Introduction
When researching family relationships it is not always certain that links between people are definitive without further evidence. To record the credibility of such relationships the following alternatives are available.
To make the following data structures more visible, indicative text can appear in the Caption 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. by using an ExpressionExpressions are composed from two technical features: Data References and Functions; they also often involve Operators to compare values. similar to that shown in each section. Use the Property Box cog Menu top right and choose Options or use Tools > Preferences > Property Box, then click the Captions button to obtain the Property Box Captions dialogue where those Expressions can be inserted in the Individual box. Similar techniques can be used for Diagram Box Features or a Records WindowThe Records Window provides a comprehensive view of all the information stored within a Family Historian project. Column or in QueriesQuerying is a very powerful feature that allows you to specify and save criteria for identifying a set of records of a given record type. as advised in Record Flags, Using Icons and Expressions.
Spouses & Partners
Each standard Marriage and Divorce eventEvents are things that happened to an Individual and Attributes are things that described them. allows SourceSource: "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. Citations with Assessments to identify credibility.
For unmarried couples the Source Citations with Assessments can be added to the Family record itself, or to a custom factUsers of Family Historian can customize fact definitions, or create their own fact definitions to more closely match they way they want to work. such as Liaison.
Parents & Children
It is more challenging to record the credibility of Parent to Child relationships. The following techniques are available and could all be used to mark Diagrams, produce Queries, and be included in Reports.
Birth Witnesses Citations
Family Historian’s Help says:
You can now add source citations for all relationships, including parent-child relationships. To add a source citation for person Y as father of person X, use the Witnesses window for X’s birth event, to add person Y with role of ‘father’. You can then add source citations for Y in this role, with respect to X’s birth. A new sentence templateSentences are used in conjunction with Fact Sets to produce Narrative Reports; their templates are highly customisable. code is used to prevent unwanted sentences being generated for this, in narrative reports. You can use the same technique to add source citations for adoptive parents. Adding a source citation for a spouse relationship has always been possible, by simply adding source citations for their marriage.
Be aware that Witnesses use the non-standard GEDCOMGEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is a specification for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogy software. It is a file format that most genealogical programs and online trees recognise. _SHAR tag that may not migrate to other products. Similar Witnesses can be applied to Baptism and other factsFacts are one of the key concepts at the heart of Family Historian; they are how you record the things that happened to, or described, each ancestor (Individual)..
Expression: %INDI.BIRT._SHAR[1].NOTE2% shows the Note on the 1st Birth Witness.
Parents Family Note Citations
The INDI.FAMC.NOTE2 field is unique to each Parents family link and with a Source Citation can quantify the Parent-Child relationship. It initially only appears on the All tab, but can be added to the Main tab of the Property Box of the Child to make it more accessible. This technique is standard GEDCOM compatible.
Expression: %INDI.FAMC[1].NOTE2% shows the Note on the 1st Parents family link.
The Parents family link also has a parent-child Relationship field, but only specific values such as adopted, foster, or illegitimate are allowed, and Source Citations are NOT allowed.
Associated Persons
The Associated Persons (INDI.ASSO) feature allows uncertain relationships to be recorded with Source Citations. This technique is standard GEDCOM compatible.
Expression: %INDI.ASSO[1].RELA% shows the Relationship on the 1st Associated Person.
Individual Record Flags
Individual record Flags can be used to signal various degrees of relationship credibility. Be aware that Flags use the non-standard GEDCOM _FLGS tag that may not migrate to other products.
Expression: =ExistsText(%INDI._FLGS.__UNCONFIRMED%,"Unconfirmed")