I am downloading the files to Ancestry.com On 5/5/2017 1:36 PM, John Cardinal wrote: > Ed Hotchkin wrote: >> I use only External Images. Maybe the connecting files is there >> but I don't know where to put the Images. > Ed, > > I don't understand. You shouldn't have to put the images anywhere because > most programs that read the GEDCOM file will find the images just fine. > There are some cases where that won't work, so it would help to know what > you are doing with the GEDCOM after you export it. You haven't explained > that, but I suggest you do. You'll get better help that way. > > John > > > The TMG archive is found here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ > Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Ed Hotchkin hotchkinfamilyhistory.com

Ed, I've created GEDCOMs from TMG and the text and image exhibits are included in the output. My TMG project uses external images only, and TMG writes the path to the image file in the GEDCOM, which is what I expected. If you use *internal* exhibits, I am not sure what TMG will do. While some versions of the GEDCOM standard include supporte for putting the image data in the GEDCOM file itself, there's almost no support for that feature of GEDCOM. A better response would be to create an external image file from the internal image exhibit data, but that involves some extra steps and I don't know if TMG does them. John

I use only External Images. Maybe the connecting files is there but I don't know where to put the Images. On 5/5/2017 12:40 PM, Lee Hoffman/KY wrote: > At 5/5/2017 15:12, I wrote >> If the user wants to create an External Exhibit from an Internal >> Exhibit, TMG will create a BMP type file. In the Exhibit Log, >> right-click on the desired Exhibit, and in the Properties window, >> click on the down-arrow beside the field that says Internal Image and >> select the External Image file option which will display the Save to >> External Image window. The default Exhibit folder File Path will be >> entered, but may be changed as desired. Also the default Filename >> will be New Image.BMP, so change the Filename as desired (not sure if >> TMG can create other file formats). Click [OK] to save the Exhibit >> as an External File and that is it. > > The above applies to Image Exhibits. I do not see a way to create > Internal text Exhibits. It could be done in v4x and earlier, but I > don't think it changed with v5 and later. As for Audio, Video, and > OLE object, I suspect those are by definition always External > The TMG archive is found here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ > Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Ed Hotchkin hotchkinfamilyhistory.com

To those of us users who split memos and/or CDs, This post caused me to expand the testing I had done on this feature. I am not finished testing yet, but felt I should share my preliminary findings, especially concerning split parts which the user wishes to be considered empty, as that was the original question for this thread. Leaving the split part completely empty, or containing only a dash, WILL reliably produce some form of unwanted or unexpected results. My earlier references pointed to comments in my book which only "suggest" using a single blank as a placeholder. I now believe that this should be a *requirement* for indicating an empty split part after part one. When finished testing I will post on this list pointers to new changes in my book. Those will document the results which TMG will produce with various unusual content in split parts. Unfortunately these results are proving very inconsistent. Some content will produce normal results in TMG narrative reports but not in charts and vice versa, other content will produce normal results in split memos but not in split CDs and vice versa. But all my tests so far show that the single space placeholder in split parts after part one will always produce the expected results. Michael P.S. If you have a project with split parts which you believe may have some completely empty parts, John's TMG Utility can be used to insert a single space placeholder globally throughout your project. See the instructions at the end of the topic on Empty Memo Variables in my book: http://www.mjh-nm.net/TAGSENTS.HTML#EmptyMemoVariables

I there any way to get Exhibits attached to a Gedcom created from TMG? -- Ed Hotchkin hotchkinfamilyhistory.com

Hi All, Thanks for the comments. There are cases where the move from a single field "|" partitioning to separate fields for each partition works well. In that case, extra obvious GUI elements to set those attributes that apply to the _whole field value_ are appropriate. I take note of those comments. But I see no sensible way of removing the encoding to include _embedded citations _and _sensitive content sections_ in a memo (or its sensitive equivalent in any name element). There are 2 extremes of creating a narrative report: A. Always use the global sentence., B. (used by some professional users) Always have a local sentence that is author's composed text for that event with both embedded citations and occasional sensitive content. Often in this case, the local sentence is simply a reference to the Memo. Authors do this later method to preserve their analysis to be used in compounded reports. RobinL On 05-May-17 04:29 AM, Bob Hunter wrote: > robin lamacraft wrote, in part: >> The storage and the visible to the user do not need to be the same >> thing. > And John Cardinal opined: >>> If your plan is for users to key "~" (or some other character) as the >>> first character in the text field to indicate the value should be >>> excluded, that's not a good design, even if the "~" is not stored in >>> the text field in the database. > And Michael J Hannah agreed: >>>> There is "data" and there are "attributes" of data (such as in this case >>>> being potentially excluded). As a user interface issue I strongly feel >>>> that _indicating_ an attribute of data should not "appear" to the user >>>> as characters "within" that data. I feel the UI design needs to >>>> reinforce to the user the separation of these two concepts: >>>> data, and attributes of that data. >>>> Thus the UI method to both enter and indicate/display each should >>>> be different and not merged. > > For what it's worth, I would like to agree! > Bobh > > > The TMG archive is found here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ > Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Robin Lamacraft, Adelaide, Australia

