Cheryl, Re your partial msg:<But, I disagree anyway. (g) Putting a flag into the marriage date field where it shows up on the pedigree screen and on the individual screens at least tells you that you've looked and not found. I've wasted a whole bunch of time I couldn't really afford to waste looking for things I've already hunted for twice and didn't find.> I agree completely. Tried to say it earlier but you present my point in a much clearer way. Jerry

When I saw this discussion start I knew it would raise a lot of comment - it certainly has in the past. My view is that PAF like many software packages is most often used by the greater number of users who have not fully explored, learnt or understand the imbedded techniques and features. The result is a number of ad hoc manipulations that ultimately require more maintenance than they are worth. On this particular topic --- If there is no entered marriage details - it mean that you have not found any data related to a marriage or parenthood. Startlingly simple. Whether or not you have looked for any or the extent to which you have looked is a button click away in the recorded notes - and not necessarily "buried" in the notes - the use of note tags greatly simplifies the access to relevant notes - a note tag of "research" or "marriage" would describe in greater detail the extent of research - time spans - locations - records etc. than any cryptic comment in a field not intended for that purpose. Even if you have not found any data on a marriage I always advocate that an approximate date is entered with the recognised prefix of "About"/"Abt" based on ages of parents and children as this give a focus to any research. I am afraid that anyone who rushes off into research on the basis of a pedigree chart or family group sheet or screen shot of PAF without checking what research has previously been done is likely to waste a lot of time and effort. The PAF recognised marriage date of "Not Married" can be used when there is an absolute certainty of that fact (which I find hard to know when or how that might be) regarding the parents of any children. The PAF feature of allowing the selection of an "Unknown" spouse to a marriage or parent partner is once again a startlingly simple choice that sums up the precise situation. It also has the advantage of not creating a PAF individual record which any other entered cryptic name would do - and allows for any subsequently discovered name to be substituted at a later time. But - as has been said before - what ever works for you! Good luck, Stewart -----Original Message----- From: JJasper381@aol.com [mailto:JJasper381@aol.com] Sent: 19 July 2005 17:38 To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PAF-5] unmarried citation Cheryl, Re your partial msg:<But, I disagree anyway. (g) Putting a flag into the marriage date field where it shows up on the pedigree screen and on the individual screens at least tells you that you've looked and not found. I've wasted a whole bunch of time I couldn't really afford to waste looking for things I've already hunted for twice and didn't find.> I agree completely. Tried to say it earlier but you present my point in a much clearer way. Jerry ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List http://www.ausbdm.org/p5uindex.php

----- Original Message ----- From: "Stewart Millar" <sm999@tiscali.co.uk> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:32 PM Subject: RE: [PAF-5] unmarried citation <snip> > The PAF recognised marriage date of "Not Married" can be used when there > is > an absolute certainty of that fact (which I find hard to know when or how > that might be) regarding the parents of any children. <snip> How about when a living relative tells you they know that a certain person had children but never married? An aunt of mine's first husband was Roman Catholic & would not divorce her, so she "lived in sin" with another man for forty years and had six children by him. Terry