What's the consequences of editing the raw record/file - I can actually add the wrong-coded missing Chinese characters to the Alia field. How can I show/see the Alia field in PGV? Thank you in advance. Irene
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I'm not sure what the purpose of the ALIA tag is in the GEDCOM standard. The standard definitely says that the ALIA tag is NOT a way of representing alternate names for the same individual.
We told you before to use the Hebrew name field for entering your names in Chinese letters. The fact that you're using the Hebrew name fields for this purpose will only be apparent to your users who have Edit rights and then only when they edit the names. Ordinary users who are just looking at your data will not know about this.
As Stephen has said many times, it's very dangerous to edit the raw GEDCOM. Don't do this.
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After import from FTM, the ALIA in PGV contains wrong codes (it does bother me! I'd like my data to be as neat and clean as possible.) - those wrong codes used to be Chinese names in FTM. The Alia field normally doesn't show in edit/view, (or does it?) bec I wanted to delete the wrong codes. Because I don't know if it will cause any trouble in the future (again, it bothers me, feeling yucky .. eyesore ..).
Thank you.
Irene
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What version of FTM are you using? If FTM is using the Alias field for entering anything other than a reference pointer to another INDIvidual then they are wrong and should be told they are wrong.
The GEDCOM standard documentation for 5.5.1 says the following about using ALIA
! Alias Names:
One or two systems used the ALIAs tag for representing multiple names. This form is not supported
in the GEDCOM Standard version 5.5.
FYI… the ALIA tag is generally used for cases where two entries occur in your database that look kind of like they are the same person but you are not yet sure,. This allow you to link them together without merging them. Personally I've only had one case were I would have used this feature, I did not use it. I had two people with the same name and birth information one died as a young adult and the other went on to old age. I collected all I could about both "offline" until I confirmed the right person. In an environment like PGV information sharing may have helped find the answer soon if I put them both out in the net. Don't know, probably will not happen again to me.
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I notice that my copy of Family Tree Maker 2006 uses the ALIA tag incorrectly. PGV doesn't do anything with this incorrect usage, and just keeps it in the database. This is perfectly OK with me.
What I see happening is this:
FTM 2006 does not have a way of entering nicknames. The field labelled "AKA" is expected to be used for that. When used in this manner, the Person list within FTM correctly shows the AKA field contents within quotation marks following all the other given names of that person.
When the FTM database is exported to a GEDCOM, the AKA field is exported as a AKA record at the same level as the name, and the AKA name listed in the original FTM database is enclosed in slashes, as if it were a surname. Thus, FTM considers the AKA field in its database to represent a complete name and NOT a nickname.
There's no easy solution to this apparent mis-use of the ALIA tag by Family Tree Maker. However, PhpGedView could be programmed to do the necessary conversion when the GEDCOM is imported. This is not likely to happen any time soon.
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Sorry, I wish I could edit old posts! Stupid SourceForge board system.
The text, "… the AKA field is exported as a AKA record at the same level …" in the second-last paragraph above should have read, "… the AKA field is exported as an ALIA record at the same level …"
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FTM tells me that they are 5.5.1 compatible in the 2012 release. I don't yet have a copy of this software to test, however AKA in FTM should not be used they should allow for multiple NAME tags.
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FTM already allows for multiple NAME tags. The first in the list is the "primary" name. You can designate which of the several names is the "primary" or "preferred" name. This is in FTM 2006, and was even implemented in FTM 2003.
What's needed is proper support for Nicknames.
As was already noted, there's no real need for a true "AKA", since mutiple names achieve the same thing. In fact, that's what I use in FTM 2006. For example, my birth name is different from my name after adoption. They're both in the database, and the "name after adoption" is the "preferred" name. I also have a nickname.
There was another name in the mix, but I prefer to ignore that one - the memories are not pleasant.
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Thank you so much.
FTM sucks. But it was better than my own home-built database. So it served some purpose. Thanks to FTM but it still sucks thou. And they're still offline!!!