robin lamacraft wrote, in part: > The storage and the visible to the user do not need to be the same > thing. And John Cardinal opined: >> If your plan is for users to key "~" (or some other character) as the >> first character in the text field to indicate the value should be >> excluded, that's not a good design, even if the "~" is not stored in >> the text field in the database. And Michael J Hannah agreed: >>> There is "data" and there are "attributes" of data (such as in this case >>> being potentially excluded). As a user interface issue I strongly feel >>> that _indicating_ an attribute of data should not "appear" to the user >>> as characters "within" that data. I feel the UI design needs to >>> reinforce to the user the separation of these two concepts: >>> data, and attributes of that data. >>> Thus the UI method to both enter and indicate/display each should >>> be different and not merged. For what it's worth, I would like to agree! Bobh

> On 4 May 2017, at 15:31, Lee Hoffman/KY <azchief@bellsouth.net> wrote: > By default on installation, the Repeat Files are essentially for the program. However, you can change this in File=>Preferences=>Current Project Options=Advanced. If you almost always work with one project with only occasional work in others, the Repeat File location is usually not that critical. But, the more you switch between project, the more important it is to set the Repeat files File Path to different locations for each project. I set mine to a sub-folder named for the project and place the sub-folders in the default Repeat files folder. Lee,Thanks for explaining. I have only the one project, so I’ll leave the repeat files in their default location. It’s good to understand what’s going on when getting unexpected program behavior. Chris Sackett

On 4 May 2017, at 15:21, Lee Hoffman/KY <azchief@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > This sounds like your backup was not actually located on your computer's hard drive, but on an external drive like a thumbdrive. Sometimes the Restore works, but more often it does not. The same applies to creating a Backup to an external drive. > > The best thing is to create the Backup to the system hard drive (such as the default Backup folder as set in Preferences and then copy that SQZ file to the thumbdrive. And similarly, copy the SQZ file to the hard drive before doing the Restore. Thanks Lee, but that would seem not to be it. I do keep backups on an external drive (and on the Cloud) but, as you suggest, I copy these from my computer’s hard drive. I was restoring from a backup on the hard drive. It would seem that the project must have already failed in some way when I made the last backup so that the backup was of a bad project folder. Chris Sackett

Solely from a user’s viewpoint, I totally agree about the exclusion marker. For place fields on the tag entry screen, some sort of Show/Hide button would be much better. The only other place I use the exclusion marker is in sentences for certain roles. The use of a hyphen there does seem logical. Chris Sackett > On 4 May 2017, at 13:59, John Cardinal <John@JohnCardinal.com> wrote: > > robin lamacraft wrote, in part: >> The storage and the visible to the user do not need to be the same thing. > > Robin, > > If your plan is for users to key "~" (or some other character) as the first > character in the text field to indicate the value should be excluded, that's > not a good design, even if the "~" is not stored in the text field in the > database. > > You seemed to imply that the alternative--which you didn't describe in any > detail--would result in UI clutter. I think that's a false dichotomy: there > are other solutions that do not introduce clutter. Meanwhile, the "~" > introduces clutter and other problems of its own. > > - The user must know (or find in help) how to hide the value because keying > a "~" as the first character is not obvious from the UI. > > - The user must know (or find in help) how to specify a "~" as the first > data character in the value when she does not want the "~" to trigger its > "hide this value" meaning. > > TMG is rife with little rules like this and they contribute to its > "difficult to learn" reputation. It's still my favorite genealogy program, > but that doesn't mean it's perfect, and the "-" and "--" excluded data > triggers are two of the imperfections. I'm sad to hear that HRE will feature > similar behavior. > > John > > The TMG archive is found here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ > Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

