Sunday, October 7, 2012

Finding Missing Sources In Legacy Family Tree 7.5, Part 2



Yesterday, I explained a method for searching for missing sources in a specific location using Legacy Family Tree.  The method works well if you plan on entering the missing sources directly into Legacy.  You don't need to print out a report; you can just view and add sources directly from the search list.

Today, I'm going to describe a method that may be more practical if you have a large database or many missing sources.  I began using a genealogy database in the mid-1980s, but my first program only printed pedigree charts and family group sheets.  I couldn't have entered a source citation even if I'd realized I should.  I began adding sources in the 1990s in Brother's Keeper, moved to Legacy about 2001, and started using RootsMagic in conjunction with Legacy about 18 months ago.  All the moves between databases involved GEDCOM, and given the age of my database, I've got a lot of missing sources.

One option would be to run a simple Missing Sources search of the entire database.  Because my database contains about 8100 people, the report for missing sources for burial place alone is 24 pages and nearly 400 people.  That's too large a "to do" list for me to handle.  The "Anything" search is even more impractical:  for reasons of my own, I usually don't add a source to the Name field, so virtually my entire database will show up on that search.

Another option is to limit the search by location, surname, and event type.  For example, I searched for and printed a list of everyone with the surnames of my great-grandparents who are buried in Harrison Co., Missouri who have no source citation for that burial.  With that list, which contains only 21 names, it will be easy to use my gravestone photographs, cemetery books, and FindAGrave to add source citations.

Unlike the method I described yesterday, this process involves tagging. Tagging is a feature of Legacy that allows us to mark individuals in the database so we can limit searches or reports just to those individuals.  For this example, I started by tagging everyone in my database with the surnames of my great-grandparents.

(1) Clear any tags that may have been assigned previously (Ctrl-T; then select Clear All Tag Numbers for Everyone). Then, open the Search feature (Ctrl-F; or use the Search Menu and select Find) and select the Query by Example tab.  If necessary, use the Clear button to remove data from any previous searches, then type in the surname:


(2) Make sure "Clear list before this search" (lower left) is ticked, and click the "Create List" button.  The following screen should appear:


(3) Select the Options button at the bottom of the name list, then select Advanced Tagging.  From the Advanced Tagging screen, select the "Everyone in Search List" button, then Close.  Notice that an X has been added in the Tag 1 column of the search list.


Close that list and repeat Steps 1 through 3 for the other surnames.

(4) Once the surname(s) are tagged, press Ctrl-F to open the Search box again.  This time, select the Detailed Search tab.  This screen uses drop-down boxes to define the search in a variety of ways.  In this case, I wanted only the surnames I'd tagged who are buried in Harrison Co., Missouri.  To do that, I made the following selections:

Primary Condition:  Look for whom? Individual; Where to look? Tag 1; How to look? Equal to; What to look for? Tagged
AND
Second Condition:  Individual; Burial Place; Contains; Harrison Co., Missouri

(5) Make sure "Clear list before this search" is ticked, then click Create List.  I now had a list of everyone with the tagged surnames whose burial location contains the words Harrison Co., Missouri:


 (6) From the bottom of that Search list, click the Search button and then Find.  This time when the search screen appears, select the Missing Sources tab and clear it if necessary.  Select Burial Date and Place, and in the lower left corner select "Only search the search list."  Then click the "Create List" button.




(7) Now click the Print button at the bottom of the list of names, and select the options you want to print.  Because I'm dealing with Burials in this example, I selected Name, Died, and Buried under Row 1.  Clicking Preview (or Print) gave me the following report, containing the information I need to confirm and add burial citations for my surnames of interest in Harrison Co., Missouri:


Could I have skipped the tagging step?  Sure, but I prefer working with shorter lists, and I wanted to illustrate how tagging can provide data you otherwise wouldn't be able to obtain without manually going through large reports from your entire database.  I probably wouldn't use tagging in most situations where I can find what I need from the Query by Example or Detailed Search tab.  However, when I want to include more than 3 conditions, it seems necessary.

Yes, this sounds complicated when you see it written out, but that's only because the search and reporting features of Legacy are so powerful, flexible, and customizable.  It's not that hard; you just have to experiment with the options to realize how much you can do.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Creating a Missing Sources by Location Report in Legacy



A few days ago, I commented on Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings blog regarding how to create a report in Legacy Family Tree 7.5 of people with missing sources in a specific location.  Unfortunately, when I tried to duplicate my steps with a different (and much larger) database, I wasn't able to replicate the process.  Basically, I'm here to admit I didn't know what I was talking about in that comment.  It is possible to do, but you'll need to ignore those instructions and follow these instead.

While there is a way to do it with tagging, it is not necessary to use tagging.  Instead, here is what I think is the easiest method:

(1) I have customized my Legacy toolbar to include a Location icon that opens my Location list; clicking the icon replaces Step 1 in Randy's instructions.  Scroll down the Location List to the specific location, or type the location in the Find field.  My locations are sorted right to left (see the Sort button at the center bottom of the screen) so that typing Massachusetts will take me to all Massachusetts locations, from which I can easily highlight the one I want (Freetown, Bristol Co.).  Because I have the Show People field (right side of the Master Location List screen) checked, highlighting the location produces a list of the people in the database using that location:



(2) Click on List Options at the bottom of the list of names, but instead of choosing Tag Everyone like Randy did, choose Create Search List.  That brings up a screen that asks whether to Create a New Search List or Add to an Existing List.  Choose Create New Search list and then select Close.  That brings up another prompt that asks whether you would like to show the results from the "Used By" search you created?  Click OK.

(3) This opens the Search List, i.e. the people who have an event occurring in Freetown, Massachusetts.  The first person in the list will be highlighted. 



Notice the tabs on the right:  click on the Sources tab and you can see the sources attached to the highlighted person.  You can check, add or edit sources directly from the list by highlighting each person on the list.

If you want a printed list, however, you'll need to follow some additional steps:

(4) At the bottom of the Search List screen (above), click Search and then Find.  This opens the Search screen; select the Missing Sources tab:


(5) THIS STEP IS CRITICAL:  notice on the lower left of the Missing Sources search screen (above) that you have three choices:  Clear List before this search; Add results to existing list, or Only Search the search list.  Make sure you check that you want to "Only Search the search list."  Also check the type of Missing Sources you want to look for.  I get confused with the Anything Option, so I prefer to check the specific types of sources.  For this example, I selected birth, death, burial, and marriage date.  Once you've made your selections, click the Create List button at the bottom of the screen.

I now have a list of the people in my database with a Freetown, Bristol Co., Massachusetts location who are missing at least one source citation for birth, or death, or burial, or marriage date.  In this example it is only one person.


(6) To print the list, click the Print button at the bottom of the screen, and the List Report Options screen will appear: 


Under the Options tab, I entered a title "Missing Sources:  Freetown, Massachusetts," and on the Row 1 tab, I selected to print name, birth, death, and burial information.  After adjusting the page size to Landscape to allow for all 4 data fields on Row 1, I clicked the Preview button and obtained the following printable report:


While this is not exactly the format Randy was hoping for in his series of posts, I think it is close.  Legacy gives a variety of options for printing and formatting a Missing Sources report by Location.  The procedure may sound complicated, and I'm not sure why there are a couple of extraneous clicks in Step 2, but once you've done it a few times, I think you will agree it is not difficult.

While RootsMagic became my primary database about a year ago (primarily because of its Research Notes Report feature), I still prefer Legacy for its ease of data entry, its search features, and its flexibility in creating a wide variety of customized reports.