GeneWeb - Modifications

This part indicates you how to make modifications in a database using your navigator, If the database owner has installed a password, you have to enter it in the welcome page to have access to the different possibilities of updating.

Before starting, it is important to understand the basic notions: first, the notion of "first name", "surname", "number", and second, the notions of "persons" and "families". This allows you to understand the next sections about updating.

1. First names, surnames, numbers

Each person of the base is located by his first name, his surname and his number, this last information allowing to distinguish two persons having the same first name and the same surname. This set is named the person's "key".

So, if there are two "John Smith" in the database, you can differenciate them by the number. Any number is valid and you are not obliged to start from 0 or 1, nor counting by adding 1 each time. For example, your first "John Smith" can have the number 7 and the second, the number 4. One will be represented by "John", "Smith", "7" and the second by "John", "Smith", "4".

You choose this number, except if you started from a GEDCOM file: in this case, "ged2gwb" has choosen it number for you, for all persons of the base.

This number appears only in updating pages: they are not visible in the normal pages. So, if you type the name "John Smith" in the welcome page, GeneWeb gives a choice between "John Smith 7" and "John Smith 4", but without displaying explicitely the numbers.

However, as you are a "guru" since you make updatings, know that you can put a "dot" and the number between the first name and the surname. For example, in the welcome page, you can search "John .4 Smith" and you find directly the one whose number is 4.

Also note that:

It is important to understand correctly this notion, because some of the error messages you have concerns this. For example, the messages like: Note also that this number has nothing to do with the number of first names of noble persons: "Edward III" has not necessarily the number "3". However, and this is not a contradiction, it is good usage, although not mandatory, to choose the same number, whenever possible: you will see that is is more practical.

2. Persons and Families

The GeneWeb databases, internally, hold two main notions: persons and families: The updatings of the base are simply and exclusively updating of "persons" and "families": adding, modification, deletion.

3. Access to updatings

If you are sure you understand well the two previous sections, you can now start.

To access to updatings, you can:

In the welcome page, clicking on "Add a family" allows you to start filling an empty database.

You see then a form to add a family. Report to the section Add a Family.

In a personal record, clicking on "Update" allows you to see a page where some choices are proposed. This choices depend on the familial situation of the person:

  1. In all cases, you have the choice "Modify" and "Delete": it is the modification or deletion of the person. Report to the sections:

  1. If the person is married, you have, for each marriage, the choice "Modify/Family" and "Delete/Family". Report to the sections:

  1. If there are several marriages, there is a choice "Switch" between each marriage, allowing you to switch the order of the families.
  1. In other cases, this familial list ends with "Add/Family". You see the same form than "Add a family" of the welcome page, except that the person will be prefilled in the form in one of the parents (according to the sex). Report to the section:

  1. At the end, if the person has no parents, the choice "Add/Parents" is proposed. This also gives the form "Add/Family" with the person prefilled as a child and his surname in the "name" area of the father. Report to the section:

Remarks:

4. Some specific points

These points are highlighted because they are possible pitfalls: do follow the indicated procedure.

4.1. How to modify the first name or the surname of a child

Example: in the family of "John Smith" and "Barbara Jones", one of the children has been named "Robert", although his first name was actually "Philip":

What you must do:

What you must not do:

4.2. How to add a child in a family

For example, in the family of "John Smith" and "Barbara Jones", you want to add "Hubert" as a child:

What you must do:

What you must not do:

5. Foms

5.1. Add a Family

You see this form titled "Add/Family": This form behaves exactly like "Modify a Family", except that it creates a new family. As many times you use it, as many times a family is created.

This means that if you notice that you made mistakes after having validated the form, do not do "Add/Family" again, but "Modify/Family"!

Report to the following paragraph to see how to fill the form.

5.2. Modify a Family

You see this form from a personal record, after having clicked on "Update", then "Modify/Family". This form is prefilled by the "first name", the "surname" and the "number" of the father, the mother and the children, as well as all the possible data relative to this family.

This form behaves like "Add/Family" of the previous section (except that there is no creation of a new family). What follows is therefore valid for the form "Add/Family".

Filling

All areas (prefilled or not) can be filled, erased or modified. When you have finished filling, erasing and modifying all you judge necessary, go to the end of the form and commit the form by clicking on "Ok".

In front of the area where there are persons, remark the selection "Link" and "Create". According to the case, it will be preselected to "Link" or "Create". You can change this selection according to what you want to do.

When committing, the cases "child" whose area "first name" is empty are ignored, whatever the contents of the other areas. It is like they do not exist.

For children, the field "name" is facultative: if it is absent, the name of the father is taken.

Some modifications

Here are some modifications you can do:

Committing

The committing takes place when you click on "Ok". As you as you do not do it, no change is done in the base.

Remark also that, as it is said above, that if you selected one or several "Insert/Child", just a new form is proposed: this is not the proper committing.

When the committing is really done, you must see a new page whose title is:

5.3. Delete a Family

You see this form, titled "Delete/Family" from a personal record, after having clicked on "Update", the "Delete/Family".

The form only holds the button "Ok" to allow you to do it really. You can still give up.

If you do "Ok", a new page appears with the the title "Family deleted".

The family is removed from the base: the father, the mother and the children scatter. However none of them is deleted: just the father and the mother are no more married, they have no more these children (they may have other ones from other marriages, which are persisting), the children have no more parents.

5.4. Modify a Person

You see this form titled "Modify/Person" from a personal record, after having clicked on "Update", then "Modify". The form is prefilled with all the individual data of this person.

Filling

All areas (prefilled or not) can be filled, erased or modified. When you filled, erased, modified all you judge necessary, go to the end of the form and commit the form by clicking on "Ok".

Some buttons hold "Insert/...": "Insert/Nickname", "Insert/Alias", etc.

Warning: this is not to add the corresponding nickname or alias, etc to the person, but to ask for a new form with a reserved place for another nickname, another alias, etc.

So, if you do "Ok" after having selected one or several of these buttons, a new bigger form is proposed to you, and no updating is done yet.

Therefore, if, after an "Ok", you see a new modification form, this means that your committing has not been recorded (not yet), even if you filled a lot of areas.

Different fields

Remark the meaning of the different fields, specially the use of "public name", "qualifier", "alias", etc which all have a very specific meaning.

Committing

The committing takes place when you click on "Ok". As you as you do not do it, no change is done in the base.

Remark also that, as it is said above, that if you selected one or several "Insert/...", just a new form is proposed: this is not the proper committing.

When the committing is really done, you must see a new page whose title is:

5.5. Delete a Person

You see this form, titled "Delete/Person" from a personal record, after having clicked on "Update", then "Delete/Person".

The form only holds the button "Ok" to allow you to do it really. You can still give up.

If you do "Ok", a new page appears with the the title "Person deleted".

The person is not exactly deleted. His personal data is erased (included his first name and surname) as well as his connection with his parents.

But an "entity person" is subsisting, linked to his possible spouse and children.

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