Terry's TMG Tips

Using Styles to Translate Name and Place Elements

This page created 5 May 2006

Version note: Applies to TMG 8 & 9

This article discusses using Styles to translate the Name and Place Element Labels when using a language other than English. This issue is described in my article on Data Entry Issues.

Other articles, found on the main Languages page, provide more detail on related features.

By default, the labels on the Name and Place elements are in English, regardless of the language the user has set. Since those labels appear in each data entry screen we use for entering Names or Places, having them appear in English can be a significant impediment to use of the program.

This article explains how to change those labels to a language of your choosing by use of the Style feature. First, we create a custom Name Style, then a Place Style. After that we discuss how to apply those Styles to both new Tags we create and to existing Tags. Note that this procedure applies to only the Project and Data Set in which it is done. If you have multiple Projects and/or Data Sets it needs to be repeated for each.

Creating the Name Style

Create a custom Name Style with labels in your preferred language using this procedure:

  1. Open the Master Style List (Tools menu).
  2. If you have more than one Data Set in your Project, select the desired Data Set with the drop-down list at the top of the screen.
  3. Select Names in the Style Type box.
  4. Click the Add button to open the Edit Name Style screen.
  5. Give your Style a name in the top field in that screen - perhaps the name of the language you wish to work in.
  6. For each field you wish to rename, right click on the label and choose "Modify labels of this level. The Labels for each level are:
Level Standard Label         Notes
1 Title  
2 Prefix Not used by standard Style
3 GivenName  
4 PreSurname  
5 Surname  
6 Suffix  
7 OtherName Not used by standard Style
8 SortSurname Used to sort in Picklist and Project Explorer
9 SortGiven Used to sort in Picklist and Project Explorer
  1. In the Edit Labels field that opens, Click Add, then type in a replacement label in your preferred language. Then click OK to close that screen.
  2. Use the drop-down list to choose the Label you just created. Note that in each template in which that element appears the name is changed to your new label.
  3. Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 for each additional label you wish to rename.
  4. When you have created translated labels for each level you wish to change, click OK to close the screen and create the custom Style.

Creating the Place Style

Create a custom Place Style with labels in your preferred language using a similar procedure:

  1. Open the Master Style List (Tools menu).
  2. If you have more than one Data Set in your Project, select the desired Data Set with the drop-down list at the top of the screen.
  3. Select Places in the Style Type box.
  4. Click the Add button to open the Edit Place Style screen.
  5. Give your Style a name in the top field in that screen - perhaps the name of the language you wish to work in.
  6. For each field you wish to rename, right click on the label and choose "Modify labels of this level. The Labels for each level are:
Level Standard Label         Notes
1 Addressee Generally used only for Repositories
2 Detail Often used for street addresses, Names of cemeteries, and other details
3 City  
4 County  
5 State  
6 Country  
7 Postal  
8 Phone  
9 LatLong Normal use is for Longitude and Latitude
10 Temple Intended for LDS Temple name
You can assign different uses for the levels instead of the standard ones.
 
  1. In the Edit Labels field that opens, click Add, then type in a replacement label in your preferred language. Then click OK to close that screen.
  2. Use the drop-down list to choose the Label you just created. Note that element appears in the template with your new label.
  3. Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 for each additional label you wish to rename.
  4. When you have created translated labels for each level you wish to change, click OK to close the screen and create the custom Style.

Applying Your Styles to New Tags

Once the custom Styles are created, you have them apply by default to each new Tag you create by setting them in the Data Set Manager, as follows:

  1. Access the Data Set Manager from the File menu.
  2. If your Project has more than one Data Set, select the desired Data Set at the top of the screen.
  3. Select your custom Name and Place Styles from the two drop-down lists in the "Default Data Set Styles" box.
  4. Click Close to close the screen.
This applies your custom styles provided you have not assigned different styles in the Add Person screen or in the definitions of individual Tag Types. If you have, those assignments take precedence.

Changing Existing Tags to Your Custom Styles

You can change the Name or Place Styles in existing Tags by opening each Tag, clicking the Style button, and selecting the desired Style from the list that appears. However this quickly becomes tiresome. You can choose to leave existing Tags unchanged, or use John Cardinal's TMG Utility (the Utility is Donorware - if you find the utility useful, John asks that you donate to his favorite charity). It is done as follows:

  1. John recommends that you make a backup of your Project before using his Utility to make any changes - "just in case."
  2. Close the Project in TMG, then Open the Utility.
  3. Use File > Open to open your Project. If you have more than one Data Set, you will be asked which you want to change.
  4. To change the Name Style, choose the Names > Change Name Style function. On that screen:
  5. To change the Place Style, choose the Places > Change Place Style function. On that screen:
  6. Close the Utility, and open your Project in TMG. Review a number of name and event Tags to be sure you are happy with the result before doing further editing. Should there be a problem, Restore your Project from the backup you made before starting this procedure.

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