Gramps 3.1 Wiki Manual - Gramplets

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This page details the functionality of the Gramplets. If you would like to read more technical details about writing your own Gramplet, please see Gramplets.

Gramplets

Fig. 4.1 Gramplets View

A GRAMPS Gramplet is a view of data that either changes dynamically during the running of GRAMPS, or provides interactivity to your genealogical data. What is the difference between gramplets, reports, quick views, and tools?

  • Reports provide a static output format of your data, typically for printing
  • Quick View provides a typically short, interactive listing derived from your data
  • Tools provide a method of processing your data
  • Gramplets provide a dynamic view and interface to your data

Gramplets are the widgets that are part of GRAMPS and can be seen in the Gramplet View. The widgets provide all kind of functionality that can be useful for the researcher.

When you first start the View you will see the Welcome Message Gramplet and the Top Surnames Gramplet.

Fig. 4.2 Detached Gramplets View

You can drag the Properties button (top left) of each gramplet to move it around the screen. Clicking the Properties will detach the gramplet from Gramplet View and place it in its own window. The window will stay open regardless of page (relationship, pedigree, etc). Closing the detached view will put it back onto the Gramplets view. If you quit Gramps with a open gramplet, when you start gramps again, it will open automatically.

When one or more Gramplets are undocked from the Gramplet View, you can change to a different view (such as the People or Pedigree View). In this way, you can use these gramplets to supplement a particular view with additional details and functionality provided by the gramplet.


You can add new gramplets by right clicking on an open space on Gramplets. You can also change the number of columns by right-clicking an open area on the Gramplets page.

These are 23 gramplets currently available:

  • Age on Date Gramplet - see the people alive and their ages on a particular date
  • Age Stats Gramplet - see age span graphs
  • Attributes Gramplets - see active person's attributes
  • Calendar Gramplet - see people's events on a particular date, or in a month in the past
  • Data Entry Gramplet - edit active person's name, birth date and place, death date and place, and add people
  • Descendants Gramplet - see the active person's descendants
  • Fan Chart Gramplet - see the active person's pedigree, in a circular fan chart
  • FAQ Gramplet - frequently asked questions
  • Given Name Cloud Gramplet - most popular given names
  • Headline News Gramplet - current, breaking news from GRAMPS
  • Note Gramplet - see and edit active person's primary Person Note
  • Pedigree Gramplet - see a complete pedigree in compressed text
  • Python Gramplet - a Python shell
  • Quick View - run a Quick View on the current person
  • Records Gramplet - see world's records of your data
  • Relatives Gramplet - see the relatives of the active person
  • Session Log Gramplet - keep track of what you have done, and what records you have visted
  • Statistics Gramplet - see stats on the database
  • Surname Cloud Gramplet - most popular surnames as a "text cloud"
  • TODO Gramplet - a notepad to keep tabs on your research
  • Top Surnames Gramplet - top 10 most popular surnames
  • Welcome Gramplet - a GRAMPS welcome message
  • What's Next Gramplet - what needs to be done next

There may be other gramplets available in the in the 3rd Party section.

If a link in a Gramplet is to a specific person, then clicking the link will change the Active Person. Double-clicking such any link to a specific GRAMPS item (such as person or family) will bring up the Editor for that item. To edit a linked person without changing the Active Person, right-click on the person link. Depending on the type of entry, double-clicking any row in a Quick View table will either select more specific data (drill down) or bring up the editor.

This section will describe each gramplet and its basic functionality.

Gramps-notes.png
Changing settings

You can change the settings of the Gramplets by editing your ~/.gramps/gramplets.ini file. But you can only do that when GRAMPS is not running. Just bring up the gramplets.ini file in a text editor and make the desired changes. You can change the title of the Gramplet by changing the section name (surrounded by square brackets). These options will be able to be changed via the Gramplet View in the next version of GRAMPS. If you have an idea for additional Gramplets, please let us know!

Age on Date Gramplet

Figure: Age On Date Gramplet

This Gramplet gives you the possibility of entering a date in an entry field. If you click Run the Gramplet will compute the ages for everyone in your Family Tree on that Date. The date must be entered in a format that GRAMPS accepts.

Figure: Age On Date Quick Report

You can then sort by the age column, and double-click the row to view or edit.


Age Stats Gramplet

Figure: Age Stats Gramplet
Figure: Age Stats Gramplet showing options

The Age Stats gramplet shows graphs of the breakdown of particular age spans. Clicking on a row will bring up the associated people.

