Support for Shared/Linked Notes
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Hi everybody,
In the forthcoming release 4.2.1 we will be including support for
Shared (or Linked) Notes within PGV.
I will refer to them as "Shared" notes from now on.
(For those using svn, it will be available, as beta code, within 48 hours.)
The first question you may ask, if you do not know already, is:
"What is the difference between a regular note and a Shared Note?"
The best way to answer this is as follows.
You probably already know that you can add a media item into PGV.
This media item you can then "share" or "link" to different
individuals/families etc etc.
This is because it has its own identification number(normally Mxxx)
and you can link to this from any individual, or family or event etc.
Well, a shared note is a bit like this.
It also, like a media object, has its own id number (Nxxx) and
it can be "shared" with different individuals, families, etc etc.
usually when attached to an event like as census item.
In technical terms it is called an "Object" (as a media item is in PGV).
A regular note (which you just attach to any item for example)
is only relevant to that item and is Technically known as "Inline"
Anyway, enough of the technical terms.
How is a shared note useful?
A shared note is useful in the case of a Census Transcription.
eg:
<<
Census 1911 - Brinscall, Lancashire, England
RG14, PN12345, RG78, PN1440, RD475, SD1, ED6, SN138
Station House, School Lane
Joseph Doe, Head, M, 29, M, Railway Station Master, Lancashire, Oswaldtwistle
Jane Ellen Doe, Wife, M, 28, F, Lancashire, Blackburn
Mary E. Doe, Dau, S, 7, F, Scholar, Lancashire, Oswaldtwistle
John James Doe, Son, S, 3, M, Scholar, Lancashire, Brinscall
>>
This information is pertinent to four people:
Joseph, Jane Ellen, Mary E and John James Doe.
So instead of adding the same note, four different times, to each individual
census, we create a "Shared Note" once,
and link this to each individuals census event.
The whole idea is that it saves space in the GEDCOM, and is easier to manage,
as you only have to edit the item in one place, and the changes are reflected
to each event, or item, etc, that it is linked to.
Just for those that do read the gedcom record:
The resulting GEDCOM code will look something like this
(depending in which event you add the shared note):
1 CENS
2 DATE 02 APR 1911
2 PLAC Station House, Brinscall, Lancashire, England
2 SOUR @S10@
3 PAGE RG14, PN12345, RG78, PN1440, RD475, SD1, ED6, SN138
2 OBJE @M639@
2 NOTE @N5@ <----- The link to the shared note
OK that's it for now.
Within 48 hours on SVN ......
When you create a new "event" you will see an additional
item [+]Create shared note.
Just follow on from there as normal as if you were creating a new source,
or linking to an existing one etc.
In addition, you will also see a new "LIST" menu item .. "List Shared Notes"
If you already have shared notes in your GEDCOM, they will be displayed here.
Following the usual menus, you can Create/Delete/Edit these "Objects"
If you do not have any shared notes already,
or are not sure if they are relevant to you,
don't worry,
their support in PGV will in no way affect your current environment.
Any questions, do get back to me.
Brian
Thanks Brian,
For this and the work you have done on other modules including Lightbox.
I have read the discussion on linked NOTEs and I ask whether the feature you are proposing will be available for NOTE tags other than level 2 tags? I would like it for all NOTE tag levels.
I have been looking forward to this feature for level 1 tags in particular. I would use this to attach a family story to all members of a particular family.
I would also like to use the linked NOTE tag for many PLAC tags, as I would like to expand on the families involvement with a particular location. Some of my families have been deeply involved in the early establishment of many towns and I would like to add their "story" to the PLAC tag.
Thanks again for the work and support you give to all users of PGV.
Stuart
Stuart,
I guess the answer is yes.
I have just created a Level 1 PLAC tag (In an Indi), and then attached a level 2 shared note to it.
(Just using the add Shared note facility, where you can "Search for existing Sh Note/or Add New Sh Note"
1 PLAC Test
2 NOTE @N3@
When the Shared note attached to the level 1 PLAC is done, then you can again edit said PLAC and then
Search for existing Sh Note/or Add NewSh Note/ or Edir the current Shared note.
Is this what you are after?
Remember that the 1 PLAC must be copied to all other Indies or whatever etc by using the copy facility.
Just putting it in the Family will only let it be seen by Husband and wife.
If this is what you want, then great.
If you are on SVN then you should see this within 48 hours.
(Greg is just tidying up some of my code <grin>)
Brian
Thanks Brian,
Yes, that is essentially what I would welcome. All I am really after is the ability to create a linked NOTE and to be able to link that NOTE to anywhere I can currently add notes.
