In order to use the database once you have it, you will need a database program installed on your PC. Using the data with your database program the file may be resorted into an endless number of combinations, i.e. Father - Community - Calendar (which means that Fathers are sorted first, then each Community, then each Community by Calendar dates).
The database design ("schema") is as follows:
Field Title |
Characters |
Content |
| Surname | 25 | The original variant (this field always in use) |
| Forenames | 25 | Includes given name(s) but excludes surname. Where individuals have been identified as belong to a specific "tree", the number of this tree follows the forename. If you find a relative with a number against the forename, you should be very happy - you can contact the original researcher for a copy of the tree. When trees are "merged" in this manner, we move towards a "Great Tree", linking all Tordoffs world-wide! |
| Sex | 2 | Single letter M or F and/or interrogation mark (?) |
| Age | 3 | Available from censuses, gravestones, etc. |
| Calling | 20 | Can be occupation, rank, mission, position, etc. |
| Category | 3 | The type of event being recorded. Can be birth, christening, marriage, death, burial, census, etc. All events should have a date... |
| Calendar | 9 | Date of 'Category' event in yyyymmdd format (to facilitate sorting) |
| Father | 25 | Full name: forename(s) then the surname. |
| Mother | 25 | Full name: forename(s) then the maiden name. |
| Spouse | 25 | Full name: forename(s) then surname of origin. |
| Church | 25 | May include parish and/or cemetery. |
| Community | 25 | Borough, town, village, city, etc. |
| County | 25 | State, province, district, etc., using Chapman code. |
| Country | 25 | Using Chapman code. |
| Notes | 35 | Miscellaneous note(s) and/or if no space above. |
| Source | 25 | Where the data were obtained. |
[For the design of the above, I thank SHARE].