* Selection of records for charts

[egn]

Hi,

I am new to FH and I have probably a dumb question regarding the selection of records for the diagram/charts.

There are a lot of predefined charts available, that do their own record selection. This gives a quick solution to most requirements.

But how is it possible to modify the selection of a specific chart or even make a chart/report with a custom record selection?

I thought I can make query to find all records and then just select one of the predefined charts types to display the Result Set as a chart. But I didn't find any function for this.

So I looked into plugin development, but didn't find any example that could used as template. Of course, the data selection part could be done and a report be generated, but I didn't find any specific information how to pass the data to a "Chart-API". Ideally it would be just a table of record references and the records would appear as diagram with all existing links. The presentation then could be modified with the diagram options.

Is something like this available?

Best
Emil

[LornaCraig]

It is not possible to create a diagram from a predefined list of records, but there are various techniques which can be used to customise a diagram to limit the number of records it displays.

• Click the expansion button above an Ancestor box or below a Descendant box to hide the entire branch above/below that box.

• Right click on a box to hide that box.

• Use Tools > How Related to create a diagram showing just the path between two selected Individuals. There are options to display the route with/without siblings or spouses.

If you can give an example of the kind of selection you want to make we might be able to suggest how best to achieve it.

[jelv]

All you can do is copy the project and then, work on the copy using a query with the Split Tree Helper delete all the individuals you don't want in the chart and then create an Everyone diagram.

[egn]

Thank you for the answers, but this would be to much manual work for thousands of records, especially when the database is constantly growing and changing.

Query based selection of records for diagrams, reports and books seem to be a missing function in FH and most other such programs. As I wrote, most tools provide only some standard queries like ancestors, descendants, relatives, with slight modification, instead of giving full control on record selection.

FH with its powerful query function already stands out here, but is finally inconsequent by not linking the query results to diagram, report and book processing and even other custom processing. This would be a killer feature and give FH an USP over other products.

Of course, all the standard selections could be based on the query machine as kind of profile. Each generated diagram, report, book should have its associated query on an additional option tab, that can be modified anytime, just like the other options. Additionally the columns tab of the query could be used to control the content of diagram boxes, reports and books. Finally a plugin interface would give full control and allow custom record selection.

Ok, this is a dream.

For now, I am thinking about a solution that uses a plugin with the "Private" record flag to make all unwanted records invisible.

What I want to do is something similar to the FH "How related ..." feature or the corresponding feature in MH. These show a diagram or report that contain all individuals between two related individuals. I would like to extend this to more than two individuals. So, I have a currently living person and want to create one diagram that shows the shortest relationship to a list of ancient individuals. This can be the "direct blood line" only, or include more complex relationships, with priority of direct blood line, siblings and marriage.

Currently I use the relationship feature of MH web, take a scrolling screen shot and combine them with gimp. But on changes this always takes some time. So I looked for a tool that could achieve this. FH with a plugin seems to be the only available tool that could achieve this.

Whether I am really implement this is not finally decided, as this would take some time, and the question is if its worth the effort for a one-time result for a print as a gift.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Thank you for the answers, but this would be to much manual work for thousands of records, especially when the database is constantly growing and changing.

Query based selection of records for diagrams, reports and books seem to be a missing function in FH and most other such programs. As I wrote, most tools provide only some standard queries like ancestors, descendants, relatives, with slight modification, instead of giving full control on record selection.

FH with its powerful query function already stands out here, but is finally inconsequent by not linking the query results to diagram, report and book processing and even other custom processing. This would be a killer feature and give FH an USP over other products.

A correction, if I may. Reports and Books (where they're based on Reports) can be based on queries. Select Multiple Individuals for the Subject Type, then Select, then Add Using Query. As you rightly say, it's a very powerful feature.

I'll leave the diagram aspects to somebody more skilled with diagrams (I don't use them).

[tatewise]

I am sorry, but for someone who seems to have been using FH for only a few days that posting is too dismissive.

As others have said, there are various ways to customise Reports and Diagrams including Queries, Named Lists, and Record Flags such as Private and Living. FH provides an extensive array of tools which sometimes have to be combined in creative ways to achieve your objective.

It has already been explained how Reports can be selective based on Queries.
They can also be based on a Named List of Individuals and Private or Living records can have details hidden.

John explained a general solution for selective Diagrams that uses Queries or Named Lists.
Also, Diagram Text Schemes can be designed to hide details of Private or Living records.
I assume that is what you would need when you say you want "to make all unwanted records invisible".

The FH ability to save Charts with a customised set of records and relationships is another avenue to explore.

[LornaCraig]

As you probably know, the How Related tool offers a View Report option which summarises the chain of relationships between two selected individuals. However this report contains only the bare outline.

