I've tried your instructions & the result is terrific, except that names are indexed by Christian name & not Surname. Is there a way of indexing by surname & then Christian name within surname?
Thanks
Michael Chance

[bcrosbie]

The problem is that the search text needs to be in the same order as the text in the report in order to identify the occurrences of the name being indexed. However it is possible to resolve the problem by having two columns for the names of the individuals.
MSWord searches through the document for each exact occurrence of text in the first column of the reference file, and then it uses the text in the second column as the index entry
To achieve this, the query for the individuals which had the column INDI should have a second column added which has the expression INDI.NAME[1]:SURNAME_FIRST
MSWord is quite happy to have an index reference file that has one column for some entries and two columns for others.

The resulting index displays names in the order SURNAME, Forenames.

[mchance]

Thanks Bob, that's solved the problem.

Michael