Fact Sentence with Value switch, assistance please

RootsMagic
1

I am trying to write a fact sentence to read one way if [PlaceDetails] is present and another way when not present. The sentence is picking up the condition for True but not when False. It is not inserting the default “In” prior to the [Place:Short] when the condition is false. I have tried using [Place:In:Short] but that’s not working either. Suggestions please? I am using: [Person] was born< [Desc]>< [Date],> <<?[PlaceDetails]|[PlaceDetails],>< [Place:Short:Plain]>|< [Place:Short]>>.

2

It is a little difficult to tell what you expect as a result, could you give some example data and what you want the result to be?

Here is an interpretation of your sentence, as it is:

First you have the expression “<?[PlaceDetails]|[PlaceDetails],>”. That says, “if PlaceDetails is not empty, write PlaceDetails followed by a comma.” There is no false condition specified.

Then you have a simple switch with begins with the “<” after <[Date],> and ends with the “>” at the end of the sentence. The simple switch has two values separated by the last vertical bar in your sentence. So it reads something like this:

If the PlaceDetails expression OR [Place:Short:Plain] either one (or both) produce a result, use it. If neither the PlaceDetails expression nor the [Place:Short:Plain] produce a result, then use [Place:Short] if it has a value.

That doesn’t seem to be doing what you describe as the desired result, but I need to know more about what you expect to suggest a correction.

Here is something that MIGHT do what you want…
[Person] was born< [Desc]>< [Date]>, <?[PlaceDetails]|[PlaceDetails]<, [Place:Short:Plain]>|< [Place:Short]>>.

Hope this helps.

1 Like
3

Thank you so much! Your sentence template is just what I was looking for. I knew I did not have the angle brackets correctly positioned to read the false side of the equation. Yes, the placement of the comma is important to the sentence when using {Place:Short:Plain] where I am trying to lose some extra prepositions when what was once a separate town or village became incorporated as a neighborhood of a larger city. Examples being Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland rather than “at Maryhill in Glasgow, Scotland.”