* Adding a Repository to multiple sources

[martinpbudd]

I have been researching for over 30 years and using FH since V3 (FTM before that). Many of my legacy sources (more than 1500) do not have a repository. Searching the forums showed that there was a plugin but unfortunately this has been deleted and is not in the plugin store. I have queries that can isolate the records to a named group if that helps.....

Does anyone have a copy of the plugin they can upload?

I have also been adding census dates to my media records and have a similar number to add. Is there a plugin for this?

I guess it would be good to have a plugin that can bulk add/change a field in any record. In a previous life, I used to do this routinely in Access databases with the use of VBA and queries so I figure this should be possible.

Over to the LUA gurus to discuss.....

[Mark1834]

You've left one question unanswered - this type of plugin is how most authors start. It's only a handful of lines, and a good introduction to the basics.

The plugin help gives a very readable introduction, and if you have VBA experience, you're partway there already.

Any enthusiasm for dipping a toe in and having a go? We can point you in the right direction...

[ColeValleyGirl]

Try the Attachment updated Add Repository to Source Plugin that prompts for Sources and a Repository and gives a Result Set of changed Sources.

From a previous post -- Mike Tate can provide the plugin if required (as mentioned at the bottom of that post).

[BillH]

Here is a link to the plugin.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuOXWnTAu49viaks0la ... w?e=VwiEKU

[martinpbudd]

Thanks to BillH for posting the link. It's all installed

In answer to Mark1834, I started coding with BASIC on my ZX80, some machine code and self learnt VBBasic on Access in the 90's and have dabbled with it since writing a fair number of relational databases where I worked with associated queries and reports. I have looked at the code for several plugins through the edit button and it doesn't look like anything I've seen before so was put off trying to DIY. I suspect that the variable naming is confusing the actual commands used. I figured it would be a steep, long and painful learning curve. I admit I haven't pursued the help files to try. That said, I am willing to learn but would need time as a busy retirement and burgeoning family history fill the hours.

Are there any good online or YouTube sites that you'd recommend to get going on LUA?

[Mark1834]

Your background sounds similar to mine - BASIC on the HP85 (anybody else remember those?) and SQL for an Oracle database in the 1980s, then Access/VBA, all as incidental elements of a technology R&D career, plus some largely self-taught C/C++ for fun to dabble with a “proper” language using the excellent Borland apps that were often given away on magazine cover CDs when a new version came out (Turbo C, Visual C++ Builder, etc).

In general, the last place to try to pick up FH plugins is store plugins. They’re not written as teaching scripts, and the complexity of maintaining both robustness to user error and complex code for a user interface means that the handful of lines that might be doing the key processing can be buried in hundreds of lines of housekeeping!

Getting Started Writing Plugins in the KB and its various linked references is a useful starting point. Have a look at the introduction in the plugin help as well. It’s well-written, and covers the basics of what would be needed here (searching through Source records and linking to a Repository) without the distraction of having to maintain a user interface.

The FH plugin editor is a bit naff compared with the VBA window in modern MS365 apps (or even that in Access 2!), but it does get you started, and is all that’s needed for these simple plugins. I remember that my first plugin was to process my FTM import to split out the quoted age from census facts into the dedicated age field that FH has but FTM didn’t, so similar in complexity to what you want to do.