* Select records in diagram by branch

Requests that have been moved to the Wish List, or deemed to need no further action
Post Reply
avatar
JonAxtell
Superstar
Posts: 481
Joined: 28 Nov 2006 09:59
Family Historian: None

Select records in diagram by branch

Post by JonAxtell » 02 Oct 2007 14:07

It would be nice if you could select a group of records in vatrious ways.

1) All ancestors from currently selected record
2) All descendents from currently selected record
3) All siblings

This would cover most cases, with some odd ones where for instance you only wanted the mother's ancestors easily handled by selecting the mother first then all her ancestors.

ID:2536

User avatar
Jane
Site Admin
Posts: 8441
Joined: 01 Nov 2002 15:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Somerset, England
Contact:

Select records in diagram by branch

Post by Jane » 02 Oct 2007 14:14

You can already do this using mark in combination with any query you choose.

Although it takes a couple of steps, it is very flexible.
Jane
My Family History : My Photography "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."

avatar
JonAxtell
Superstar
Posts: 481
Joined: 28 Nov 2006 09:59
Family Historian: None

Select records in diagram by branch

Post by JonAxtell » 02 Oct 2007 19:46

Yes I realise that the query system can be used, but thats the point about why I am posting this wish list item.

FH allows many things to be done but usually in an awkward manner, taking many steps instead of one, and is not always obvious. This kind of thing does not help new users or naive users to fully use FH.

From a User Interface perspective, being able to right-click on a box in a diagram and quickly select a whole bunch of records is many times easier and more user friendly than having to choose a query, decide which query you want, and then mark them. Flexible yes, user friendly NO.

avatar
JonAxtell
Superstar
Posts: 481
Joined: 28 Nov 2006 09:59
Family Historian: None

Select records in diagram by branch

Post by JonAxtell » 03 Oct 2007 08:02

As an example about how FH does somethings in awkward ways, try deleting a bunch of notes records. YOU CAN'T!!! in any obvious manner. The menu Edit->Delete is grayed out, the Del key doesn't work.

Now I suppose you could use a query to find the records, but I just want to quickly select a number via the record window, not decide what the common feature is to use a query. Nor do I want to go down the STHF route and again use a query to remove the notes.

I suppose I could look in the manual and look at every menu function to see where the delete function is hidden, but I can't be bothered. If something obvious takes more than a few seconds to work out and I know that it's possible with some other program I'll use that rather than try and find the hidden function. And that is not just me, that is a known scientitically proven usability factor. Visit Jakob Neilson's website.

I JUST WANT TO DO THINGS IN A SIMPLE MANNER WHICH I HAVE COME TO EXPECT TO DO IN NEARLY EVERY OTHER WINDOWS PROGRAM.

Post Reply