* Specific GEDCOM export?

Questions regarding use of any Version of Family Historian. Please ensure you have set your Version of Family Historian in your Profile. If your question fits in one of these subject-specific sub-forums, please ask it there.
User avatar
ADC65
Superstar
Posts: 457
Joined: 09 Jul 2007 10:27
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by ADC65 »

Thanks Mike. I did read the entire postings, but maybe the reason I didn't see it is because in my tree the requirements are coincidental, i.e., there are no people left remaining (other than the spouse and descendants of X) after I remove X's ancestor's and X's siblings and their descendants. I sometimes make note of such people in my tree, but rarely if ever record them as an Individual in FH.
Adrian Cook
Researching Cook, Summers, Phipps and Bradford, mainly in Wales and the South West of England
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

Hello Mike,

After following your instructions, I have been able to do this seemingly succesfully for a few branches. Thanks!

As for deleting individuals in the results tab: I had apparently misinterpreted the "working with query results" in the knowledge base, but hitting the delete there must only affect the list, not the actual records of individuals. Either way, I was able to do it with the Tree Splitter Helper as you explained.

Since there were apparently also a few descending branches to remove (pretty much the same principle as before, only now with descendants, their spouses and relatives of a certain individual instead of ancestors, ...) I have tried to configure a query for that too, basically the reverse of the original query I set up.

I tried the query and it seems to work as intended, only that the starting individual is removed here too (which in the original query was not the case). I will attach a screenshot here of the query, can you see if I configured something incorrectly there?

Then there's another issue - there's one family branch I tried to remove, which would also remove people from the branch I want to keep. I do know that a few people of the to-delete branch married someone whose brother or sister in turn was married to someone of the to-keep branch. I tried going up a few generations to avoid this issue - there was one I'm pretty sure of is far back enough but yet the problem persisted, so there must be some connection but I can't find where - but going up yet another generation resolved it. Going up so many generations is not ideal for my intent, but it works for the moment.
Still, if there happens to be an easy solution for this (I believe you mentioned a plugin?) I would certainly be interested to know!

Thanks!
Attachments
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 000731.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 000731.jpg (243.19 KiB) Viewed 2677 times
User avatar
dbnut
Famous
Posts: 137
Joined: 05 Sep 2013 20:12
Family Historian: V7
Location: Isle of Wight, UK

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by dbnut »

tatewise wrote: 13 Jan 2022 11:09 Some of what Paul suggests is worth noting but goes a bit too far.
I'm inclined to make a stand here.

With complex operations (especially those that are difficult even to describe), I don't care for processes consisting of many layers or stages that execute all at once without "visibility". Especially when an initial vision of how to define suitable filters turns out be not quite right (or worse). A holistic view of all the nuances is not my kind of talent.

I think there is an alternative that is more visual, more understandable, with simpler steps that can be retraced if necessary, to make a safer job of this.

This may be too late and a waste of time (mine and anyone else's) but here is a strategy, with a complete list of steps to get the job done. It's verbose, it assumes little previous experience (which may be irritating). But perhaps anyone can follow it?

It uses just: the RelationPool function, one simple query, plus the Split Tree Helper in its simplest configuration.

Prerequisites: A few, but not documented at this point.

Confession: This is not quite the way I thought of it - definitely not presented it - first time around.