You can change the gramplet's options by detaching, and selection the options drop-down area, and pressing Save.


Attributes Gramplet

Fig. Attributes Gramplet

The Attributes gramplet shows all of the attributes for the current, active person. Double click on the name of the attribute, and you will run a Quick View that shows all of the people that have that attribute, and the values for it. You can sort the Quick View by the attribute value by clicking on the column name.


Calendar Gramplet

Fig. Calendar

The Calendar gramplet shows a monthly calendar. Double-click a day to run the On This Day Quick View.

With the < and > buttons top left corner (month) you can change to the previous and next month.

With the < and > buttons top right corner (year) you can change to the previous and next year.

The Quick View window shows you the Events of the selected day: Events on this exact date and Other events on this Month/day in history as well as Other events in that year.

The information is presented in a table showing:

  • Date
  • Type
  • Place
  • Reference

You can also drag a date to the date field of the Age on Date Gramplet to enter that date.


Data Entry Gramplet

Fig. Data Entry Gramplet

The Data Entry gramplet allows an easy method of editing previously added people, and adding new and related people in your family tree.

The Surname, Given entry is a combined entry for just the surname and given names, separated by a comma. If you need more fine grained editing on the name (for example, you need to add a suffix or prefix), you can use the Edit icon once a person has been selected as the active person.

The Death and Birth lines for both the Active person and New person are also a combined entry, allowing you to enter a date and place. The date (if one) is entered first in any format available to your GRAMPS installation, followed by the word "in" (in your language) and the location (if one). For example, the following are all valid entries for the birth or death entries:

  • Jan 1, 1867 in Kingsport, TN
  • about 1822 in Sweden
  • in London, England, UK
  • 1756/12/31

If a location has been previously used, then it will share that location with the others. If it is new, it will be created.

A new person can be automatically added as a relation to the active person. You can add the new person as a parent, spouse, sibling, or child. The gramplet will guess at the best place to add the person. For example, it will add the new person to the first family available. The gramplet will also try to discern gender where needed, guessing that the "father" spouse of a family is male, and the "mother" spouse is female. If these guesses are incorrect, you should add your new person via the normal GRAMPS data entry method.

If you would like to bring up the standard Edit Person window for the active person, simply click on the Edit button to the right of the Active person's name. If you would like to bring up the standard Edit Family window for the active person, click the Edit button to the right of the word "Family:" on the top row. This will bring up the first/primary family (if the active person is a parent in a family) or will bring up the active person's parent's family, if it is known.

If you begin an edit of the active person, then the active person data won't change until you either Save or Abandon your changes.

The Copy Active Data will copy the entries of the active person to the entries for the new person.

Note that you can't delete date or place information using this Gramplet---you can only add or change them. For example, you cannot remove a place by just deleting the text. You'll need to edit the person's record using the regular edit dialog (by clicking the edit button next to the person's name).

To undo a change, use the Edit -> Undo History menu option.


Deep Connections Gramplet

Fig. Deep Connections Gramplet

The Deep Connections gramplet finds relationship links between the active person and the home person.

You can press the Pause button to suspend the current search, and Continue to resume the search for additional connections.


Descendant Gramplet

Fig. Descendant Gramplet

The Descendent gramplet shows the direct descendants of the active person.

The order of the spouses and children is that given in the GRAMPS editor. To change the order of spouses, click on Order on the Relationship view. To change the order of children, drag and drop them in the correct order in the Family edit window.

This gramplet is based on the Descendant Report, available from the Textual Reports.

The Descendant gramplet will update when you change the active person, or change family trees. It does not update automatically for edits or additions because this report is time-consuming to run.

Minimizing a gramplet will prevent it from updating.


Fan Chart Gramplet

Fig. Fan Chart Gramplet

The Fan Chart gramplet shows the direct ancestors of the active person in a circular format. It is similar to the Pedigree View, but shown around the center/active person, and further generations spiralling out.

Click on a parent in the chart and they will expand or contract above their child. Right-click on a person and you can:

  • select that person to be the active person
  • edit the person
  • select from among the person's relatives to be the active person

Clicking in an open area (non-person) and dragging the mouse will allow you to rotate the chart about the center.

A white edge on the outer radius of the chart indicates more parents for that person. A black circle in the center indicates that the center person has children.

The Fan Chart gramplet will update when you change the active person, or change family trees.

Minimizing a gramplet will prevent it from updating.


FAQ Gramplet

The Frequently Asked Question gramplet shows a list of common questions, and links to their answers.


