New 5.2 gramplet for review: FamilyTreeDNA

Submitted PR to add a new DNA-related gramplet. Feel free to try it out and provide comments. PR# 604 is on 5.2 but code should work on 5.1

FamilyTree DNA : help page is at: https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Addon:FamilyTree_DNA

Purpose:

Import FamilyTree DNA matches and create Associations. Imports DNA segments and haplogroups for matches.

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suggestion for a 5.1/5.2 cross-compatible .gpr.py file has been posted to the PR comments.

Its help_url has been made consistent with the wiki’s URL naming conventions.

While I haven’t gotten to the point of downloading FamilyFinder data yet, I am curious why this was made a Grampet instead of a Tool.

For clarity here I assume you are referring to Family Finder matches
(autosomal DNA) rather than Y DNA matches (which is what FTDNA is more
noted for)
phil

Yes, this uses the results of the FamilyFinder (autosomal) test. It also optionally uses the Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroup that the other tests generate (adds as Person Attributes).

Good point. I guess this should be changed to a Tool rather than a Gramplet.

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I would have thought it would match the existing DNA Segment Map
Gramplet and appear on the Bottombar or would the Tool do the same
phil

This gramplet/tool is run once to import FamilyFinder (segment) data and add all of the relevant info to Gramps so that DNA Segment Map uses it. I think of this gramplet as an automation of the creating of Associations; or as an Import Association tool. Once the Association exists, you can run DNA Segment Map as often as you want.

If you have multiple accounts on FamilyTreeDNA, then you would run the gramplet once for each, potentially.

Currently it can run in the Bottombar. If I change to a Tool, I think it moves to the menu only. Where do you think it should run?

Given that description I would say more appropriate as a Tool
phil

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Note that the “Help” button for a gramplet is revealed when the Gramplet is undocked/detached. (Useful even if a bit of an Easter Egg.) Could you add a Help button linked to the help_url if you convert this feature to a Tool? (You might want to annotate the source for periodic review … a standard Help might emerge.)

An enhancement to Gramps Plugin Registration system added help_url attribute support for all plugin types in the 5.2 release. So there is no standard Help GUI in Tools (even for those Tools with dialogs when opened from the menu).

Or even in Tool Selector (select Tools from the Toolbar)

There are fallbacks for accessing the Help. The Plugin Manager Enhanced offers a Wiki button.

And once the addon is published to a JSON for use with the Addon Manager, there is a targeted Wiki button available there too.

v 1.0.30 available

Changes:

  • Changed from Gramplet to a Tool
  • Added Help button
  • Added Active person name to title.
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The documentation is incomplete.
Missing information include:
What data does it import exactly?
How will imported data will look like exactly in GRAMPS?
How many matches does it import? One? A manual or automatic selection of matches? All thousands of matches?
What will happen, when there is already the same info available in GRAMPS? There are two options: the same info is somehow added by the user manually already. The same info is added by the same tool already.
Why nothing is added, when association exists already? Is the tool somehow usable when association exists already?
All these question have the same thing in common. What is this tool for? This info is crucial to know. Users who polished their tree for years will be afraid to install this tool, if they don’t know, if this tool will automatically add info to one person or to thousands of people.

Good idea. Good work. Keep going.

I added more documentation. Please review and feel free to edit or suggest changes.

Usage[edit]

The purpose of this tool is to import DNA Haplogroup and autosomal segment information from the FamilyTree DNA site. The autosomal test in FamilyTree DNA is called FamilyFinder. The tool requires the user to first tie the FamilyTree person to the Gramps person. Only those people who are tied to a Gramps ID will be processed. Once done, the user needs to download the FamilyFinder match file and the Chromosome Browser file. The user can then execute the tool to extract the haplogroups for matches and the DNA segment information for use with the DNA Segment Map gramplet.

Sample Family Finder Matches CSV header

Full Name First Name Middle Name Last Name Match Date Relationship  Range Shared DNA Longest Block Linked Relationship Ancestral Surnames Y-DNA Haplogroup mtDNA Haplogroup Notes Matching Bucket X-Match Autosomal Transfer
John P. Тимофеев John P. Тимофеев 4/19/2021 Half Sibling, Uncle/Aunt/Niece/Nephew, Grandparent/Grandchild 1976.62 135.57 Uncle Daniels / Тимофеев R-M269 GRAMPSID=I01110 Maternal No Match No

Sample Chromosome Browser Results CSV header

Match Name Chromosome Start Location End Location Centimorgans Matching SNPs
John P. Тимофеев 1 18481003 61952574 53.763832 11126

Specific Details[edit]

For every person in FamilyTreeDNA that is matched to a person in the Gramps tree (thru a FamilyTree DNA note), an Association is created. This Association has a Note that includes all of the Segment data. Optionally, for every person matched, the Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroup will be added as an Attribute to the matched person.

The Gramps Active person should be the person whose FamilyTree DNA was downloaded. The tool creates a DNA Association between the Active person and each matched person. The reciprocal Association is not created.

If a DNA Association already exists between the Active person and a match person, nothing will be added. If the match person already has a Y-DNA or mtDNA haplogroup Attribute, it will not replace or change it. Therefore, the tool can be executed multiple times as more people are tied between FamilyTree DNA and Gramps.

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