Date format for a range of time

[Kell75]

Some of the residence information I find list dates of residence just as "1950 - 1962" and the location. Reunion doesn't recognize this as a date automatically. How do you deal with this? Enter it as a custom date? Just use the start date? Make a residence entry for each year in that range? I'd love to hear how you deal with this. Thank you!

[theKiwi]

The GEDCOM standard way to do this is

bet 1956 and 1957

See a discussion here some time ago about this

https://www.reuniontalk.com/forum/using-reunion-12/90822-gedcom-date-and-occupation-formats

Roger

[bmohr]

The GEDCOM standard way to do this is

bet 1956 and 1957

This format is for a single date that occurred sometime between the two dates in questions. The GEDCOM standard for a span of time from one date to the other is

FROM <date> TO <date>

[theKiwi]

This format is for a single date that occurred sometime between the two dates in questions. The GEDCOM standard for a span of time from one date to the other is

FROM <date> TO <date>

Yes - quite right Brad - I mis-remembered/misread the initial question.

Roger

[Gerry Newnham]

I'm trying to understand these answers as I've come across this issue in transferring my Gedcom file from a Windows program to Reunion. I understand the explanation that there are two Gedcom standards but Reunion won't accept either and asks for a default date.

In England and Wales until quite recently the GRO Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths showed in which Quarter/3 month period the event was registered and so I have numerous entries showing the date as, for example: "Bet July and September 1895". (Meaning the event was registered between 1st July and 30 September in that year). Reunion doesn't like this entry and calls it a Custom Format, which leads me to believe it is just stored as text and is not suitable for calculations, sorting etc. Consequently I'm slowly changing these entries to show only the Year with Quarter shown in the memo field for that Event.

Am I correct that Reunion is somewhat limited when it comes to date ranges (actually it seems it cannot understand any sort of date range) and therefore is the way I am proceeding the best way of getting Reunion to accept a date that can be used for sorting etc?

[Mark]

(actually it seems it cannot understand any sort of date range)

It's not really that Reunion doesn't "understand" date ranges, it's that it needs a value it can use for sorting the date among other dates, calculating timespans, etc. So, when you enter a date like this, it will ask for a Sort Date, so that it can properly sort the date among other dates/do other calculations.

For example, if you have a set of dates:

1 Feb 1982
4 Feb 1983
Bet 1982 and 1983

There's no way for Reunion to know where you want the "Bet 1982 and 1983" sorted among the other dates, e.g. if you want it sorted as 1982, or 1983, or something in between. That's why Reunion asks for a Sort Date for more ambiguous values.

...therefore is the way I am proceeding the best way of getting Reunion to accept a date that can be used for sorting etc?

The best option is to enter the date as you'd like it to appear in the Date field, then, if Reunion requires it, enter a Sort Date that is what you want Reunion to use for sorting, calculations, etc.

I feel there may be a bit of a misunderstanding here that getting the Custom Date/Sort Date message means your input was erroneous, which isn't the case. Reunion just needs a value that is less ambiguous so it can do sorting/calculations/etc.

HTH

[Gerry Newnham]

Hi Mark. I can see where you are coming from but I've been using a program that accepts date ranges such as "Bet 1st July and 30th September 1890" and "Q1 1925" (I'm not the programmer so don't ask me how it does it!) and happily sorts those dates correctly with no additional input from the user. So as far as this user is concerned Reunion doesn't understand what to do with a date range and asks the user to input a single date for sorting purposes. Perhaps you will appreciate my problem when I tell you that I have nearly 1400 such date ranges to convert. Changing the range from a 3 month period to a year makes it simpler for me to input and I just need to put "Q1" or whatever the quarter is into the memo field. It will inevitably throw up errors in certain circumstances but these can be ignored.

Is there a way I can do a find and replace to achieve this conversion? For example will find and replace allow me to move part of the date from the Date field to the Memo field?

[Mark]

I've been using a program that accepts date ranges such as "Bet 1st July and 30th September 1890" and "Q1 1925" (I'm not the programmer so don't ask me how it does it!)...

That program is likely making assumptions about how you want the date to be sorted. Reunion doesn't make assumptions here, it asks the user specifically what they want to do.

If you'd prefer Reunion decide, itself, how to sort date ranges among other dates, instead of asking the user, that would be something for our wish list.

For example will find and replace allow me to move part of the date from the Date field to the Memo field?

Find and replace would only allow you to replace what's in a field with something else. It won't let you to move data from one part of an event (e.g. date) to another (e.g. memo).

[Gerry Newnham]

Thanks for your comments, Mark. As suggested, I have added a Wish List item for Date Ranges. I might also consider a Wish List item for a more comprehensive Find and Replace, including the use of wild cards.

[bmohr]

It's not really that Reunion doesn't "understand" date ranges, it's that it needs a value it can use for sorting the date among other dates, calculating timespans, etc. So, when you enter a date like this, it will ask for a Sort Date, so that it can properly sort the date among other dates/do other calculations.

I get what you're saying, but the panel that pops up when you enter a date range literally says "Reunion can't understand the date entry" and suggests you "try to enter a date that Reunion understands." The manual says "When you type a date entry that Reunion doesn't comprehend as a 'date,' Reunion calls this a custom date."

So Reunion accepts date ranges (somewhat reluctantly), but I think it's a stretch to say it understands them in any meaningful way.