Re: [Gramps-users] Re : Is there a particular reason why "Divorce" isn't included as a relationship type?

[Enno B. <enn...@gm...>]

Hello Dave,

> Maybe you can help by telling us where the Relationship Type affects 
> others things we do with Gramps. Where does it come into play?
I have no idea how or where it is used in reports, but I personally use 
it for two things:

1. When I find the word "wife" in a birth record, or "widow" or 
"widower" in a death record, I conclude that the persons referred too 
were married. Saving that conclusion in the relationship is much quicker 
than creating a fake marriage event.

2. When I find a birth record where no father is mentioned, or one for 
which I know that the father is not the biological one, I create a 
relationship between the biological parents with type "not married". 
This can only be done when I have reliable hearsay about the real 
father, of course.

In situation 1, I know that I may have to look for a marriage record, 
and when I can register that, the relationship type is sort of overruled 
by the marriage event, which can be followed by a divorce record too, 
when available. I leave the relationship type to "married" then still, 
because in my and Gramps' logic, that's what the relationship was. A 
divorce is not a relationship type.

In situation 2, I use the "not married" relationship type as an 
indicator that there is not much need to look for a marriage record, 
although there may be one. But if there is none, having the "not 
married" relationship type is much easier than a fake "not married" 
marriage event, which will lead to very awkward texts in reports.

> Would adding a custom type cause something irregular to happen?
In my mind, yes. Creating a divorced relationship type is inconsistent 
with the software design, and creating a custom type also leads to 
problems when a language border is crossed. That's why I will always try 
to avoid custom types myself.

> Does it show up in reports are cause the relationship to not show up 
> based upon what the type says, or if were customized?
I sincerely hope that setting the relationship type to "not married" 
will suppress the M word in any report that I may create some time. I 
want Gramps to be accurate, and not report marriages because some fool 
thought that all people were or should be married.

> Bottom line... Just how important is the Relationship Type.
See above. I need it to record conclusions about the nature or a 
relationship, especially when people were not married, and there is no 
other way to prove a non event. I also use it for the temporary 
conclusion or reminder that a marriage record should be found some time.

Fake events look bad in reports, so Gramps should prevent them where 
possible.

regards,

Enno