# Usage

Now we turn to a detailed exploration of the day-to-day use of GRAMPS. First, we should point out that GRAMPS often offers more than one way to do the same task. We'll try to point out some of these alternatives where appropriate.

## Starting a New Database

To start a new database, choose File New . You will then be asked to give the new database a name.

### &app; databases

&app; stores your data in a Berkeley database, sometimes known as BSDDB. These files have ".grdb" as their default extension. The extension is automatically added to your filename.

## Opening a Database

To open a database, either choose File Open or click the Open button on the Toolbar. The Open database dialog will appear and you'll see a list of files. If you don't see the file you're looking for, make sure the All files filter is selected. (This dialog has a "filetype" filter, meaning it may only be showing files that have a certain extension.)

To open a recently accessed database, choose File Open Recent and select the filename from the list.

If you do not have "write permissions" for the selected database, it will be opened in a Read Only mode. In this mode, the data may be viewed, but no changes will be made to the database. To indicate this mode, the title of the main window will be appended with (Read Only) text.

GRAMPS allows you to open certain databases that have not been saved in GRAMPS' own file format. These include XML and GEDCOM databases. But you should be aware that if the XML or GEDCOM database is relatively large, you may encounter some performance problems. These can be avoided by creating a new GRAMPS database and importing your XML/GEDCOM data into it.

### Opening XML and GEDCOM databases

XML and GEDCOM databases require all data to be held in memory. GRAMPS' native grdb format does not. Thus, a database with a grdb format can access data quicker and more efficiently.

### GEDCOM Editing

Please keep in mind that some information in a GEDCOM file may be lost during import into &app;. Simply opening and viewing the file will not change it. However, if any changes were made and they were not abandoned upon exit, exiting &app; will save the data, with possible data loss.

## Saving Changes to Your Database

GRAMPS saves your changes as soon as you apply them. This means, for example, that any time you click OK when using GRAMPS, your changes are immediately recorded and saved. There is no separate "save" command (although there is a "save as" command that we'll discuss later.)

You can undo changes you've made by selecting Edit Undo. If you select this command repeatedly, your most recent changes will be undone one at a time.

If you want to return your database to the way it was when you opened it, select File Abandon changes and quit. (This is just like quitting without saving in other programs.)

If you would like to save your database under a different name, you can do so by choosing File Save as... and specifying the name (and, optionally, the format) of your new database. Note that "Save as" will allow you to continue editing the newly saved database. If this is not what you want to do, you may wish to use the "Export" command instead.

## Importing Data

Importing allows you to bring data from other genealogy programs into a &app; database. Currently, &app; can import data from the following formats:

- Another &app; database (having the "grdb" file extension),

- GEDCOM

- &app; XML

- &app; package

- GeneWeb

### Importing vs. opening

Please recognize that importing a database is different from opening a database. When you import, you are actually bringing data from one database into a GRAMPS database. When you open a file, you are editing your original file.

To import data, select File Import. The Import database dialog will open, asking you to specify the file you wish to import.

### Data loss with some formats

It is important to note that the importing process is not perfect for GEDCOM and GeneWeb databases. There is a chance that some of the data in these databases will not be imported into &app;.

The &app; database (grdb), &app; XML, and &app; package are all native &app; formats. There is no risk of information loss when import or exporting to these formats.

&app; database (grdb)

  The native &app; database format is a specific form of Berkeley database (BSDDB) with a special structure of data tables. This format is binary and architecture-dependent. It is very quick and efficient, but not generally portable across computers with different binary architecture (e.g. i386 vs alpha).

&app; XML

  The &app; XML file was the default format for older versions of &app;. Unlike the grdb format, it is architecture independent and human-readable. The database may also have references to non-local (external) media objects, therefore it is not guaranteed to be completely portable. The &app; XML database is created by saving ( File Save As... ) or exporting ( File Export... ) data in that format

&app; package

  The &app; package is a compressed archive containing the &app; XML file and all media objects (images, sound files, etc.) to which the database refers. Because it contains all the media objects, this format is completely portable. The &app; package is created by exporting ( File Export... ) data in that format.

If you import information from another GRAMPS database or GRAMPS XML database, you will see the progress of the operation in the progress bar of GRAMPS' main window.

If you import a GEDCOM database, you will see the import dialog shown in . The information in the dialog is updated as the import progresses.

### GEDCOM Import

Shows GEDCOM Import Window.

If a media file is not found during import, you'll be prompted to take one of the actions indicated in .

### Missing Media dialog

Shows Missing Media dialog.

- If you don't have the missing file and have no possibility of replacing it, click the Remove Object button. This will remove the object that corresponds to the missing file as well as all the references in the database to that object.

- If you're not sure where the missing file is, but think you still have it or may be able to find it, click the Keep Reference button. If and when you find the file, you can simply copy it into your database directory and have access to it through &app;.

- If you can supply the missing file during the import operation, click the Select File button. This will copy the file you select in place of the missing file. No references will be altered in the database.

- To automatically use the selection made in this dialog for all missing media files, check the Use this selection for all missing media files box. This will remember your choice and use it for all media files missing during this import, so that no further dialogs will be presented. Use this option if you anticipate many missing files and want to deal with all of them in the same manner.

## Exporting Data

Exporting allows you to share any portion of your &app; database with other researchers as well as to enable you to transfer your data to another computer. Currently, &app; can export data to the following formats: &app; database (grdb), &app; XML, GEDCOM, &app; package, Web Family Tree, and GeneWeb.

### Export is saving a copy

When you export, you are saving a copy of the currently opened database. Exporting creates another file with a copy of your data. Note that the database that remains opened in your GRAMPS window is NOT the file saved by your export. Additional editing of the currently opened database will not alter the copy produced by the export.

To export data, choose File Export . This will bring up the Export assistant. Its pages will guide you through the format selection (see ), file selection, and format specific export options (see ). After a final confirmation page, the export will be performed according to the choices you have made. At any time, you can click the Back and revise any selection, and then go forward to redo the export.

### Export assistant: format selection

Shows format selection page of an Export assistant

### Exporting into the GEDCOM format

&app; allows you to export a database into the common GEDCOM format. It provides options that allow you to fine tune your export (see ).

Encoding

  Since different languages use different characters, it is important to tell a GEDCOM file what character set is used. The two formats traditionally accepted are ASCII and ANSEL. Since all ASCII characters are valid ANSEL characters, GRAMPS does not provide an option for ASCII.

  Because ANSEL is not commonly used, some genealogy programs will accept ANSI (more commonly know as ISO-8859-1) and Unicode character sets. Only select ANSI or Unicode if you know any program that attempts to read the GEDCOM file will understand these character sets.

Filter

  The filter allows you to export a limited amount of data, based on the criteria you select.

Target

  While GEDCOM is a standard, not every program implements it in the same way. This can lead to data loss. &app; can reduce the data loss in some cases. You can tell &app; what program is the target, and &app; will customize the exported file for that program. If your program is not listed, choose the "GEDCOM 5.5 Standard".

Copyright

  Allows you to select a statement to describe your Copyright claim.

No not include records marked private

  Check this box to prevent private records from being included in the exported file.

Restrict data on living people

  Check this box to limit the information exported for living people. This means that all information concerning their birth, death, addresses, significant events, etc., will be omitted in the exported GEDCOM file. If you choose this option, you will be given additional options to limit further the data on living people. For example, you can choose to substitute the word "Living" for the first name; you can exclude notes; and you can exclude sources for living people.

  Sometimes, it is not always obvious from the data if someone is actually alive. &app; uses an advanced algorithm to try to determine if a person could still be alive. Remember, &app; is making its best guess, and it may not always be able to guess correctly all the time. Please double check your data.

Reference images from path

  Check this box to tell GRAMPS to use the specific path for your images when writing image references in GEDCOM.

  This option allows specify where your image files are located. This is useful when you are transfering your GEDCOM file from one computer to another. It tells the program that is importing the data where your images are.

#### Export assistant: GEDCOM options

Shows GEDCOM options page of an Export druid

### Export into &app; formats

&app; database (grdb) export

  Exporting to the &app; native format will simply make a copy of your data under another name. Exporting to this format can also be useful if you have directly opened an XML or GEDCOM file and would like to save it as the grdb file.

&app; XML database export

  Exporting into &app; XML format will produce a database compatible with the previous versions of &app;. As XML is a text-based human-readable format, you may also use it to take a look at your data.

&app; package export

  Exporting to the &app; package format will create a compressed file that contains the database and copies of all associated media files. This is useful if you want to move your database to another computer or to share it with someone.

Export to CD

  Exporting to CD will prepare your database and copies of all media object files for recording onto a CD. To actually burn the CD, you will need to go to the GNOME burn:/// location, which can be accessed by navigating through Nautilus: After exporting to CD, select Go CD Creator in the Nautilus menu. Your database directory will show up. To burn it to the CD, click the CD icon on the Nautilus toolbar, or select File Write to CD in the Nautilus menu.

If a media file is not found during export, you will see the same Missing Media dialog you encounter with GEDCOM export.

### Export into other formats

Web Family Tree

  Exporting to Web Family Tree will create a text file that can be used by the Web Family Tree program. Export options include filter selection and the ability to limit data on living people to that of their family ties.

GeneWeb

  Exporting to GeneWeb will save a copy of your data into a popular web genealogy format. To find out more about GeneWeb and its format, visit http://cristal.inria.fr/~ddr/GeneWeb/en/.

vCalendar and vCard

  Exporting to vCalendar or vCard will save information in a format used in many calendaring and addressbook applications, sometimes called PIM for Personal Information Manager.

