| |
Related Articles | Index
MacFamilyTree:
Date Formats in MacFamilyTree 5
Setting MacFamilyTree's Preferences Correctly
Go to »MacFamilyTree« in the Menu bar and open the »Preferences« dialogue (1):
In the dedicated »Preferences« menu, you can find a number of useful, and frequently overlooked, functions for setting MacFamilyTree's behaviour and look: you may for instance define and modify name or date formats and custom icons for events, choose color/pattern settings for the window backgrounds, and more.
We will now talk about how you can make MacFamilytree handle dates of events in the way you require them to be. So please select »Date Formats« in MacFamilyTree's Preferences dialogue (2):
Date Formats Are Very Flexible!
Dates can be formatted in a multitude of ways. Depending on your country or region, the »official« date formats differ. There also are many variants, so we decided to provide for an »open« date format which you can adjust to your needs or personal taste.
Now that you have opened »Date Formats« in MacFamilyTree's Preferences, you will see that we ship MacFamilyTree with a predefined set of formats. The most frequently used date format should be topmost in the list. You can rearrange the list of formats by grabbing and dragging items with your mouse:
When defining a date format, be sure to use the correct combination of letters and punctuation characters or spaces:
The letters are placeholders for day (d), month (M) and year (y). Depending on how many times you repeat the same letter, MacFamilyTree represents day, month or year in a different format: e.g., the quadruple »yyyy« means, that the year should be presented with four digits, like »2008«. A common date format (the default one for MacFamilyTree) is »dd.MM.yyy«, e.g, »10.07.2008« (July 10th 2008).
Example: to tell MacFamilyTree to handle the month in verbose form and in a way like it is common in the U.S., »July 10, 2008«, you need to…
-
Click on »Add« to add a new date format to the list (1):
- Drag your new date format to the topmost position in the list (2), if it is not already there. You can simply grab an item with your mouse by clicking and holding it with your left mouse button:
- Edit the new entry with your mouse and keyboard (3) so that it matches the format »MMMM dd, yyyy«:
- Now open »Database Maintenance« in MacFamilyTree's »Edit« section in the main Toolbar, and click on the button labeled »Adjust Date Format« (4):
- Finally, make sure the format we have just defined is present and topmost in the pull-down menu (5). To adjust all dates in MacFamilyTree's database to the new format, click »Adjust Date Format« in the top section (6), and MacFamilyTree converts all the date entries it understands (7):
Creating Correct Date Entries
Be Careful!
MacFamilyTree allows you to use practically any date format you wish. Just define it in the preferences, and the format is available! However, setting the date format correctly and creating events and other date entries with care may be crucial when exchanging information with fellow genealogists or family members via GEDCOM.
This means that you either have to restrict yourself and define only a limited set of formats, or — and this is highly recommended — you are extra careful when working with dates. To avoid inconsistencies right from the start, without limiting the number of recognized formats, we have built a validation routine into MacFamilyTree. This routine highlights an entry which is not in compliance with your set of date formats with a small yellow »warning sign«:
»Qualifiers« and »Modifiers«
Once you have created your set of date formats, using the standard placeholders (»d«, »M« and »y«) in any reasonable combination, you can also work with so-called »Qualifiers«, like »BEF«, »ABT« and »AFT« and »Modifiers«, for non-exact date (imprecise) entries.
Qualifiers are »Prefixes«, that means they must be placed before a date entry and must be separated from the date by a blank or »Space« character.
Note: the terms »Qualifier« and »Modifier« are sometimes used concurrently; I will use »Qualifiers« to designate those markers which expand or further define (the scope of) a date entry, while »Modifiers« are used to designate mutually exclusive alternatives for a given date.
MacFamilyTree fully supports qualifiers and modifiers as defined and required by GEDCOM, namely:
Qualifiers:
ABT
about — meaning the date is not exact (ABT 10 July 2008, ABT 2008)
AFT
after — the event happened after the given date
BEF
before — the event happened before the given date
CA / ca.
circa — the event happened approximately at the given date; both forms, »CA« and »ca.« are supported
CAL
calculated mathematically — e.g. from the date of another event or document and a person's known age
EST
estimate, based on an algorithm and some other dated entry
Modifiers:
Example:
To specify that a person was born before a given date, you can either create a dated event for the first dated record regarding that person and then »roughly« deduce that person's date of birth as required. Or you create a dedicated birth event, just as if you knew the person's date of birth and enter, e.g. »BEF July 10, 1793«. If the first dated record of that person is from that specific date: the person must have been born before then.
In this example, you could even try to work with »CAL« or »EST«, if you have sufficient information to either calculate or guess that person's date of birth.
Of course, it is much more likely that you either have an approximate date like the year when the person was born. E.g., »ABT 1790« defines that date as being around the year 1790, without requiring more accuratee information from your part. Please use the »Note« or » Source« panes to add descriptive or historically relevant information to such dates: it is recommended to at least specify if the date is your own, rough, estimate, and/or which source it is from.
Related Articles | Index
|
|