Re: META: how-to ruin a perfectly good FGS


"Austin W. Spencer" <AustinWSpencer@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Apr 18, 4:02 pm, "Virginia Beck" <gin...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The rule: do not abbreviate place names. It takes only a moment
longer to make the complete entry the first time, and your genealogy
program will take care of subsequent duplicate entries.

I don't follow this rule with my own database. Few people ever see
it but me, and I expect that those who do will be familiar with them
simply because Twp., Co., and state-name abbreviations are standard
practices in U. S. research.

I avoid all such questions by recognizing that place names are
structured data rather than strings, and I store them as such. For
example in XML terminology,

<PlaceName>
<PlacePart Type="state">Maryland</PlacePart>
<PlacePart Type="county">Dorchester</PlacePart>
<PlacePart Type="city">Cambridge</PlacePart>
</PlaceName>

That makes it look more complicated than it actually is. My place
name entry is a two-column table, where I enter tags in column one
and data in column two. Later I reuse a place name just by clicking
on it.

When it comes time to print the name, either in a web page, a
report, a GEDCOM or just for display, then I pick the format --

Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge, Dorchester, Maryland
Maryland, Dorchester, Cambridge

etc etc

Same method used to handle personal names:

<IndivName>
<NamePart Type="given">Margaret</NamePart>
<NamePart Type="given">Ann</NamePart>
<NamePart Type="nickname">Maggie</NamePart>
<NamePart Type="surname">Wells</NamePart>
</IndivName>

Entries for an individual whose surname is not known. (This seems
to be the one that is the least consistent.)

The rule: do not make unnecessary additions. If you don't know,
leave it blank (although I would personally be a little partial to
Mary (unk.), just to avoid any confusion about accidentally leaving
out the last name).

I do follow this rule. But writers can't; they have to let readers
*know* the surname is unknown, and that demands an addition to the
text which is "unnecessary" to anyone who is only running a
database. The standard practice is to set an underscore: ____.

"Bill Kinnersley" <billk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
.

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