## Entering and Editing Data: Quick Start Overview

This section is designed to give you the basic knowledge necessary to start putting your genealogical information into &app;. It will explain how to enter people into the database and how to specify their family relationships. (A more detailed explanation will follow in the section entitled .)

First, let's identify the types of information you can enter into your GRAMPS database. These include:

- Personal information about an individual (names, addresses, birth and death dates, etc.)

- Information about an individual's relationships (marriages, divorces, civil unions, etc.)

- Information about an individual's parents and children

- Sources that document your research

### Keybindings

In addition to interacting with GRAMPS through menu items and buttons, you can use its extensive set of "keybindings." For more information, see .

Now let's take a quick look at how you can enter and edit these various types of information.

### To Add or Edit a Person

To add a person to the database, switch to the People View () and then click the Add on the toolbar. Enter any data you know about this person into the Edit Person dialog (see for details).

To edit information about a person already present in the database, select the person from the People View and click the Edit button on the toolbar.

#### Alternate ways of adding or editing a person

You can also use Add... and Edit... menu items available under Edit. Or you can right-click on the person and select Add... or Edit... from the context menu that pops up.

### To Specify a Relationship

To specify a relationship, select the person for whom the relationship applies. Switch to the Family View () and you'll see this individual indicated as the "Active person".

Now a question: Does the person who will form the relationship with the Active person already exist in the database? If yes, click the middle button to the right of the Spouse box. You'll then be able to browse through the list of people in the database to select the one you want. If not, click the topmost button to the right of the Spouse box. This will allow you to add a new person to the database and to specify the relationship this person has to the Active person.

#### Filtering

By default, GRAMPS filters the displayed list to show only those people who could theoretically have a relationship with the Active Person. That is, GRAMPS only shows those people whose birth dates and death dates fit within the lifetime of the Active Person. If you wish, you can add a person to the list by clicking the + button. To completely override the filter and display all people from the database, check the Show all box.

To edit an existing relationship, double-click in the Spouse box. If there is more than one relationship in the list, you can select the spouse or partner you want from the list before double-clicking.

#### Alternate ways of editing relationships.

Most of the functions described above are also available in the context menu that pops up when you right-click.

### To Specify Parents

To specify the parents for a person, highlight that individual in the People View and then switch to the Family View (). Your selected person will be indicated as the Active person. Click the + button to the right of the Active person's parents list box. This will bring up the Choose Parents dialog. You will see three sections, one for father, one for mother, and one for specifying the relationships between everyone.

If the father and mother of the Active person are already stored in your database, you can scroll through the lists and make your selections. If they are not in the database, you can click + to add them.

#### Filtering

By default, GRAMPS will limit both lists to people who could possibly be the parents (judged by the date of birth) of the Active person. To override this, check the Show all box for each list.

To specify parents of the Active person's spouse, switch to Family View and then click the + button to the right of the Spouse's parents list box.

To edit information about parents who are already present in the database, move the mouse over the corresponding parents' box and double-click.

#### Alternate ways of specifying parents

These functions can also be performed by right-clicking on the parents' box and using the context menu that pops up.

### To Specify Children

To specify children of an Active person, switch to the Family View () and then click either the second or the third button from the top right of the children list box. The second button adds a child to the database and to the family, while the third button adds a child to the family who is already present in the database.

If using the third button, select a child from the list and specify the child's relationship with father and mother using menus at the bottom. If you want, you can add a person to the list by clicking the Add... button. By default, &app; will limit the lists to people who could possibly be the child (judged by the date of birth) of the active person. To override this, check the Show all box.

The relationship of the child to the parents can be modified by right-clicking in the children's box and using the context menu that pops up. Again, most of the above functions are available through this context menu.

### Adding Photos and Other Media Objects

You can add photos and other media objects to individual people, events, sources, and places. You can also add images that might not be limited to a single person or event (for example, group family photos).

If you want to add an image to a single person, switch to the People View (), select a person, and then click the Edit icon on the toolbar. This will bring up the Edit Person dialog (). Next, select the Gallery tab, and click the + button to call up the Select a media object dialog. Type a filename or browse to find the image file you want and then provide a title for that image. Keep adding images until you are done.

To add images related to a relationship (for example, a marriage), switch to the Family View () and double-click on the Spouse box. This calls up the Marriage/Relationship editor dialog. Select the Gallery tab and click the + button to add an image.

To add images related to a source or a place, first switch to the Source View () or Place View (). Select the source or place you want and then either double-click on it or click the Edit icon on the toolbar. Select the Gallery tab and click the + button to add an image.

Finally, to add images that you want to include in the database, but hare are not limited to any particular person, relationship, source or place, switch to the Media View (). Then click the Add icon on the toolbar to add an image. If you have already added any images to any individual galleries, you will also find them listed in the Media View.

#### Alternate way of adding images to galleries

An image can always be added to any gallery by using drag-and-drop. Items can be dragged from the Media View, any gallery, the desktop, the file manager or a web browser and dropped on the target gallery, adding the image to the gallery.

In any gallery, you can also use the Edit to edit image information and the - button and to remove the image reference from that gallery.

#### Removing an image from a gallery

Removing a media object from a gallery does not remove the image from the database. To completely remove the image from the database, delete it from Media View by first selecting it and then clicking the Remove icon on the toolbar.

### To Edit Sources and Places

To add a source or a place to the database, switch to the appropriate Source View () or Place View (). Then click the Add icon on the toolbar to add a source/place. Enter the information into the Source Editor (or Place Editor) dialog.

To edit information about sources and places already present in the database, switch to the appropriate view, select an entry you would like to view/modify, and then click the Edit icon on the toolbar. Alternatively, you may double-click on the entry to edit it.

## Entering and Editing Data: Complete Description

The previous section offered you a quick overview of how to enter and edit data in GRAMPS. This section continues that discussion in much greater detail.

As we have seen above, GRAMPS offers you a series of Views. Each of these Views gives you opportunities to enter and edit information. In fact, you can often get to the same information from different Views.

In GRAMPS, information is entered and edited through what we call dialogs. Since we use that term frequently, we should define what we mean by it:

A dialog is a pop-up window that provides one or more forms for entering and editing data that fits a certain category. Examples in GRAMPS include the Edit Person dialog and the Marriage/Relationship dialog, among many others.

A dialog often includes a series of "notebook tabs" that group the information into subcategories. For example, the Edit Person dialog has notebook tabs for subcategories such as Events, Attributes, Addresses, and Notes, among others.

### Add, Remove, and Edit buttons

In most cases, GRAMPS uses a + to correspond to Add, a - correspond to Remove, and an icon of a pen on a sheet of paper to denote Edit. We will continue referring to the latter as the Edit button, while using + and - to denote the two former buttons.

### Editing Information About People

Information about people is entered and edited through the Edit Person dialog. This dialog can be invoked from different Views in the following ways:

From the People View:

  - Double-click the name of the person whose data you would like to edit

  - Select the name by single click and then click the Edit button on the toolbar.

  - Select the name and then press Enter.

  - Select Edit... from the Edit menu of &app;

  - Select Edit from the context menu that appears upon right-click on the name.

From the Family View:

  To edit active person's data, move the mouse into the Active person box.

  To edit Spouse's data, shift-click the Spouse entry.

  From the Spouse and Children boxes you can select the desired person, right-click, and use the context menu that pops up.

From the Pedigree View:

  Double-click in the box having the name of the person whose data you want to edit.

In each of the above cases, the Edit Person dialog will appear:

#### Edit Person dialog

Shows Edit Person dialog.

The top of the window shows the name of the person whose data is being edited. Below this name are ten "notebook tabs" containing different categories of available information. Click any tab to view and edit its contents. Clicking the OK button at the bottom will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without applying any changes. If any data in any tabs were modified, an alert window will appear, prompting you to choose from the following options: close the dialog without saving changes, cancel the initial cancel request, or save the changes.

Clicking OK will immediately save changes to the database. There is no need for a Save operation, since all changes are immediate.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs reflect the following categories of personal data:

General

  The General tab contains general information about the person. This includes Given name, Family name, Family prefix (such as "de" or "van"), Suffix (e.g. Jr. or III), Title (e.g. Dr. or Rev.), Nickname (Bob for Robert), Type of the name (birth name, married name, etc.) and Date and Place of birth and death. Some of these (Family name, Type, and both Place fields), also provide "autocompletion" feature: as you type in these fields, a menu appears below the field containing database entries that match your partial input. This gives you a shortcut by letting you select an entry that already exists in the database rather than having to type it all out. You can select the entry using your mouse or using your arrow and Enter keys.

  The Edit (that is, the "pen and paper" icon) next to the Family name entry field invokes the Name Editor dialog. This dialog allows editing the preferred name in full detail (see ).

  The Gender radio buttons offer the choice of person's gender : male, female, and unknown.

  Clicking the colored "LED" buttons located next to the birth and death Date fields will bring up the Date Selection dialog allowing detailed modification of the date, see . Clicking either the Edit button located next to the birth and death LED buttons will bring up a dialog allowing you to edit the birth or death details (see ).

  The field ID displays the &app; ID number which identifies the user in the database. This value helps you distiguish between people who have the same name. You may enter any unique value you want. If you do not provide a value, &app; will automatically select a value for you.

  The Image area shows the first image available in the Gallery of this person (if any exist).

  Finally, the Information is complete and Information is private check buttons let you mark whether or not the person's record is complete and whether or not the record is private.