But going on from that "simple" wish, for the PLAC tag, I would really like the ability to attach a linked NOTE to each occurrence of a particular PLACe. This may be too difficult. But to give you an example.
For people with events occurring in say,
Rotherfield, Sussex, England, United Kingdom,
I would like the ability to attach a linked NOTE to each occurrence of that PLACe. If that cannot be easily done, then I would be happy to be able to add the link myself to each occurrence.
So far as level 1 NOTEs, I see no other alternative than to have the ability to add the linked NOTE to each INDI and FAM as required. This would not be particularly onerous as the NOTE would generally only relate to one or two generations of a particular family.
I see the ability of creating linked NOTEs as a major contribution to PGV and I very much welcome your contribution in this regard. This will be a significant enhancement that will push PGV to the forefront of, not only server based genealogy programs, but to all genealogy programs.
Well done,
Stuart
Stuart,
Interesting.
Just changed (via Raw Gedcom update) the above example.
from
1 PLAC Test
2 NOTE @N3@
to
1 PLAC Test
1 NOTE @N3@
The note is no longer attached to the PLAC (obvious)
But it does appear as a NOTE on the NOTE tab. (and is editable as a Shared Note)
Is this what you were looking for?
Brian
Stuart
I totally agree with your wish to record information againstspecific places. That has been discussed here before, and I hope one day we will get there.
Its not really related to Brian's work on shred notes. More a matter of how places are handled in the GEDCOM spec. At present the spec has no ability to identify a place as 'common'. It is only ever a level 2 item (or lower).
What we need is the ability to treat a PLAC as a level 1 item (or is it level 0?), so that notes, images, sources can all be attached to it. I believe from earlier discussions there is general agreement that it should and can be done (even though it is strictly outside the spec). What we need is a developer with the interest and time to work on it. Like many of us, I have plenty of ideas, but no ability to make them happen.
I suspect Brian will be well able to investigate it, but (and I'm being very selfish here) a couple of us are pushing him very hard just now to develop a really good way to input census data. He's done some brilliant work so far, and hopefully in the near future there will be something to share. The 'shared note', is just one early offshoot of that great work.
Thanks Nigel,
I remember the past discussion on the PLACe tag levels and I am no way pushing for any changes to that tag's levels. In a way I am reluctant to support any deviation away from the GEDCOM spec as this has other consequences. I am certainly not pushing Brian in any way. I willingly accept his and your priorities.
The fact that his work on census entries has brought about the added benefit of linked notes is a great plus. If I can create and edit a linked note and have the ability to add the link to where other notes are allowed, I would be a very happy chappy.
On a very limited basis I have copied and pasted notes to INDIs, FAMs and PLACes to add family stories. The main draw-back to this is that if you want to edit the story, you have to do it in many places. With linked notes, you would only edit it once.
If the shared notes could be set up similar to the way PGV handles media objects this would be an added bonus.
Any step forward in the development of linked notes is a great step forward. Thanks again Brian.
Stuart
<<If the shared notes could be set up similar to the way PGV handles media objects this would be an added bonus.>>
Having been helping Brian test this development, I would describe it more like sources than media (although perhaps they are similar).
You add the 'shared note' in exactly the same way, and can add a new one, or find an existing one in the same way. One improvement that the shared notes has though, is that an existing one can alo be edited form the same place (e.g. the add birth screen).
In addition there is a new List item for them, and further options to edit, delete, add from there as well. I'm pretty sure Brian has covered all bases.
Stuart, you dont say whether you are using 4.2.1 SVN or not?
If you are just wait a wee while longer (maybe a day or two longer than I anticipated) and then play with what is released.
As Nigel says, I do not think you will be disappointed.
The only thing I would say is this.
A Note can be fluid free-form text (with no CR/LF entered at all in 200 or 300 or more words.)
The only disadvantage this has is for the "Listing of Shared Notes" page.
The "Title" display of the Shared Note is derived from the first line of text until a CR/LF character is seen
(ie. when you hit "ENTER while editing") .
ie in GEDCOM speak
0 @Nxxx@ NOTE This is a story about three bears and a little girl called Goldilocks. <ENTER was pressed her>
1 CONT Once upon a time in a little green wood there lived ........... etc etc <ENTER was pressed her>
1 CONT etc etc
The title on the LIST Shared Notes page would then be "This is a story about three bears and a little girl called Goldilocks."
if you had this
0 @Nxxx@ NOTE This is a story about three bears and a little girl called Goldilocks. Once upon a time in a little green woood there lived ........... etc etc .......etc etc
Then you would have a horrendously long title ... (get my drift?)
