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Descendant Narrative Report


A Descendant Narrative report is a book-style report that begins with a specific person and moves forward through the person's descendants for a given number of generations.  This type of report describes each person in a narrative format and gives each person a number.  The number can be either the generation they are in or it can be a Henry Number or de Viliers System number.  (See Henry Numbering System or and de Villiers Numbering System for more information.)


To create a Descendant Narrative Book Report:

1. From the Report tab on the Ribbon bar, choose Descendant Narrative Book.   The Descendant Narrative Book Report Options window is displayed.
2. Set the options, as described below.
3. Click either Print or Preview to view the report.

Options Tab

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/her children and grandchildren.
Indent Each Generation - How far each successive generation is indented from the previous generation.
Numbering System - The system of numbering to be used for the individuals on the report.  The Generation numbers system simply numbers each generation with a consecutive number.  See Henry Numbering System and de Villiers Numbering System for more information on these systems.
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.

Page Layout Tab

Print Names in Bold-Print the names that appear in the report in a bold font.
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 Tab

Title of Report-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.

By default, when you open this window, the title field will default to "Descendants of xxxxx" (where xxxxx is the name of the current person) and is not saved.  If you customize the title by adding a [replaceable field name], such as Descendants of [Fullname], the field will be saved and restored each time you open the Descendant Narrative Report window.  If you want to save a customized title that does not contain a [field] with square brackets around it, type a leading period at the beginning of the title, such as  .My Descendants   This will cause Legacy to save the entry and restore it.

Wording 1 Tab

You can specify phrases when creating the narrative paragraphs of the report.  These include:
Individual Events
Marriage Events

The Individual and Marriage Event 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
Descendant Charts 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.)

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
Ahnentafel (Ancestor) Book Generation
Modified Register (Descendant) Book Generation
Name Tags 
Address Labels 
To-Do Report 


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

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