Names

  The Names tab lets you view and edit any alternate names the person may have. The bottom part of the window lists all alternate names for the person stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected name in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - allow the addition, modification, and removal of an alternate name from the database. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an alternate name is selected from the list.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Names

  Shows Names Tab of Edit Person dialog.

  When you add a new name or edit an existing name, the Name Editor dialog is invoked. This dialog is described in the section below (see ).

Events

  The Events tab lets you view and edit any events relevant to the person. The bottom part of the window lists all such events stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected event in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to add, modify, and remove an event record from the database. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an event is selected from the list.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Events

  Shows Events Tab of Edit Person dialog.

Attributes

  The Attributes tab lets you view and assign attributes to the person. You have complete freedom to define and use attributes. For example, attributes might be assigned to describe the person's physical characteristics or personality traits.

  Note that each attribute listed in the Attribute dialog consists of two parts: the Attribute itself and a Value associated with that Attribute. This so-called "Parameter-Value" pairing can help you organize and systematize your research. For example, if you define "Hair color" as an Attribute for a person, "Hair Color" will become a selectable Attribute for all other people. The Value of Hair Color for person A might be red, and brown for person B. In similar fashion, you might define an Attribute like "Generosity" and use the Value of "Enormous" to describe a particularly generous person.

  The bottom part of the dialog window displays the list of all Attributes stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected attribute in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove an attribute record from the database. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an attribute is selected from the list.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Attributes

  Shows Attributes Tab of Edit Person dialog.

Addresses

  The Addresses tab lets you view and record the various addresses of the person. The bottom part of the window lists all addresses stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected address in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to correspondingly add, modify, and remove an address record from the database. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an address is selected from the list.

  Some reports allow you to restrict data on living people. In particular, that option will omit their addresses.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Addresses

  Shows Addresses Tab of Edit Person dialog.

Notes

  #### Edit Person dialog - Notes

  Shows Notes Tab of Edit Person dialog.

  The Notes tab provides a place to record various items about the person that do not fit neatly into other categories. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

  The Format option lets you set the way the note will appear in reports and web pages. If you select "Flowed," the text generated will have single spaces put in place of all multiple spaces, tabs, and single end-of-line characters. A blank line inserted between two blocks of text will signal a new paragraph; additional inserted lines will be ignored.

  If you select the Preformatted option, the text in reports and web pages will appear exactly as you enter it in the Notes dialog.

Sources

  #### Edit Person dialog - Sources

  Shows Sources Tab of Edit Person dialog.

  The Sources tab allows you to view and document the sources for the information you collect. These might be general sources that do not describe a specific event, but which nevertheless yield information about the person. For example, if Aunt Martha's memoirs mention her great-grandson Paul, the researcher may assume that this Paul actually existed and cite Aunt Martha's memoirs as the source that justifies this assumption.

  Sources which document specific events are best recorded as sources of the event (under the Events tab) instead of as a source of the person. The person's Sources tab is best used for any sources not specificly connected to any other data.

  The central part displays the list of all source references stored in the database in relation to the person. The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to correspondingly add, modify, and remove a source reference to this person. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Gallery

  The Gallery tab lets you view and store photos, videos, and other media objects that are associated with the person. The central part of the window lists all such media objects. Any object in the form of a valid image file will result in the display of a thumbnail view of the image. For other objects such as audio files, movie files, etc., a corresponding file type icon is displayed instead.

  The first available image in the gallery will be also displayed in the Image area in the General tab.

  The buttons +, Select, Edit, and - let you add a new image to the database, link to an image already stored in the database, modify an image, and remove a given media object from the person's gallery. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a media object is selected from the list.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Gallery

  Shows Gallery Tab of Edit Person dialog.

  Removing a media object from a person's gallery does not remove it from the database. It only removes the reference to that object from this person's record.

Internet

  The Internet tab displays Internet addresses relevant to the person. The bottom part lists all such Internet addresses and accompanying descriptions. The top part shows the details of the currently selected addresses in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove an Internet address. The "Go" button (represented by an icon having a green arrow and yellow circle) opens your web browser and takes you directly to the highlighted page. Note that the Edit, -, and Go buttons become available only when an address is selected from the list.

  #### Edit Person dialog - Internet

  Shows Internet Tab of Edit Person dialog.

LDS

  The LDS (Latter Days Saints) tab lets you view and edit information about LDS ordinances of the person. These are LDS Baptism, Endowment, and Sealed to Parents ordinances, as labeled inside the tab. Each ordinance is described by its date, LDS temple, and Place where it happened. An additional pop-up menu, "Parents," is available for the Sealed to Parents ordinance. Each ordinance can be further described through the selections available in the Status pop-up menu. It can also be include notes and references to sources through the corresponding Sources... and Note buttons.

  #### Edit Person dialog - LDS

  Shows LDS Tab of Edit Person dialog.

### Editing Dates

This section describes how to enter and modify dates. Since dates are so important in genealogical research, GRAMPS takes special care to preserve and use any date information available.

Information can be entered into a date field by directly typing it or by invoking the Date selection dialog. Both methods will be discussed below, but first, we will cover some important features of dates as they are used in GRAMPS.

#### Date types

Dates in GRAMPS are classified according to the following types:

Regular

  A "regular" date is one which includes a specific day, date, or month. It can be complete (e.g., June 6, 1990) or partial (e.g., July 1977).

Before

  A "before" date is one that can only be identified as occurring before a certain day, month, or year.

After

  An "after" date is one that occurs after a certain day, month, or year.

Range

  A "range" describes a time period during which the event occurred. For example, "between January 1932 and March 1932."

Span

  A "span" describes a time period during which a condition existed. For example, "from May 12, 2000 to February 2, 2002."

#### Date formats and parsing rules

GRAMPS recognizes dates entered in a variety of formats. The default numeric format is that which is conventional for the environment is which GRAMPS is operating; that is, DD.MM.YYYY for most European countries, MM/DD/YYYY for the U.S., and so on.

Besides exact dates, &app; recognizes many dates that are not regular: before, after, about, ranges and spans. It also understands the quality: estimated or calculated. Finally, it supports partial dates and many alternative calendars. Below is the list of date entry rules to allow precise date parsing.

##### Date parsing rules

The list only applys to the English version of GRAMPS. If you are using localized version of &app;, your version may or may not provide a localized date parser. At the time of this writing, localized parsers exist for French, German, Russian, Finnish, Dutch and Spanish languages.

If the localized parser is available for your version, chances are that other rules are in effect. If there is no manual in your language yet, you may try following your instinct and go with the common ways of denoting dates in your language. If all else fails, use the Date selection dialog described below.

- Regular single dates can be entered just as you would write them. Examples: May 24, 1961 or January 1, 2004.

- Dates that are not regular should start with the quality: estimated or calculated, if applicable. Example: est. 1961, or calc 2005. (Note that a quality does not need to be specified for regular dates.)

- After the quality should appear the type. If the type is before, after, or about, you scan specify the type by writing "before", "after" or "about". If the type is a range, write "between DATE and DATE", and if the type is a span, write "from DATE to DATE". patterns, where DATE is a single date.

  Examples: est from 2001 to 2003, before June 1975, est about 2000, calc between May 1900 and January 1, 1990.

- Partial dates are entered simply by omitting unknown information. Examples: May 1961 and 2004.

- Alternate calendars are calendars other than the Gregorian calendar. Currently, &app; supports Hebrew, French Republican, Julian, Islamic, and Persian alternate calendars. To specify the calendar other than the default Gregorian, append the name of the calendar to the date string, e.g. "January 9, 1905 (julian)".

#### Date Validity Indicators

&app; uses color circles to indicate the validity of the entered date.

##### Date LED buttons

The color circles are also referred to as the LED buttons. Clicking on an LED button will invoke the Date selection dialog described in detail below, see

- A green circle means that the date is valid and complete regular date (e.g. May 24, 1961). In simple terms, green means that the date corresponds to a unique date.

- Yellow circle means that the date is valid but is not a regular date. This could be the date of a different type: a before date (before May 25, 1962), an after date (after May, 1960), an about date (about May 23, 1961), a range (between May 1, 1961 and May 31, 1961), or a span (from May 1, 1961 to May 31, 1961). It can also be a complete single date, but with quality of Estimated or Calculated. Finally, it could be a partial date, i.e. a regular quality single date missing some portion, e.g. May 1961 or 1961.

  While partial dates do not uniquely define the day, they allow at least for some type of comparisons between the dates.

- Red circle means that the date is not recognized as a valid date (e.g. "Christmas week of 61", or "the summer when I had surgery"). In such a case the date will be stored as a text string and therefore cannot be compared other dates. As you can see, it is best to avoid such date entries. It would be better, for example, to enter a date of "December 1961" and then to add the note "Christmas week of '61."

#### Graphical User Interface for Entering Dates

While the above parsing rules provide a guide for you to type in most common dates, you can also use Date selection dialog. The dialog is particularly useful for building a complex date or for simply insuring that your information is entered in a way GRAMPS will understand. The Date selection dialog can be invoked by clicking the colored circle button next to the date entry field.

##### Date selection dialog

Shows Date selection dialog.

The Calendar menu lets you choose a calendar other than the default Gregorian. The Quality menu gives you the choices of Regular, Estimated, or Calculated. The Type menu allows you establish the exact date type: Regular, Before, After, About, Range, Span, and Text only. You can set the Date by setting the day, the month, and the year. In the event that your date type is Range or Span, the Second date will be activated. Finally, the Text comment text entry field allows storing an arbitrary text string along with the date.

