The plugin checks the capitalisation of names and that name pieces match the full name. It reports:
- where any part of name is not first letter capital and remainder lower case.
- where any part of the name does not match it's corresponding piece
individual exceptions. There are separate rules for each name part.
The comparison of the name parts with the full name is principally for users who have imported their data from a source where the name parts are used and may have made subsequent changes to full names in FH (FH does not update the name pieces when the full name is changed).
The latest version can be downloaded from here: Name capitalisation and parts check
There is one significant limitation: Currently it may give error messages or not find issues if there are names which use non-Latin characters, however as it is a report only it is still safe to use the plugin. I have to learn how to use UTF8 so these should be handled correctly in a later version (there are a lot of string functions used within the plugin so this will take some time).
This is the main configuration screen:
- Name checking - configuration.png (8.07 KiB) Viewed 839 times
The rules and exceptions define the names which are not initial letter capital, remaining letters lower case. Selecting any of the options opens this dialog:
- Name checking - Rules and Exceptions.png (7.03 KiB) Viewed 839 times
To add entries enter the rule/exception in the box at the top right and click Add.
To change an entry select it from the list on the left which will copy it to the box at the top right. Make the required change and click Update.
To remove an entry select it from the list on the left and click Delete.
Given & Surname Rules
The rules define the beginnings of names (in the correct capitalisation) where the rest of the name begins with an upper case letter and the remainder lower case. Examples:
- Mac MacLeod, MacDonald etc.
- O' O’Gara
- d' d’Orsay
The exceptions are specific name parts which do not follow the default capitalisation or are incorrectly capitalised by one of the rules. For example, the Mac rule would expect MacHin or MacE so Machin and Mace could be added to the Exceptions list to correct this. Note that if you have names where the same spelling can be capitalised differently (e.g. Macdonald or MacDonald) both versions should be added the the Exceptions list.
The Prefix Exceptions list can be used for abbreviated titles which are irregularly capitalised, for example Staff Sergeant is abbreviated as SSgt.
The Surname Prefixes are a special case. They will act as described above, but can also be used to automatically find surname prefixes which are at the beginning of the surname or the end of the given name. When either/both these checks are turned on in the options, it will identify all the surname prefixes in the exceptions/list so all the prefixes in the project should be added to the list. Note that if the capitalisation varies, all variants will need to be in the list (e.g. Vincent Van Gogh and Simon “Piet” van der Valk would require both Van and van to be in the list).
Options
The options dialog allows enabling/disabling some additional checks:
- Ancestry Synchronisation plugin compatability. This checks for issues which would would cause incorrect results when using Mark Draper's plugin.
- Given name used must be part of given name.
- Look for surname prefixes in surname. See notes above.
- Look for surname prefixes in given name. See notes above.
If you find any issues please go to Utilities, Diagnostic report and select up to five individuals that are of concern. This generates a text report that can be copied (use the Copy to clipboard button) and pasted in to a post or private message.
Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the testing and advice given to me by Mark Draper as I learnt more about LUA programming and specifically the idiosyncrasies of IUP dialogues.
