I use the ‘sort date’ for some special facts. I would like to see them on the search or a report, but I cannot find any place to print or show other than on the fact itself. I think I have miscoded some, but no way to check it out. Any suggestions?
Sort dates are not available on any report nor via any search. The only place they are available is on the Edit Person screen itself. Making them available in any other way would be an enhancement request.
Because RM uses an unencrypted database powered by SQLite, the sort dates can be accessed using SQLite scripts. The creation of such scripts requires programming skills and is not recommended nor supported by RM.
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Another way of sorting is to export report results into other formats, like CSV, and pull into an external program like Excel or Google Sheets.
It’s also possible to use Power BI, with an SQLite ODBC driver, to do visualizations and sorting. (Video here for how-to for ODBC driver … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbbSvhkHS0 )
I don’t think that would work for any of RM’s reports that can be exported to CSV because I don’t think any of RM’s reports that can be exported to CSV include any sort dates. But the same idea would work to export to GEDCOM because RM’s GEDCOM does include RM’s sort dates.
A GEDCOM file is not as easy a format to work with as is CSV, but the sort date data is there so ultimately the project would be doable. I could be wrong about RM’s reports not including sort dates, but I don’t remember ever seeing an RM report that supports sort dates. If there is such a report, then a CSV export of the report would be an easy solution.
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I had just bookmarked a website that I came across on Reddit. Haven’t tried it, yet, but could be useful. Turn off RM specific details and even settings for what gets exported in a GEDCOM that might be private or unneeded to achieve the person/facts/sort dates necessary.
Thank you. I will try it.
If you want to use the sort date and have it show on reports wouldn’t be easier to just enter it in the date field. If you had -1, -2, -3 I would just move each one a date out.
That works on some, but not the way I have used it. I admit it is different than most use it, but it helps me. Just two examples. I want to have a comment on the report, but not in the usual fact field - I wanted it to be closer to the beginning as a note to myself. So I put 3 in the sort. If I put a date, it ends up in the fact column. I then have all the comments at the beginning of the person, but without a date. I have a similar use of the Reference Number. I do not want to print it next to the name, but I want it on the life summary. If I put a date it clutters up the real facts, so I like to have it near the beginning of the summary using a 2.
I can live with it as it is, but it seems strange on the searches things like proof are shown, but this is not. I do not want to spend a lot of time on it. Being able to place informational items where I like on the life summary and reports has been a big help (to me and those in the family I am trying to turn all this to them). At 94 and after years of using RM, I am starting to run out of time!