  1. Get the (possibly) new concept on board to start with: "RelationPool".
    1. In case this is new to you... The Individuals tab of the Records Window can be configured to re-order columns, display new ones and much more.
    2. Right-click the header title of any column. Choose menu option "Configure Columns...". This will open a dialog box. Leave Record Type alone as "Individual". Below that are two panes (list boxes): available items on the left and the items chosen for column display on the right, with a separator area and buttons ( > and < ).
    3. When an item is selected (highlighted) in the left pane, ">" copies it to the right. When an item is selected in the right pane, "<" removes it from the right (puts it back in the box, so to speak).
    4. Click in the left pane and move to the last (bottom) entry. It should be "<Other...>. Now click ">" to copy <Other...> into chosen items. That doesn't happen straight away, but opens the "Add Column" dialog.
    5. In "Heading", type "Pool" (or whatever). In "Expression", type "=RelationPool(%INDI%)" (without the quotes). Then click "Add". If you get an error "Expression is not valid", join the club. Keep trying, more carefully. "INDI" must be all upper case, but the function name doesn't care.
    6. The new column definition is appended to the existing list, so you may need to scroll down to see it. If you select it, the up/down arrows below can change its column placement. I prefer the extreme left (moved to the top of the list). Click OK and all the hard work is done.
    7. Right-click the new column header and sort ascending then descending. If every entry is "1" you have one totally connected tree. If you have lots of 1s and 2s, you have two disjoint trees. Most likely there will be other pools, with small populations, with the odd individuals or groups who got disconnected, or added unintentionally.
    8. I suggest this is one of most useful little additions to the standard records window layout. It's a neat way to spot some linking errors and check for "intruders".
    9. RelationPool is thought to be the most reliable way of grouping individuals into connected sets - better sometimes even than the Diagram "All Relatives + Indirect Relatives" (which doesn't actually tell you how many were found in the process, so hard to verify).
    10. Just one clarification: all the expected direct and indirect links are followed to define the pool members. But Witness links are not. Probably for very good reasons. That (and maybe other exception?) are likely to be covered somewhere in the Knowledge Base.
  2. Use "RelationPool" in a query.
    1. This is handy to find out everyone who's in a specific relation pool.
    2. Create a new custom query: from the Query button in the toolbar, choose "New Custom Query..." (did I need to say that?). In the dialog, give it a name ("pond"?) and click "Create".
    3. Ignore the "General" tab and go to "Columns". That already shows one with expression "%INDI%" (case matters again! just try it and see), so clicking the "Run Query" button (blue disk at the top) shows a list of everyone's name.
    4. The bottom status bar shows how many in the Result Set, and this had better be equal to the number of individuals displayed in the (unfiltered) Records Window!
    5. Now, to set a condition for which individuals should be included in the results, click the "Rows" tab. The "Filter" window has no conditions (hence the full list before). At the bottom on the "General" tab, the "Condition" is already "Add if...".
    6. In "Expression", type "=RelationPool(%INDI%)" (no quotes), leave the "Operator" set to "equals", set "Value" to 1. In other words, "include all records where an individual's relation pool number equals 1" [sorry]. To add this condition to the Filter window, click "Add" (bottom right). Then "Run Query" to display probably many individuals again - maybe fewer than before... check the souped-up Records Window with pool number column.
    7. If you have some small pools it's worth noting their pool number and proving you can select just those in a query (edit the "Value", click "Update" and run again). By the way, editing the condition and forgetting to "Update" before running is very helpfully trapped. See for yourself.
    8. Before leaving this part, a few remarks...
    9. That query window is called "Filter" for a very good reason that experts like Mike Tate can explain much better. Notice that clicking "Add" a second time to have two identical conditions in the filter does not double the result set, it just applies the same filter twice. To remove a superfluous filter definition (like this duplicate), highlight it and click the "X" near the bottom.
    10. Assuming you take up the suggestion to have "Pool" as a Records Window column (with all the benefits...), a good partner might be the above query with one small mod. Erase the "Value", tick "Parameter" over on the right, type a suitable prompt in "Label". Update and Run. The dialogue has an annoying zero you just replace by the pool number of interest.
    11. I really hope you take that last step. Or you won't ever finish the process!
    12. Obviously, additional columns can be defined for this query, and that first column is "active": any result can open its property box, be focus in a new diagram, and much more. Then the toolbar buttons to the right of "Run" give a huge amount of added value (Named Lists included).
  3. Review the tree(s).
    1. You may deliberately create two or more disjoint trees within one project. But there's a chance your tree has little puddles or even unintentional, large lakes. Now would be a good time to explore them and do some repair work if necessary. [Or just ignore my advice.]
  4. Try the splits(s).
    1. "Dry run" break a link to split off a sub-tree, un-link wherever it seems appropriate and revisit the Records Window to see if an extra pool has appeared. Also, don't assume that was the right move... do at least some basic checks. If that was a big mistake, re-create that link and try again.
    2. If you don't yet have an extra pool, there is a secondary link you didn't remember. Find where that's located [which may not be as easy as it sounds in a big tree, but that's not discussed here] and snip... repeat if necessary until you get that one extra pool. Checking at every stage.
    3. At this point you should have one of the pools whose tadpoles are the intended "extract" for use elsewhere. It may be complete, or not. It may have other appendages, or not. So, for safety's sake, I'd recommend you switch focus to this pool first and do plenty of more in-depth checking - by any combination of diagrams and queries that helps.
    4. Then do the same with all the other pools.
    5. And Oh! for a user-customised Favourites Toolbar - a button to drop a list of favourite diagrams, another for queries...
  5. Do the split.
    1. This is now a piece of cake, walk in the park, blah blah.
    2. Menu File > Split Tree Helper... to open the dialog box.
    3. In the grouping box "Individual Records", select "Delete all Individual records NOT found by the Individual query below".
    4. Add with the "Individual Query" drop-down, choose your very own parameterised query from 2(j) above [you did do that, didn't you?].
    5. Don't touch anything else, just click the button "Perform Tasks". In the query dialog, enter the pool number of the one you want to keep, click "OK". After a few seconds, at most, the Records Window will show only your selected pool.
    6. [In mine, it didn't. The Records Window was empty. Which only goes to show how easily it can go wrong. Because I was too busy creating this script that I didn't fill in the pool number before "OK". Don't panic... Menu Edit > Undo... brought them all back and I repeated the Split Tree correctly.]
    7. That's it. I spun it out so it looked impressive. But it's really just the easiest step of them all.
If you made it to here without skimming, thanks for the attention.
If you find any mistakes, it would be nice to know.
Yours aye.
Paul White
"Family Historian is not just for Christmas, but for Life"
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

