Kekule Numbering System

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Keith Wilson
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Kekule Numbering System

Post by Keith Wilson » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:42 am

guyholmes wrote:I don't really understand the reference numbers given to each individual in my tree on iFamily - The numbers seem to be sorted by generation getting larger as you go back in time. Is there any way to change reference numbers or use a different numbering system such as Kekule (sometimes called 'ahnentafel') which seems to be a fairly industry standard reference system in genealogy ?

Also, is there a primary individual in the tree (ie me !) I notice I seem to have been given the reference number 1, so I assume it knows that I started the tree, although it was imported from a Gedcom and ideally I would have my children as the 'point of origin' as I now have their tree mapped out on my wife's side aswell. Can you change the 'focal / primary' person. Many thanks. Great program by the way !
Hi Guy,

Numbering of Individuals

Each person in the database is automatically given a sequential number. You cannot edit it and the same number is never used twice within a database. If your data was imported from a Gedcom file then the numbering used in the Gedcom file is used. Some people use these numbers as a reference to a paper based filing system.

On the Person's Panel there are two more reference numbers that can be assigned to a person, the Ancestral File Number (AFN) and a User Reference Number. The AFN is issued by the Latter-day Saints (LDS) and in theory you should not use this field unless the value was actually issued by LDS. On the other hand the User Reference Number may contain anything you like - maybe a number that refers to your paper based filing system.

There is also a unique number called a UID that is assigned to every database object. The UID is supposedly unique withing the universe.

The ahnentafel numbering may be added to iFamily for Tiger at a later date however it relates to a specific person and in iFamily for Tiger the Focal Person is constantly changing. Please refer to my comments below about Ancestral Views.

The Focal Person

The Focal Person of the diagram may be changed by

a) double clicking on any person in the diagram.
b) right click on any person and select the pop-up menu option
c) holding down the Apple key while you click on any person in the diagram
d) holding down the Apple key while you press any of the arrow keys
e) using the search field at the RH end of the toolbar and selecting a person
f) selecting a Previous Focal Person from the drop-down box at the LH end of the toolbar
g) right click on a person in the Relatives, Ancestors or Descendants tables and selecting the appropriate pop-up menu item
e) in the Ancestors or Descendants panel by pressing the button marked Focal Person

Ancestral Views

The Ancestral View is a very important navigation aid - it highlights (in green) all the ancestors of a particular person. When you imported from your Gedcom file, iFamily automatically chose you (Numero Uno) as the Focal Person and it also automatically created an Ancestral View for you.

You may create as many Ancestral Views as you like and switch between them. To create an Ancestral View you open the Preferences panel and press the button called Create Ancestral View for Focal Person.

You can navigate the diagram using the Arrow Keys (Left, Right, Up, Down). If you press the Left arrow key and an Ancestral View is active then iFamily will utilise the Ancestral View when ever you move back to a child of the Focal person. Hold down the Left arrow key and you will very quickly return to the person who is the root of the Ancestral View.

mtpaper
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Location: Rochester, NY

Post by mtpaper » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:51 pm

I am one of those people that use reference numbers to link people from my database to paper-based files.

On the Person's Panel, I think the # that appears just above and to the right of their name is the automatic sequential number that's been assigned by iFamily.

Also on the person's Panel is the (User) Reference Number.

Is there a toggle that I can use to include a person's Automatically assigned number, or their User Reference Number, when I print one of the following reports:

Report: Select Person
Story with appended info

EDIT: I see that I can create an Event for each person, and manually enter the reference number, but I'd prefer to have it printed automatically (less room for me to make a typo)

Thanks
(If I had my druthers, it would appear in any extreme corner of the report)
Marion in NY

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Keith Wilson
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Post by Keith Wilson » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:41 am

One option is to include all the reference numbers in a separate report - an Index of People report. This would allow options to include Numeric Id, Reference Number, Ancestral File Number ....

Creating indexing instructions in an RTF file is problematic because different word processors handle indexing in different ways. They also handle footnotes differently.

Keith

mtpaper
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Location: Rochester, NY

Post by mtpaper » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:40 pm

I'll add the reference number as an event for everyone....
Or, simply add it from within NeoOffice

My hard copy is a Who's Who directory - by person. Because of confusions over names, and other reasons, this directory is in numerical order.

In the front, I have several indexes (which I can, indeed, print from iFamily), directing the reader to the right number. One index by first name, one by last.
Marion in NY

GuyHolmes
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Post by GuyHolmes » Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:11 pm

I see Kekule / Ahnentafel numbers are now included in version 2.50 onwards, but the reference isn't presented as I am familiar with. I see iFamily uses the binary system which creates very long numbers within just a few generations. Is there a way to change this to the (arguably) more standard method of the Focal Person being 1, his parents being 2 & 3, their parents being 4 & 5 and 6 & 7 etc .........

I think that the binary numbers are a direct correlation with these decimal numbers, and have some benefits in being able to work out the relationship by 'mothers, mothers, fathers, mother' but they are beyond my small brain !!

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Keith Wilson
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Post by Keith Wilson » Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:23 pm

The simplest solution is to give the user the choice of binary or decimal representations. However, to interpret a decimal Ahnentafel number the first thing a reader has to do is to mentally convert it to a binary string of 0's and 1's.

Will provide the option in V2.502

Keith

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Warwick Wilson
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Post by Warwick Wilson » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:10 am

The Ahnentafel numbering feature has been causing some problems and I will need to remove it in the next version. Apologies, hopefully I can flesh out the functionality a little more and it will make a return down the line.

Warwick.

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