Use the CR/LF ("ENTER") when the first line is what you want.
The rest will then be translated into 1 CONT etc etc whenever you enter hit "ENTER" while editing the note
All you will have to do in your case for each story will be to create an EVENT, click create a new "Shared Note"/or find an existing one.
Then save.
Next for another indi you can simply click Edit/Copy on the original indi event, and then on a new INDI, select add new event, and scroll to the bottom of the list and paste in what is in the "clipboard"
After this all you need to do in order to edit this said "Shared Note" for ALL persons linked, is to edit said shared not once.
(Either on the List Shared Notes Page, or even (as Nigel has said) by clicking edit event, and then click the 3rd icon edit this shared note.) It is really quite flexible.
Wait a couple of days (if you have SVN) and then you will see.
Brian
Brian, I am not using SVN. In fact I am still using V4.1.5 on my live site. I did load V4.1.6 on to a test site, but I haven't done anything about V4.2! I am afraid that my knowledge of PHP, MySQL, etc. is very, very limited. I am just a very happy user of PGV. Currently I am struggling to set up a personal Joomla! site to replace a very basic one I wrote several years ago using HTML.
This is why I am grateful to the developers of PGV and to people like Nigel who not only support your work in testing new versions, but who spend an extraordinary amount of time helping Users with their problems.
I am therefore not pushing you to complete your work on linked notes. I am just grateful that you are prepared to do the work. Having said that, I am now wondering whether, even with my lack of knowledge, that I could some how participate in helping with development testing. But I know nothing about SVN, for example.
In the meantime I will provide some additional comment.
Firstly, I am comfortable with your concept of using the first paragraph as a "Title". But I am a little confused about having to create an EVENt to add a linked NOTE. I was anticipating that I could add a 1 @Nxxxx@ NOTE in a similar fashion to how I can already add a 1 NOTE tag.
I am comfortable in how you propose to add 2 @Nxxxx@ NOTE tags. I understand that this is the main feature that Nigel, and others, are looking for. That is, to create a Census EVENt, to attach a 2 @Nxxxx@ NOTE to that EVENt, then use the EVENt clipboard to paste that EVENt (and its' 2 @Nxxxx@ NOTE) to each member of the household. This will be a great addition to PGV.
But this does not raise as much interest for me as having the ability to add and edit, n @Nxxxx@ NOTEs. As I have said previously, I have used them for attaching to FAMs and to PLACes, but I have had to add and edit the linked notes off-line, being very careful to not edit these notes online. Having to remember which notes were linked notes was always very difficult for me.
Thanks again for your efforts.
Stuart
OK Now I understand what level you are at.
This afternoon, I fixed all my little nasties, and also added support for level 1 @Nxxx@ link to Shared Note.
The GUI for this is on the Indi page Notes tab, and the interface is the same as for an event OK?
I will probably upload this to the testers tonight, and if all is received well then within 2 days will add it to 4.2.1 SVN
So it will be already there when you upgrade to 4.2.1 <grin> when it is released.
Brian
That's great news. The interface to the linked notes by way of an event interface seems ok by me. I am just happy to be able to add and edit linked notes without having to do it off-line.
I am going away on holidays for the next couple of weeks and, maybe, V4.2.1 will be released by then.
I have ironed out my problems with V4.1.6 on my test site, but this is now irrelevant. I will wait until Greg issues V4.2.1 before upgrading my live site.
Thanks to you and all the developers for your work on PGV.
Stuart
***UPDATE***
Shared Notes is now enabled in 4.2.1 SVN as of a few days
Today I added the Shared Note Functions To the Family page, The Source Page, and the repository page.
This is now enabled in svn 5181/2
Remember that although the default config_gedcom.php has been updated, your own individual gedcom config file will have to be modified online to add the Shared Note to the Source and Repository "Add new fact" dropdown menu.
In Edit Gedcom Configuration/Edit Options/ add "SHARED_NOTE" to the options in both
Source Add Facts, and Repository Add Facts
e.g.
Source Add Facts = NOTE,OBJE,REPO,SHARED_NOTE
Repository Add Facts = PHON,EMAIL,FAX,WWW,NOTE,SHARED_NOTE
Brian
How is this working out, folks? Would someone care to share one of your own usages of the shared note? I'm pondering my own path towards moving existing records to shared notes vs. only new records. So I'd appreciate seeing live examples.
victor
I thought earlier discussion in this thread provided examples, and the main reason for the development of this added feature is for a future project, BUT
it is quite handy for adding any note where you wish to duplicate the note in several places in the GEDCOM - multiple INDI's, FAM's, SOURces - as it must only be created and then added to each location, either as a level 2 or 3 tag.
