Family Historian User Group

I'm sure I have read about something similar before, but can't find it now. In that certain changes do not get fully updated/ cleaned up until the program has been exited and reopened.

e.g. I have a diagram text scheme that includes various ADDRess queries including:
=NotExistsText(%INDI.DEAT.ADDR%,%INDI.DEAT.PLAC%)

If I delete an ADDRess, the above does not work, if I exit the program and restart it, it does.

This of course makes testing confusing and, once you realise the problem, time consuming exiting and restarting FH and in the process losing the current workspace.

So, is there a quick way to refresh, rather than exiting and restarting FH?

Is there a list of items that need this exit/refresh.

Yes, the trick is to use the All tab instead of the Facts tab.

If you delete an Address or a Date from the Facts tab then an empty field still lingers until FH is restarted.
Open the All tab and you will see it there with an empty value.

Find the same field for the correct Fact in the All tab and delete it there, then it is gone completely.
Click the [+] to expand the desired Fact to reveal its Date and Address, etc.
Select the name of the field on the left, NOT its value on the right, and hit the Delete key.

I am not aware of a list of such items, but using the All tab is the workaround.

Thanks Mike, a "nice to know". Is it a bug, or just the way it works!

I would imagine it may do the same anywhere that a field is "emptied", Not a major issue now I know.

I don't know if it is possible, but I cannot think of any other logic for an "empty" field as opposed to a "non existent" field. The "NotExistsText" suggests it should work in both situations.

Not sure whether it is a bug or deliberate.
If you are deleting the value to replace it with another value then it saves having to recreate the field.

The NotExists part of NotExistsText is testing if the field exists (even though empty).
The Text part is saying add this text when NotExists is true.

Let us call it a 'feature' of FH.

I've raised a ticket, if not a feature, it might be a simple fix, or creation of something similar to "reorder out of sequence data"

I got a nice reply from FH support,
"There are complex reasons of efficiency why Family Historian works this way with the Property box. If this is something you do regularly we recommend you use the All tab which does delete fields, or write a plugin to clean empty Address fields."

They also suggested looking at "IsEmpty" which works a treat e.g.
=TextIf(IsEmpty(%INDI.DEAT.ADDR%),%INDI.DEAT.PLAC%,)

so I will amend any other similar situations.