Before my major surgery, I need advise on names again. My ancestors all had 3-5+ names:
1. Name: born with _
2. Courtesy name:
3. Assumed name:
4. Assumed name or alternative name taken at older age:
5. Posthumous title:
OR
Combine 2-5 to Nickname field, separates by comma?
Than you in advance
Irene
_
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Thanks.
What's the best way to keep two names for the same person: due to the spelling differences (i.e. Wade-Giles vs Pinyin) CAP=surname:
LIU Pingchang (Wade-Giles) and LIU Bingzhang (pinyin) = is the same person.
CHOU Fu (Wade-Giles) and ZHOU Fu (pinyin)
I’d think naturally that Alias field would be it. But after the discussions, I’m not sure now..
Consistent .. using the same field?
Sorry (my head is spinning .. ) but many thanks for any advice.
Thank you in advance.
Irene
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Maybe my advise was not as complete as I should have made it.
Ask yourself, how many of those 3-5+ names need to be indexed? How many of them are ones that some one may use to find your relation? If the posthumous one is never used, then why index it?
While the following example does not cover your example, it is all I have. I have a great uncle that had documents (such as a sailor, birth, immigration …) where his name was spelled Torwald, or Torvald or Thorvald. Put the people in his house knew him as Torwald so his main name is that spelling and all other spellings were not entered, however I did put that information in the NOTE tag for him. I do create two NAME tags for people that have had legal name changes. You will have to look to see how the name area of PGV looks when you use multiple NAME tags, you may not like it. As described use the Hebrew name for alternate language spellings. People will search by these.
Alias is not for entering a name it is for entering a key to another Individual.
If also depends on how you may use a GEDCOM generated by PGV, Some software programs only support one NAME tag.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
What's the consequences of editing the raw record/file - I can actually add the wrong-coded missing Chinese characters to the Alia field. How can I show/see the Alia field in PGV? Thank you in advance. Irene
The ALIA tag you are using is wrong it must be an XREF value to another INDI record.
1 ALIA @<XREF:INDI>@
Editing the RAW GEDCOM is NOT a good idea unless you are very familiar with how to use the tag correctly.
What are you trying to do? Create an alternate name? Try using the Hebrew field
I'm not sure what the purpose of the ALIA tag is in the GEDCOM standard. The standard definitely says that the ALIA tag is NOT a way of representing alternate names for the same individual.
We told you before to use the Hebrew name field for entering your names in Chinese letters. The fact that you're using the Hebrew name fields for this purpose will only be apparent to your users who have Edit rights and then only when they edit the names. Ordinary users who are just looking at your data will not know about this.
As Stephen has said many times, it's very dangerous to edit the raw GEDCOM. Don't do this.
Thank you.
Okay.. no messing with the raw stuff.
After import from FTM, the ALIA in PGV contains wrong codes (it does bother me! I'd like my data to be as neat and clean as possible.) - those wrong codes used to be Chinese names in FTM. The Alia field normally doesn't show in edit/view, (or does it?) bec I wanted to delete the wrong codes. Because I don't know if it will cause any trouble in the future (again, it bothers me, feeling yucky .. eyesore ..).
Thank you.
Irene
What version of FTM are you using? If FTM is using the Alias field for entering anything other than a reference pointer to another INDIvidual then they are wrong and should be told they are wrong.
The GEDCOM standard documentation for 5.5.1 says the following about using ALIA
FYI… the ALIA tag is generally used for cases where two entries occur in your database that look kind of like they are the same person but you are not yet sure,. This allow you to link them together without merging them. Personally I've only had one case were I would have used this feature, I did not use it. I had two people with the same name and birth information one died as a young adult and the other went on to old age. I collected all I could about both "offline" until I confirmed the right person. In an environment like PGV information sharing may have helped find the answer soon if I put them both out in the net. Don't know, probably will not happen again to me.