It will
1) consume a considerably smaller amount of space in a GEDCOM as it is only a single line in each place it is added;
2) allows editing in one place, rather than searching for multiple incidences and correcting/annotating each
It could be a lengthy description of a place of interest or a family story where it is added to each person mentioned, etc. Get creative and you'll find lots of uses. As discussed elsewhere, we intend to add a CENSus feature, but it can already be used for this without the planned form formatting. This preformatted form concept may be applicable to several events and a highly-freeform shared note will be invaluable. Besides, it was already in the GEDCOM specs, just not supported by PGV - a rarity.
Hope this helps, Stephen
<<moving existing records to shared notes vs. only new records.>>
As Stephen says, the benefits really show when a note is used in more than one place, but there is at least one other benefit that 'might' make it worth considering for ALL notes. That is the "Notes List". Like the Source list, this gathers all the notes into a single sortable list. Here the note can be edited and you can see at a glance where it is used (linked).
The arguments are very similar to the way media is recorded. Some software still use the inline media tags, but most have moved to the "shared media" concept that PGV uses.
That raises an interesting question for our development team - should PGV consider moving ALL notes to the "shared note" concept (replacing all existing ('2 NOTE some text' format to a '2 NOTE @Nxx@' and '0 @Nxx@ NOTE' format)? This could be done on import, as it is now with media.
That would eliminate any possible confusion between Notes and Shared notes that we might have just introduced.
Not a recommendation from me at this stage - but worth discussing.
Kiwi
With over 10,000 notes, I'm not sure that moving these to a SHARED NOTE concept is practical. I already experience a 4-6 minute delay in managing media, a 2-3 minute loading for the SOUR page, and I can only imagine how unmanageable SHARED-NOTE list would quickly become. I already have concerns about the list as it is, with a significant delay with only a few. When we add all the census data here - OMG.
-Stephen
I think anything that helps the management of data is to be encouraged and I welcome the move to a 'sharing' concept for all notes (and maybe some other tags). Problems with response times is more to do with the inefficiencies and complexities of the current coding and hopefully this will improve in future releases.
I also don't think that the internal workings of pgv should be constrained by strict adherence to the GEDCOM standard and as long as any enhancements can be reconfigured during the transfer of data to other applications then I see no problem in adopting them.
In this regard I would like to see pgv's export procedure translate media into inline media tags so as to improve compatibility with other software. Maybe this should be a feature request but I think it should be considered if a similar process is going to be employed for dealing with shared notes, etc.
Stephen - that is a fair point, but perhaps the answer will lie in the way the lists are produced. Perhaps some form of paging, as in INDI lists is required, or like media - a blank list until filtering is confirmed. I think media is a special case though. Other products like gallery2 handle media much more efficiently (I believe), so I'm sure there must be a better solution than PGV uses at present.
David:
<<I also don't think that the internal workings of pgv should be constrained by strict adherence to the GEDCOM standard>> I agree with that concept in general. The key is your comment "can be reconfigured during the transfer of data to other applications", i.e. during export. I would love to see PGV do exporting in much the same way as it does importing - converting everything to fit the GEDCOM spec. I have said here in the past, that my preference would be to completely abandon support for constant synchronisation with a text-based '.ged' file and only produce one on export, with a range of options beyond just gedcom or gramps, such as in line vs level one media, lat/long tags, etc . Some have objected to that on the grounds of security of backups, but most other genealogy software does exactly that.
<<translate media into inline media tags so as to improve compatibility with other software>> This one I would probably disagree with (subject to the option described above). Any other software SHOULD be able to accept level 0 media tags as it is standard GEDCOM format. I feel it is the other software at fault here, not PGV, if it can't handle this format.
I've tried a few desktop genealogy apps and I can't think of any that maintain a synchronised gedcom. Nevertheless, whether the gedcom is continually rewritten or occaissionally generated shouldn't affect the way pgv operates (apart from a performance hit) and is surely a question of preference?
I agree that other software should support 0 media tags but the reality is that they dont. I'm merely suggesting that as they definitely wont support 0 note tags then a new export routine will have to be written to ensure compatibility. It may be feasible to code it in such a way that other 0 tags were included at the same time and further improving the software.
<<a new export routine will have to be written to ensure compatibility. >>
As I understand it PGV currently works the other way round, converting (if you want) on import, rather than export, which it can do because it can work with either level 1 media OR level 0.
It's what the "Keep media links" option is for in the import routine.
But thats not to say an option on export as well might not be a bad idea.