How to find ancestors who have missing information
December 14, 2006
Question from Gary:
I'm in the process of reviewing my entire Legacy database of individuals looking for missing information. I want to create a list of ONLY the male individuals of my surname indicated as having a spouse but no marriage information. Any ideas?
Gary, this can be done with a little creativity, and with a couple of different approaches.
Using the Search tool
In Legacy, click on the Search button. Click on the Detailed Search tab. Add the following conditions, and make sure to use the AND option for each condition.
Condition 1
Look for whom: Marriage Where to look: Marriage Date How to look: Equal to What to look for: don't type in anything here, leave it blankCondition 2
Look for whom: Male Where to look: Surname How to look: Equal to What to look for: type in the name of the desired surnameBe sure that when you click on the "Second Condition" checkmark, that you select the "And" option. Now, click on the Create List button at the bottom.
You now have a list of all males of the desired surname, who are married, but do not have a marriage date.
Blank lines report
For a different perspective, you can create a book report that will print blank lines for any missing information. For example:
To create this report:
- In Legacy 6.0 Deluxe, first navigate to the desired family.
- Click on the Reports icon at the top. Click on the Books/Other tab.
- Under the Book Reports section, click on the Ancestors or Descendants button.
- On the Options tab, make sure that the Insert Underlines options are selected (see image below).
- Print or preview.
I really love the Legacy Home Page. It is the first thing I read and explore each morning. I'm looking at the article on spotting missing information. Is there an easy way to copy this for future reference? I'd like to print it or at least save it to a file on my computer.
Posted by: Diane Murach | December 18, 2006 at 11:04 AM
Diane, we've previously published an article entitled "How to print Legacy News articles from within Legacy Home. The link is http://legacynews.typepad.com/legacy_news/2006/05/how_to_print_le.html
Posted by: Geoff Rasmussen | December 18, 2006 at 11:14 AM
Thanks for the tip. I haven't gotten to this point yet, but I will know how to do this when I am ready. Keep up the good work. Your tips are a great help to us amateurs.
Posted by: Nancy Richardson | December 20, 2006 at 01:57 PM
I'm new to using Legacy and love the tips I find at Legacy News. It would be very helpful if there were a "printer friendly" version for printing out tips I want to keep handy
Thanks
Patricia
Posted by: Patricia | December 20, 2006 at 04:46 PM
The report information and online directions were a great help in filling in what info is missing. Thank you
Posted by: Kathleen | December 24, 2006 at 10:10 AM