If you have an important comment to make about a date, you are better off doing so in a Note that corresponds to the event than in the Text comment field of the Date selection dialog. We recommend this for the following reason: If you enter a date by typing it directly into the date field (that is, not via the Date selector dialog), your entry will be copied and stored as the text comment string when GRAMPS parses the entered text. Thus, any comment that may have been there prior to the parsing will be overwritten.

### Editing Information About Relationships

Information about relationships is entered and edited through the Marriage/Relationship Editor dialog. This dialog is invoked from Family View by double-clicking the Spouse box

You can also invoke this dialog by right-clicking inside the Spouse box and selecting "Edit relationship" item from the context menu that pops up.

#### Marriage/Relationship Editor dialog

Shows Marriage/Relationship Editor dialog.

The top of the window shows the names of the people whose relationship is being edited. The main part of the window displays seven notebook tabs representing different categories of information about the relationship. Click any tab to view or edit the information it contains. The bottom part has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking the OK button at any time will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button at any time will close the window without applying any changes. If any of the data in any tab is modified, an alert window will appear that will prompt you choose between closing the dialog without saving changes, canceling the initial cancel request, or saving the changes.

Clicking OK will immediately save changes to the database. This version of &app; does not have a separate saving function, all changes are immediate.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs provide the following information categories of relationship data:

General

  The General tab lets you edit the Relationship type. The available types (such as Married, Unmarried, etc.) can be chosen from the drop-down Relationship type menu. The GRAMPS ID field displays the ID number which labels this relationship in the database. The Last changed label shows the last time the relationship was modified. Finally, the Information is complete check button indicates whether the record of this relationship is complete or not.

Events

  The Events tab lets you view and edit events relevant to the relationship. The bottom part displays the list of all such events stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected event in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, or remove an event record from the database. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an event is selected from the list.

Attributes

  The Attributes tab lets you view and edit particular information about the relationship that can be expressed as attributes. The bottom part displays the list of all such attributes stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected attribute in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, or remove an attribute. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an attribute is selected from the list.

Notes

  The Notes tab lets you view and edit notes associated with the relationship. These could be any comments which do not naturally fit into the "Parameter-Value" pairs available to Attributes. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

  The Format option lets you set the way the note will appear in reports and web pages. If you select Flowed, the text generated will have single spaces put in place of all multiple spaces, tabs, and single end-of-line characters. A blank line inserted between two blocks of text will signal a new paragraph; additional inserted lines will be ignored.

  If you select the Preformatted option, the text in reports and web pages will appear exactly as you enter it in the Notes dialog.

Sources

  The Sources tab lets you view and edit the sources which provide evidence for the relationship. These might be documents that refer to the relationship, but which do not necessarily document it officially. For example, if Aunt Martha's memoirs mention that her great-grandson Paul was married, the researcher may take this as evidence of the relationship between Paul and his wife existed and cite the memoirs as the source for this assumption.

  Sources that document specific events such as marriages or divorces are better filed in relation to those events, under the Events tab.

  The central part of the Sources window displays the list of all source references associated with the relationship. The buttons +, Edit, and - allow let you add, modify, and remove a source reference to this relationship. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Gallery

  The Gallery tab lets you store and display photos and other media objects associated with the relationship. The central part of the window lists all such objects and gives you a thumbnail preview of image files. Other objects such as audio files, movie files, etc., are represented by a generic GRAMPS icon. The buttons +, Select, Edit, and - let you add a new image, add a reference to an existing image, modify an existing image, and remove a media object's link to the relationship. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a media object is selected from the list.

LDS

  The LDS (Latter Days Saints) tab displays information about the LDS Sealed to Spouse ordinance. The data can include date, LDS temple, and Place. The status of the ordinance can be described through the selections available in the Status pop-up menu and can also be referenced in the corresponding Sources... and Note buttons.

### Editing Information About Sources

To edit source data, switch to the Sources View and select the desired entry in the list of sources. Double-click that entry or click the Edit icon on the toolbar to invoke the following Source Editor dialog:

#### Source Editor dialog

Shows Source Editor dialog.

The main part of the window displays four notebook tabs containing different categories of information. Click a tab to view or edit its contents. The bottom part of the window has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking OK will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without applying any changes.

Clicking OK will immediately save changes to the database (write on disk). All changes are immediate.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs provide the following information categories of source data:

General

  The General tab lets you define basic information about the source: its Title, Author, Abbreviation, and Publication information. You can type this information directly into the adjacent fields.

Note

  The Note tab provides a place to record various information about the source that does not fit neatly into other categories. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

Data

  The Data tab displays "Key/Value" pairs that may be associated with the source. These are similar to the "Attributes" used for other types of GRAMPS records. The difference between these Key/Value pairs and Attributes is that Attributes may have source references and notes, while Key/Value data may not.

  The central part of the window lists all existing Key/Value pairs. The buttons + and - let you add and remove pairs. To modify the text of Key or Value, first select the desired entry. Then click in either the Key or Value cell of that entry and type your text. When you are done, click outside the cell to exit editing mode.

Gallery

  The Gallery tab lets you store and display photos and other media objects associated with a given source (for example, a photo of a birth certificate). The central part of the window lists all such media objects and gives you a thumbnail preview of image files. Other objects such as audio files, movie files, etc., are represented by a generic GRAMPS icon. The buttons +, Select, Edit, and - let you add a new image, add a reference to an existing image, modify an existing image, and remove a media object's link to the source. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a media object is selected from the list.

References

  The References tab lists all the database records that refer to this source, if any. The list can be ordered by any of its column headings: Type, ID, or Name. Double-clicking an entry allows you to view and edit the record.

  Only primary objects can be shown in the References tab: Person, Family, Event, Place, or Media object. Secondary objects such as Names and Attributes can only be accessed through the primary objects to which they belong.

### Editing Information About Places

To edit information about places, switch to the Places View and select the desired entry from the list of places. Double-click that entry or click the Edit button on the toolbar to bring up the following Place Editor dialog:

#### Place Editor dialog

Shows Place Editor dialog.

The main part of the window displays seven notebook tabs containing different categories of information. Click a tab to view or edit its contents. The bottom part of the window has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking OK will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without applying any changes.

Clicking OK will immediately save changes to the database). All changes are immediate.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs represent following categories of place data:

General

  The General tab you view and edit the basic information about the place: the Title which labels it in the database, City, Church parish, County, State, Country, Longitude, and Latitude. You can type this information directly into the adjacent fields.

Other names

  The Other names tab lets you view and edit other names by which the place might be known. The bottom part of the window lists all other names of the place stored in the database. The top part of the window shows the details of the currently selected name in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove a name record. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a name is selected from the list.

Note

  The Note tab displays any comments or notes concerning the place. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

Sources

  The Sources tab lets you view and edit sources relevant to a place. The central part of the window lists all such source references stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove a source reference associated with a place. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Gallery

  The Gallery tab lets you store and display photos and other media objects associated with a given place. The central part of the window lists all such media objects and gives you a thumbnail preview of image files. Other objects such as audio files, movie files, etc., are represented by a generic GRAMPS icon. The buttons +, Select, Edit, and - let you add a new image, add a reference to an existing image, modify an existing image, and remove a media object's link to the place. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a media object is selected from the list.

Internet

  The Internet tab contains Internet addresses relevant to the place. The bottom part of the window lists all such Internet addresses stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected address in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove an Internet address. The Go button (represented by an icon with a green arrow and yellow circle) opens your browser and takes you to the web page corresponding to the highlighted Internet address. Note that the Edit, -, and Go buttons become available only when an address is selected from the list.

References

  The References tab indicates any database records (events or LDS ordinances) that refer to a place. This information cannot be modified from the Place Editor dialog. Instead, the corresponding database record (e.g., a birth event) has to be brought up and its place reference edited.

### Editing Information About Media Objects

To edit media data, switch to the Media View and select the desired entry in the list of sources. Double-click on that entry or click Edit on the toolbar to invoke the following Media Properties Editor dialog:

#### Media Properties Editor dialog

Shows Media Properties Editor dialog.

A thumbnail preview of the object is presented, along with a summary of its properties (ID, path, and object type). The central part of the window displays five notebook tabs containing different categories of information. Click a tab to view or edit its contents. The bottom part of the window has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking OK will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without applying any changes.

Clicking OK will immediately save changes to the database (write on disk). All changes are immediate.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs represent the following categories of media data:

General

  The General tab lets you view and edit the object's Title and Date. You can type this information directly into the corresponding fields. For the Date, you can also enter information by clicking the LED button and invoking the Date selection dialog.

  Every media object is referred to by its Path. The user is responsible for keeping track of the object files. GRAMPS will only reference and display the contents, not manage the files themselves.

Attributes

  The Attributes tab lets you view and edit particular information about the media object that can be expressed as Attributes. The bottom part displays the list of all such attributes stored in the database. The top part shows the details of the currently selected attribute in the list (if any). The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, or remove an attribute. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when an attribute is selected from the list.

Notes

  The Note tab provides a place to record various information about the source that does not fit neatly into other categories. This area is particularly useful for recording information that does not naturally fit into the "Parameter/Value" pairs available to Attributes. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

References

  The References tab indicates any database records that refer to a given media object. The list can be ordered according to any of its column headings: Type, ID, or Name. Double-clicking an entry allows you to view and edit the corresponding record.

  Only primary objects can be shown in the References tab: Person, Family, Event, Source, or Place. The secondary objects such as Names and Attributes, although able to refer the media object, will only show up through their primary objects to which they belong.

### Editing Information About Events

Events are edited through the Event Editor dialog. This dialog can be accessed from either the Edit Person dialog or the Marriage/Relationship dialog.

