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Ancestor Book Reports


An Ancestor Book report (also known as an Ahnentafel report) is a book-style report that begins with a specific person and moves back through the person's ancestors for a given number of generations.  (Ahnentafel means ancestor table in German.)   This type of report describes each person in a narrative format and gives each person a unique Ahnentafel number.  The starting individual is given a number of 1.  From then on, an individual's father is assigned a number that is two times the number of the individual.  The mother is assigned a number that is twice the individual's, plus 1.  If you are number one, your father is 2, your mother is 3, your father's father and mother are 4 and 5 and your mother's father and mother are 6 and 7 and so on.  If a person is missing, their number is skipped.  The child of any person always has a number that is one half the number of the father.

The numbers only apply to a person's direct ancestor so there are no Ahnentafel numbers for aunts, uncles, cousins, or even your siblings if they are listed in the report.


To create an Ahnentafel (or Ancestor) report:
1.   From the Report tab on the Ribbon bar, choose Ancestor Book...    The Ancestor Book window is displayed.
2. Set the options, as described below.
3. Click either Print or Preview to view the report.

Options

Missing Information Space-Inserts an underlined space so that missing information can later be filled in for given names, surnames, dates and places.  
Number of Generations-Number of generation to include in the report.  A 3-generation report would include an individual, his parents and his grandparents.
Table of Contents-Legacy will generate a Table of Contents listing the starting page for each generation included in the report.  You can specify whether or not you want to have leaders on the page numbers. If you want to begin the Table of Contents on an odd numbered page, choose the Start on an odd page number option.

Spouses of Children-Includes narrative information on the spouses of each child

Page Layout

New Generation On Each Page-Starts each generation on a new page.  If you want each generation to begin on an odd numbered page, choose the Start on an odd page number option.
Print Names in Bold - Prints each name appearing in the report in a bold font.
Paragraph Indents-The distance to indent each type of paragraph included in the report.
Custom Report Spacing - Lets you adjust the amount of blank line space to be included above the various report sections.  See Report Line Spacing for more information.

Heading Layout

Title for Page 1-The title that is printed only at the top of the first page of the report, after the title page.  You can also embed replaceable fields within the title text.  For example, "Report for [name]".  The [name] field will be replaced with the person's name when the report is generated.  See Report Title Options for a complete list of fields available.
Headings-The title that is printed at the top of all the pages after the first page.  You can also embed replaceable fields within the title text.  For example, "Report for [name]".  The [name] field will be replaced with the person's name when the report is generated.  See Report Title Options for a complete list of fields available.

By default, when you open this window, the two title fields will default to "Ancestors of [Fullname]".  You can customize either title by adding [replaceable field names].  (See Report Title Options for a complete list of fields available.)  The fields will be saved and restored each time you open the Ancestor Book Report window.  

Subtitles-Specifies the type of generation subtitles printed.  These can include the generation number (Generation One, Generation Two) or the Relationship of the generation (Parents, Grandparents) or both (Generation Two, Parents).  You can also specify the position of the subtitles as being left- or center-justified.

Wording 1 Tab

You can specify phrases when creating the narrative paragraphs of the report.  These include:
Individual Events.  For example, Noted events in [his/her] life were:
Marriage Events.  For example, Noted events in their marriage were:
Children (if couple was married).  For example, Children from this marriage were:
If there was only one child.  For example, The child from this marriage was:
Children (if couple was not married)   For example, Their children were:
If there was only one child.  For example, Their child was:
Children (if a single father or mother)  For example, Her children were:
If there was only one child.  For example, Her child was:

The Individual and Marriage Event and the Children wording may include embedded fields that are replaced during the generation of the report.  For example, The events for [firstname] were:.  (See Report Title Options for more information and a complete list of the fields available.)

The default phrases can be reset to either past tense or present tense wording.  For example, Their children were: or Their children are:   Clicking the Reset button gives you the choice of which tense to use.

Wording 2 Tab

You can specify phrases for the various note paragraphs of the report.  These include General Notes, Research Notes, Medical Notes, Marriage Notes, Birth Notes, Christening Notes, Death Notes, and Burial Notes. 

You can include embedded fields that are replaced during the generation of the report.  For example, General Notes for [firstname]:.  (See Report Title Options for more information and a complete list of the fields available.)

Report Options
For a complete list and explanation of all the report options available for this report, including items to include on the report, formatting options, pictures, sources, page setup, headers, footers and font selection, click here.

Index Generation
By selecting the checkbox in the upper-left corner of the Index Options button, you can have Legacy generate an alphabetical index for the report and an optional Location index.  This is particularly useful when you are printing a large number of consecutively numbered reports.  The index includes each person who is shown on each page and what position they occupy on that page.  The index can be lined or unlined and printed in one, two or three columns.  Click the Index Options button to make changes in the index format.  (See Index Options for more information.)

Title Page
By selecting the checkbox in the upper-left corner of the Title Page button, you can have Legacy generate a title page for the report.  Click the Title Page button to set the title page options.  These include:

Title-The title on the Title Page.
Subtitle-The subtitle that prints at the bottom of the Title Page.
Picture-You can specify to print a specific picture on the Title Page.
 Caption-The caption you want to print under the picture.
 Size-The picture can be printed small, medium or large.
 Shadow-You can have a drop-shadow behind the picture.

Where to Send the Report
Ahnentafel reports can be output to various formats.  Make your choice by clicking on the appropriate option button in the lower right corner of the Report Menu window.  The choices are:

Screen / Printer  Sends the report to either the Print Preview window or directly to your printer depending on whether you click the Preview or Print button.  (See Printing below.)

Rich Text File  Sends the report to a disk file containing all the formatting options such as bolding, indents, fonts and font sizes.  It also contains all the index and table of contents marks.  This file can then be loaded into your favorite word processor for further editing and formatting.

Text File  Sends the report to a text file on either your hard drive or a floppy disk.  You will be prompted for a drive and folder.  (Note: The Index, Table of Contents, and Title Page options are not available when using the Text File output format.)

HTML File  Sends the report to a HTML file that can be used on a web site or sent as an e-mail message. You will be prompted for a drive and folder.  (Note: The Index, Table of Contents, and Title Page options are not available when using the HTML File output format.)

PDF File - Generates the report, displays it in the Print Preview window and then creates an Adobe PDF (Portable Document File) file.  This file can be viewed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and easily sent to other people by e-mail.  (This feature is part of the Deluxe Edition only.)

For more information on the output options, see Report Output Formats.

Report Settings
Save - Saves the current set of report options for either future use (saved under a file name you provide) or as user-default settings.
Load - Load a set of saved options (you choose from any settings you have previously saved) or load User-Defaults.
Reset - Change all the report options back to either the Legacy defaults or to your user-defaults (if you have saved user-default settings).

Printing
When you have set all the options, click either the Preview button to see an on-screen view of the report before it is actually printed, or click Print to have the report sent directly to the printer.

See Also:
Family Group Records
Descendant Reports
Pedigree Charts
Individual Reports
Timelines
Ancestor Reports
Lineage Reports
Modified Register (Descendant) Book Generation
Descendant Narrative Book Generation 
Name Tags 
Address Labels 
To-Do Report 

Note:  The report settings for the Ancestry Book report are saved in a file called Ances.usr in the [My Documents]\Legacy Family Tree\_AppData\Usr\ folder.

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