@Phoenix,
The FHUG KB Working with Query Results is referring to subsidiary Data Fields, not whole Records.

Your Prune Descendants Branch Query has forgotten to include ["Start person"] in the Exclude if... filters.

What you encountered is exactly the shared common ancestor problem I mentioned, where the same ancestor is in both a branch to delete and a branch to keep.
See the All Pool Relatives Except Partner Ancestors plugin that copes with selecting such ancestral branches and deciding how much of the shared branch to keep.
The plugin creates a Result Set that must be added to a Named List.
The Split Tree Helper... then uses the Individual Query to select Named List Members.


What Paul describes is certainly an alternative method using the Relationship Pool numbers.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

I'm not sure how to include Starting Person in the Exclude If filters there.

Every Exclude If filter has relationship set as Ancestor - of "this individual", with a checkmark on both inc. original individual and inc. spouses of relatives.

Thank you for the name of that plugin, I will go check it out!
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

I just installed the plugin and had a look, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to use it.

What I tried so far is: run the plugin, let all options checked as they are in the first screen.

Then I do "add using query", select the "Prune Branches Query" (the custom query for ancestors) and select a person of which I want to remove the ancestors and their partners and relatives. Of this person I know that among his ancestors there has been intermarriage with the branch I want to keep.

Then in the right screen, I get a list of names. I see many on there that I definitely don't want to remove.

So I'm not quite sure how to go about it, sorry :(
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

In the Prune Descendants Branch Query, enter Start person in the Label lower right just like you did for 1st Filter and the Prune Ancestors Branch Query.

Regarding the All Pool Relatives Except Partner Ancestors plugin did you see the advice in the download page?

