Class: GETTING COMPLETED ORDINANCE

DATA INTO YOUR PAF DATABASE

©Copyright 2007 by Donald R. Snow

Sections of the Class Notes

Welcome and Summary of Previous Class
Overview of Getting Completed LDS Ordinance Data Into Your Database
Step 1 -- Running Update My Records
Step 2 -- Searching the IIGI (Internet International Genealogical Index)
- Searching the IIGI -- (1) "By Hand" and Using Alt-S-F, (2) By Using FamilySearcher, and (3) By Using PAF Insight
Step 3 -- Miscellaneous Places to Look for Completed Ordinances
Assignment

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group . This page was last updated 2007-08-21.

WELCOME AND SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CLASS

Instructors are Elder and Sister Donald R. and Diane M. Snow of the England London Mission, Hyde Park Family History Centre (snowd@math.byu.edu, dms34@juno.com)
These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines, Don's Listings.
Before getting all the completed ordinances into your database, you should have cleaned up and verified the genealogical data -- see Cleaning Up Your Database . You also need to get your database cleaned up to be ready for New FamilySearch when it is released to your Temple District.
This class will show how to find and input already-completed temple ordinance data before you submit names to the temple, so you don't duplicate temple work.

OVERVIEW OF GETTING COMPLETED LDS ORDINANCE DATA INTO YOUR DATABASE

Need to get already-completed ordinances into your PAF database so you don't submit the names again

Duplicating ordinances for an individual wastes 17 man-hours and it is now estimated that 25% of the temple name duplication is by the same person resubmitting the name due to carelessness.

Steps in getting completed ordinance data into your database -- These are discussed in detail below.

Run Update My Records
Search the Internet IGI for additional and recently completed ordinances
Search miscellaneous sources

We will illustrate these steps so you can apply them to your own database.

STEP 1 -- RUNNING UPDATE MY RECORDS

Take a backup of your verified and corrected PAF file to a Family History Centre and restore it into PAF on a TempleReady-for-Windows computer.
- Take the entire file, even though you may only work on part of it.
- Note the directory where the restored file is located.
- Close PAF and open TRWin on the database
Run TempleReady for Windows/Update My Records -- TRWin version 2.0 came out in July 2002 and will be superceded by New FamilySearch when it is released.

Tell TRWin where to find your PAF file -- can click on Browse to find the file or go to Edit/Options/Location of Files and set it to go to the folder
The Update My Records option finds completed ordinance data done before about Mar 2000 and puts it directly into your database without you having to type it in -- very helpful to run first
Select 100-200 names at a time by sorting the data by Families (click on the tab at the top), then click Ctrl-E to select that block of 20 families, go to the bottom and click Show Next 20, select them, etc. -- when you have 100-200 selected, click Find Completed Ordinances
- TR organizes the data alphabetically and searches for matches -- stops when it finds the first possible match and asks you if it is same person
- Options are Yes, No, and Computer Decide For Me
- If there are several possible matches, there are numbers by the arrows in the upper right corner -- click through these and select the one you want
- When you answer "Yes, It Is Same Person" the program puts that ordinance data into your PAF database and goes on to next person
- Earliest ordinance date is the effective one -- others are superfluous, but if ordinance was done at all, you don't need to redo it -- some people keep track of the later ordinance dates so they know and can show the latter ones when questioned about whether it is for the same person
- Earliest baptism may not occur with the earliest endowment or sealing to parents -- whichever one you select you get the other ordinances completed on that one too
- The algorithm "Computer Decide For Me" looks at possible matches and selects the first one it decides is close enough -- algorithm is set to err on the conservative side, i.e. it doesn't accept a match if not close enough, but in a few cases it does accept incorrect matches and you won't know it until you do a "clean up" check on the database sometime later --
  - However, if you are using a large database (1000's of names) you probably haven't verified the all anyway and Computer Decide For Me is probably as accurate, or more so, than your database
  - You can do a later check on them to verify them and find the earliest (effective) ordinances for each -- family members could be assigned to work on this project and perhaps someday the Church will produce a program that will do this for you
Update My Records only inserts ordinance data into your PAF database, not genealogy data, so it doesn't add middle names, spouses, parents, dates, or places that may be in the IGI
- To save other data you need to print it or copy-and-paste it into a text file and enter it yourself
- PAF Insight is a program that works with the online IIGI and does allow you to copy genealogical as well as ordinance data -- see below