Given Name Cloud Gramplet

Like the #Surname Cloud Gramplet, the Given Name Cloud gramplet shows the top most popular given names in your family tree. The size of the name indicates how popular it is. Mouse over the name to see the exact count, and the percent of people in the family tree that have that name.

The gramplet splits up given names into words (broken up by spaces). For example "Sarah Elizabeth" would appear under both "Sarah" and "Elizabeth".

Double-click on the given name to bring up a Quick View of all of the matching people.


Headline News Gramplet

Fig. 4.9 Headline News Gramplet

The Headline News gramplet reads the wiki HeadlineNews page once every hour. The links from the wiki will appear in the gramplet and clicking them will open the associated webpage in a browser.

Because the Headline News gramplet gets its information from the GRAMPS wiki (at http://gramps-project.org) you need to have a internet connection for this to work. If you don't have an internet connection, then the Headline News gramplet won't show any information.

When you do have an internet connection, the Headline News gramplet will show you the latest headline news about GRAMPS.


Note Gramplet

The Note gramplet is a data entry, similar to the #Data Entry Gramplet. This gramplet will edit the first note of type Person Note for the active person. Like the Data Entry Gramplet, once you begin editing a note, it won't leave the current person until you save or abort.

Note that you must save your changes before closing gramps, or your changes will be lost.


Pedigree Gramplet

Figure: Pedigree Gramplet

The Pedigree gramplet shows a compressed view of the active person's direct ancestors. It defaults to going back 100 generations. The names can be clicked to change the active person, double-clicked (or right-click) to edit the person. This Gramplet also shows at the bottom of the gramplet the number of people per generation. Double-click the Generation number to see the matching individuals.

In GRAMPS 3.1, you can now see birth and death dates next to a person's name.


Python Gramplet

Fig. 4.8 Python Shell

The Python gramplet brings up a Python Shell for interpreting python expressions.

You can type most any (single line) Python expression.

In addition, the environment has been populated with some useful variables, including self (this Python gramplet), Date, uistate and dbstate.

Note that the name Date will be translated into your language, if a translations is available.

The Date entry is a date object constructor, and can be used for date arithmetic. For example, you might be interested in questions like:

What was the date 56 years before a given date:

> Date(2007, 12, 31) - 56
1951-12-31

How old was someone on Sept 3, 1955 who was born on June 7, 1922:

> Date(1955, 9, 3) - Date(1922, 5, 7)
(33, 3, 27)

(About 33 years, 3 months, and 27 days). When did they turn 21 years old?

> Date(1922, 5, 7) + 21
1943-05-07

You can also add years, months, and days:

> Date(1980) + (0, 0, 25)
1980-01-26

You can also use the same formats as you use in data entry:

> Date("Jan 15, 1962")
1962-15-01
> Date("15 Jan, 1962")
1962-15-01
> Date("1962-15-01")
1962-15-01

There are two ways to use different calendars:

> Date("Jan 15, 1532 (Julian)")
1532-15-01 (Julian)
> Date(1671, 12, 31, calendar="julian")
1671-12-31

and a method to convert one date into another calendar, which returns a new date object:

> Date(1703, 6, 1).to_calendar("hebrew")
5463-10-17 (Hebrew)

Developers

Another use for this Gramplet is for debugging. This gramplet makes a nice interface to the running GRAMPS system. You can inspect, and alter the system by entering Python commands. As a simple example, you can:

> self.clear_text()     # clear the text in this window
> self.set_wrap(False)  # turn word wrap off
> self.set_wrap(True)   # turn word wrap on

The Python Gramplet also has the Python "garbage collector" preloaded with the same flags as the Debug Tool. To use:

> gc.collect()
23
> gc.garbage[0]
<cell at 0x9f9089c: function object at 0x9f89dbc>
> gc.get_referents(self)
[...]
> gc.get_referers(self)
[...]


Quick View Gramplet

Fig. Quick View Gramplet

The Quick View gramplet allows you to run a Quick View, but it updates as you move from person to person. (Currently, only People Quick Views can be run).

You can run any of the Quick Views for a person.

You can change the options by clicking the Option button (top, left hand button of the Gramplet). Select Options and a list of options will appear. Press Save to apply the changes to the Quick View.


Records Gramplet

Fig 4.16 Records Gramplet

The Records Gramplet shows a number of interesting records (mostly age related) in your database, like oldest living person, youngest mother, etc.