#### Event Editor dialog

Shows Event Editor dialog.

The central part of the window displays five notebook tabs containing different categories of information. Click a tab to view or edit its contents. The bottom part of the window has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking OK will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without applying any changes.

If a tab label is in boldface type, this means it contains data. If not, it has no data.

The tabs provide the following information categories of the event data:

General

  The General tab lets you view and edit basic information about the event: its Type, Date, Place, Cause, and Description. You can type this information directly into the adjacent fields. The type can be selected from available types listed in the Event type drop-down menu. The rest of the information can be typed in the appropriate text entry fields. Checking the Private record box marks the event record as private and allows it to be omitted from reports.

Sources

  The Sources tab lets you view and edit sources relevant to an event. The central part of the window lists all such source references stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove a source reference associated with a place. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Note

  The Note tab provides a place to record notes or comments about the event. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

Witnesses

  The Witnesses tab lets you view and edit witnesses to the event. The central part of the window lists all such witnesses stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - let you add, modify, and remove a witness reference to this event (see ). Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only

### Editing Source References

Source references connect a Source to another object and allow you to provide additional information about the source. When adding source references to events, places, etc., the following dialog appears:

#### Source Information dialog

Shows Source Information dialog.

The dialog includes two main headings, Source selection and Source details. Source selection displays the Title of the Source, its Author, and Publication information. The Title can be selected from the available sources listed in the drop-down menu. If the source you are referencing is not already in the database, you can enter it by clicking New... and filling out the invoked Source Editor dialog.

The Source details section indicates the details associated with the particular reference to this Source: Confidence, Volume/Film/Page, Date, Text, and Comments. You can choose the Confidence level from the Confidence drop-down menu. The remaining details can be typed in the corresponding text entry fields.

Information in this dialog is specific to the particular reference. A single source can be referenced many times, and all such references will have in common the overall source information. This dialog lets you provide reference-specific data, such as relevant quotes, comments, confidence, page numbers, etc., to further specify and document the reference.

### Names

Names are edited through the following Name Editor dialog:

#### Name Editor dialog

Shows Name Editor dialog.

The top of the window shows the dialog title including the name of the person whose name is being edited. The central part of the window displays three notebook tabs containing different categories of available information. You can bring any tab to the top for viewing or editing by clicking on the appropriate tab heading. The bottom part has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking the OK button at any time will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button at any time will close the window without applying any changes.

The tab labels reflect the presence of corresponding information: if the tab contains any data, its label appears boldface; if the tab has no data then its label appears regular (not bold).

The tabs provide the following information categories of the name data:

General

  The General tab allows editing of general information about the name: given name, family name, patronymic (a form of father's name used in some languages, e.g. Russian), family prefix, suffix, title, and type of the name. The information can be typed in the appropriate text entry fields. The family name and the type can be also selected from available choices listed in the appropriate drop-down menus.

  Options allow you to adjust specific grouping, sorting, and displaying properties of this name, as well as to provide the date corresponding to the name. The Grouping field provides an alternative grouping node for a given name, overriding the default grouping based on the family name. This may be necessary with similar family names that need to be grouped together -- for example Russian names Ivanov and Ivanova are considered the same, but difference in gender is reflected in different spelling. To enable typing into this field, check the Override check button. The Sort as and Display as determine the manner in which the name appears in the People View and in the reports. The Date can provide information on the validity of this name -- use spans as necessary. Check the Private record box to mark this name record as private. This will give you a chance to omit this name from being included in reports, if you choose so among the report generation options.

Sources

  The Sources tab displays information about sources relevant to this name and controls allowing its modification. The central part displays the list of all such sources' references stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to correspondingly add, modify, and remove a source reference to this name. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Note

  The Note tab displays any notes concerning the name. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

  The Format option allows you to set the appearance of the note in the output (i.e. in reports and web pages). Selecting Flowed will replace all multiple spaces, tabs, and single end-of-line characters with single space in the output. The two consecutive new lines (i.e. an empty line) denote a new paragraph. Selecting Preformatted will honor all multiple spaces tabs, and new lines, so that the output will appear as it is entered into the text entry field.

### Attributes

Attributes are edited through the following Attribute Editor dialog:

#### Attribute Editor dialog

Shows Attribute Editor dialog.

The top of the window shows the dialog title including the name of the person whose attribute is being edited. The central part of the window displays three notebook tabs containing different categories of available information. You can bring any tab to the top for viewing or editing by clicking on the appropriate tab heading. The bottom part has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking the OK button at any time will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button at any time will close the window without applying any changes.

The tab labels reflect the presence of corresponding information: if the tab contains any data, its label appears boldface; if the tab has no data then its label appears regular (not bold).

The tabs provide the following information categories of the attribute data:

General

  The General tab allows editing of the most general information about the attribute: name of the attribute and its value. The information can be typed in the appropriate text entry fields. The attribute name can also be selected from available choices (if any) listed in the Attribute drop-down menu. Check the Private record box to mark this attribute record as private. This will give you a chance to omit this attribute from being included in the reports, if you choose so among the report generation options.

Sources

  The Sources tab displays information about sources relevant to this attribute and controls allowing its modification. The central part displays the list of all such sources references stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to correspondingly add, modify, and remove a source reference to this attribute. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Note

  The Note tab displays any notes concerning the attribute. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

  The Format option allows you to set the appearance of the note in the output (i.e. in reports and web pages). Selecting Flowed will replace all multiple spaces, tabs, and single end-of-line characters with single space in the output. The two consecutive new lines (i.e. an empty line) denote a new paragraph. Selecting Preformatted will honor all multiple spaces tabs, and new lines, so that the output will appear as it is entered into the text entry field.

### Addresses

Addresses are edited through the following Address Editor dialog:

#### Address Editor dialog

Shows Address Editor dialog.

The top of the window shows the dialog title including the name of the person whose address is being edited. The central part of the window displays three notebook tabs containing different categories of available information. You can bring any tab to the top for viewing or editing by clicking on the appropriate tab heading. The bottom part has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking the OK button at any time will apply all the changes made in all tabs and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button at any time will close the window without applying any changes.

The tab labels reflect the presence of corresponding information: if the tab contains any data, its label appears boldface; if the tab has no data then its label appears regular (not bold).

The tabs provide the following information categories of the address data:

General

  The General tab allows editing of the most general information about the address: date, street address, city or county, state or province, country, the postal code, and the phone number. The information can be typed in the appropriate text entry fields. Check the Private record box to mark this address record as private. This will give you a chance to omit this address from being included in reports, if you choose so among the report generation options.

Sources

  The Sources tab displays information about sources relevant to this address and controls allowing its modification. The central part displays the list of all such sources references stored in the database. The buttons +, Edit, and - allow you to correspondingly add, modify, and remove a source reference to this address. Note that the Edit and - buttons become available only when a source reference is selected from the list.

Note

  The Note tab displays any notes concerning the address. To add a note or modify existing notes simply edit the text in the text entry field.

  The Format option allows you to set the appearance of the note in the output (i.e. in reports and web pages). Selecting Flowed will replace all multiple spaces, tabs, and single end-of-line characters with single space in the output. The two consecutive new lines (i.e. an empty line) denote a new paragraph. Selecting Preformatted will honor all multiple spaces tabs, and new lines, so that the output will appear as it is entered into the text entry field.

### Witnesses

Witnesses are edited through the following Witness Editor dialog:

#### Witness Editor dialog

Shows Witness Editor dialog.

The top of the window shows the dialog title. The central part of the window displays information about the witness. The bottom part has OK and Cancel buttons. Clicking the OK button at any time will apply all the changes made and close the dialog window. Clicking the Cancel button at any time will close the window without applying any changes.

The witness name can be entered in two ways, depending upon whether the witness is a person already stored in the database or not (unrelated person).

If the person you would like to add as a witness is in fact a member of the database, it is better to use the first method below.

Person from the database

  If the person's data are stored in a database, check Person is in the database box. Then click the Select button to invoke Select Person dialog. Choose the person from that dialog and click the OK button. The Person text field will display the name of the person you selected.

  Even though the person's name is displayed in the Person field, it is not available for direct editing.

Unrelated person

  If the person is not in the database, make sure that Person is in the database box is unchecked. Then enter the name or any description of a person into the Person text entry field. This information is stored as entered, and this is the only place it is stored. In other words, there is no reference to that person in the entire database except for this witness reference. If the person is in fact a member of the database, it is advised to use the former method.

The Comment text area allows you to enter any comments concerning the witness. To add a comment or to modify existing comments simply edit the text in the text area.

### Merging records

Sometime several records in the database turn out to be describing the same object: same person, same place, or same source. It could happen either when the data is entered twice by mistake, or when new information reveals that the two entries refer to the same person. It can also happen after importing GEDCOM obtained from a relative, whose database overlaps with your existing data.

Whenever you detect duplicate records, merging them a useful way of correcting the situation.

To make a merge, exactly two records have to be selected in the appropriate view (People View, Sources View, or Places View). This is accomplished by selecting one entry and then selecting another person while holding down Ctrl key.

#### Merge People

There are two ways of merging personal records: Compare and Merge and Fast Merge, both available from the Edit menu.

Merging people does not discard any information with either method. The decisions you make during the merge only affect which data will become primary and which will become secondary for the resulting merged record.

Compare and Merge

  When exactly two people are selected, choose Edit Compare and Merge... to invoke Compare People dialog.

  ##### Compare People dialog

  Shows Compare People dialog.