John, I agree with your comments about structure. The storage and the visible to the user do not need to be the same thing. There is the other issue that the user does not want to have to have to much clutter in the screen interface, so it is a judgement when that is needed. Lastly there are some fields that exist just to store that structure, like the name style templates, the source output templates and sentence templates where the structure is the reason that they exist. Filters and report output scripts are other examples. I call these items encoded strings. Robin On 04-May-17 11:09 AM, John Cardinal wrote: > Robin, > > I agree with your decision to use separate, named "parts" for fields that > can have multiple values. My GedSite program follows that model when it > loads a GEDCOM file. For example, many GEDCOM tags can have text on the tag > itself as well as text on a subordinate NOTE tag. GedSite has Memo[Text] and > Memo[Note] variables for that purpose. There are other Memo[<part-name>] > variations for certain GEDCOM structures. > > For excluded fields, I would not use a prefix character to record that > attribute of a field. The database should have a separate field (separate > from the text) for the excluded/not excluded property. > > Overall, I'd minimize what gets stored in text fields. It seems likely that > you'd want to support some formatting codes, and you may also want to > support hidden/private/sensitive text. That's probably the most I'd add as > metadata that is stored in the text itself. > > TMG had many fields where there was structure inside the database field > value. I suspect that was partly due to the state of database technology in > the early 1990s. Using current technologies, putting a lot of structure > inside a data field is not a good idea. > > John > > The TMG archive is found here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ > Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Robin Lamacraft, Adelaide, Australia

I changed the filters for the List of Events report but I don't care for the report it produced. I have made a Focus Group of all the people surnamed Black, their descendants and spouses and spouses of descendants. A journal report (descendants) using only the tags Birth, Death and Census I received an error report: The VFP9R.DLL file is invalid or damaged. What do I need to do now to get this report? Nancy

Further to my report below, I came across an unexpected behavior when entering data in my restored project. I retraced my steps to enter various items lost in the project failure, including a couple of images. When entering the first image, I hit F3 to copy the last used caption in the Description tab of the Exhibits screen. It is my habit when entering such data to call up the last used caption and modify it for the new image, thus ensuring consistency of style, as well as saving some typing. To my surprise, the caption that appeared was exactly the one last used for the image being entered, despite the fact that the tag and its exhibit were items lost when I had to restore an earlier backup. On thinking about it, this can only mean that repeat values are stored with the program and not with the data. Just surprised, that’s all! Chris Sackett > On 4 May 2017, at 08:17, Chris Sackett <chris@sackett.org.uk> wrote: > > I thought I would report failures in loading a project and in restoring a backup in case the information is useful to those who might understand it. I was able to restore from the previous backup, so all is well. > > The project failure: > Project did not load automatically. When trying to load the project manually, the error was “… does not appear to be a valid PJC file”. > > The backup restore failure: > Error was “DynaZip UnZip error: Zip file structure invalid (Can’t understand ZIP file, structure problem).” > > Using Windows 10 through VMWare on iMac. > > This is the first time I have been unable to restore from a backup. As this situation is unusual (at least to me), I thought I should report it. > > Chris Sackett