To see more details you would need to use an Individual Summary report or an Individual Narrative report, with multiple records selected, as described by Helen.

The selection of the records for a report can be based on the How Related Diagram. First use Tools> How Related to create the diagram showing the route between the two individuals. Then click the Connect icon in the diagram toolbar to open the Family Connection Mapper. Under its tools (cog wheel) icon choose Select Route Boxes. The use Edit > Add to Named List.

When you create the report use Subject Type: Multiple individuals and click Select. In the Select Records dialogue use the Named Lists tab. Select your named list to add those individuals. To arrange them in the required order, click Custom Order and then sort them on the Dates column. (This assumes that you have birth dates for all of them. If not, you will need to do some re-ordering using the up/down arrows).

Diagrams:
If you want one diagram showing the connection between a single person and several of their ancestors, start by using the How Related tool to create a separate ‘route’ for each ancestor. For each route select the records in the route and add them to the same Named List, as previously described. You can then use this list as the basis to select which records to export to a mini Gedcom. Use File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM file, click the Select button and use the Named Lists tab to select the records in the appropriate list. You can then create an Ancestor diagram for the root person which will contain only the records in the direct line(s) to the chosen ancestors.

[egn]

Sorry, I didn't want to offend anyone.

As I noted already, I find the tool very powerful. But in my opinion it isn't intuitive to use in some aspect, at least not for a newbie like me.

Anyway, my "little rant" brought up great solutions. Of course, they require several manual steps, but could be used for occasional generation of a result.

Thank you very much for the support!

[Jane]

Don't forget you can hide boxes on any diagram, by using a Query to select the boxes and then hide selected boxes.

You can also set up a text scheme which can leave "private" individuals boxes there but hide all the contents.

[tatewise]

IMO, Jane's suggestion may not be easily found by new users.
With a Diagram open use Diagram > Selection & Marks > Set/Clear Marks using Query...
In the dialogue window choose and run the Query from the drop-list at the top.
All the marked boxes will turn yellow and the boxes selected with blue handles.
Then use Diagram > Hide/Show Boxes > Hide Selected Boxes but beware that if the root of a branch is hidden then the whole branch is hidden.

[egn]

Thank you for the clarification. This is really hidden.

I used the method described by Lorna, because I didn't find any query that delivers a result similar to "How related ...".

Of course, I can extract all records that are related to a set of individuals by using a query, but I wasn't able to reduce that to the shortest path between the main person and every individual in the set.

So I think for automation a plugin is necessary.

The current result now looks like this:

grafik.png (18.59 KiB) Viewed 1174 times

It can easily be printed double-sided on a number of A4 pages for an easy look on the diagram by someone of high age. It can be added easily to the 800 page genealogy report. On endless paper it would be about 10 m long and very unhandy. I like it with flipped orientation more, but there is the page boundary avoidance bug.

[LornaCraig]

I like it with flipped orientation more, but there is the page boundary avoidance bug.

I haven't tested that bug myself but I note that Mike said it only afftects an Everyone diagram. For your purposes an Ancestors Diagram (or an All Relatives diagram) might be sufficient. If you are only displaying a subset of the direct ancestors of one individual they will all be included in an Ancestor diagram.

[egn]

I tried Ancestors and Relatives chart and there is the same problem.

The "How related ..." chart seems to cover direct relations only and doesn't show in-law relations. As there is the special tick box for blood relationships I thought in-law relations are also covered.

The "All Relatives + Indirect Relatives ..." chart shows both individuals that are connected.

Update:
It seems to be no problem with the in-law relations. I have tested along the path how far it works, and it stops working at a simple father daughter relation.

grafik.png (54.77 KiB) Viewed 1073 times

grafik.png (22.3 KiB) Viewed 1073 times

grafik.png (23.85 KiB) Viewed 1073 times

Any idea?

If the connection is found there is also a problem when Spouses and/or Siblings are hidden. The Spouses/Siblings that are relevant for the relationship shouldn't be hidden.

Finally the the relationship diagram should look like the one in MyHeritage.

[egn]

I have now extracted the critical part and attached the GEDCOM.

Relationship between both ends between "Taguchi" and "Li Yong" doesn't work.

If either Taguchi daughter "橘清友女" or "Li Yong" son "Li Hong" is selected a relation is found.

Very strange!

[LornaCraig]

Relationship between both ends between "Taguchi" and "Li Yong" doesn't work.

If either Taguchi daughter "橘清友女" or "Li Yong" son "Li Hong" is selected a relation is found.