Numbers of names to work with in Update My Records
- By selecting blocks of names, e.g. 100-200, you can stop at any time, note the name you stopped with, exit TRWin, make a backup with PAF, and come back another day and start where you left off by going to last name you got to and starting from that one
- If database has less than about 3000 names, there is an option for Select All, if you want -- go to Options/Select All
- For databases larger than about 3000 names, you can make GEDCOM's of small blocks of RIN's by selecting "All" in the Relationship Filter and RIN's 1-1000 in the Data Filter -- name it something like [Database name]-1-1000.ged and save it to the Desktop
Update My Records report
- Update My Records produces a report of all the ordinances found and entered in your database -- for a large file this may be 100's of pages long
- The Update My Records Report can be printed, but there are ways to save it without printing it.
  - Can copy-and-paste it into Wordpad or Notepad (by using "Paste Special" to remove the control characters) and save it as a text file -- you may have to copy-and-paste it a piece at a time into Wordpad or Notepad
  - Can save it as an html file (Computer Science jargon term meaning "hypertext markup language file") -- This requires a little computer background.
    - While the report is on screen it is in a temporary file on the hard drive, in a folder with a path like "C:\Documents and Settings\[Computer Name or User Name]\Application Data\FamilySearch\TempleReady\Cache" and is called IDHTM_UPDATE_RECORDS_BODY.htm -- this file can be copied and saved elsewhere before it is deleted from that folder when you exit that part of TR -- to copy the file, do the following
    - In the Cache folder, right click on the file name, click Copy, go to some other folder, right click and Paste, so you have a copy in the other folder. Rename this copy something like [Filename]-[Date as 2007-08-21]-IDHTM_UPDATE_RECORDS_BODY.htm
    - This is now the entire file in html and can be opened in any browser, e.g. Internet Explorer or Mozilla, so it can be examined, printed, or saved as a text file from there.
    - The reason for renaming it is so that the next Update report you save won't overwrite this one and you will know which file and date this Update report is for.
Update My Records recognizes all the following words, and a few others, in ordinance date fields and overwrites them when it finds the dates:
- (1) Completed, (2) Done, (3) In Process, (4) Submitted (Sub), (5) Cleared (Cle), (6) Uncleared (Unc), and (7) Pre-1970

STEP 2 -- SEARCHING THE IIGI (INTERNET INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX)

Checking the IIGI will prevent much duplication, since it shows ordinances completed up to within a few days ago.
Update My Records in TRWin only includes ordinances to about Mar 2000 (even though the CD's were dated Jan 2000), so the next step is to check the IIGI (Internet IGI = Online Ordinance Index) which has ordinances up to a few days ago
If you are only checking a few names, then don't bother with the Update My Records step and go directly to the IIGI to find all the data, since the IIGI includes all the data in TRWin, plus the deceased LDS membership data
There are a few ordinances in TRDOS (the old FamilySearch CD's, that are not in the IIGI (e.g. the Holocaust victims), but such cases are rare. If you have one of these, call the FH Department for instructions.
Must register on FamilySearch.org to be able to see ordinance data -- You need your LDS Membership Number, your confirmation date, and an email address -- Get your Membership Number and confirmation date from your ward clerk

Go to http://www.familysearch.org/, click Sign On, and register by entering a user name, selecting a password, and entering your email address and other data -- click on box that you are LDS and enter your LDS membership number and confirmation date -- it will check these against the LDS Church Membership lists
Keep track of your user name and password so you can log on to see the ordinance data, as well as the genealogical data in the IIGI
You only have to check the "I am LDS" box when registering, since later it will recognize you from your user name and password
If you forget your user name and/or password, click "I Have Forgotten...", enter your email address, and it will email you your user name and password -- worth doing this once just to get a printed copy of them

