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Archiver > TMG > 2004-04 > 1080831724


From: Lee Hoffman <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Carriage Returns
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 10:05:01 -0500
References: <002501c417e8$374ad880$6401a8c0@GatewayLaptop>
In-Reply-To: <002501c417e8$374ad880$6401a8c0@GatewayLaptop>


Laurie Jones Williams wrote:
>In order to make a narrative easier to read I would like to break it up into
>logical sections. This I done, using sort dates to have all the religious
>tags together, then the education tags, then the employment tags, etc. I
>want to separate these topics into separate paragraphs. Since each
>individual is different and therefore wouldn't have the same tags, the
>carriage return code would not necessarily be in the same tag, i.e. baptism.
>
>I see two options:
>1) Add a role to *every* tag with the carriage return codes in the
>sentence.
>
>Or
>
>2) Create a custom tag whose sentence would be [:CR:][:CR:], placed before
>the tag I want to begin each paragraph.
>
>Option 2 is my preference. Unfortunately, that results in
>[space][space][period] after the last sentence in the previous paragraph and
>a [space] before the first word in the new paragraph.
>
>Are these my only options? Or is there a way to suppress the extra spaces
>and punctuation?


You are correct that option two does present a minor problem. It is even
more minor if the destination of your reports is to file for your word
processor. Then you can quickly do a search and replace for a
"[CR][CR][PERIOD]" with a "[CR][CR]". This kind of thing usually only
takes a very short time and works well. But if you send the report direct
to the printer, this will not work.

Because nearly every person in your data will have data that is different
in some way form almost everyone else in that data set, option one would
require a lot of work setting it up. For myself, I don't hold with the
idea that every single Sentence that I use must be "pre-created" in the Tag
Type Definition screen or that I must have a Role set up for each and every
situation that _may_ possibly arise in entering my data. First, each and
every standard Tag already has a "good" default Role and Sentence
assigned. It is the "Principal" Role. In many cases, I want something a
little better than "good" and thus define Custom Roles as I think
best. Thus I use a mixture of Roles (mostly Principal and Witness) and
Custom Roles. In each Custom Role, I create Sentences that mostly fit the
situation as I want it.

Thus far, this is no different than what you are suggesting. The third
option then for you is to edit the Tag and Witness Sentences as needed for
the individual Tag for the person that you are working with. These changes
are made not in the Tag Type Definition screen but in the Tag Entry Screen
for each instance of a Tag as needed. If you think this is a lot of work,
it isn't. First, you set up a Text Macro for two carriage return Sentence
Codes "[:CR:][:CR:]" and then where you want a new paragraph, open the Tag,
edit the Sentence by invoking that Text Macro. This is a lot less work
than creating additional Roles and then you must still go to each Tag above
and select the new Role.

The argument for creating the additional Roles is that "some time in the
future" you may wish to globally change a Role Sentence. Thus, if you have
locally edited a Tag/Witness Sentence, any global change will not take
place for those Sentences. That is a consideration. But I submit that
there will be _very_few_ times when you will want to make global Sentence
changes. I cannot recall a single time in more than ten years when I have
made a global change to a Role Sentence after the first day or so that the
Role has been created. Usually the Role Sentence is cast in stone the
first day as I will try all kinds of variations in reports for what I
want. Then when I find what I want, I move on and don't worry about the
Sentence again (on a global basis).

Since I don't worry about the global Sentence, I am not afraid of editing a
local Sentence to achieve what I want in reports. Mostly that is just
using one of my Text Macros for two carriage return codes, two carriage
return codes and a tab character code, or (rarely) a single carriage return
and tab character code. This last is used when I don't want an extra blank
line separating the paragraphs and if I don't want the tab code, I just use
the right-click menu to insert the carriage return code rather than use the
Text Macro..

An example using the above is shown in my personal web site in the
Individual Report for Judge E. C. O'Rear. It also shows the Sentences that
I used.

Hope this helps -

Lee Hoffman/KY
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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