Legacy 7 - "Master Source List" Questions

[tonylookingback]

Hi,

I recently imported to Legacy 7 from FTM 2008 and I have a few questions that I am hoping someone might be able to help me out with. Since importing, I have added additional Master Sources.

So, I have a Master Sources list that has some imported and some newly created sources. So, to my questions...

1) I recall reading somewhere that I would be able to convert all existing sources to "SourceWriter" source formats within Legacy 7 (I like consistency). However, I can't find that function anywhere. Does it exist or as I dreaming?

2) some entries in my Master Source list have a "bullet" in front of them. I can't find any reference in the (pretty impressive) help file. Does anyone know what this means?

2) When I select "show entire source" on the Master Source List the tabs at the bottom contain some detail information (that definitely is not part of the master source definition). If I select "Show Source using Print Options" instead, the detail disappears. Can anyone explain?

Grateful for any insights!

Thanks
Tony

[Canadian Cousin]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to FTF! It's nice to see another Legacy user here.

1) I recall reading somewhere that I would be able to convert all existing sources to "SourceWriter" source formats within Legacy 7 (I like consistency). However, I can't find that function anywhere. Does it exist or as I dreaming?

No, you're not dreaming, but it doesn't exist yet. The company had planned to have this function ready in time for the initial release, and apparently it is included in the printed user's manual. However, they ran into some programming problems, and it wasn't finished in time. They are now planning to include it as part of a forthcoming update (these are free), hopefully in a few weeks' time.

2) some entries in my Master Source list have a "bullet" in front of them. I can't find any reference in the (pretty impressive) help file. Does anyone know what this means?

I just looked at my own Master Source List, and none of them are bulleted. Can you tell if your bulleted sources are all ones that you imported from FTM or ones you entered in Legacy (possibly using the SourceWriter)? If they are imported, perhaps there are some fields missing that Legacy normally expects? If entered using the SourceWriter, the bullets may simply help identify which sources are in this format. As I haven't tried using SourceWriter yet, I'm just guessing at this point.

BTW, I understand that the SourceWriter is currently set up to accomodate the fields found on U.S. records (e.g., census returns, BMD certs). However, Legacy are planning to provide templates for UK records in the near future, again as part of a free update.

3) When I select "show entire source" on the Master Source List the tabs at the bottom contain some detail information (that definitely is not part of the master source definition). If I select "Show Source using Print Options" instead, the detail disappears. Can anyone explain?

I assuming that you're referring to the options on the Output tab of the Master Source list (either "Show Entire Source" or "Show Source using Print Options")? According to the help file, "The Output tab shows how the source will print on a report." From what I can see, it appears that "Show Source using Print Options" provides only the information from the Summary tab, whereas "Show Entire Source" will also include information from the Publ. Facts and Comments tabs as well. To be honest, I haven't used half the functionality of Legacy yet, even after several years, so I'm not 100% certain about this.

I'm not sure what you mean by "some detail information ... that definitely is not part of the master source definition". Do you mean that the details about the Master Source are incorrect or that the details belong to individuals with whom the Mater Source is associated? At a guess, I wonder if this may have something to do with the import of sources from FTM? I've never used that program, so I don't know if it treats sources the same way that Legacy does.

I have two general suggestions, which may be helpful to other Legacy users as well.

1) Take a look at the training videos on Legacy's Website. The introductory CD (Legacy for Beginners) is viewable in its entirety free of charge, and previews are available for the others. I found the "Guide to Sources" preview particularly good in explaining how to use the Source Clipboard (which I'd never used before).

2) There is a Legacy Users Group mailing list - while I don't subscribe (way too many messages, at least half of which don't interest me), I do browse the archives on a semi-regular basis, and find it quite helpful.

Hope this helps -

Tim

[tonylookingback]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your helpful reply.

Rather than wait for the conversion functionality, I will probably create new master sources using SourceWriter and then combine the ones brought over from FTM with them. I am only just getting used to the structure of source records and I want things to be as consistent as possible.

I am new to geneaology and don't yet know enough to have recognised that the current templates are US based. I have managed to get the UK information to "fit" but I will of course use the UK templates when they become available.

You were right about the bullet simply indicating the item to be in the SourceWriter format - Legacy support has confirmed that.

You had guessed correctly that I meant some of the detail source data was showing on the master source summary screen. Very peculiar, but what is even worse is that since rebooting my laptop I can't reproduce the problem! I rarely re-boot my laptop but I do frequent installs and uninstalls so I wonder if that might have confused Windows or the Legacy database (which I think is Access). I prefer that explanation to the admittedly more likely one that I was seeing things! :o Anyway, the problem seems to have gone away now - sorry for posting a red-herring.

I had already looked at the videos you mentioned. They are very helpful and were for me, a major plus point for Legacy. I like the program for its degree of configurability (although FTM has some great web integration features). On a relatively trivial point, I wish they would update the dated UI - although I suspect this might involve a complete re-write!

Finally, thanks for the pointer to the Users Group archives. I will check that out.

Tony