Let us say you have a couple Mr John & Mrs Jane Smith and you want to remove all John's ancestral branch.
So select Mrs Jane Smith and run the plugin.
The Result Set will list everyone to be retained including Mr John & Mrs Jane Smith.

When there is a common ancestor shared by John and Jane you can choose what proportion to retain of the branch of descendants from the common ancestor towards John.

When the plugin Result Set is satisfactory it must be added to a Named List.
In the Split Tree Helper..., choose Delete all Individual records NOT found by the Individual Query: Named List Members.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

So I need to write "Starting person" in the label for every "exclude if" filter, not just the first one?
Because in the original query (the one for ancestors) it is only filled out in the first filter too.

What I did was copy the original query, and then just change "ancestor" to "descendant" and vice versa, leaving everything else unchanged.


As for the plugin, I did read the instructions on the download page but wasn't sure what to make of it.

So if I understand correctly, I first need to find the people with whom an intermarriage between two branches had taken place?

Then for each of those, run the plugin on the partner who is family of the to-keep branch? (and I do this with the button "add using query"?)

And then the list of names should be the names of people to be deleted?
Or do I need to look through the generated list then and remove from that list the people I don't want to delete? (which is difficult, because I don't know all the names of all partners in the to-keep branch by heart).

Sorry for the many questions - still trying to wrap my mind around this (for me) complex matter.


The thing is that in this branch, there is not an actual common ancestor. Person X of the to-delete branch is related to person Y of the to-keep branch as follows:

Person X (of the to-delete branch) marries person A.
Person A is a sister of person B. The parents of person A and B are also listed.
Person B is married to person Y (of the to-keep branch).

This occurs a few times in my family tree because two branches were located in the same town.

So what the original query does, is search for relatives, partners and their relatives of people being deleted, and so comes across person B being married to person Y and deletes them too. I hope my explanation makes sense.
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

Phoenix, it is my impression that you are not reading and following my instructions carefully step by step.
Please, go back and review where I have explained step by step what Filters to put in the Query, and how to use the plugin.

Yes, you must specify the same Label for every Filter that needs to refer to the starting person.
Whether that Label is Starting Person or Start person is up to you but they must all be identical.
It sounds like both your Queries need correcting.

The Plugin must be run via Tools > Plugins first because it is NOT a Query.
The Plugin creates a Result Set that must be added to a Named List.
In the Split Tree Helper... choose Delete all Individual records NOT found by the Individual Query: Named List Members.

The family that you described does have a shared common ancestor by marriage.
The parents of A and B are great...grandparents-in-law of both the X and Y branches.
In genealogy terms, they are direct line ancestors of both the X & A descendants and the Y & B descendants.

So in the Plugin, choose the spouse at the root of branch X & A that needs the ancestors to be deleted.
i.e. It is that spouse branch involving ancestors Y & B that is to be retained.

Now the question is what portion of the descendants of the siblings A and B do you want to retain?
e.g. Do you want to retain X & A and the children of X & A and thus the parents of X, etc?
If the answer is NO, then set the Plugin option to 0.00 to delete all those relatives.
If the answer is YES, then set the Plugin option to some positive value depending on how much of the X & A branch you want to retain. You may have to experiment with the value until you are happy with who is retained.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

I have corrected both my queries now, thanks.

With the plugin, it seems that I was able to do it successfully one time, with the plugin option set to 0.10. Then I did "undo" to try again with another value, and also to write down exactly what I did. But now the plugin screen with the names (before the result set) doesn't appear anymore to me.

From memory, this is what I think I did:

- I opened the plugin, set the value to 0.10.
- The plugin screen then opened, I searched for the name of person A (so the spouse of the to-delete branch). I added that person to the right with > and ran the plugin
- I got a result set. I did ctrl A and then to Add selected cell records to Named List. I created a new list and gave it a name.
- I went to Split Tree Helper, selected Delete all Individual records NOT found by the Individual Query, then individual query "Named List Members"
- I selected the list I had created and let it run.

