Introduction
Every generic source in ƒh takes its footnote, short footnote and bibliography entry from the same three patterns, called generic source formats. Change one and every generic source changes with it: there’s no way to have one layout for parish registers and another for wills. (For that you need templated sourcesFamily Historian Version 7 introduced the ability to define sources using 'Source Templates' to aid precision and consistency in entering source-identifying information. , where each template carries its own formats.)
The formats have been there since ƒh7, but because ƒh builds them for you, most people never look at them. This article explains what they control, how to choose the fields that go into each one, and what to leave out. For the full detail, see Generic Source Formats and Generic Source Formats Dialog in the Help file.
What the Formats Control
There are three generic source formats:
- Footnote: the full citation, used in the Sources section of reports, books and websites.
- Short Footnote: a shorter version for later citationsA link between a source and a fact, documenting Where within the source you find information being "cited" to support the fact/conclusion. of a source that has already been cited. Reports only use it if Use Short Footnotes for Citations to Already-Cited Source is ticked on the Sources tab of Report Options.
- Bibliography: the source’s entry in the Bibliography section of a report or book.
Templated sources have a fourth format, for the record title. Generic sourcesFamily Historian 7 introduced the concept of 'Templated Sources' and renamed Version 6 (totally Gedcom compliant) sources as 'Generic Sources'. don’t, because ƒh doesn’t generate their titles: you type those yourself.
The formats also decide what you see in the Citation List Pane at the bottom of the Property BoxThe Property Box is the primary window for data entry and for viewing details of stored records. It is used with records of all types. . It shows each citation’s footnote unless you pick something else with Display Citation As, on the menu at the bottom of the pane.
Choosing the Fields
- Open Tools > Preferences and go to the Sources tab.
- Click Generic Source Formats.
- In Format, choose Footnote, Short Footnote or Bibliography. Each is set up separately, so repeat the steps below for each one.
- Under Source RecordSource: "where information was found". This could be anything from an archive in a county records office, a book, or even a relative's recorded recollection. Citing your Sources helps to show how you reached a particular conclusion about an Individual. Details, tick the fields from the Source record that you want included, such as the author and title.
- Under Citation Details, tick the fields that belong to the citation, such as Where within Source or Entry DateWhen an Event happened, or an Attrribute was true.. These are for footnotes: a bibliography entry describes the source as a whole, not one use of it.
- If you want the repositoryA repository is a place (physical or online) where collections of original source data are stored and maintained., tick Include Repository Information and choose which of its fields to show.
- Tick View Format to see the format ƒh has built from your choices.
- Click OK, then check the result in the Citation List Pane or a report.
Leave Out Text from Source and Notes
The dialog will let you include Text from SourceBoth Source records and Citations have a Text From Source field intended to hold transcripts of source documents. and notesFamily Historian version 6 and below supports two types of Notes: Local notes (associated with a single person, record, or fact); and Note Records (sometimes called Shared Notes), that can be linked to multiple records and/or facts. Version 7 introduced, but the Help advises against it. Inside a citation they are turned into plain text and cut short if they’re long, and you only get one of each. Tables, in particular, come out badly.
Leave them unticked and add them to the report instead. On the Sources tab of Report Options (or Book Settings), the Append from Source Record and Append from Citation options put the Text from Source and notes below the citation, all of them and with their formatting intact. Don’t use both methods, or you’ll get everything twice. See Report Options Dialog: Sources Tab.
Bibliography Entries Are Merged
The Bibliography is always in alphabetical order, and identical entries are merged into one. So the fields you choose for the Bibliography format decide how many entries you get: if two generic sources produce the same text, they share an entry. Bear this in mind before you cut the format down to one or two fields.
Going Further: Customize
For more control, tick Customize and edit the format yourself. Generic formats use the same building blocks as source template formats (data referencesData references are expressions which are used to provide a way of referring to particular items of data in your project, such as records or particular fields within records. They can be used for advanced customizations of diagrams, websites, family, functionsA 'function' is an expression which returns values based on computations. Typically, functions require data to be supplied to them as 'parameters'. A function in Family Historian is similar to a 'function' as used in spreadsheet applications (such as MS and angle-bracket expressions) with one exception: there are no field codes, because those belong to templates. Where a template format has {Author}, a generic format uses a data reference in curly brackets, such as {%SOUR.AUTH%}.
In the Footnote and Short Footnote formats, fields on the citation are reached through CUR~CITN. These references don’t work in the Bibliography format, which isn’t tied to any one citation.
| Field | Data reference | Formats |
|---|---|---|
| Author (Source record) | {%SOUR.AUTH%} |
All three |
| Where within Source | {%CUR~CITN.PAGE%} |
Footnote, Short Footnote |
| Entry Date | {%CUR~CITN.DATA.DATE%} |
Footnote, Short Footnote |
| Assessment | {%CUR~CITN.QUAY%} |
Footnote, Short Footnote |
The quickest way to find the reference for any other field is to tick it, tick View Format, and see what ƒh has added.
Source Template Formats explains how to build a format. Most of its examples use field codes, but everything else on that page applies to generic formats too. Read its Special-Handling for Top-Level Text section before you start: it explains the stray spaces and vanishing commas that catch most people out.Changing One Citation Only
In ƒh8 you can also override the footnote, short footnote or bibliography entry for a single citation or a single source, without touching the formats. Click the Customize link at the bottom of the side panel in the Citation Window; see the Customising Citation Output section of Sources and Citations in Version 8 (for New Users).