Goocanvas was there because I use Graphview all the time and without any problems
I will try again later with your latest version
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I have updated to 0.1.18 and the Set Active works.
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I would like to shed some light on the name abbreviation algorithm since I have not gotten much feedback on it yet. Names are a complex topic, and I implemented a logic to abbreviate names (especially long ones) step by step, so that the UI can choose which name āvariantā is just short enough to fit into limited space. This way the available space is used most effectively without removing too much information (i.e. too many parts of the name). In practice, I use this to fit all names into the maximum two lines reserved for the name in the fixed-size person boxes on the canvas of the tree. But I think this algorithm might also be interesting for other developers who donāt want to consider designing their interfaces for very long names when itās not necessary to see the full name at that specific position.
I just added a new Gramplet to the repository to inspect the steps and results of the AbbreviatedNameDisplay. I set the audience to DEVELOPER, so you have to select āDeveloperā (or All audiences) instead of āEveryoneā in the Addon Manager to see it there.
You can open this Gramplet (āAbbreviated Namesā) next to your list of people and select those with interesting and complex names to see if the abbreviations make sense. I would appreciate some feedback on the algorithm, especially for complex names and names in non-latin alphabets.
Iām also thinking about customization options for the abbreviation rules. What do you think?
Screenshot with an artificially complex name for testing:
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That would be great, this Gramplet and abbreviation algorithm should be part of Gramps itself 
For the customization options they may need to take in to account how different countries handle abbreviation if that is a thing?
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That would be great, this Gramplet and abbreviation algorithm should
be part of Gramps itself
Absolutely not leave it as an add-on to be used or not
adulterating a name just to fit a text box in my view is a total
nonsense why not wrap the text over two lines
This add-on looks interesting but will be of no use to me because of not
being able to handle text based dates
phil
@comeng
The names should wrap over two lines, see the screenshot in the original post of this thread. (If this doesnāt work on your system, increase the ppi in the experimental tab of the FamilyTreeView config window, Iām trying to make this work automatically). I decided to limit the space available for names, so that long names donāt break the consistent appearance of the tree by increasing the size of some of the boxes. Maybe I will add an option to adjust the size of the boxes, so you can increase the size to fit all the names in it without abbreviations.
Either way, you can sindle-click (with default configs) to open the info box and see the full name.
Are you referring to events on the timeline? The addon uses Grampsā Date.get_sort_value() to determine the order and position of events on the timeline. If the date is text-only, Gramps provides the replacement value of 0. If Gramps cannot provide a meaningful value for a date, I guess there is not much I can do about it. If you have an idea how to improve this, Iām open to suggestions.
The abbreviating a Given name to help fit the name into the node box is great.
But first, the view should be using the default display name set in Preferences. I never display name as Surname, Given except for indexes of names. My desired display name is Given Surname, Suffix.
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FamilyTreeView (as well as the Gramplet) uses the name format defined in the preferences. (FamilyTreeView itself doesnāt seem to notice the change. It seems you have to restart Gramps for it to take effect. Iāll fix that).
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@DaveSch
I just packaged a new version (0.1.20) and the tree should now update when the name format is changed.
I wrestled with this exact problem for the Calendar Graphical Report, and added the āCommonā name format to try to help with the issue. I defined a āCommonā name to use ānick name, call, or otherwise first first-nameā. But I think an āAbbreviatedā name format would also make sense in core Gramps.
(I also added ellipses when the name was still too long to fit in the calendar box)
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I too use Common Surname for the Calendar and the WebCal. These reports allow the user to set a name display specific for the repot that overrides the default display set in Preferences.
Ideally, all the graphical views would allow this to save on space.
Similar to an override for name, an override for the default place name is another option desired for graphical view. The Graph View does have this option and I use a Populated Place override that limits the place name to City, State stripping out hospital names, county information and country.
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I installed 0.1.20 and it does recognize the hard-coded default options created by Gramps.
- Surname, Given Suffix
- Given Surname Suffix
- Given
It is NOT recognizing any of my custom name format. Any use of a custom display reverts to Surname, Given Suffix.
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Was not expecting a fix just making the point that add-ons do not necessarily suit all and therefore it is important that they are capable of being not installed or uninstalled.
Please keep on developing this there seems to be a lot of interest.
phil
@DaveSch
Currently trying to fix it. Itās not easy. Seems I made some wrong assumptions in the original implementation.
And why not abbreviating the last name instead of first name? It is already known in father or childs boxes if their first names donāt need to be abbreviated. It is the less significant.
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@DaveSch
I just pushed a new version (v0.1.21) which includes many improvements to the abbreviation algorithm, including support for custom formats, handling of parentheses and quotes (besides commas, which are handled more simply) in the format, support for UPPERCASE name parts, and support for nick call and famnick name parts.
Please use the latest version and let me know if the output has improved for you.
This is an interesting idea. Iām not sure I would use it personally, but itās definitely worth discussing. One problem would be the maiden names if the father is not in the database, or if the father is not visible because his generation is not shown, or if the children are not visible because their generation is not shown.
Good News!! The FTV now recognizes the userās custom name display formats.
Now a new issue. My normal name format is Title Given āNicknameā Surname, Suffix. I know, not ideal for graphical displays and I will probably use Given Surname, Suffix for the view.
The issue showed up for the āNicknameā portion of my normal option.
When a person had more than one name in the Given field, with NO Nickname, a set of empty quotations ("") appear.
Maybe, because the view abbreviates names to fit the nodes, if portions of the name options that utilize quotations ("") or parentheses (()) should be omitted. Whichever way you choose to solve the added empty quotations, I have alerted you to the issue.
As I said, I will probably use Given Surname, Suffix when using the view. Ideally, I would like a config option to select an override display option so when navigating to the view, a name option more appropriate to view will automatically be used.
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@DaveSch
Thanks for letting me know. I just did some investigating and the comma before suffix is also not removed even if there is no suffix. I will try to fix both issues in the next update.
Thank you for your understanding that it may take several iterations of testing and fixing for all cases to work. As soon as no more problems are found, Iāll write some tests for the abbreviation algorithm to make sure to catch any recurring problems when other changes are made (such as performance improvements or refactoring of the algorithm).
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Please be aware that the routines in name display formatter have some enhancements waiting on the next major release.
I recall white spacing being tweaked and (more vaguely) something about when to include commas.
Perhaps these optional features (for abbreviating portions of a name) should be earmarked for future inclusion in the Name Format Editor feature? So they could be tested in this addon but be designed for later removal when debugged versions have been integrated into the āInitialsā (for a Given name) feature in the core.
Note: the person used for Display Name Editor example is not yet in the Example.gramps file. This make it more difficult to validate the view. (Without the sample person, you have to determine if any error is introduced by the view or because of bad data.)
So a Person record XML has been created until it can be added to the distribution. Import the content of issue 12203 comment (import via the Import Text addon gramplet allows a simple Paste instead of the hassle of saving and selecting Files.)
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