Focal Person

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4x4x4
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Focal Person

Post by 4x4x4 » Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:23 am

Hello to fellow ifamily users,

Can anybody tell me if there is a way to put the focal person in the centre of the diagram so that it shows the focal person with a couple of generations of descendants to the left and a couple of generations of ancestors to the right so both are easily seen at one time.

Looking forward to your answers
4x4x4

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Pewterpot
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Post by Pewterpot » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:31 am

I don&#39t think you can, unless you could mess about with &#39Project Views&#39
I haven&#39t tried it, but it may be a possibility :roll:

Somebody else may have a more realistic answer. Sorry!
20" iMac G5.
OSX 10.6.8

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

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4x4x4
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Post by 4x4x4 » Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:16 pm

Thanks for your help. I have had a play with the project views but none of it seems to do what I want, but then again maybe I am just not seeing the obvious, or maybe you are right and it is just not possible. :(

4x4x4

favell44
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Post by favell44 » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:26 am

There is a simple mathematical reason why it is easier to show ancestors than descendants in a confined space.
Ancestors only increase by powers of two for each extra level, whereas descendants can increase at a much higher rate. If I choose some of my more prolific ancestors it is not uncommon for them to have ten or so children. It only takes a few of these to have similar families and you can find fifty or more at the grandchild level, and who knows how many at the next one.
Of course an option that showed a limited number of descendants at any given time with some sort of scroll feature could be very handy. And if you have a 24" screen then you would be able to display the results in a fairly comprehensive manner a lot of the time.
Hope this helps.
Money can&#39t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
Spike Milligan

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4x4x4
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Post by 4x4x4 » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:19 am

Ok, good point. I hadn&#39t really thought it though in the mathematical sense, and I can see what you mean. A family of 16 children (and I have a few of those) could expand dramatically in just one generation. However, there are times with smaller families it would be useful to see beyond the child/children of the focal person. I like your idea of showing a limited number of descendants with the scroll feature. Very cool.

Thanks for your help

4x4x4
Lucky enough to have one of those big screens :)

JackHenry
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Post by JackHenry » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:47 am

What you want is sometimes called a &#39bow tie&#39 chart. See one here http://tinyurl.com/23efz. Also called an &#39Hour Glass&#39 chart.

I think to be accurate the Bow Tie has ancestors on both sides. Father on one side, mother on the other. An Hour Glass has ancestors on one side and descendants on the other (But I may be mistaken on these details)

Try searching Google for a Genealogy printing utility. There are some for the Windows world, but I&#39m not sure about Mac.

I&#39m not trying to move you away from iFamily or the Mac world, but here is one for the PC http://tinyurl.com/ytnhnp

Hope that helps a bit

John

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Warwick Wilson
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Post by Warwick Wilson » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:34 pm

iFamily will not show muiltiple levels of descendants on screen. As favell pointed out the screen real estate runs out too quickly for any sensible results.

Up to six levels of ancestors can be displayed on the screen, (along with the default of 1 generation of descendants), by using the spinner at the top of the iFamily window shown below.

Image

You are also able to print a descendants diagram to pdf which can show you multiple generations of descendants. Click the D button to bring up a config dialog that will allow you to specify how many generations and how much detail you would like to show.

Image

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4x4x4
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Post by 4x4x4 » Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:41 am

Thank you John for your reply. The bow tie and/or hour glass chart is just what I am trying to achieve, but not necessarily with so many generations on each side. I want to view on the diagram pane a couple of generations of both descendants and ancestors. In areas where I am not familiar with the family or with those who have, for example "Joseph" in each generation it would help to get my bearings with what comes before and after the focal person, without having to change the focal person to remind me exactly where I am. The bow tie/hour glass idea sounds just the thing.

As far as using anything to do with windows, you loose me. I am a hard and fast and unmovable user of Macs, and nothing, but NOTHING will change that. PC&#39s drive me nuts! But I must admit sometimes (just sometimes!) PC software does pull one out of the bag....and the bow tie idea is one of them. :D


Thank you also Warwick for your reply. I am aware of all you say and use those features often but in this case I just want to see on the diagram pane the immediate family I am working on and a couple of generations either side. Purely for convenience and ease of keeping track of people as you enter them or work on them. An option button with a default of 2 generations either side would be very helpful.

I have not emailed you, but I would like to take this opportunity to offer my belated but very sincere condolences over the loss of your father. Keith was an amazing and incredibly skilled man and I for one miss him. Last year he reinstated the "Last Change" date for me and in the process we chatted by email, not only about ifamily but about "possums" which our two countries have the dubious honour of sharing. I shall never forget the possum joke he sent. He was truly an amazing man, gone way to soon and so sorely missed.

4x4x4

JackHenry
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Post by JackHenry » Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:09 am

4x4x4

I was a member of the &#39Dark Side&#39 for many years. Only in the past 12 months have a been a true convert. I actually partitioned my shiny new iMac for Windows in case I needed anything from the past. I have not once booted into the Windows partition. My wife still has a Windows laptop, so if I need to I use that. But as yet, Windows has not disgraced my iMac screen.

John

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4x4x4
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Post by 4x4x4 » Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:38 am

John, Now you have finally seen the light you will never return to the "dark side". What is there to return to? :D I had a very brief moment of "Windows madness" when I got my MacBook Pro but when it came down to it I really couldn&#39t see the point so didn&#39t bother. I would never have used it anyway. However, (don&#39t laugh!) but I have got Mac OS 9 solely so I can play my favourite game when I am not immersed in ifamily. :lol:

4x4x4

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Pewterpot
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Post by Pewterpot » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:51 pm

I think that what 4x4x4 is asking in his first post is: That it would be a good idea if the Focal Person could be dragged to the centre of the screen to allow a couple more generations to be in view.
Whether this would be possible is a matter for the programmer and could be difficult

JackHenry wrote:4x4x4
But as yet, Windows has not disgraced my iMac screen.
John
HERE! HEAR! :lol:
20" iMac G5.
OSX 10.6.8

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

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4x4x4
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Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:03 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by 4x4x4 » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:04 pm

To have the option of the focal person in the centre of the screen is exactly what I want. I have great faith in our talented programmers who I am sure could make it happen. :)

4x4x4

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