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Tips and tricks

Data sources and files

How to find a file by its name can be found here .
To copy a file from one data source to another, first create a backup of the file, which you then restore in the other data source.
If you back up a file, then destroy it , and then restore it , this can significantly speed up subsequent long-running functions (e.g., large evaluations, duplicate checks).

Data error

If you receive an error message indicating that there was a mistake while reading or writing persons, marriages, or names, the records are corrupted . In this case, you must check and repair the records immediately to eliminate the cause and prevent the problem from worsening.
If a reading error occurs again immediately when working in a specific person index despite checking and repairing the index, please proceed as follows with regard to that person index:
- All persons: regenerate
- Tagged people, Last seen people: clear
- Other: remove

Search and Find

To find a person using their Kekulé number, first create the Kekulé numbering system for the subject, if this hasn't already been done. The numbered individuals are then entered into the user-created directory of people with Kekulé numbers . Next, in the AGS Navigator, navigate to this directory and enter the Kekulé number in the search field below the person's entry. The directory will then scroll to the person with the entered Kekulé number.
The following entries, among others, work in the quick search field below a directory of people:
- ?,?,1971 rolls to the first NN with date 1971
- ?,Robert rolls to the first Robert without a last name
Are people without names (NN) difficult to find? The people search also finds people without names using their dates of birth and death or free text.

Workload Personnel

Use person markers to organize or follow up on individuals for processing. You can mark or remove a person from their context menu in the details view of a person directory, or via the Mark button in the menu bar on the tab .
Create two empty person directories named "Working List" and "Completed" (you can choose other names as you wish). Add people to the "Working List" and move completed individuals to the "Completed" directory.
Use highlights in the AGS Navigator to keep track of the files, personnel directories and documents that are currently relevant to your work.
The plausibility check creates a directory of people containing implausible entries. You can open the entries in this directory one by one on the index card , correct the data, and then remove the person from the directory via the submenu in the index card's menu bar. Once you have reviewed all the people, the directory will be empty.
The process for removing duplicates is the same.

Evaluations

The document viewer is a window that displays a document for viewing. The document manager is a structured list of documents in the AGS Navigator , which allows you to manage documents.
To print a person's top ancestor list , first create a top ancestor directory for that person and then output it as an evaluation in the form of a list .
To create a local family register sorted by last name/date , you should base the creation of the local family register on a copy of the list of persons from all index cards sorted by last name/date.
When creating ancestor lists, descendant lists, family trees, and genealogies, you often deal with a large number of individuals with the same name, who may also belong to different branches. If you enable the member list in the General section of the Omega evaluation settings , you will receive an overview of the people included in the evaluation as a user-created directory .
Then clear the selected index cards in the person directory and add the contents of the person directory, including the members of the report, to the selected index cards. Now all members of the report are selected. This provides a visual check when reviewing the names in the "All Persons" directory to see if all names have appeared in the report.
How to create an evaluation for publication on the World Wide Web or on a data carrier (USB stick, CD-ROM) can be found here .
If you create a report as an RTF file and then convert it to a PDF using Microsoft Word, the PDF will contain bookmarks and navigation. This is not the case if you create a PDF directly from the document viewer .

Data collection

Press Alt+R to enter a date from the French Revolutionary Calendar into a date field.
For married persons, always enter only the surname at birth in the surname field.
For marriages, there is a notes field that can record dismissals, dispensations, and witnesses .
To change the order of marriages or children, you can drag the marriages and children with the mouse or have them sorted automatically.

Unsupported data fields

Omega does not have a dedicated field for divorces . Typically, a divorce is entered in the free text field for marriage information, where witnesses, details of kinship, dispensations, etc., are usually entered. Example: The marriage was dissolved on April 22, 2019.
There is no separate field for house numbers . It is conceivable to append the house number to the place name with an underscore ( Sample City_47 ). However, for Omega, Sample City_47 and Sample City_49 are different places, and an entry is made for each in the place name register. If you are creating a local family history book for Sample City, you would not want to record occurrences of the main town anyway and can then delete all Sample City entries during post-processing of the analysis using your word processing program.

Backing up and restoring files

Create regular backups of your patient files. A backup is a ZIP archive containing all the files that make up a patient file.
Backups protect your work! Only with backups will your data remain available if your computer breaks down or is infected by malware that encrypts or deletes your data.
Always back up your files to storage media (USB drives, external hard drives) that are not constantly connected to your computer. Keep these backup media in a secure location. Also, share backups with trusted individuals outside your organization or store them in the cloud. The 3-2-1 rule is: always have three backups, two of which should be stored off-site and one off-site.
You can restore previous versions of a file to a new file in order to access both the current and the backed-up data simultaneously.

Change spellings

You can change the spelling of surnames, first names, place names, and job titles simultaneously on all index cards. See the descriptions for the respective directories for instructions.