  The dialog allows you to make a decision on whether or not the selected records should be merged. If you decide that the records should not be merged, despite similar names, you may click Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes. If you decide to proceed with merging, select the appropriate Select radio button to specify the record to be used as the source of primary data, then click Merge and close.

  The data from the other record will be kept as alternate data. Specifically, all names from the other record will become alternate names of the merged record. Similarly, parents, spouses, and children of the other record will become alternate parents, spouses, and children of the merged record, and so on.

Fast Merge

  When exactly two people are selected, choose Edit Fast Merge to invoke Merge People dialog.

  ##### Merge People dialog

  Shows Merge People dialog.

  The dialog allows you to quickly merge two records, specifying the record to be used as the source of primary data. The data from the other record will be kept as alternate data. Specifically, all names from the other record will become alternate names of the merged record. Similarly, parents, spouses, and children of the other record will become alternate parents, spouses, and children of the merged record, and so on.

  If you are not certain whether or not you need to merge the records, or which record to specify as the source of primary data, use Compare and Merge method described above..

#### Merge Sources

When exactly two sources are selected, choose Edit Compare and Merge... to invoke Merge Sources dialog.

##### Merge Sources dialog

Shows Merge Sources dialog.

The dialog allows you to make a decision on whether or not the selected records should be merged. If you decide that the records should not be merged, despite similar titles, you may click Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes. If you decide to proceed with merging, choose the appropriate radio button to specify the title, author, abbreviated title, publication information, and the ID to be used for the merged record, then click OK.

#### Merge Places

When exactly two places are selected, choose Edit Compare and Merge...

to invoke Select title dialog.

##### Merge Places dialog

Shows Select title dialog.

The dialog allows you to make a decision on whether or not the selected records should be merged. If you decide that the records should not be merged, despite similar titles, you may click Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes. If you decide to proceed with merging, choose the appropriate radio button to specify the title of the merged record, or specify Other and enter new text, then click OK.

## Navigation

As long as any database is open, &app; is focused on a single person usually referred to as an Active person. This allows you to view or modify the data concerning this person, his or her immediate family, etc. Navigating in the database (i.e. moving from person to person) is in fact nothing else but changing the Active person. This section describes many alternative ways to navigate through the database using both the complex and the convenient interfaces &app; provides. All these ways eventually accomplish the same thing, but some are more convenient than others, depending what you are doing in &app; at the moment.

### Using the People View

The most intuitive way to select an active person is to use the People View (see ). When in the People View, just select the name of the desired person from the list by clicking that list entry. The person you have selected becomes active. The statusbar updates to reflect the change of the active person.

### Using the Family View

When in the Family View (see ), you can easily navigate between the members of the displayed family as follows:

- To make the currently selected spouse the active person, click the double-arrow button to the right of the active person box. Alternatively, right-click into the spouse box and select Make the selected spouse an active person item from the context menu.

- To make the currently selected parents the active family (thereby making father the active person and mother the selected spouse), click the right-arrow button to the right of the active person's parents box. Alternatively, right-click into the active person's parents box and select Make the selected parents the active family item from the context menu.

- To make the currently selected spouse's parents the active family (thereby making father the active person and mother the selected spouse), click the right-arrow button to the right of the spouse's parents box. Alternatively, right-click into the spouse's parents box and select Make the selected parents the active family item from the context menu.

- To make the currently selected child the active person, click the left-arrow button to the right of the children box. Alternatively, right-click into the children box and select Make the selected child an active person item from the context menu.

In addition to this, &app; provides an extensive set of keyboard navigation options. The detailed reference to the key bindings is found in the .

### Using the Pedigree View

The Pedigree View (see ) also allows you to move along the family tree. The benefit of this method is that you can see more than one generation of the family tree. Also, you can jump directly from a great-grandson to a great-grandfather without going through the intermediate generations.

Note that after changing the active person in the Pedigree View, the display is re-adjusted to show four generations, starting from the newly selected Active person. When in the Pedigree View, you can easily navigate between the members of the displayed family tree as follows:

- To make any displayed person the active person, double-click the line that connects to the left side of the corresponding box.

- To make a child of the currently active person (if any) the active person, click the left arrow button to the left of the corresponding box. If there is more than one child, the button expands to the menu listing the children to choose from.

- To move the whole family tree one generation back, click on the corresponding right arrow button on the right-hand side of the display area. Clicking the upper button will move the tree along the paternal line. Clicking the lower button will move the tree along the maternal line.

  Clicking either of these buttons is completely equivalent to double-clicking the lines connecting to the left of the corresponding boxes for father and mother.

You can also quickly access any of the spouses, siblings, children, or parents of any displayed person. To do this, move the mouse over the desired person's box and right-click to invoke a context menu. The appropriate menu items will contain submenus listing all spouses, siblings, children, and parents of the corresponding person.

#### Advantages of using right-click menus

- Direct access to spouse and siblings

- Complete lists of all member of all categories, not only the preferred members.

### Setting the Home Person

One and only one person in the database can be selected as the Home person. Once the Home person is selected, moving to that person becomes a matter of a single click, regardless of which view you are using at the moment.

To set the Home person, first navigate to that person using any method you like. Then choose

Edit Set Home person .

Once this is done, you can move to the Home person from anywhere in the database by simply clicking the Home icon on the toolbar. You can also choose

Go Home

from the menu or select Home item from any context menu available on the right click.

### Using history-based tools

&app; also features a powerful set of history-based navigation tools. These tools are similar to those commonly used in web browsers. They include Back and Forward items available from the

Go

menu, context menus (available in People, Family, and Pedigree views), and the toolbar buttons. They also include the list of the recent selections available under the

Go

menu that allows you to jump directly to any of the recent selections. Finally, right-clicking on the Back and Forward toolbar buttons invokes the popup menu with corresponding portion of the history. Select any item from the menu to jump directly to it.

### Bookmarking People

Similar to setting the Home person, you can bookmark other people from the database to simplify further navigation. To bookmark a person, first navigate to that person, then choose

Bookmarks Add bookmark .

To move to that person from anywhere in the database, choose

Bookmarks Go to bookmark Person's name .

You can manage your bookmarks by choosing

Bookmarks Edit bookmarks... .

This opens the following Edit Bookmarks dialog with the list of bookmarks and the controls to modify this list.

#### Edit Bookmarks dialog

Shows Edit Bookmarks dialog.

### Finding records

To find a record in a database, first switch to the appropriate View that provides the list of the desired records: People, Sources, Places, or Media. Then start typing the name of a person or the title of a Source, Place, or Media object that you are looking for, respectively. You may also press Ctrl+F to turn on the search mode, but simply staring to type is also enough.

#### Type-ahead find

Shows type-ahead find.

As you type, the first record in the list that is compatible with your input will be selected.

#### Finding People

For more complex people searches you may want to use filters. Enable filter controls by choosing

View Filter ,

select the desired filter, and click Apply. For details, see

## Generating Reports

Reports are the most common form of the output produced by genealogical research. The majority of genealogical software puts a lot of emphasis on developing nice looking reports. &app; is no exception in this regard, offering a choice of a variety of reports. &app; can generate reports in a multitude of open formats, both text based and graphical. &app; can also produce screen based reports that are convenient for viewing a summary of your database. Finally, &app; can generate a web site suitable for immediate posting on the Internet. All of these are almost infinitely flexible. If you wish to modify or extend the default format of &app; report, you can design and choose the style for each of your reports.

All reports can be accessed through the menu by choosing Reports Report Type Particular Report . Alternatively, you can browse the complete selection of available reports along with their brief descriptions in a Report Selection dialog invoked by clicking the Reports icon on the toolbar.

### Substitution Values

Many of the graphical reports allow you to customize the information on the display. Variable substituions are used to substitute date for a particular symbol. There are two styles of variables. The difference between the two styles is how empty data is handled.

The first style of variables are preceeded by a '$'. If the variable evaluates to an empty string, the variable is replaced with the empty string. The second style of variables are preceeded by a '%'. If the variable evaluates to an empty string, the line that contains the variable is removed from the output.

$n/%n

  Displays the person's name in the form of FirstName LastName

$N/%N

  Displays the person's name in the form of LastName, FirstName

$i/%i

  Displays the GRAMPS ID associated with the person.

$b/%b

  Displays the person's date of birth

$B/%B

  Displays the person's place of birth

$d/%d

  Displays the person's date of death

$D/%D

  Displays the person's place of death

$s/%s

  Displays the name of the person's preferred spouse in the form of FirstName LastName

$S/%S

  Displays the name of the person's preferred spouse in the form of LastName, FirstName.

$m/%m

  Displays the marriage date of the person and the preferred spouse.

$M/%M

  Displays the place assocated with the marriage of the person and the preferred spouse.

### Books

Currently, the only available report under this category is the Book Report.

The Book Report creates a single document (i.e. a Book) containing a collection of graphical and textual reports. Consequently, this allows for a very rich set of documents that &app; can produce.

When Book Report is selected, the following book configuration dialog appears:

#### Book Report dialog

Shows Book Report dialog.

The Book name text entry field is used to save the book (a set of configured selections) for future use. The top pane lists the items available for inclusion in the book. The bottom pane lists the currently selected items in the order they will appear in the book.

The horizontal set of buttons by the Book name field operates on the whole book. Click the Clear button to clear all items from the current book. Click the Save button to save the current book (under the name typed in the Book name text entry field) for future use.

Saving the book also saves the configuration for each item.

Click the Open button to load the book from the list of previously saved books. Finally, click the Edit books button to invoke the editable list of available books.

