>I'm new to this list so please pardon if these issues have been raised before. Even if they have been addressed before, I know that users come and go, so it is no problem feeling free to ask questions and get them answered again. >1. Each user that was created had // at the beginning of the name. > What is the meaning of those // symbols? >2. What is the format that the software expects you to enter the name? > i.e., Last, First, MI. or First Last etc... >3. What are the delimiters between the name parts commas, semicolun, '/'? >4. While most new users had only 2 // some at a slightly lower level had > 3 / -> /// does this signify anything? Names should be entered exactly as they would appear in normal writing of a person's full name. The slashes // delimit the surname, which the program then parses and thus allows for searches or lists sorted by surname. Thus proper entries: Ira Johan /Lund/ Robbert /van de Groot/ Roberta /Jimenez/ Valdez/ A "pair" of slashes normally delimit a surname. Three slashes can be used to for Spanish/ Portuguese names that have multiple surnames (a father surname and a mother surname). Mor int he manual on this. Small names - like "van" and "de", although part of the surname can be excluded using Exempt Surnames (Option Menu - Database Configuration). By excluded, I mean that int he example above "Groot' is what gets sorted on - not "van". Commas, or anything else becomes part of the name: William Jordan /Smith,/ Jr. Will show up on the main screen as: William Jordan Smith, Jr. And get sorted as: Smith, William Jordan, Jr. >5. When typing a new person, there is no alert or mentioning to already > existing individuals. My mom didn't realize that after 70 entries, > about 20 of them were duplicates. It would be great if there were > either alert msg to the user that an individual with identical name > already exists, OR while you type the new individual, there would be > an auto-fill that would be populated by each charachter. In the latter > solution, you could see immediatly if an individual has been entered > previously and use them instantly. There is such an option. Go to Option Menu - Database Configuration - Database 1 Tab and check the option near bottom "do duplciate checking". >6. When viewing the list of Names, a 'sort-by' could come handy - by > clicking on the headers - to allow instant ascending/decending by that > column (e.g., Name, First, last, IRN number, Date of birth etc.) There are options to sort by Surname or Given Name, but not by IRN or descending order. >7. How do you print a Decendants Tree - skeleton of names the way it > appears in the Decendants tab? It doesn't show in the Reports. The closest is the "Descendant List Style 2" report. It indents and places in order as you expect but doesn't have the graphical tree items as you see on screen. Ira ------------------------------------------------ Mr. Ira J. Lund E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.cf-software.com Cumberland Family Software, 385 Idaho Springs Road, Clarksville TN 37043