TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2011-04 > 1303141993


From: DE Neilley <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Wish List: Compound First Names
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:53:13 -0600
References: <BANLkTimhg_k59go-UofH3ErxGhTPqVr9NA@mail.gmail.com><4DAB67FF.70203@jytangledweb.org>
In-Reply-To: <4DAB67FF.70203@jytangledweb.org>


John,
The given names all go in one field, NameGiven, in the Name pane.
Output of them depends on two things - the Name Style used and the
Sentence in the appropriate Tag. As I already have a number of Name
Styles for various uses and an incredible number of Roles and
Sentences in my Tags, I was hoping for a simple solution that didn't
require building even more combinations. I THINK that John Cardinal
has provided it, by using the [:NB:] code and no space between the two
given names that are used asa compound name - ie. for "Mary Ann
Josephine" to output as "Mary Ann" as a *first name*, type
"Mary{:NB:]Ann Josephine". Unless there are some unanticipated
results, it looks as though this will work.

If someone finds one of these unanticipated results, please let me know!

Doreen Neilley


On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 4:21 PM, John Yates <> wrote:
> It has been a while since I've used and looked at TMG (moved to native
> Mac apps) but I think it would (should?) represent names by at least
> two variables, like: [NAME_FIRST] and [NAME_LAST] in order to give
> the user control over it. Your case seems to indicate that three,
> not two variables are required to give the user full control over
> it. That is, [NAME_FIRST], [NAME_MIDDLE], and [NAME_LAST]. This
> way you could cause "Mary Ann" to be faithfully used as first name
> everywhere in reports, etc. by keeping it as such in [NAME_FIRST]
> and leaving [NAME_MIDDLE] as [NULL]. Unless, of course, she is
> Mary Ann Betsey Susan Jane Smith. Which would be amenable to the
> three variable set under full user control. I suspect few would
> find a problem with:
>
> [NAME_FIRST]=Mary Ann
> [NAME_MIDDLE]=Betsey Susan Jane
> [NAME_LAST]=Smith
>
> I am currently using FTM Mac and am not happy that their data entry
> has only ONE field! [NAME]. Ugh! I'd rather parse the name, not
> leave it to silly program rules that will never satisfy everyone.
>
> Any new data specifications should thus, in my opinion, allow three
> variables for names. Accuracy trumps GEDCOM transportability (where
> silly unscientific rules would be needed).
>
> John
>
> On 4/17/2011 4:44 PM, DE Neilley wrote:
>> I'm pretty sure that this has been addressed before, but after doing
>> some entry today, it has risen up to bug me again.
>>
>> I wish that there was some way to tell TMG to regard "Mary Ann" as one
>> name. (If there is and I have missed it, I am sure that SKS will tell
>> me about it!<big grin>) I don't want to have to create another Name
>> Style to deal with this, as I m quite happy with my current Styles,
>> except for this. Also, there are circumstances when, as far as I can
>> see, it would cause me other problems to have a Compound Name Style.
>> Someone suggested using an underscore ("Mary_Ann"), but this appears
>> to output as such and I don't like the look of it. But it also bugs me
>> to have a report output where my carefully crafted Sentences output
>> "Mary Ann Josephine NOBLE
>> Mary Ann Josephine NOBLE, the daughter of ...
>> Mary married ..."
>>
>> instead of
>> "Mary Ann married ..."
>>
>> Maybe, some time in the future (unless the programming is just
>> horrendous), it might be possible to use a character such as the
>> undercore or tilde (~) to connect 2 apparently separate given names so
>> that they output as one, without the character showing up? (Eg.
>> Mary_Ann or Mary~Ann outputs Mary Ann when the Sentence uses [RF:xxx]
>> without needing a different Name Style.)
>>
>> Looks like my day for picky things bugging me!
>>
>> Doreen Neilley
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