I am able to repeat this, but without the one screen of the plugin showing up, it seems I can achieve the same by making sure I am going to the correct person (the same person A), then running the plugin and doing the same steps I just described.

After this, I go to the person whose ancestral branch I want to delete as per usual, and use the custom query created for that.

This seems to work, only that there still appear some descendant branches that should have been removed too. I cannot find any other marriage indicating a common ancestor.

I apologize if I still overlooked, misread or misinterpreted anything!
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

I just tried the corrected custom query for descendants, but it is still not working correctly.

For example, I select a husband of my grandmother (not my grandfather but a previous spouse) and say to delete descendants with my custom query. The descendants are indeed deleted, but so are my grandfather, my parents, me and my other ancestors!

Just to make sure, I am adding screenshots to both the ancestry custom query and the descendants custom query.

Can you please have a look and let me know where I went wrong?
Attachments
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 142346.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 142346.jpg (285.37 KiB) Viewed 2545 times
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 142303.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 142303.jpg (248.14 KiB) Viewed 2545 times
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

Sorry, I should have double-checked that the descendant branch logic was symmetrical with the ancestral branch logic.
It isn't, so the Query Filters need to be:
Add if a descendant of ["Starting Person"].
Add if an ancestor (max. 1 generations) of anyone in the current result set.
Exclude if an ancestor of ["Starting Person"]. Include original individual. Include relatives spouses.
Add if a descendant of anyone in the current result set.
Add if an ancestor (max. 1 generations) of anyone in the current result set.
Exclude if an ancestor of ["Starting Person"]. Include original individual. Include relatives spouses.
Add if a descendant of anyone in the current result set.
Add if an ancestor (max. 1 generations) of anyone in the current result set.
Exclude if an ancestor of ["Starting Person"]. Include original individual. Include relatives spouses.
and so on...
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

Thanks, I made the necessary changes to the query and now it works exactly as intended!

As for the plugin, I must still be doing something wrong in the steps I described in my previous post.

I look at the page of the spouse of the to-delete branch, follow the steps (as I described in my previous post) and then look again, but the people of the to-delete branch are still there. So the to-delete person X (of which the spouse I selected), his children, parents, siblings and those siblings' descendants.
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

I thought the branch you wanted to delete would start at some distant descendant of X & A.
It is that descendant's spouse that you must select in the plugin.
That tells the plugin you want to retain the ancestors of the selected spouse (which will include Y & B), and delete the ancestors of the other spouse (which will include X & A).
That then runs into the conflict of shared ancestors at the family A & B, and that is where the proportion of the X & A branch to be retained must be decided.

It sounds like you are selecting the spouse of X, who in your description would be A.
So that means retain A and their ancestors, and delete the ancestors of X.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

I think it is easier if I show you the situation in my family tree.

I have 3 instances in which someone of the to-keep branch married someone, whose brother or sister, or a relative of another generation, married someone of the to-delete branch.

I am attaching 3 screenshots from Geneanet, where I used the relationship search function to find where the 3 overlappings were.

In all 3 cases on the screenshots, the left branch needs to be kept, the right branch needs to be deleted.
Each time, I circled in red the name of the person I presumed I had to start with at the plugin - the spouse of the to-delete branch.
Attachments
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213143.jpg
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213143.jpg (130.81 KiB) Viewed 2495 times
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213115.jpg
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213115.jpg (119.39 KiB) Viewed 2495 times
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213038.jpg
FH-2Schermafbeelding 2022-01-19 213038.jpg (100.48 KiB) Viewed 2495 times
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

Several things...

1) In the screenshots, I can't see anyone in lefthand to-keep branch who married someone in righthand to-delete branch.
Where are those common ancestors in your screenshot?

2) When you choose the people ringed in red, what goes wrong with the plugin?
It should list the lefthand branch, the ringed person and their spouse as the people to be retained.

