FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS-L Archives

Archiver > FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS > 2007-01 > 1167827953


From: "Alan E. White" <>
Subject: Re: [FHU] Custom diagram [type]
Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 12:39:13 -0000
In-Reply-To: <007201c72f25$2f584d40$6401a8c0@AXEL>


> Strictly-speaking, all the
> diagrams listed
> under View > Standard Diagrams and View > Custom Diagrams are
> different
> diagram types.

Well, that isn't the inference I take from the Help (in v3+), which I quoted
in my OP. And in v2 they're all described as Custom Diagrams. I find it
confusing because the naming is inconsistent in the menus. In v3+ the only
place Custom Diagram Type appears is in File|Save Diagram As... Everywhere
else they's just called Custom Diagram.

> With (b) you aren't saving any actual content

Which is what I said in my OP, so perhaps I did understand the difference
:-)
I still don't see how it's useful to save a diagram with fixed content. A
diagram is just a type of query, this time graphical. Still, no problem, I
just won't use charts. At least I now know why.

> To do (a), click on File > Save Diagrams As > Family Historian Chart.
> To do (b), click on File > Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type.

Indeed, but unfortunately Custom Diagrams are much more difficult to manage
than Charts, and more difficult than in v2. In v2 I could right click on the
diagram and get a sub-menu including Save As Custom Diagram (not Type :-))
Now I have to go through a 3-level menu, click OK on annoying message #1,
and only then get to where I would have been with a single click in v2.

Also Charts have shown up something that I hadn't noticed in v2 (it's the
same there). If you make changes to a custom diagram then you're never
prompted to save it. Charts do. So to save changes to a custom diagram you
first of all have to remember that you changed it, then go through the whole
process listed above to save it.

Once again there's some inconsistency here. Consider how the various files
are managed when changed:
Gedcom - manual save, auto-save optional, prompt on close if dirty
Reports & Queries - auto-save immediately on change, no option
Charts - manual save, prompt on close if dirty
Custom Diagrams - manual save, no prompt on close if dirty [1]

I'd like to see these inconsistencies flattened. In particular, any change
should cause a prompt on close if the file is still dirty. I'd also like to
see reports and queries not automatically saved: I might have just been
trying something out. Yes, I could copy the file first, but only because I
know what to expect.


[1] Yes, you can optionally get a prompt but only to save a custom diagram
as a chart, not to simply save the changes to the custom diagram.


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