GRAMPS: GrampsAIO64-5.1.3-2
Python: 3.6.4 (default, Jan 23 2018, 13:17:37) …
BSDDB: 6.1.0 (6, 0, 30)
sqlite: 3.21.0 (2.6.0)
LANG: en_GB.UTF-8
OS: Windows
I have notes on many of my events (which I imagine most people do). I was wanting to know if there is a way to tag a note with the source of the information. I know I can add a source to an ‘event’ but want to be able to add a source to a note as I may have several notes for the same event.
Many thanks
You can’t and your request, as you say, is quite unusual. In the Gramps record hierarchy, a note is some auxiliary data attached to “main” records. These “main” records are those which are the primary goal of genealogy: person, family, event, media. There are also “intermediate” records, place and LDS ordinance, which complement “main” records. Finally you have “annotation” records which can be attached to the preceding ones: attribute, citation (can be annotated as well), note, tag.
I am not sure about the status of repository and source because they define a separate tree-structure (repo being roots by themselves) Both can be “annotated”.
Presently a note can only be “annotated” with tags. Allowing a citation to be attached to it would create a logical “loop” note → citation → note with possible devastating effects on the DB and data traversal, though such a situation already exists as citation → media → citation.
From a strict semantic point of view, an event has no source. In the current implementation, an event may have several citations. Citations are extracted from sources which are stored in a repository.
Could you clarify with an example because I don’t see which kind of data is entered into the note, preventing its conceptual transfer into a citation?
As @pgerlier already noted, notes cannot have an attached source/citation like other objects. I think an exception should be made for notes attached to a person or family. I can understand not having a s/c on other notes where a loop could occur, i.e. add a note to a citation then add that citation to the note.
I attach the source information directly at the end of the note itself. Most often it is an obituary where I include the newspaper and the date.
You can expand on that textual s/c in the note by using the Link editor. The link editor can link to a citation you create in the citation view. NOTE: A citation used in this way could easily be deleted as it is not seen as attached to another object the same way a s/c is attached to an event as an example.
I usually go the other direction. I put the Note as a secondary object to a Citation. Which facilitates adding that Citation to whatever structured record that Note supports.
But you can also add internal links (within the Note itself) to Citations.
I would love to have it, and it is supported by GEDCOM, but Gramps does not support that, so you need to create a citation and add the note there. Here’s the GEDCOM 5.5.1 defintion for notes:
NOTE_RECORD: =
n @<XREF:NOTE>@ NOTE <SUBMITTER_TEXT> {1:1}
+1 [ CONC | CONT] <SUBMITTER_TEXT> {0:M}
+1 <<SOURCE_CITATION>> {0:M}
+1 REFN <USER_REFERENCE_NUMBER> {0:M}
+2 TYPE <USER_REFERENCE_TYPE> {0:1}
+1 RIN <AUTOMATED_RECORD_ID> {0:1}
+1 <<CHANGE_DATE>> {0:1}
I personally think that notes with citations are way more natural, because they make it much easier to store emails, web clips, etc., especcially now that the latter is supported by apps like Evernote, OneNote, and Joplin.
I like this, because it allows me to collect evidence first, in a process where the citation attributes are stored with the document, and connect that to my conclusions (persons, families, and events) later.
And in current Gramps, storing citation attributes means storing those in the attached citation, source, and repository objects.
As I discovered this week, there is a potential problem when using note
links to link to a gramps object. Gramps does not keep track of the
fact that the note references the object as it does if the object is
referenced by any other object. This causes problems is there are no
other references to the object other than a note link. In this case,
the “Remove Unused Objects” with identify the object as unused, and you
may delete it without realizing there is a link to it in a note. Also,
when creating a Narrated Web Report or Dynamic Web Report, the object
will not be included in the report and selecting the link in the note
when viewing the report, you get a “File not found” error.
Allen Crider
Bug Filed: 0013164: [Remove unused object] does not recognize Note Links when determining if “Unused”
When I have created an object that is not linked with another object, as referenced in this thread, I link the object to a person record named “ANCHOR, DO NOT DELETE”.
As I noted, I do not link citations to my note records needing citations. But I do have note and media records that I use in the NarrWeb… Attaching these notes and media records to Mr ANCHOR ensures that they do not get deleted.
But does the object actually show up in the report? Your approach does
keep you from deleting the object, but unless “ANCHOR, DO NOT DELETE” is
included in the report, I suspect the object would not be included either.
Hi, An example might be the death of a person and there are several Obituaries from different sources which are loaded as separate notes to the event. But also notes for a person that are not part of an event such as the attached (provided it works). Also notes on Places which are not an event.
I am fine if it cannot be done but just wanted to check.
Cheers
Les
In the case of Obituaries, I would definitely create a Citation and add the Transcription as a Note for that Citation. Scans can be added to the Gallery for that Citation.
My preference is to use a “Misc. Newspaper” source for publications that only occur once in my research. The Vol/Page will include the publication name, location, and page. (In 5.2, the date shows in the source lists. So serials/periodicals are more identified.) I’ll move Citations to a separate source (specific to that publication) if they have 3 or more articles.
Those Obits are going to be cited for details about the relatives mentioned as well as for the decedent.
Gramps is good at generating its own reports with endnotes containing detailed source citations, but it does not (as far as I know) provide a way for you to write an article (for example, “Variations in the Ablett family’s surname”) and generate endnotes, the way that a word processing program would do (in combination with a tool such as Zotero).
Maybe a feature request to create a report with endnotes from a formatted note that contains links to citations would be a good idea?
As long as that is the way the notes are used, it isn’t a problem. If I
put the media object in the gallery for the event, the Dynamic Web
Report puts it in the event which is where I would want it, but the
Narrated Web Site puts the object in the Media section of the individual
page with no connection to the event, so I thought adding a note with a
link to the media object would work better. Unfortunately, it resulted
in the media object not being included in the report at all.
Another circumstance under which I’ve seen this problem is that when
I’ve found conflicting reports on the location of an event, I put links
to each location in a note, and if the place was not associated with any
other event, the link would not work in a web report. I just hadn’t
realized why it was happening until this week.
I’d handle your examples differently:
But, one valuable point with Gramps is: there is no absolute truth. It allows several approaches fitting one’s needs and preferences. As long as your way to use existing features does not conflict with your sources, export or other tools, that’s fine. You must only make sure you can retrieve your data and adapt it in case a more direct feature is implemented in the future.
I’ve been able to do this (sort of) by creating an artificial person <MY SURNAME> SURNAME on the tree which allows all the normal notes, links, media available to a real person
Apologies! the post stripped out part of my message, which should read artificial person “MYSURNAME” SURNAME
The markdown for Discourse uses tags wrapped in < and >. Wrap those as code to keep that text from being handled as markdown
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