HELP: Advanced Features

Consider printing this document as a future reference

CONTENTS

• General
• The Six "Views" of the Data-Base
• Distinguishing Individuals By Means Of Life-Span Dates
• Moving Among the Views and To the Detail-Record
• Navigating in the Ancestor and Descendant Charts
• Searching Within the Full Name, Surname, and Soundex Lists
• Printing from the Lists and Charts

General

These features are implemented by means of a Java applet. They are based on indices to the set of Detail Records which are contained in the site's HTML pages and can be displayed in the central frame of the main-screen. These indices permit family relationships among the individuals to be charted and various search-lists constructed.
return to top

The Six "Views" of the Data-Base

At any one time, this Advanced Features window holds one of the following Views:

Full Name Search

A searchable list of all individuals (except those with "irregular" surnames, such as those beginning with a question mark, etc.) in the data set, ordered alphabetically by "last-name, given-names".

Surname Search

A searchable list of all valid surnames in the data-set, in alphabetic order.

Soundex Search

A searchable list of all valid surnames, in the data-set preceeded by their soundex code, in soundex code order.

Family Group

A list of a specific individual's family group. It includes the identity, if appropriate information is contaned in the data-set, of all of the individual's parents, grandparents, spouses, and children.

Ancestor Chart

A chart showing all the ancestors of a specific individual (up to a maximum number of generations related to the viewer's screen resolution, but generally greater than nine).

Descendant Chart

A chart showing all the descendant of a specific individual (again, up to a maximum number of generations).

Distinguishing Individuals By Means Of Life-Span Dates

To make identification easier in these cases, birth and death "life-span" years in the form "(bbbb - dddd)" will appear after the names of all individuals. These life-span dates are based on the dates given in the source-GEDCOM. In cases where the GEDCOM contains explicit birth or death dates in one form or another (e.g ranges, later-than dates, etc.), these are used. In cases where birth dates are not given in the GEDCOM, estimates for these birth dates have been calculated. Estimates for missing death dates are never used.

The following codes in the life-span fields describe the source and accuracy of the associated life-span date:

• ~ denotes an approximation as given in the source-GEDCOM
• < denotes that the date is given in the source-GEDCOM as not later than the year shown
• > denotes that the date is given in the source-GEDCOM as not earlier than the year shown
• r denotes that this is the mid-point of a date range given in the source-GEDCOM
• ? denotes that the date is omitted in the source-GEDCOM and it was not possible to calculate an approximation
• * denotes a calculated rough approximation that is not explicitly in the source-GEDCOM
• b denotes a baptism or burial date, as appropriate in context

Moving Among the Views and To the Detail-Record

In the case of switching to the Full-Name, Surname, or Soundex search-lists, this means that you will be positioned at the entry in that list corresponding to the previously selected individual.

In the case of switching to the Family Group, Ancestor Chart, or Descendant Chart, this means that the View will be constructed with the previously selected individual as the root (e.g. the "ancestors" of that previously selected individual).

You may also, at any time in any of the views, close the Advanced Features window and bring up the Detail Record of the selected individual in the central frame of the main screen. NOTE: on later returning to the Advanced Features window, you will find that the window has been restored to the state at which you had left it. It will not reflect any jumps you may have taken among the set of Detail Records on the main screen.

Each of the views also has a double-click default. In any view, double-clicking on an entry will first select that entry and then:

Navigating in the Ancestor and Descendant Charts

• You may use the keyboard up-arrow and down-arrow to move the selection-cursor by one entry.
• You may click on the scroll-bar to reposition the screen contents without changing the selection-cursor.
• You can jump to an select the root individual by either clicking on "Root" in the Navigation Menu, keying the "Home" key, or keying in an "r".
• If the currently selected individual occurs in multiple places on the Chart, a notice to that effect will be shown in the Chart's Status-bar. You may cycle through these multiple occurances either by clicking on "another-occurance" in the Navigation menu or by keying in an "o" - (ie. the lowercase letter).

• You can jump to the father of the currently selected individual by either clicking on "Father" in the Navigation Menu or keying in an "f".
• You can jump to the mother of the currently selected individual by either clicking on "Mother" in the Navigation Menu or keying in an "m".
• If there are other individuals ("Co-Spouse") on the chart who share a spouse with the currently selected individual, then either clicking on Co-Spouse in the Navigation Menu or keying in an "S" will cycle you to the next co-spouse. Note: The "co-spouses" may have this relationship through multiple different spouses. For example, if a woman was married twice, all the wives of both her husbands will be considered to be her co-spouses.

• You can jump to a spouse of the currently selected individual by either clicking on "Spouse" in the Navigation Menu or keying in an "s". If there is more than one spouse of that individual in the current Chart, a notice to that effect will be shown in the Chart's status-bar. Note:In this case only (i.e. reaching an individual's spouse this way), immediate subsequent use of Co-Spouse will only cycle through the other spouses of that first individual.
• You can jump to a child of the c

• If there are other individuals ("Siblings") on the chart who share a parent with the currently selected individual, then either clicking on Sibling in the Navigation Menu or keying in a "C" will cycle you to the next sibling. Note: The "siblings" may have this relationship through each of their parents. For example, all the other children of either the father and/or mother will be considered to be siblings.urrently selected individual by either clicking on "Child" in the Navigation Menu or keying in a "c". If there is more than one child of that individual in the current Chart, a notice to that effect will be shown in the Chart's status-bar. Note:In this case only (i.e. reaching an individual's child this way), immediate subsequent use of Sibling will only cycle through the other children of that first individual).

Searching Within the Full Name, Surname, and Soundex Lists

• Enter the desired surname into the Text-Box. In the case of the Full-Name Search List, this may be followed by a comma and then the given names of the specific individual. One need not enter in the entire name. In fact, a search can be performed on any initial portion of the name. The search is not case-sensitive.
• When ready to search, either hit the Enter-Key or click on the Search button.
• If there is an exact match, the list will then be positioned to the first matching entry and that individual marked as selected. If there is no exact match, the list will be positioned to the entry that would follow the exact match and that individual marked as selected.

Printing from the Lists and Charts

• First, you start the process by clicking on the Print item in the menu of the Advanced Features window. This causes a new document to be created in the central frame of the Display screen, in which a text copy of the List or Chart is written.
• You should wait for this document to be completed, at which time a set of Instructions for continuing will appear. You must then click anywhere in the new document so as to give it the "focus", identifying it as the frame to be printed.
• The "Print" facilities of your browser can then be used, typically through the browser's File/Print menu items. Some browsers provide have access to paper-size, orientation, and other options. You also may have some control over the document's appearance through the browser's font-size and other format options.
• Finally, you should remove the new document from the central frame by clicking on your browser's "Back" button.