At 5/4/2017 11:17, Dennis Lee Bieber wrote >At 07:43 AM 5/4/2017, Chris Sackett wrote: > >>On thinking about it, this can only mean that repeat values are >>stored with the program and not with the data. Just surprised, that's all! > > Based on the directory structure I see for TMGv9; repeat > values are NOT stored "with the program" (under Win7 and newer the > only way to have variable data stored with the program would > require both running under admin privileges, and responding to a > UAC pop-up about "making changes" to the system). I think Chris was meaning that (as installed) Repeat files are used program wide (e.g., will all projects). Which is exactly how the default installation is designed. > Repeat data, on my system, are in my TMG /data/ directory, > in the subdirectory "Repeat_files" -- which is separate from the > "Projects" subdirectory. Yes, but, unless changed in Preferences for any specific project, this is the default location used for all projects. > This would make repeat data /user specific/ and global to > all projects accessed by that user. As I recall, repeat data is > dynamically maintained based upon one's data entry -- so while loss > of repeat files may be an annoyance, they would not be critical to > project data integrity, and would be rebuilt by one's subsequent > operations. That could explain why they may not be included in a > project back-up (restoring an old project won't wipe out the repeat > data from more recent activities, which might not even have been > for that project). Repeat File data is specific to the user's work and by default applies to all projects. This is no probllem _IF_ Joeseph Alvin Smith in project A is the same Joseph Alvin Smith in project B and both have the same ID#s. While this may work for some uses, it is unlikely that continued data entry in both project will always be the same. At some point, the data will diverge (why maintain two projects with exactly the same data?). Then Repeat data will be different. So, when work is being done with different projects, either the user should select File=>Maintenance=>Initialize Repeat Files when switching to a different project or set the File Path for Repeat Files in Preferences for each project to a different File Path. In many cases, the Repeat value obtained after switching projects is not that critical. One sees the value, recalls that it was originally for the other project and chooses a different value from the (up to) 15 values available through repeated pressing of the [F3] key (or pressing [Ctrl] + {F3] and selecting the desired value) or if the value is not in the Repeat file, just entering the desired value. The problem arises when the user _just_knows_ the most recent value in the Repeat file is what is desired, presses [F3] and continues without noticing that the value is incorrect. Later, the user wonders how the place got to be Mt. Sterling, Bath County, Kentucky when it should be Montgomery County. Lee

At 07:43 AM 5/4/2017, Chris Sackett wrote: >On thinking about it, this can only mean that repeat values are >stored with the program and not with the data. Just surprised, that's all! Based on the directory structure I see for TMGv9; repeat values are NOT stored "with the program" (under Win7 and newer the only way to have variable data stored with the program would require both running under admin privileges, and responding to a UAC pop-up about "making changes" to the system). Repeat data, on my system, are in my TMG /data/ directory, in the subdirectory "Repeat_files" -- which is separate from the "Projects" subdirectory. C:\Users\Wulfraed\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9>dir Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is 4ACC-3CB4 Directory of C:\Users\Wulfraed\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> . 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> .. 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> Backups 04/10/2017 02:47 PM <DIR> Configuration_files 02/07/2017 11:10 AM <DIR> Exhibits 12/21/2016 02:23 PM <DIR> Export 04/28/2017 11:05 AM <DIR> Logs 04/10/2017 02:48 PM <DIR> Projects 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> Repeat_files 09/24/2014 07:00 PM <DIR> Report_output 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> Slideshow 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> Timelines 0 File(s) 0 bytes 12 Dir(s) 1,563,575,140,352 bytes free C:\Users\Wulfraed\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9>dir Repeat_files Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is 4ACC-3CB4 Directory of C:\Users\Wulfraed\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Repeat_files 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> . 12/03/2016 06:35 PM <DIR> .. 04/10/2017 02:48 PM 6,144 Repeat.CDX 04/10/2017 02:48 PM 3,130 Repeat.DBF 04/10/2017 02:48 PM 2,624 Repeat.FPT 09/24/2014 07:02 PM 4,608 Repeat_R.CDX 09/24/2014 07:02 PM 360 Repeat_R.DBF 04/10/2017 02:48 PM 4,608 Repeat_S.CDX 04/10/2017 02:48 PM 412 Repeat_S.DBF 09/24/2014 07:02 PM 512 Repeat_S.FPT 8 File(s) 22,398 bytes 2 Dir(s) 1,563,575,140,352 bytes free C:\Users\Wulfraed\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9> This would make repeat data /user specific/ and global to all projects accessed by that user. As I recall, repeat data is dynamically maintained based upon one's data entry -- so while loss of repeat files may be an annoyance, they would not be critical to project data integrity, and would be rebuilt by one's subsequent operations. That could explain why they may not be included in a project back-up (restoring an old project won't wipe out the repeat data from more recent activities, which might not even have been for that project). -- bieber.genealogy@earthlink.net Dennis Lee Bieber HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~bieber.genealogy/