IIGI is almost complete now and includes ordinances that deceased members did themselves while alive -- still lacks a few "pockets" of completed ordinances, but not very many
Ways to find which names qualify for temple submission in your database

Start a "TR for Windows" export with Partial Select -- this shows at a glance names Qualified for B or E or SP, but not SS -- can make a list of the "Qualifieds" to check in the IIGI
Print the TempleReady Report from the Temple Names Submission process, or the Incomplete Ordinances Lists in PAF, or a custom report;
Have your PAF database open in a PAF window and the IIGI open in another window (see details below); or
Use PAF Insight or FamilySearcher and use their sorting capabilities

To print a list of names to check in the IIGI, can use the Incomplete Ordinances report or make a custom report saved to file as follows
- To make a Custom Report, set up the field filter and select "Qualified for B/E/SP", and birth/christening date exists, but doesn't contain "Abt" (so you don't work with estimated data -- this only works if you have entered "Abt" YYYY in birth field, when you couldn't find the exact date.)
- For the custom report set up fields for Name, Birth/Chr Date, Birth/Chr Place, Father, Mother, Spouse, and show or print the report in landscape, so there is one line per name -- can save this report to file and open it in Wordpad to work on IIGI
- For Qualified for SS report, include Marriage Date, but don't include names with "Abt" birth or marriage dates, unless you can't find the exact dates
- With a printed custom report you can search the Ordinance Index by hand to find matches, print it, and then you decide later whether it's a match

(1) SEARCHING THE IIGI "BY HAND" AND USING ALT-S-F

Open your PAF database in a window and the Qualifieds list in a Wordpad window
Show the Individual List in PAF and find and highlight the person you want to check the ordinances for
Hold down the Alt key and press S, then F -- this takes you to "Search" and then opens FamilySearch.org and automatically enters the name and searches All Resources for that person
If not already logged on to see LDS ordinances, log on, and go back to PAF, be sure the name is highlighted and press Alt-S-F again
On the right side of the screen you see a list of the FamilySeach databases that might be that person, including the IGI regions -- click on correct region, find the name or names (if duplicated) and find the one you want -- you may have to "Refine the Search" by typing in additional information
When you have found the person, if the word Family is there, click on it to show the family
You can either type the data into your PAF database, or copy and paste it in, or else download a GEDCOM as follows:

Download the entire family in a GEDCOM from the IIGI, save it to the Deskop, and import it into your PAF database
On the Import Screen remove the check from Reuse Old Deleted RIN's, so imported RIN's are always at the end of your data
Run Match/Merge for that person by typing in the RIN's -- you can see the RIN's, if you started from your Individual List, at the left next to the the Match/Merge screen, or move the Match/Merge screen out of the way, if needed
This puts the ordinance data and entire source citation into your PAF database, including the microfilm numbers, codes, etc.
You can also just copy-and-paste ordinance data from IIGI into your PAF database, but then you have to enter the source yourself.
Repeat to Match/Merge the rest of the family -- all the duplicated names will be at the end of your RIN list since you told it not to reuse deleted RIN's

When searching IIGI "by hand", if you start in "IGI", you must enter a region and you may miss relevant data from other regions you didn't expect, e.g. World Misc
Starting in "All Resources", you don't need to enter a region and it will find matching data in all regions and you may find data in unexpected regions, especially in WORLD MISC, which now contains .5 million names -- the IGI staff is trying to find and correct the places for these
You may have to refine the search and do some "creative searching" in the IIGI by trying initials, different spellings, abbreviations (e.g. R. or Rchd instead of Richard) -- check NORTH AMERICA even though marriage was elsewhere, e.g. in England or Channel Islands, since some early ordinances in Utah temples were listed in NORTH AMERICA, instead of where the marriage event actually occurred
When doing any part of this at a FHC be sure to backup up your PAF database to take it home so you have the updated ordinance data at home

