* Numbering records produced by a query

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David_Lewis
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by David_Lewis »

As you may be aware I use FH version 3 to help me compile the list of those in line to the British throne.

I run a query on the tree and I can produce a list of those in line to the throne but I now want to be able to add a column which nunbers those in line automatically. So Charles would be numbered 1, William 2, and Harry 3, etc.

When and if William and Kate have children they would slot in after William but Before Harry.

I use Custom Ids to Sort the output so that my list is always in the correct order but i would like to have an output that shows a persons actual position.

Is this possible in Version 3?


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tatewise
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by tatewise »

I cannot think of any technique to achieve that ordinal numbering in any version of FH, short of writing a V5 Plugin to compose the Result Set.

You could use Save Results to File and open the CSV file in a spreadsheet such as MS Excel or OpenOffice Calc.
In the spreadsheet enter the digits 1 and 2 in first two cells of the required column.
Select these two cells and drag the bottom right corner down to fill all subsequent cells with sequential numbers.
If you prefer, use 1st and 2nd, and it will fill with 3rd, 4th, etc.

If the column is very long then use:-
MS Excel 2007 enter digit 1 or 1st in first cell, then select the column of cells to be numbered, and use Home > Fill > Series > AutoFill.
OpenOffice Calc select the column of cells to be numbered and then use Edit > Fill > Series > AutoFill > Start value 1 or 1st.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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David_Lewis
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by David_Lewis »

I do use exactly as you describe to achieve the result but it would have been nice if Family historian could have done that automaticaly

Is it worth putting on the wish list or do you think thats its to difficult to achieve or no demand or whatever other reason not to put it on?
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Cambiz
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by Cambiz »

I think the audience for this would be pretty small so probably not one for the wish list.

I'm guessing a plugin, using the Queen as the Root could be written to assign each person with a custom ID based on whatever rules/laws apply. Then renumber the RecordID using existing functionality.

This would require being on V5.
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tatewise
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by tatewise »

The requirement is actually trickier than it sounds.
The 1st, 2nd, etc designation depends on the order of the Custom Id value.
This designation must remain correct even if the Column sort order is changed by clicking on a Column heading.
So I suspect it is not something that will get implemented.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Cambiz
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by Cambiz »

Yes Mike, really tricky. Probably doable with a V5 plugin, a good programmer, a copy of the Succession laws and some headache pills. Rank them, give them a customID 1+ for in line, 10,000+ for not.

David - Out of interest how far does it go? My 30 second search has found 1 > 100
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Jane
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by Jane »

A plugin is the way to go, but you would need to actually buy V5.

Personally I would use a custom attribute rather than the custom ID, as the order does change fairly often.
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My Family History : My Photography "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."
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David_Lewis
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Numbering records produced by a query

Post by David_Lewis »

How far does it go, well if I tell you I have around 19000 people on the tree, of which 12000 are actually descendents ,the rest are spouses.
If you then take away the dead, the Illigitimate and their descendents and the adopted. You get down to 6000.

Then the fun begins. Catholics are not allowed to be in the line of succession. But trying to determine who is catholic or not isn't an exact science but there is a fair amount of agreement about certain families for example the Bavarian Austrian and Wurttemburg families amongs others have been catholic for centuries.. They almost universally marry into other catholic families. Studying the naming patterns of children often helps.

Striping out the Catholics reduces the list to around 2000.

Finally there is the royal marriages act and the Sophia naturalization act. When you take them into account you get down to around 1800.

There is someone who is unfortunately last in the line of succession and I had the Washington Post ring me last year to confirm if this person was actually last in line.

I am also interested in things like the number of twins, the number of intermarriages. The number of women who died in childbirth, the number of people who died in battle, committed suicide, or died in accidents or who had other notable deaths. Also when married, oddest person on the list. Etc etc etc

Family historian has been a tremendous help in the process and I am almost at the stage of being able to publish my findings.. Withou the good help of you people on here answering some of my silly questions I wouldn't have got anywhere.so a big thank you to you all.
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