The vertical set of buttons to the right of the bottom pane operates on the selected book item. Click the Add button to add selected item from the available list to the current book. Click the Remove button to remove an item from the current book. Use Up and Down to change the items order in the current book. Click the Setup button to configure the options of the selected item of the current book.

The configuration dialogs invoked by Setup are item-specific. If you choose not to configure the item, same defaults will be used for all needed options. The common option for almost all book items is the center person: the person on whom the item is centered. Thanks to this option, you can create a book with items centered on different people (e.g. your mom's and dad's ancestors as separate chapters). By default, the center person is set to the active person.

Almost all items available for inclusion in the book are textual or graphical reports, and are therefore available in the form of standalone reports. The exception is the following items which are only available as book items:

Title Page

  This item produces a customized Title page. You can configure the text of title, subtitle, and the footer of the page. An image can be optionally placed between the subtitle and the footer. Because of its configurability, this item can be used to create title pages for the whole book, its chapter, or even a single item.

Custom Text

  This item produces a page with three paragraphs, each containing custom text. The appearance of the text can be adjusted by using custom styles. This item was meant to be used for epigraphs, dedications, explanations, notes, and so forth.

### Code Generators

This category contains reports that produce code intended to be run through the computer, rather than the usual formatted output for human reading. The only code generator currently available in &app; is the Relationship Graph producing the GraphViz description of the graph.

The Relationship Graph creates a complex relationship graph in GraphViz format. The GraphViz `dot` tool can transform the graph into postscript, jpeg, png, vrml, svg, and other formats. GraphViz tools are freely available from the GraphViz site. Specific options for this report include filter and number of generations considered, as well as several GraphViz-specific options related to pagination, color, and details of the graph.

If you are not interested in GraphViz code itself and just want to generate graphical output, &app; can do it for you under the hood. Look for Relationship Graph in the Graphical Reports category,

### Graphical Reports

Graphical reports represent information in forms of charts and graphs. Most of the options are common among graphical reports, therefore they will be described only once, at the end of this section. The few options which are specific to a given report will be described directly in that report's entry.

The following graphical reports are currently available in &app;:

Ancestor Chart

  This report generates the chart of people who are ancestors of the Active person. Specific options include the number of generations considered and the format of the displayed entries.

Ancestor Chart (Wall Chart)

  This report is similar to the Ancestor Chart report. It provides more options which make it useful for generating huge charts suitable for a poster or a wall chart. These options include the ability to compress the report (getting rid of an empty space) and the option to fit the whole chart on to a single page. In the latter case, the contents of the chart is scaled down appropriately.

Descendant Graph

  This report generates a graph of people who are descendants of the Active person. Specific options include the format of the displayed entries.

Fan Chart

  This report produces a chart resembling a fan, with Active person in the center, parents the the semicircle next to it, grandparents in the next semicircle, and so on, for a total of five generations.

Relationship Graph

  This report creates a complex relationship graph in GraphViz format and then converts into graphical output running it through the the GraphViz `dot` tool behind the scene. Specific options for this report include filter, options for dates and places for the events, and whether to include URLs and IDs for individuals and families. There are also several GraphViz-specific options related to pagination, color, and details of the graph.

Statistics Chart

  This report can collect and display a wealth of statistical data about your database. Specific options include filter, sorting methods, and additional birth- and gender-based limit for inclusion into statistics. You can also set the minimum number of items to qualify for the bar chart, so that the charts with fewer items will generate a pie chart instead. The Chart Selection tab allows you to check which charts you want to include in your report.

Timeline Graph

  This report outputs the list of people with their lifetimes represented by intervals on a common chronological scale. Specific options include filter, sorting method, and the title of the report.

Common options for graphical reports are the filename of the output, the format of the output, selected style, page size and orientation. Optionally, the reports can be immediately opened with the default application.

The options used in reports are persistent: each report remembers its options used last time.

### Text Reports

Text reports represent the desired information as formatted text. Most of the options are common among text reports, therefore they will be described only once, at the end of this section. The options which are specific to a given report will be described directly in that report's entry.

The following text reports are currently available in &app;:

Ahnentafel Report

  This report lists the active person and his or her ancestors along with their vital data. The people are numbered in a special way which is an established standard called Ahnentafel. The active person is given number 1. His or her father and mother have numbers 2 and 3, respectively. This rule holds for every person while going back in generations: father's parents are numbered 4 and 5, and mother's parents are numbered 6 and 7, fathers always numbered with even and mothers with odd numbers. Therefore, for any person having number N in this tree, the numbers of father and mother are 2N and 2N+1, respectively.

Complete Individual Report

  This report provides individual summaries similar to that of the Individual Summary report. The advantage of this report is the specific filter option. Depending on the filter choice (active person only, his or her descendants, his or her ancestors, or entire database), the report may contain from one to many individual summaries. Another option for this report is the inclusion of source information when listing events.

Comprehensive Ancestors Report

  This report produces a comprehensive description of ancestors of the active person. The highlights of this report include elaborate layout, images of children, present and former spouses, and source citations. Specific options: number of backward generations to consider, whether to cite sources, and whether to break pages between generations.

Descendant Report

  This report produces a brief description of descendants of the active person. Specific options: number of forward generations to consider.

Detailed Ancestral Report

  This report covers in detail the ancestors of the active person. It includes vital data (birth and death) as well as marriages. Specific options: number of backward generations to consider, as well as a variety of options regarding the exact contents to include.

Detailed Descendant Report

  This report covers in detail the descendants of the active person. It includes vital (birth and death) information as well as marriages. Specific options: number of forward generations to consider.

FTM Style Ancestral Report

  This report creates an ancestral report similar to that produced by the Family Tree Maker (tm) program. It covers in detail the active person and his/her ancestors It includes vital information as well as marriages, children, and notes. Specific options: number of backward generations to consider.

FTM Style Descendant Report

  This report creates a descendant report similar to that produced by the Family Tree Maker (tm) program. It covers in detail the active person and his/her descendants. It includes vital information as well as marriages, children, and notes. Specific options: number of forward generations to consider.

Family Group Report

  This creates a family group report, showing information on a set of parents and their children. Specific options: the spouse (available only if the active person has more than one spouse).

Individual Summary

  This report produces a detailed summary on the active person. The report includes all the facts known to the database about that person.

Common options for text reports are the filename of the output, the format of the output, selected style, page size and orientation. For HTML reports, there is no page information. Instead, HTML options include the choice of the HTML template, either available in &app; or a custom template defined by you. Optionally, the reports can be immediately opened with the default application.

The options used in reports are persistent: each report remembers its options used last time.

### View Reports

View reports are representing overall summaries of the database information available immediately for on-screen viewing. The following view reports are currently available in &app;:

Number of ancestors

  This report displays the number of ancestors of the active person.

Summary of the database

  This report displays the overall statistics concerning number of individuals of each gender, various incomplete entries statistics, as well as family and media statistics.

### Web Page

The only available report in this category is the Narrative Web Site report. It generates a web site (that is, a set of linked web pages), for a set of selected individuals.

#### Narrative Web Site

Introduction

  &app; 2.0.6 introduced the Narrative Web generator. The new tool provides considerably more functionality than the older web generator. Instead of using HTML templates to customize the pages, CSS style sheets are used.

  More information is now displayed about each person, along with information about sources, places, and media objects. Introduction pages can be added to provide additional information, such as family history.

Selecting the output

  Genealogy records can generate a lot of files. Many web servers have a difficult time with many files in a single directory. The Narrative Web Generator strives to keep the number of files per directory to a managable level. To do this, a hierarchy of directores is created. The generated files names are not intuitive, but are unique per person. Subsequent runs will geneate identical file names, making it easy to replace files.

  By default, the output files are written to the specified directory. Because of the number of files and directories that are created, it may be difficult to transfer the files to an external web host. To aid in this, you may directly create a gzip'd tar file to more easily upload the data. This is the format that should be used if you would like to take advantage of the free genealogy page hosting at the GRAMPS web hosting site.

  To select the gzip'd tar file, select the Store web pages in .tar.gz archive option.

Applying a filter

  Like the previous web page generator, and most of the other &app; reports, you can control what is included in the output by choosing a filter. Several default filters are provided for you, but you are free to use the Custom Filter Editor tool to create your own.

  Any person matching this filter who is not excluded due to the privacy rules, will be included in the output. The default filter includes all people in the database.

Applying a style sheet

  GRAMPS provides six built in style sheets for your web page. Each of these style sheets produces a unique look for your pages. The generated style sheet is named `narrative.css`. You may edit this file if you wish to further customize your site.

  If you make modifications to your style sheet, you need to be aware the regenerating the pages with the same output directory will overwrite your changes to this file. To prevent this from happening, make sure you choose No style sheet for subsequent runs.

Character set encoding

  Because of GRAMPS internationalization ability, the default character set for the HTML pages is UTF-8. This provides support for virtually all characters.

  The Apache web server is sometimes misconfigured to override the character set specified in an HTML page. This causes problems with the UTF-8 character set generated by GRAMPS, distorting characters on the screen.

  If your web server is misconfigured and you do not have priveledge to fix the configururation, you may solve this problem by overriding the default character set to match what your web server may be expecting.

Copyright notice

  International copyright law reserves all rights to your data. You own the data, and people must get your permission to use it. In genealogy, however, sharing data is a common ideal. It this case, you may wish to grant the user more rights.

  While the default for GRAMPS is to place a notice indicating that all rights are reserved, we give you the option to place your site under one of several of the Create Commons licenses. With a Creative Commons license, you grant user's certain permission to use your data without requiring them to contact you directly for permission.

  See the Creative Commons web site for more information.

