Import from TMG Summary (15482)
Importing from TMG - no sort dates in FH (15127)
I have found TMG™ GEDCOM Export Issues that says:
So after a direct import from TMG into a new FH Project, and before doing anything else, an Import Gedcom Sort Date Plugin could read through an exported TMG GEDCOM file and add each _SDATE sort date into each Fact within the new FH Project. Thereafter, an Order Facts by Sort Date Plugin could auto-sort facts into Sort Date order.Sort dates
Sort dates are an advanced TMG feature. While they always exist within TMG, they can only be explicitly entered/modified when in TMG’s Advanced (versus Beginner) edit mode. This enhanced export option will export these sort date values as a custom GEDCOM tag type following any tag’s standard DATE tag or any custom _DATE tag added by this enhanced export option.
2 DATE date
2 _SDATE sort date
or
2 _DATE date
2 _SDATE sort date
What format should this Sort Date use within the FH Project?
There are a number of candidates:
- _SDATE tag is preferable, BUT is an invalid FH tag, so a Plugin cannot add that without extreme difficulty.
(That difficulty arises again whenever a new Custom Fact is defined by the user and needs an _SDATE tag.) - A labelled Note such as [[ Sort Date: August 1900 ]] has been introduced by Export Gedcom File Plugin, but is a bit untidy, has possible issues with Reports, and the Date formats are not checked when manually entered.
- A new idea is to use a Local Multimedia Object (LMO) with only a Title of Sort Date and its Date field.
Right-click on fact and choose Add Multimedia Object > Add LMO to this Record, enter Title and right-click to add Date, then optionally delete the Format & File fields.
This has the following advantages:- Fully GEDCOM compliant, and enforces all Date formats.
- Easily added on All tab, and looks neatly like a Sort Date.
- Does NOT appear in any Reports (except Record Detail Reports).
- LMO are rarely used, but the Sort Date instance is easily differentiated from any real LMO.
- Easily managed by Plugins such as Export Gedcom File and proposed Import Gedcom Sort Date and Order Facts by Sort Date, and can be transformed into _SDATE tags if Calico Pie implements them.
These Plugins could 'tidy' malformed LMO where the Title was misspelt or missing, and remove empty Format & File fields.