> From: John Cardinal <> > Subject: Re: [TMG] No text for conditional [CD] > Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 08:59:57 -0400 > References: <590A396E.8000607@rr-nm.net><001901d2c452$9aee8150$d0cb83f0$@JohnCardinal.com> <590A57AE.20105@rr-nm.net><5db95e4a-1bf8-c04c-fd53-ce38f8014c70@internode.on.net><005c01d2c477$41492270$c3db6750$@JohnCardinal.com><4966e2b5-58be-1e3a-9d88-8c9171c3f0cc@internode.on.net> > In-Reply-To: <4966e2b5-58be-1e3a-9d88-8c9171c3f0cc@internode.on.net> robin lamacraft wrote, in part: > The storage and the visible to the user do not need > to be the same thing. And John Cardinal opined: >> If your plan is for users to key "~" (or some other character) >> as the first character in the text field to indicate the value >> should be excluded, that's not a good design, even if the >> "~" is not stored in the text field in the database. Robin, I completely agree with John on this point. There is "data" and there are "attributes" of data (such as in this case being potentially excluded). As a user interface issue I strongly feel that _indicating_ an attribute of data should not "appear" to the user as characters "within" that data. I feel the UI design needs to reinforce to the user the separation of these two concepts: data, and attributes of that data. Thus the UI method to both enter and indicate/display each should be different and not merged. Note that earlier versions of TMG used the tilde "~" character as an indicator/separator of Latitude/Longitude. That did cause confusion and problems when that data needed to be passed to other programs (e.g. mapping programs). Just another example urging that codes should be separate from the data and not even "appear" to be part of that data. IMHO, Michael

At 5/4/2017 09:39, nancy wright wrote >I followed Lee's suggestion for the filters: >Tag type... Abrev equals Census And >Any Witness Surname equals [?] END > >I got an error message: function argument value, type, or count is invalid You should filter for the Tag Type _Label_ not the Tag Type _Abbrev_. Either that or enter the correct Abbreviation as the value -- in this case "cen.". Lee

At 5/4/2017 07:43, Chris Sackett wrote >Further to my report below, I came across an >unexpected behavior when entering data in my >restored project. I retraced my steps to enter >various items lost in the project failure, >including a couple of images. When entering the >first image, I hit F3 to copy the last used >caption in the Description tab of the Exhibits >screen. It is my habit when entering such data >to call up the last used caption and modify it >for the new image, thus ensuring consistency of >style, as well as saving some typing. To my >surprise, the caption that appeared was exactly >the one last used for the image being entered, >despite the fact that the tag and its exhibit >were items lost when I had to restore an earlier >backup. On thinking about it, this can only mean >that repeat values are stored with the program >and not with the data. Just surprised, that’s all! By default on installation, the Repeat Files are essentially for the program. However, you can change this in File=>Preferences=>Current Project Options=Advanced. If you almost always work with one project with only occasional work in others, the Repeat File location is usually not that critical. But, the more you switch between project, the more important it is to set the Repeat files File Path to different locations for each project. I set mine to a sub-folder named for the project and place the sub-folders in the default Repeat files folder. Lee

At 5/4/2017 03:17, Chris Sackett wrote >I thought I would report failures in loading a >project and in restoring a backup in case the >information is useful to those who might >understand it. I was able to restore from the >previous backup, so all is well. The project >failure: Project did not load automatically. >When trying to load the project manually, the >error was “… does nott appear to be a valid >PJC file”. The backup restore failure: Error >was “DynaZip UnZip error: Zip file structure >invalid (Can’t understand ZIP file, structure >problem).” Using Windows 10 through VMWare on >iMac. This is the first time I have been unable >to restore from a backup. As this situation is >unusual (at least to me), I thought I should report it This sounds like your backup was not actually located on your computer's hard drive, but on an external drive like a thumbdrive. Sometimes the Restore works, but more often it does not. The same applies to creating a Backup to an external drive. The best thing is to create the Backup to the system hard drive (such as the default Backup folder as set in Preferences and then copy that SQZ file to the thumbdrive. And similarly, copy the SQZ file to the hard drive before doing the Restore. Lee

Thanks Lee, I knew it was something I did wrong. Nancy -----Original Message----- From: TMG [mailto:tmg-bounces+wright4766=bellsouth.net@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Lee Hoffman/KY Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2017 9:39 AM To: The Master Genealogist Rootsweb Email List Subject: Re: [TMG] Report ofr Census for srname Black At 5/4/2017 09:39, nancy wright wrote >I followed Lee's suggestion for the filters: >Tag type... Abrev equals Census And >Any Witness Surname equals [?] END > >I got an error message: function argument value, type, or count is invalid You should filter for the Tag Type _Label_ not the Tag Type _Abbrev_. Either that or enter the correct Abbreviation as the value -- in this case "cen.". Lee The TMG archive is found here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/TMG/ Instructions on how to subscribe to TMG: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/TMG.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message