Layers

Our genealogy database program.

Moderator: Nick Hunter

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laschapas
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:48 am
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Layers

Post by laschapas » Sun May 10, 2009 4:40 pm

Hi Nick,

If you have to add any update to version 3 would it be possible to create Button Bar icons for some of the Layer features? I am trying to decide how best to use layers. It would be easier to move families to different layers if there were Button Bar icons for "Use as a new layer .." , "Move to layer .." , " Remove from layer".

John Wood

Nick Hunter
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Post by Nick Hunter » Mon May 11, 2009 10:17 pm

Hi John,

We can certainly put them in if there's a demand for them. I guess the thinking was that these functions would not be used as much as, say, Choose Layer.

You can always right-click on the Tree Area and get these functions if that's any help.

laschapas
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:48 am
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Post by laschapas » Tue May 12, 2009 11:36 am

Hi Nick,

I am still playing with the layers feature. I don't know how the program records which layer a family is on so this idea may be a no no. Would it be possible to show which families have not been placed on any layer? It is easy to do -> Select families -> Descendants or Ancestors to grab a group of families to place on a layer. The problem comes with selecting the families which are not yet linked but are of interest to one part of of the tree. You have to select a layer to see which families are not linked but are physically in that part of the Tree Area and then select All Layers to be able to work on these families. You cannot drag the mouse over a section of the Tree Area as this captures the families already placed in a layer. I want to place the "possible" families in a different layer. I notice that there is a Layers.dat file. Can the layer selected by a family be searched for in an SQL Query ?

I hope what I am trying to achieve with the new layers feature is clear.

John Wood

Nick Hunter
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Post by Nick Hunter » Tue May 12, 2009 3:16 pm

Hi John,

I think I see what you mean. We could maybe add a pseudo-layer in the "Choose layer" dialog which would just show the families which are not on any layer; in fact they are on the background. So "Background" could be the name of the pseudo-layer.

Yes. The Families table has a "Layer" field which is just the code number of the layer it appears on. The Layers table stores the name of each layer against its code number. So you could create an SQL join like:

SELECT F.[Description], L.[Description] Layer
FROM Layers L, Families F
WHERE L.

Code: Select all

 = F.[Layer]

sdj
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Layers

Post by sdj » Wed May 13, 2009 4:39 pm

I have previously had a separate database (9 of them!) for each large branch of my family as I have so many records. However this causes problems as the more recent families are only on one of these databases for easy of updating. Could I now amalgamate the databases into one large one with different layers and would this help me?
Thanks

Nick Hunter
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Post by Nick Hunter » Wed May 13, 2009 5:33 pm

Hi,

Yes I think so.

Because the "Database | Merge" feature retains the layering of the incoming database, you should set up a single layer in each of your databases and place all of the families on them first. Then create a new database and merge each of the other databases into it. Each set of families will remain on their own layer.

Please be aware that there is a known bug in the "Database | Merge" feature (which will be fixed in V3.0.1) and it may result in the program looping without completing the merge.

laschapas
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:48 am
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Post by laschapas » Wed May 13, 2009 10:05 pm

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the query syntax to combine the layers and families databases, it does list all the layered families and show which layer each family is in.

SELECT F.[Description], L.[Description] Layer
FROM Layers L, Families F
WHERE L.

Code: Select all

 = F.[Layer]

By experimenting I have discovered that it is also possible to select the families on one specific layer, in the following example layer number 1.

SELECT F.[Description], L.[Description] Layer
FROM Layers L, Families F
WHERE L.[Code] = F.[Layer] AND L.[Code] = 1

I hope other users find this useful. Could some of these unusual query syntax be added to the help file, or should we have a post section where users can post any unusual query syntax they have found useful?

John Wood

laschapas
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:48 am
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Post by laschapas » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:30 am

Hi Nick,

I am experimenting with the layers feature and have come across a few features which, in addition to my previous comments, would make working with layers easier. Could the size of the "Manage Layers" window & the "Choose layer to make active" windows be made adjustable? I now have more layers than fit in the window. It would also be useful to be able to reorganize the layer names, something like the "Organize notes" icon in the family & person edit windows.

A follow up from my post on 12 May I have found it easier to move families from one named layer to another named layer rather than having to move them from the "All layers" layer. For example; instead of trying to select families one by one to place in layer "A" & then repeating the process for layer "B"; I grab all families of interest and place them in layer "A" ; I can then select layer "A", select the families from layer "A" that I want to move to layer "B" and move them. Sorry about the long winded description, but other users may find this useful.

John Wood

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