(2) SEARCHING THE IIGI USING FAMILYSEARCHER

FamilySeacher is a freeware program that helps in searching the IIGI -- author is Kevin Owen of Meridian, Idaho
Download it free from http://myweb.cableone.net/kevinowen3/familysearcher.htm
FamilySearcher only works on a GEDCOM, so you have to make a GEDCOM of your PAF data first
When running it on your GEDCOM, you select the names to check in the IIGI and it does the searching and shows you the results
With your PAF database running in another window, you can copy-and-paste the IIGI data into it, or else download and import a GEDCOM with the data, including the source documentation, as discussed above
FamilySearcher will also do searches in all databases in FamilySearch.org, not just the IIGI, e.g. will search Censuses, Pedigree Research Files, and US Social Security Death Index, as well as IIGI

(3) SEARCHING THE IIGI USING PAF INSIGHT

PAF Insight is a commercial program ($20), but free to FHC's -- author is John Vilburn of Ohana Software
Download and purchase it from http://pafinsight.com or http://www.ohanasoftware.com/
See my online notes about PAF Insight on Don's Class Listings page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .
PAF Insight only runs on PAF databases, not GEDCOM's.
Does many things besides searching the IIGI, e.g. repairs database problems that PAF can't correct, renumbers RIN's, includes a better Match/Merge program, allows comparing two databases to see the differences and merge in what you want, etc.
Brings all the possible matches from the IIGI into your computer and lets you see the differences without you having to go back to the IIGI to see them -- highlights the differences and allows you to decide what you want to bring into your database, including data other than temple data, but it has many options and you need to be careful using it
Finds many "hits" in the IIGI that people haven't been able to find before
Incorporates selected data directly into your PAF database without you having to enter it or import a GEDCOM
Allows you to select parts of different IIGI records, e.g. can get earliest baptism, earliest endowment, etc., even if these don't occur in the same IIGI record
Brings into the Baptism Source the complete text from the IIGI record, e.g. whether it is an Extracted Record or Submitted by a Member or from Deceased Membership File, etc.

STEP 3 -- MISCELLANEOUS PLACES TO LOOK FOR COMPLETED ORDINANCES

Some reasons you might not find completed ordinances in IIGI and where to look next when you suspect they may be done and you don't want to duplicate them

The IGI only contains information on deceased persons; notify Family History Department if you find anyone who is still alive in the IGI, so they can remove them.
Also remember that each person's ordinances duplicated costs 17 man-hours, so it's worthwhile to check further
Data is almost complete now in the IIGI, but there are still some "pockets" or gaps
Children Born in the Covenant (BIC) won't be in the IGI since they didn't need the sealing ordinance -- If the parents were LDS, be sure to check the parents' sealing date before submitting children for sealing.
The data on persons receiving ordinances while alive, but data hasn't been entered into IIGI yet -- some is still missing -- updates for deceased members are entered twice a year

Some deceased membership records can be checked in FHL on film, but the films cannot be sent to FHC's

Ordinance was removed from IIGI, e.g. the Holocaust Victims -- contact Family History Department

Sometimes helps to search secondary sources for temple data -- see, for example

Electronic searches -- Ancestral File in a FHC may have ordinances (Go to a FHC to search the AF, since the Internet AF contains no ordinances.); Pedigree Resource Files; GEDCOM's from Ancestry.com, My Trees.com, Rootsweb, and elsewhere; and Susan Easton-Black's Early Church Membership File (on CD's from Ancestry and in the Nauvoo Databank - see my notes about the Nauvoo Databank on http://www.uvtagg.org )
Hard copy/microfilm searches -- Temple Index Bureau file, Temple Archive Sheets, temple records on microfilm (you need a temple recommend to see these); Patron Files, 4- and 5-Generation Family Group Sheets; Susan Easton-Black Early Church Membership File (on 95 microfiche #6031596 -- many FHC's have this set of fiche)
Can call the Deceased LDS Membership Records Office in SLC 1-(801)-240-3500 and they may give you information over the phone

ASSIGNMENT

Run Update My Records from TRWin on your database, or a part of it, to find some completed ordinance data.
Register and go online to search the IIGI by using the Alt-S-F method.
Search the IIGI for a name by using FamilySearcher.
Search the IIGI for a name by using PAF Insight.

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .