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Archiver > TMG > 2002-04 > 1017897891


From: Lee Hoffman <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] UFT & The Master Source List of TMG
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 00:24:51 -0500


Ben Whitney wrote:
>I never did like to read a genealogy book in which I had to bounce around
>from text to footnotes and back. Therefore when I started entering my
>sources in UFT I simply embedded them in the Text option. For example, if
>I had a deed to record I would enter the place found along with the book
>number, page, etc. Not very professional I grant you but then I'm no
>professional.
>
>When I finally transferred my UFT Project to TMG Gold 4d the Text portion
>of UFT went to TMG's Biography tag. No problem; except now when I look at
>the Master Source List, under the heading Abbreviation I found many
>entries which were about 30 characters in length and those turned out to
>be the first 30 characters of the Text portion of the individual's record
>that was in UFT. There was a number assigned to that and there was a
>Surety value of zero (0). There were also values to some items that were
>2's but those were sources I had entered using TMG's source features.
>
>In the Source Definition Screen "Free Notes" was listed as the source,
>"Title" was listed as the Text.
>
>Obviously, if I wish to continue using TMG I need to clean up this mess in
>the MSL, or do I? I suppose the answer to that is if I want to use the
>full capability of TMG I need to clean up the MSL. What is the best way to
>go about it without starting all over again in UFT and then transferring again?
>
>1. Do I simply delete those entries from the MSL and if so, what's the
>best way to go about it?

You can. Just go to the MSL, select a Source, and click on the Delete button.

>2. Will deleting those entries from the MSL have any effect at all on the
>text that is found in the Biographical tag?

No. But I would recommend that you check each Source before deleting to
ensure that you don't inadvertently delete something that is not in the
Biography tag.

>3. If the above is feasible, will those numbers which had been assigned to
>the deleted items become available for use again as source numbers?

Yes, you may use them again. There are two ways that TMG will assign a new
Source Number. One uses the next higher number above the last used number
(even if that number was used and then deleted. This is the usual method
used. The other method is to click on the [More>>] button of the MSL to
display the Expanded MSL. When this is displayed, TMG assigns the lowest
unused Source Number to a new Source. However, you may Renumber any Source
as desired using the [Renumber] button of the MSL.

>4. After doing a cleanup I suppose I need to enter the embedded source as
>taken from the text of the Biographical tag, into related tags in TMG, and
>then delete that text from the Biographical tag. True? With over 8,000
>people that's a BIG Ugh!!

All you will need to do is cite the Source using the Source Number. You
may still embed the citations within the body of your reports rather than
as Footnotes or Endnotes. But in TMG, this is an option in the Report
Definition screen, and you don't have to do it manually unless you want to.

>5. Will I be happier just to remain with UFT <G>

Not in the long run probably. <g>

Let me ask if you have done any updating of the data set since you have
converted. If you have not, you may want to re-import your UFT one more
time. If you imported using the Import option to Combine Identical
Sources, then just go on to the next paragraph, but if not then
re-importing using this option will help reduce the work you would need to
do. Of course, if you have done a lot of work updating the data set, then
you will not want to lose that work.

Next, I would recommend that you do cleanup the MSL and use it as
intended. As to the methodology you will use to do this, there are various
ways. Probably the easiest would be to generate a List of Citations report
for one (or more) Sources. Then you may see the persons and events to
which a Source is attached. Knowing this, you may go to the person(s) and
events, and easily compare them to the Source updating it as needed and
updating the person or event at the same time. You may generate a List of
Citations report for one Source, up to eight Sources, a range of Sources,
or all Sources allowing you to select the amount of work to be done at any
one time.

You may also want to generate a List of Sources report in Source Number
order. You can use this as a check list to make sure that each Source is
changed as needed.

Finally, after you have cleaned each Source, you should review the
resulting MSL to ensure that it is as you want it. There may be some
Sources that you will want to merge with another or even delete. There may
even be some Source that you will want to combine into a single Source
(where the two are not completely duplicated).

Hope this helps -

----------
Lee Hoffman/KY
E-mail:
TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
--------------
A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)

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