3) If you use the Prune Branches Query for ancestral branch removal and choose the spouse of the people ringed in red does the righthand branch get selected correctly?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

1. That is the point I was trying to make, the left branch did not directly marry someone of the right branch. They married someone of a family of whom someone else married the right branch. For some descendants of both the left and right branch, I suppose the ancestors are
- Maria Theresia Somers & Joannes Ferdinandus Breugelmans
- Joannes Ludovicus Cuypers & Maria Elisabeth Van Hoof
- Jacobus De Bruyn & Joanna Maria De Roeck.
I assumed that is what you meant when you said that there actually is a common ancestor.

2. That is what I'm wondering - I don't know what goes wrong. Which is why I listed the steps I took, to make sure I used the plugin correctly. As I mentioned before, the first time I used the plugin I got a screen in which I saw a list of people, able to search among them and switch one to the right. That screen never appears anymore. I had the impression that my first attempt worked fine, so I did "undo" to try again and write down the steps, and ever since that window didn't appear anymore.

3. When I use the Prune Branches Query on e.g. the wife of Franciscus Breugelmans (screenshot 1), then all ancestors and relatives of both her as him are deleted. This means that the left to-keep branch is removed too.
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

1. You misunderstand the common ancestor problem scenario.
In your screenshots, the common ancestors would be ancestors of both the lefthand branch and the righthand branch.
But such common ancestors are not shown in the screenshots.
The couples you named are only in the lefthand branch, so are not common to both branches.

2. Where did you list the steps you took?
You must select the person ringed in red, then run the plugin and click OK twice.
That will produce a Result Set listing the people the plugin thinks should be retained.
i.e. The members of the righthand branch should not be listed.

I don't know what mean when you say you "saw a list of people, able to search among them and switch one to the right."
You cannot switch people in a Result Set.

Please post a screenshot of running the plugin with the selected spouse in view alongside.

3. That suggests there are common ancestors to both left and right branches but further back than shown in your screenshot.
Can you confirm that the Prune Branches Query works correctly on other ancetral branches.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

This is the post where I listed what I did:
Phoenix wrote: 19 Jan 2022 13:20 I have corrected both my queries now, thanks.

With the plugin, it seems that I was able to do it successfully one time, with the plugin option set to 0.10. Then I did "undo" to try again with another value, and also to write down exactly what I did. But now the plugin screen with the names (before the result set) doesn't appear anymore to me.

From memory, this is what I think I did:

- I opened the plugin, set the value to 0.10.
- The plugin screen then opened, I searched for the name of person A (so the spouse of the to-delete branch). I added that person to the right with > and ran the plugin
- I got a result set. I did ctrl A and then to Add selected cell records to Named List. I created a new list and gave it a name.
- I went to Split Tree Helper, selected Delete all Individual records NOT found by the Individual Query, then individual query "Named List Members"
- I selected the list I had created and let it run.

I am able to repeat this, but without the one screen of the plugin showing up, it seems I can achieve the same by making sure I am going to the correct person (the same person A), then running the plugin and doing the same steps I just described.

After this, I go to the person whose ancestral branch I want to delete as per usual, and use the custom query created for that.

This seems to work, only that there still appear some descendant branches that should have been removed too. I cannot find any other marriage indicating a common ancestor.

I apologize if I still overlooked, misread or misinterpreted anything!
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

tatewise wrote: 19 Jan 2022 23:23 I don't know what mean when you say you "saw a list of people, able to search among them and switch one to the right."
You cannot switch people in a Result Set.

Please post a screenshot of running the plugin with the selected spouse in view alongside.
The screen that I got the first time, and then not anymore, was a step before the result set. It was also a smaller screen.
I can't screenshot it as it won't show up anymore.

