Nickname+Manipulations

toc RootsMagic has three different storage mechanisms for Nicknames: Different outputs from RootsMagic have differing usage of these. Box charts cannot use Alternate Names and only include the primary name Nickname field if Prefix and Suffix are also included. Sentence templates for facts other than the Alternate Name type cannot access Alternate Names, cannot parse the nickname embedded in the primary Given field but can use the primary Nickname field. So there are outputs where it may be desirable that nicknames be embedded with the given name and others where it should not be. And as a database is built over time from a variety of sources, there may be inconsistency in the way nicknames are stored within the database.
 * 1) Nickname field in each Name record
 * 2) In quotation marks or parentheses in the Given field of each Name record
 * 3) As above in a Name record of type "Nickname"

This page offers a set of scripts that can manipulate where the nickname values are stored, globally and quickly, to optimise for a desired output and to make consistent. =Combine | Split Nickname and Given Names= These two scripts can swap the nickname between the NickName field and the Given Names field. The splitter works only with quotation marks delimiting the nickname in the Givens field; the combiner puts the nickname in quotes in the Givens field. You can use RootsMagic Search and Replace function on the Given names to convert all instances of parentheses to double quotation marks.

= = =Ambivalent Nicknames= = = This script returns Record Number and Names of Persons who have both an embedded Nickname and a value in the Nickname field. These cannot be processed by NickGivenCombine.sql and NickGivenSplit.sql and should be resolved in the database with one or the other but not both.

Includes those having parentheses to denote nickname in the Given field instead of quotes; parentheses not supported by other scripts in this series. = = = =

= Conflict between Primary and Alternate Nicknames =

This script returns the Record Number and Nicknames of Persons who have both an Alternate Nickname and a Primary name with an embedded nickname or non-empty NickName field and the nickname values in the corresponding fields do not match. Use RIN to find the person in RootsMagic Explorer to revise as needed.

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION -possibly converters between the nickname fields of Primary Name and Alternate Name of type Nickname but this would be complex.