Relatives Gramplet

Fig 4.12 Relatives Gramplet

This Gramplet shows all direct relatives of the active person. It's intended use is as a navigation help, an alternative way to move through your GRAMPS database. If you detach the gramplet, and place it next to GRAMPS, it will allow you to use it to easily change the content of the current "person view".

If you are working in the pedigree view, the active person is the left-most person. By clicking a name in the relatives gramplet, you can easily change the active person, and all person view in the other window will update. As the relatives gramplet shows all spouses, all children and all parents, this offers an alternative way of navigating your data.

The names in this gramplet also allow you to call up the person editor directly, by right-clicking on any of the names.


Session Log Gramplet

Fig. 4.10 Session Log Gramplet

The session log keeps track of activity in this session. It lists selected and edited objects.

Click a name once to make this person the active person. Double-click on a name or family brings up the edit page for that object. In addition, if you want to edit a person, but don't want to change the active person, you can right-click on the person's name.

This gramplet is handy because you can very quickly change the active person, or edit the object, from the session list.


Statistics Gramplet

Fig. 4.7 Statistics Gramplet

The Statistics gramplet runs a Statistics report. Double-click the phrases to bring up the matching items.

Following information is provided to you in this Gramplet:

  • Individuals
    • Number of individuals
    • Males
    • Females
    • Individuals with unknown gender
    • Individuals with incomplete names
    • Individuals with missing birth dates
    • Disconnected individuals
  • Family information
    • Number of families
    • Unique surnames
  • Media objects
    • Individuals with media objects
    • Total numbers of media object references
    • Number of unique media objects
    • Total size of media objects
    • Missing Media Objects

As with all Gramplets if you click on the left hand side Tool button you detach the window and if you add persons to your family tree, you will see the amount of individuals change dynamically.


Surname Cloud Gramplet

Fig. 4.5 Surname Cloud

The surname cloud gramplet shows the top 100 (by default) used surnames. The name font size is proportional to the amount of people with the same name.

Double-click a surname to run the Same Surnames Quick View. This will open the Quick View window where you can find all people with a matching or alternate name. Person, birth date and name type are given.

If you mouse over the name you see the percentage of occurrence and total counts.

Change the number of names displayed by editing this section in ~/.gramps/gramplets.ini


TODO Gramplet

Fig. 4.6 TODO Gramplet

The TODO gramplet is free form text area. You can use this area to put some notes, remarks, things you should to get your research going. There are several other TODO programs (e.g. Tomboy e.a.) but this Gramplet is useful as the information stays within GRAMPS. In future versions, you will be able to save links to GRAMPS items (like people, events, and families. This will allow you to keep a group of links that you are working on together.

The text is persistent between sessions. The data is saved to disk when you exit GRAMPS.

You can open more TODO lists to save different kinds of topics or organize your info.

Change the title of the gramplet by editing the section name in ~/.gramps/gramplets.ini


Top Surnames Gramplet

Fig. 4.4 Top 10 Surnames

The top surnames gramplet shows the top 10 (by default) used surnames.

The top ten is presented as follows:

  • Surname
  • percentage
  • occurrences

The list gives you also the Total unique surnames in the database as well as the total number of people in your database.

Double-click a surname to run the Same Surnames Quick View. This opens the Quick View window, which gives the people with the surname you double-clicked.

A table is presented which shows all people with a matching name or alternate name. Person's name, birth date and name type is given.

Change the number of names displayed by editing this section in ~/.gramps/gramplets.ini


Welcome Gramplet

Fig. 4.3 Welcome Gramplet

The welcome gramplet gives an introductory message to new users, and some basic instructions.

The welcome message describes what GRAMPS is, that the program is OSS and how you start a Family Tree.

This information can also be found on the start page of GRAMPS


What's Next Gramplet

Fig 4.17 What's Next Gramplet

The What's Next Gramplet displays a list of the "most urgent" information gaps in your family tree. It is based on the following assumptions:

  • You want to know first and last name, birth date and place, and death date and place of each person
  • You want to know father, mother, marriage date and place, and - if divorced - divorce date and place of each family with married parents
  • You want to know at least the mother of each family with unmarried parents
  • The closer the relationship to the main person, the more "urgent" the information gap is.
  • The closer the common ancestor is from the main person, the more "urgent" the information is (e.g. nephews are considered more "urgent" than uncles, even though both have a distance of 3, because for nephews the common ancestor is father/mother, while for uncles, the common ancestor is grandfather/grandmother)
  • Marriage data and personal data of the spouse is slightly less "urgent" than personal data of the directly related person
  • Half brothers are less "urgent" than brothers


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