Controlling page generation

  Three additional pages can be generated by the web page generator. The Home page is a page that will display an image and a whatever text you wish. To enable this page, choose a Media Object from the Home Media/Note ID menu on the Page Generation tab. If the Media Object contains an image, the image is displayed at the top of the page. If the Media Object contains a Note, the Note's text is used for the text of the page. A second page, the Introduction page, works similarly. Just choose the Media Object in the Introduction Media/Note ID menu.

  If you choose to include a contact page, the researcher information stored in the database is displayed, along with the information specified in the Publisher contact/Note ID menu. Please use this page with caution, since you may consider your contact information to be private.

Privacy

  Privacy of personal information is an important issue on the web today. &app; tries to give you control over the information that is presented.

  &app; provides two options to control the privacy of your information. If you select the Do not include records marked private option, any data that is marked as private will not be displayed on the generated site. If you select Restrict information on living people, &app; will attempt to determine which people have the potential of still being alive, and will omit these people from the database. Some countries have laws that indicate that a certain number of years must pass after someone's death before information can be published. The Years to restrict from person's death option allows you to specifiy how many years a person must be deceased before the information is included.

  Please note that it is your responsibility to double check all information in the pages for any privacy information. &app; cannot be held responsible for any privacy issues.

Adding custom code your pages

  If you are not interested in customizing your pages, you may skip the section.

  The previous web generator allowed you to customize your pages using HTML templates. Your data would be substituted for certain markers in the code.

  This method proved to be too cumbersome for most users. The Narrative Web Page Generator introduces a simpler mechanism. On the Page Generation tab, you may specify text (including HTML code) that will be inserted into each page, separately for the header and the footer.

  To create this code, you need to create a Media Object marked as an internal note. To create this, add a new Media Object in the Media View, and select the internal note option. You may then enter your HTML code.

  To insert the code from the internal notes into the web pages, select the appropriate Media Objects from the HTML user header and HTML user footer menus. Two div sections will be added to the pages - userheader and userfooter. The corresponding HTML code is inserted into the HTML page surrounded by div markers. You can customize your style sheet to provide additional formatting and positioning information to control these sections.

## Running Tools

&app; tools allow you to perform various types of analysis of your genealogical data. Typically, the tools do not produce output in form of printouts or files. Instead, they produce screen output immediately available for the researcher. However, when appropriate, you can save the results of running a tool into a file. Tools present one of the major strengths of &app; compared to the most genealogical software.

The tools can be accessed through the menu by choosing

Tools Tool Section Particular Tool .

Alternatively, you can browse the complete selection of available tools along with their brief descriptions in a Tool Selection dialog invoked by clicking the Tools icon on the toolbar.

### Analysis and Exploration

This section contains tools which analyze and explore the database, but do not alter it. The following analysis and exploration tools are currently available in &app;:

Compare individual events

  This tool compares events across the selected group of people. The people for this comparison are chosen with the use of custom filters. The custom filters can be created in the Custom Filter Editor (see ) that can be invoked by clicking the Custom Filter Editor button. The resulting table produced by this tool can be saved as a spreadsheet.

Interactive descendant browser

  This tool builds a tree with the active person being the root. Children branch from their parents in the usual manner. Use this tool for a quick glance of a person's descendants.

  Double-clicking on tree node will bring up the Edit Person dialog allowing to view or modify the personal data.

### Database Processing

This section contains tools which may modify your database. The tools from this section are used mostly for finding and correcting errors in the data. The following database processing tools are currently available in &app;:

The modifications will only be performed upon your explicit consent, except for the automatic fixes performed by Check and repair database tool.

Check and repair database

  This tool checks the database for integrity problems, fixing the problems it can. Specifically, the tool is checking for:

  - Broken family links. These are the cases when a person's record refers to a family while the family's record does not refer to that person, and vice versa.

  - Missing media objects. The missing media object is the object whose file is referenced in the database but does not exist. This can happen when the file is accidentally deleted, renamed, or moved to another location.

  - Empty families. These are the family entries which have no reference to any person as their member.

  - Parent relationship. This checks all families to ensure that father and mother are not mixed up. The check is also made that parents have different gender. If they have common gender then their relationship is renamed to "Partners".

Extract information from names

  This tool searches the entire database and attempts to extract titles and nicknames that may be embedded in a person's Given name field. If any information could be extracted, the candidates for fixing will be presented in the table. You may then decide which to repair as suggested and which not to.

Find possible duplicate people

  This tool searches the entire database, looking for the entries that may represent the same person.

Fix capitalization of family names

  This tool searches the entire database and attempts to fix the capitalization of family names. The aim is to have conventional capitalization: capital first letter and lower case for the rest of the family name. If deviations from this rule are detected, the candidates for fixing will be presented in the table. You may then decide which to repair as suggested and which not to.

Rename personal event types

  This tool allows all the events of a certain name to be renamed to a new name.

Reorder &app; IDs

  This tool reorders the &app; IDs according to the defaults of &app;.

### Debug

This section contains debugging tools that are not of general interest for many of the users of &app;. If you're not interested in debugging or developing &app; you may safely skip this section.

Python evaluation window

  Enter expression into the Evaluation Window, get the output in Output Window. Any errors should end up in the Error Window.

Reload plugins

  Makes an attempt to reload all plugins.

  This tool is itself a plugin, but it will not reload itself!

Show uncollected objects

  Provides the window listing all uncollected objects. Depending on the system settings, recently abandoned GUI objects may still be uncollected.

### Utilities

This section contains tools allowing you to perform a simple operation on a portion of data. The results can be saved in your database, but they will not modify your existing data. The following utilities are currently available in &app;:

#### Custom Filter Editor

The Custom Filter Editor builds custom filters that can be used to select people included in reports, exports, and other tools and utilities. This is in fact a very powerful tool in genealogical analysis.

When you launch it, the User defined filters dialog appears that lists all the filters (if any) previously defined by you. Click the Add... button to define a new filter. Once you have designed your filters, you can edit, test, and delete selected filters using the Edit..., Test..., and Delete buttons, respectively. All the filters displayed in the list will be automatically saved along with your database and will be available with subsequent sessions of &app;.

The changes made to the filters only take effect when you click the Apply and close button.

Clicking the Add... button invokes the following Define filter dialog:

##### Define filter dialog

Shows Define filter dialog.

Type the name for your new filter into the Name field. Enter any comment that would help you identify this filter in the future into the Comment field. Add as many rules to the Rule list as you would like to your filter using Add... button. If the filter has more than one rule, select one of the Rule operations. This allows you to choose whether all rules must apply, only one (either) rule must apply, or exactly one (either) rule must apply, in order for the filter to generate a match. If your filter has only one rule, this selection has no effect.

Check Return values that do not match the filter rules to invert the filter rule. For example, inverting "has a common ancestor with I1" rule will match everyone who does not have a common ancestor with that person).

Clicking the Add... button invokes the following Add Rule dialog:

##### Add Rule dialog

Shows Add Rule dialog.

The pane on the left-hand side displays available filter rules arranged by their categories in an expandable tree. For detailed filter rule reference, see . Click on the arrows to fold/unfold the appropriate category. Select the rule from the tree by clicking on its name. The right-hand side displays the name, the description, and the values for the currently selected rule. Once you are satisfied with your rule selection and its values, click OK to add this rule to the rule list of the currently edited filter. Clicking Cancel will abort adding the rule to the filter.

A filter you have already designed may be used as a rule for another filter. This gives you nearly infinite flexibility in custom-tailoring your selection criteria that can be later used in most of the exports, reports, and some of the tools (such as comparing individual events).

#### Scratch Pad

This tool provides a temporary note pad to store database records for easy reuse. In short, this is a sort of the copy-and-paste functionality extended from textual objects to other types of records used in &app;.

Scratch Pad makes extensive use of drag-and-drop technique.

To invoke Scratch Pad, either choose

Tools Utilities Scratch Pad

or click the ScratchPad button on the toolbar. The following window will appear:

##### Scratch Pad tool

Shows Add Scratch Pad tool.

Scratch Pad supports addresses, attributes (both personal and family), events (both personal and family), names, media objects references, source references, URLs, and of course textual information of notes and comments. To store any type of these records, simply drag the existing record on to the Scratch Pad from the corresponding editor dialog. To reuse the record, drag it from the Scratch Pad on to the corresponding place in the editor, e.g. Address tab, Attribute tab, etc.

Some objects are showing the link icon on the left. This indicates that dragging such selection will produce a reference to an existing object, not copy the object itself.

For example, the media object file will not be duplicated. Instead, the reference will be made to an existing media object, which will result in the local gallery entry.

Scratch Pad storage is persistent within a single &app; session. Closing the window will not lose the stored records. However, exiting &app; will.

#### Other tools

Generate SoundEx codes

  This utility generates SoundEx codes for the names of people in the database. Please visit the NARA Soundex Indexing page to learn more about Soundex Indexing System.

Relationship calculator

  This utility calculates and displays the relationship of any person to the active person.

Verify the database

  This utility allows you to verify the database based on the set of criteria specified by you.

  ##### Difference between Verify tool and previously described Check tool

  The Check tool detects inconsistencies in the database structure. The Verify tool, however, is detecting the records that do not satisfy your particular criteria.

  For example, you may want to make sure that nobody in your database had children at the age of 98. Based on common sense, such a record would indicate an error. However, it is not a consistency error in the database. Besides, someone might have a child at the age of 98 (although this rarely happens). The Verify tool will display everything that violates your criteria so that you can check whether the record is erroneous or not. The ultimate decision is yours.