I think you have this the wrong way round. The relationship between "Taguchi" and "Li Yong" does work.

image.png (182.09 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

But the relationship between Taguchi and Li Yong’s father (not son) Li Hong does not work.

image.png (151.45 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

EDIT:
I think I can shed a bit more light. In the FH Help file on the Family Connection Mapper it says:

“You can select any two boxes in the same tree, but you cannot connect two boxes in different trees. Most diagram options create a diagram that consists of only one tree. For example, an All Relatives diagram, however large, will consist of a single All Relatives tree. Usually a diagram will only have more than one tree if you 'manually' added additional trees yourself. The All Relatives + Indirect Relatives and the Everyone diagrams are exceptions to this. These usually contain more than one tree.”

When FH calculates indirect relationships it seems to have a similar, but not identical, restriction. The important point is that in FH an All Relatives tree includes ‘blood’ relatives and their spouses, but not relatives-of-spouses.

橘清友女 (Taguchi’s daughter) is, in effect, in two separate trees. She is in the same tree as Li Hong and Li Yong, because she is the spouse of one of their blood relatives. But her father is not in that tree, because he is a relative-of-a-spouse of a blood relative.

She is also in the her father’s tree, as his blood relative. Her husband is in that tree because he is her spouse. But her husband’s blood relatives, which include Li Hong and Li Yong, are not in that tree, because they are relatives-of-a-spouse.

The calculation of indirect relationships seems to be able to take into account two separate spouse links (as shown in the two ‘husband’ references in my first screenshot). This means it can extend further than an All Relatives diagram, because it can take into account relatives-of-spouses, including spouses-of-relatives-of-spouses.

Yet it cannot take the extra step into the relatives-of-spouses-of-relatives-of-spouses. Taguchi is a relative(father)-of-a-spouse-of-a-relative(distant cousin)-of-a-spouse-of-a-relative(son) of Yi Hong. If you leave out the first or last ‘relative of’ selection the How Related description works.

It’s that last leap which is causing the problem. Whether this is by accident or design, I don’t know. I think you need to ask Calico Pie.

[egn]

Thank you for the analysis. If have sent a report to CP.

[egn]

I think I have found another issue with the relationship diagram.

For a relation with hidden Spouses/Siblings and "Top-down" orientation I get the following diagram:

grafik.png (16.94 KiB) Viewed 973 times

When the orientation is changed to "Left-right" the hidden status is lost and I get the following:

grafik.png (25.25 KiB) Viewed 973 times

When the diagram already has the correct orientation from last modification then all is ok:

grafik.png (13.22 KiB) Viewed 973 times

[LornaCraig]

This applies to all diagrams, not just the How Related diagram. In the Diagram Options > General tab you will see that the Orientation field is labelled in red. At the bottm left is a warning: "Red = 'rebuild option' (see Help)". If you click the Help button you will find more information. In particular, this paragraph is relevant:

When a tree is rebuilt, any modifications that you have made to it, by expanding branches, or moving or resizing boxes will be lost. If you haven't made any changes of this kind, you may not realise or appreciate that the tree has in fact been rebuilt. In any case, you will be warned (and given the opportunity to cancel) before a tree rebuild occurs if it would have this kind of consequence. See the Diagrams tab of Preferences for options relating to warnings of rebuilds.

Although the boxes in the How Related diagram were hidden for you when you created it, FH handles it as if you had hidden them manually yourself.

[egn]

Thank you for the explanation. When in the dialog I hide Spouses/Siblings I expect that I can change diagram options without loosing this state.

I also got feedback from CP regarding the relationship problem, where they explain the details and limits of processing.

When a function is called "How related ..." I expect that an existing relation is found, or they call it differently "How related directly ..." or describe the limitation in the dialog. Other tools like MH or Geni are much better here and deliver a correct and complete result.

This all seems somewhat counter intuitive to me and is disappointing. For me this deficiencies cost valuable time. I am still not sure whether I should keep FH after the evaluation period, especially as I would use it for a few special diagrams only.

[LornaCraig]

The ‘rebuilding’ issue when you change the orientation of a diagram needn’t be a problem if you do things in the right order. However I agree that it’s a problem if you want to be able to switch quickly from one orientation to another.

First, back up your existing settings by using Diagram > Save Diagram as > Custom Diagram Type. This type can then be accessed from Charts > Custom Diagrams.

Now open a diagram of the type you want. For you purposes this will probably be a descendants diagram. Change the orientation, then click Remember Options at the bottom left. The new orientation will now be the default for that diagram type.

[tatewise]

Now open a diagram of the type you want. For your purposes this will probably be a descendants diagram. Change the orientation, then click Remember Options at the bottom left. The new orientation will now be the default for that diagram type.

When you say "click Remember Options" do you mean tick Remember Options?

That remembered orientation along with other settings will become the default for all the standard core diagrams: Ancestors..., Descendants..., Ancestors & Descendants..., All Relatives..., Blank Diagram and How Related.

[LornaCraig]

Yes, I meant 'tick'.