Birth date is exported only when it is the same as the christening date
The first 10 results were exported from the search shown below.
2 of the results have entries in the column birthLikeDate. In each of these the birth date is the same as the christening date. Both the birth and christening dates are displayed on the search screen in the browser for all ten of the results that were exported. Why are the other 8 birth dates omitted from the exported results?
What does "Like" mean in birthLikeDate and birthLikePlaceText?
Answers
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Community (not FamilySearch) response:
It's probably just the way it is supposed to work - or working "as designed".
Why has it been designed that way? I don't know but could guess ...
It's supposed to be a research tool to locate records for specific persons ... so it provides 'birthlikedate' to help the researcher sort and narrow the search.
Birthlikedate/Likeplace definition?
- not exactly the birth date or place but close/near to it (exact date/place may be unknown but near what is known).
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Why export a birth date only when it is the same as the baptismal/christening date?
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It is redundant - I agree. But maybe there is something going on behind the scenes that is not operating as it should. I would think all the christening dates would be birthlikedates. So that it is only occurring when there is only a christening date seems to imply that - the routine is set to add birthlikedate only in this circumstance - operating 'as designed'.?
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No.
On the search screen these entries display both a birth date and a christening/baptismal date.
In the exported file, these entries have a christening/baptismal date. They only have a birthLikeDate if the child was born and christened/baptized on the same date.
Why is there no birthLikeDate in the exported file when the child was not christened/baptized on the day the child was born?
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That is what I am replying to, If there is a birth date - there is no birthlikedate exported (or no need to). If there is only a christening date - then there is a birthlikedate exported - meaning apparently - since there is no 'exact birth date' - it is 'birthlikedate'. Does that help?
Again, NO - from recollection - it is not exporting when there is both a birth date and christening/baptism date given... only iff there is christening/baptism alone. Example (not from recollection), you gave above:
- Search Results: line 6 and line 10 - both have ONLY christening date - so 'birthlikedate' is being exported...
Since christening/baptism is 'birthlikedate' to export it as such is ... redundant...
Thus, my indication above, all christening/baptism dates are 'birthlikedates'...they aren't the exact date, but shortly after/near birth date ... (exception for those baptized later)...
If there is a birth date in other words - there is no 'birthlikedate' needed/exported.
The same can be implied for 'birthlikeplace' the christening place is 'not necessarily the exact birthplace' but must be near or they wouldn't have been christened there (again exception for those baptized later).
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This screen shot shows the first 3 entries in this search. All 3 have values for birth and christening.
The corresponding entries in the exported file only have a birth date when it equals the christening date.
Why is the birth date omitted if it does not equal the christening date?
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In the case where birth date = christening date then 'birthlikedate' exporting is redundant. Perhaps indicating that maybe the birth date is implied and not actually recorded in the image? Somewhat difficult to tell without image access ... but again redundant anyway...
You are not using the same search as initially above? In your initial Search parameters - the first 5 results have both birth date and christening date. The 6th result is exporting a 'birthlikedate' because it does not have a separate birth date - like the first 5 results...
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When you are searching for birth information, why is the birth date not exported?
It is only exporting "birthLikeDate" iff the birth and christening dates are equal.
It is not exporting "birthLikeDate" when the birth and christening dates are not equal.
This is not a matter of only having a christening date or only having a birth date.
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When you are searching for birth information, why is the birth date not exported?
That is the way it is apparently designed - the export is only a tool to help the researcher narrow and find the individual/person they are searching - not to export all birth record indexes ... birth date is not 'birthlikedate' (which is exported under conditions mentioned...)
It is only exporting "birthLikeDate" iff the birth and christening dates are equal.
Not true. Use the initial search parameters you posted and look at lines 6 and 10. If it is also exporting 'birthlikedate' when both are equal - it is redundant (as mentioned above).
It is not exporting "birthLikeDate" when the birth and christening dates are not equal.
True, that's what I've been saying... it doesn't need a 'birthlikedate' since there is a birth date.
This is not a matter of only having a christening date or only having a birth date.
Not true. Again look at your initial search parameters - lines 6 and 10... For the case you seem to be concerned about - when christening and birth date are both listed as the same date - 'birthlikedate' is redundant. I have yet to see a 'birthlikedate' for a record only having an indexed birth date - it wouldn't be 'birthlikedate'.
Again, all of this is just supposition without exact knowledge of FamilySearch definition of 'birthLikeDate' parameter - but appears to be the case from the above parameter examples...
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I think there are two things tangled together in this error (and yes, I think it is an error).
One is the export function, and its choices of what fields to include in the export. I think that it should include every field that occurs in any of the results being exported. That is, even if just a single one of the records has a field titled "birthdate", there should be a column in the spreadsheet labeled "birthdate". I don't much see the utility of derivative fields/columns in an export: just give me the separate birth and baptism dates, rather than trying (and failing) to combine them into a "birth-like" field.
The other part of the tangle is index processing, which partially determines what fields exist and what they're filled with. Apparently, in this Scottish collection, there is a "birth-like" field, but it was only populated in those cases where birth and baptism were on the same day (i.e., when the birthdate and christening date fields matched). I don't know if this was the result of a badly-designed algorithm, or a conscious decision, or what, but I think it's an error that should be corrected: a birth-like field should be populated if there's information in any field that's likely to be close to or related to birth.
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(aratyat 3) I agree that the export function and the index are in play - that's obvious. But No, I disagree. In this case I am arguing the 'negative space' and Julia the 'positive space' ...
BirthLikeDate is a default Search parameter (currently)... Do any default Search with a date span or look at the Search parameters in the initial URL in the posed question of this discussion... Why 'birthlike'? Because apparently the definition means there is uncertainty to an 'exactbirthdate' - an obvious interpretation of the parameters having a date span - even in this specific case where from and to dates are equal (see urls above).
It appears maybe Familysearch is listening to the confusion caused by default 'Any' Life Event Search - but as far as aware is still More Options default.
'birthlikedate' is not birth date (at least from what I would interpret in common vernacular anyway) - if birth date is given or extracted to the record index - there is no reason for 'birthlikedate' to populate. (just my opinion) Otherwise, none of the exports would make any sense for 'birthlikedate' - everything would be 'birthlikedate'...
Read above for comment about perhaps why birth date is not exported.
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