I will attach 3 screenshots now of the 3 steps I currently see every time: the screen with the parameters, the screen with instructions, and the result set.
Attachments
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012612.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012612.jpg (225.48 KiB) Viewed 2458 times
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012540.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012540.jpg (181.99 KiB) Viewed 2458 times
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012457.jpg
FH-Schermafbeelding 2022-01-20 012457.jpg (209.21 KiB) Viewed 2458 times
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

tatewise wrote: 19 Jan 2022 23:23 3. That suggests there are common ancestors to both left and right branches but further back than shown in your screenshot.
Can you confirm that the Prune Branches Query works correctly on other ancetral branches.
Just thinking here: all 3 cases I identified, all connect those two same branches each time (some more indirect than others).

Is it because there is more than one, it will always add people of the to-keep branch as results with the plugin? The only way to stop that would be to run the plugin simultaneously on all 3 if that were possible. Or Perhaps I would have to delete two of the 3 spouses (circled in red) and run the plugin on the third to prevent this?

I have used the Prune Branches Query seemingly succesfully on other ancestral branches - I did not notice any names in the list of which I know for sure they shouldn't have been deleted.
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

Just thinking about it some more...

Would it not be easier if, instead of using the plugin, I just delete those 3 spouses (which I circled in red) and then run the regular query to prune ancestor branches? Then the link should be severed for sure, and no people from the left branch can get accidentally removed that way.
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

Sorry, somehow I missed your posting with the plugin steps :oops:
You get the plugin prompt to select a person and use > to add to the list when no Individual record is preselected.
If you select an Individual record before running the plugin it does not bother to prompt for a selection.
( I had forgotten about that feature. )

I don't think deleting those 3 spouses will help because the problem is the shared common ancestor to both branches who will still exist and so the lefthand branch will still be considered part of the righthand branch via the common ancestor.
However, it will do harm if you want to experiment and try that approach.

Sorry, but I have only just noticed that in all your three screenshots some people appear in both the lefthand branch and in the righthand branch. So it is quite a complex family group and all three screenshots show related people.

There is one experiment you could try that I have overlooked.
Open the Records Window and open any tab other than the Individuals tab, so that no Individual records are preselected.
Run the Plugin and set the portion to 0.00 and click OK to get the Select Records dialogue.
Select the 3 red ringed spouses from your family tree and move them one at a time to the righthand list.
When all 3 are listed on the right click OK, and then click OK in the final Plugin message.
Does the Result Set only include the people you want to retain and exclude the righthand branches to delete?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
avatar
Phoenix
Gold
Posts: 29
Joined: 01 May 2021 13:48
Family Historian: V7

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by Phoenix »

No problem, and yes the genealogical situation is indeed rather complex.

I have tried as you suggested, and was able to get that screen to add multiple people.
I also added my own grandfather, who was technically also a spouse of the to-delete branch as otherwise the list may still spill over to the to-keep branch that way, since all names are done simultaneously.

This time, it looks like a success! The three people I had circled are still in there, as are their spouses of the to-delete branch, but the parents of the to-delete spouses are now gone. Only people that remain are children of those couples. And those I can just delete using the prune branch descendants query.

So this seems like an ideal solution!

Just a thought... even in branches with no common ancestors, I think the plugin should work just the same and delete the family of the spouse of the person(s) I select, right? In other words, if my reasoning is correct, the plugin should then do (almost) the same as the prune branch query for ancestors, right?

If yes, then instead of using the query, I could just use the plugin, immediately make a list in there of the relevant spouses (so not just the ones I did now for this test, but all the others too that I used the query on before), and do it all in one shot.
And all that would remain for me to do after that is use the prune branch descendants query on a mere few branches.

Do you think that would work?
User avatar
tatewise
Megastar
Posts: 28341
Joined: 25 May 2010 11:00
Family Historian: V7
Location: Torbay, Devon, UK
Contact:

Re: Specific GEDCOM export?

Post by tatewise »

I'm glad we found a solution in the end. Sorry that it took a while.
Yes, your suggestion of selecting all the spouses whose partner's ancestors need to be deleted should work.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
Post Reply