I notice that my copy of Family Tree Maker 2006 uses the ALIA tag incorrectly. PGV doesn't do anything with this incorrect usage, and just keeps it in the database. This is perfectly OK with me.
What I see happening is this:
FTM 2006 does not have a way of entering nicknames. The field labelled "AKA" is expected to be used for that. When used in this manner, the Person list within FTM correctly shows the AKA field contents within quotation marks following all the other given names of that person.
When the FTM database is exported to a GEDCOM, the AKA field is exported as a AKA record at the same level as the name, and the AKA name listed in the original FTM database is enclosed in slashes, as if it were a surname. Thus, FTM considers the AKA field in its database to represent a complete name and NOT a nickname.
There's no easy solution to this apparent mis-use of the ALIA tag by Family Tree Maker. However, PhpGedView could be programmed to do the necessary conversion when the GEDCOM is imported. This is not likely to happen any time soon.
Sorry, I wish I could edit old posts! Stupid SourceForge board system.
The text, "… the AKA field is exported as a AKA record at the same level …" in the second-last paragraph above should have read, "… the AKA field is exported as an ALIA record at the same level …"
FTM tells me that they are 5.5.1 compatible in the 2012 release. I don't yet have a copy of this software to test, however AKA in FTM should not be used they should allow for multiple NAME tags.
FTM already allows for multiple NAME tags. The first in the list is the "primary" name. You can designate which of the several names is the "primary" or "preferred" name. This is in FTM 2006, and was even implemented in FTM 2003.
What's needed is proper support for Nicknames.
As was already noted, there's no real need for a true "AKA", since mutiple names achieve the same thing. In fact, that's what I use in FTM 2006. For example, my birth name is different from my name after adoption. They're both in the database, and the "name after adoption" is the "preferred" name. I also have a nickname.
There was another name in the mix, but I prefer to ignore that one - the memories are not pleasant.
Thank you so much.
FTM sucks. But it was better than my own home-built database. So it served some purpose. Thanks to FTM but it still sucks thou. And they're still offline!!!
Before my major surgery, I need advise on names again. My ancestors all had 3-5+ names:
1. Name: born with _
2. Courtesy name:
3. Assumed name:
4. Assumed name or alternative name taken at older age:
5. Posthumous title:
OR
Combine 2-5 to Nickname field, separates by comma?
Than you in advance
Irene
_
Or you can put several of those names in "New Name" fields. Look at the "Edit" drop down and note that it has an option for "Add new Name".
Several of these names could go in several (different) New Names. The display is not real good but it works.
Thanks.
What's the best way to keep two names for the same person: due to the spelling differences (i.e. Wade-Giles vs Pinyin) CAP=surname:
LIU Pingchang (Wade-Giles) and LIU Bingzhang (pinyin) = is the same person.
CHOU Fu (Wade-Giles) and ZHOU Fu (pinyin)
I’d think naturally that Alias field would be it. But after the discussions, I’m not sure now..
Consistent .. using the same field?
Sorry (my head is spinning .. ) but many thanks for any advice.
Thank you in advance.
Irene
Maybe my advise was not as complete as I should have made it.
Ask yourself, how many of those 3-5+ names need to be indexed? How many of them are ones that some one may use to find your relation? If the posthumous one is never used, then why index it?
While the following example does not cover your example, it is all I have. I have a great uncle that had documents (such as a sailor, birth, immigration …) where his name was spelled Torwald, or Torvald or Thorvald. Put the people in his house knew him as Torwald so his main name is that spelling and all other spellings were not entered, however I did put that information in the NOTE tag for him. I do create two NAME tags for people that have had legal name changes. You will have to look to see how the name area of PGV looks when you use multiple NAME tags, you may not like it. As described use the Hebrew name for alternate language spellings. People will search by these.
Alias is not for entering a name it is for entering a key to another Individual.
If also depends on how you may use a GEDCOM generated by PGV, Some software programs only support one NAME tag.