Accenting Your Ancestors in TMG
(Note: This was written for TMG v4.x but the principles also
apply to TMG v5x.and v6.x
But for the same discussion detailing the steps to follow for TMG v5x and v6.x, go here
).
This is a lesson on color coding your ancestors in TMG v3.6 & later.
I'm choosing four ancestral lines:
My father
= Rhinehart, his ID# is 2
My mother
= Ash, her ID# is 3
My husband's father = Bassett,
his ID# is 10002
My husband's mother = Jones,
her ID# is 10003
I want to color code the ancestors of each of these lines.
First, I make a flag called Ancestor.
Select Utilities -> Customize-> Flag
from the menu.
Click on the Add button.
Label = Ancestor
Values = ?RABJ
(note that the first value is the default value)
Key:
?=Unknown/not set
R=Rhinehart
A=Ash
B=Bassett
J=Jones
Click on the OK button
Now set the flags for the ancestors in question. This is done by generating a List
of People report four times,
once for each line:
-- From the menu, select Report->List of->People->Add Another
or
select Report->Custom Report Writer... and
then select New and List of People.
Selecting the latter is a
little more efficient.
-- When the Report Definition Screen is displayed, make entries as follows:
General tab
Configuration name = Ancestor
Flag Set
Destination = Screen
with [X] in the Suppress For
Secondary Output option.
Note: The Suppress option is not available for selection until after the Secondary
Output tab
options are activated. When the Suppress For Secondary Output
is selected, TMG
will not display the list on the screen. The first time you generate the report, you may
want to leave it unchecked so you can check the filter.
Secondary Output tab
Select [X]
Change Flag = Ancestor
to R
Focus Tab
Select Filtered Group
Field (line
1) =
ID
Number
Operator (line 1) =
Equals
Value (line 1)
= [?]
With this entry, you will be asked for the desired value when you generate the
report.
This reduces the changes needed when you run the report multiple times as will be done
here. For this tutorial, the first answer to the request
will be 2. By having [?], the only
actual change you need make to the Report Definition for later
runs is to change the
Secondary Output Flag setting.
Connect (Line 1) =
Or
Field (line
2) =
Is
An Ancestor Of
Operator (line 2) =
Person
Number
Value (line 2)
= [?]
When requested by TMG, you would enter
the same ID# as for the line above
The first entry (above) is the the person while this entry is for
all their ancestors.
Connect (Line 2) =
End
Ensure NO checkmarks in any of the items at the
bottom of the screen.
Output tab
Default
Options tab
Default
-- Now click on the Generate button, and enter the ID# in
both places for the first or R line when
that is
requested. After it calculates, click on OK. If you have
not selected the Suppress For Secondary Output
option, the list of selected people will display on the screen. After you have
reviewed it, close it. You will
then be asked: XX qualifying people found. Are you sure... and
your answer is Yes. You will then be
asked if you want to change date last updated. I don't, but that's your choice. If it's
changed, then you
may wonder what changes you made to a person on that date. Some of my people haven't been
updated
for a couple years. I'd rather leave that old date so I know when I last worked on a
person
-- When you generate the report, you should have at least a general idea of the number of
persons that
qualify for a specific filter. With this value showing correctly, you may or
may not want to also select the
Suppress For Secondary Output option (on the General tab) if you
haven't already selected it. To select
it, you must first have selected one of the Secondary Output tab options, then you may
return to the General
tab and select it.
This completes the setting of the Ancestor
Flag to R You now need to generate the
report three more
times, once for each of the other lines (A, B, and J).
Each time the report is generated, be sure to change
the Change Flag option to the appropriate setting (A, B,
and J) based on the ID# (3 for the second run,
10002 for the third run, and 10003 for the third run). If you are in the Custom
Report Writer (CRW) Log,
just press enter to select the same report definition. If you have been returned to
the main program,
just select Report->List of->People->Ancestor Flag Set.
After all four reports have been generated, it's time to turn on the accent colors.
Select Utilities->Accent from the menu.
Click on Accent to
activate the feature.
Select Ancestor
= B and choose Color
(I used foreground white and background navy)
Click on the OR field
to activate the next line.
Select Ancestor
= J and choose Color
(I used foreground blue and background white)
Click on the OR field
to activate the next line.
Select Ancestor
= R and choose Color
(I used foreground white and background red)
Click on the OR field
to activate the next line.
Select Ancestor
= A and choose Color
(I used foreground red and background white)
I clicked the colors and didn't mess with the numbers. Even
though I
reversed the blue/white, and red/white in principle, I used blue instead
of navy for Dave's maternal line simply because the navy lettering looks
more like black.
At this point you could also choose a conflict color (like yellow) over
on the lower right of the screen.
Click OK and you're set.
Obviously, when you turn this tutorial into your reality, the Flag
letters and the ID numbers will need to
reflect your own family. The colors are also your choice, but my reasoning was the old
stereotype blue for
male (my husband's side), pink for female (my side). Then I just reversed the colors
for the female line of
each. Makes its real easy to see a color and know what line it represents.
Submitted by:
Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena
CA)
kathryn@bassett.net
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