Search by ID Returns No (0) Results for a Known Id
I am trying to help a friend use the search by ID function found here:
Search - Genealogies - More Options - Ancestral File Number
We have entered multiple valid Id numbers like the following and click Search:
LXFN-37M
K2V9-KT7
What we expect is to be taken to a list of results matching that id,
https://familysearch.org/search/genealogies/results?q.afnId=K2V9-KT7
r to a page for the person represented by that id like
[family search site] /tree/person/ordinances/K2V9-KT7 (the editor here keeps stripping the link if I paste the full URL)
Instead, we are seeing the results page with a message that says "No Results Found"
I used the developer tools to examine the network traffic, and the search sent to:
[family search site]/service/search/lls/afPersona?afnId=K2V9-KT7
is returning an XML document with no results, rather than some details for the known good id.
Answers
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It's confusing because they all have the same NNNN-NNN format, but Ancestral File numbers, Pedigree Resource File IDs, and PIDs from Family Tree are all completely separate things. Are you sure that the IDs you have are AF numbers?
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If I do a random search in the Ancestral File for a John Smith I can pick a random page like this one: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MW29-FKV
Taking that John Smith's Ancestral File ID number of MW29-FKV, going back to the search page, and using that ID, I get https://www.familysearch.org/search/genealogies/results?q.afnId=MW29-FKV&q.collectionId=2 , no results found.
So you are right. Searching by Ancestral File ID number does not work. If it is still supposed to, ideally a moderator here will past on this but to the right set of programmers to get it fixed. I suspect that this is a rarely used feature so it was just never realized that a bug had crept in.
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I'll make some comments that may help to understand the situation here. First from the wiki under ancestral file the following statement is found --- " An Ancestral File Number was assigned to every record that was published in Ancestral File. Ancestral File Numbers are in this format: XYZ1-2A. If you know the Ancestral File Number, you can use it to search the Ancestral File for the individual." Note this is 4 characters a dash and 2 characters, not the traditional 4 -3 situation that we find in Family Tree. So in answer to the original poster. The ID's you are using are not ancestral file numbers and as one might expect when you attempt a search using them incorrectly it is likely that you may get no results. It would probably be more useful if the search had told you that you were not using an ancestral file number but I do not want to get into that side discussion here.
The Ancestral File was an early attempt to allow users to contribute pedigrees through submission of GEDCOM files. They are individual submissions so there are as one might expect, duplicate submissions to Ancestral file. Each individual submitted was given an Ancestral file number ( form xxxx-xx) so they could be easily found again.
Now lets see how this works. I did a search in Ancestral file for the surname Jones and selected one record as an example (anyone should be able to do something similar). The record I selected was -- Edgar JONES birth - 1893 in Macedonia, Pott, IA. (note in ancestral file the surname is all CAPS) We can also determine from the information associated with this record that the AFN is D7H5-7B (note the 4-2 construct) - if you use the search protocol of the original poster it will place you directly on this particular record.
Ancestral File was one of the sources used when the original data base for New FamilySearch /Family Tree was created so there is a additional ID number associated with this record -- MCXG-FM6. (note this is a 4-3 ID and compatible with the current Family Tree ID numbers) It is possible to use this ID number to find the location of this Ancestral File record in Family Tree by using either the Find by ID function or the "recents drop down search" in Family Tree. If you enter MCXG-FM6 you will find it takes you to --- Edgar Lowell Jones --10 October 1892 – 3 January 1961 • 97H7-KFD. What we can conclude is that the original Ancestral file record for Edgar JONES was either combined in New FamilySearch or merged in Family Tree into the current Family Tree record for Edgar Lowell Jones - birth is slightly different but has a spouse of the same name in Ancestral file and Family Tree.
Thus one can see that the system appears to work as designed. Apparently the original poster has some ID's associated with records from an unknown source that are definitely not Ancestral File Numbers (they are the wrong format) and using them does not provide any results.
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Aha! Thanks for the explanation. Here is what I overlooked:
Entries under Genealogies do all have an ID number in the format X:X:XXXX-XXX but these are not Ancestral File Numbers and looking at the Genealogies section search form, I do not see any option for searching using either either the full nine digit number or the seven digit portion that looks like a regular ID number.
However, scanning a very few number if Ancestral File entries, I see that the general URL for them which is https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:XXXX-XXX ends in the ID number as if the 61903/2:1: means "ancestral file."
Unfortunately, substituting in the ID numbers given in the original question into that URL form does not bring one to a valid web page.
So to go back to the original question, where did those IDs come from, what people are they for, and why do you think they are in the ancestral file? This could be interesting to pursue and see if there is any way to use those ID numbers at this point. Can you post sufficient information on the people with those IDs, that is, full name, birth date, birth place, sufficient to find them under Family Tree and under Genealogies so that those entries can be searched for for any remnant of those old IDs in hopes of finding a way to use them in a search?
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I did a little more investigation of the two ID numbers given by the original poster.
LXFN-37M - appears to be an ID number from family tree for a living record so the only person who can see that record would be the party that entered the information into Family Tree. It definitely would not be in Ancestral file because it is for a person currently living.
K2V9-KT7 leads to a record in Family tree for --- Johann Nicol Moeckel 6 February 1837 – 3 June 1872 • K2V9-KT7. This is a person born almost 200 years ago and appears to be from older records so I did a search for him by name in Genealogies and noticed there are several pedigree resource file records for this person and one Ancestral file record. The Ancestral file record found at this url --- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M7NR-HBN has an Ancestral File Number of --- 1MK9-HW. I should note that this ancestral file record is a combination of submissions from several Ancestral File Submitters. Note the ID of this record is M7NR-HBN and one can use find by ID with this ID to reach K2V9-KT7 in Family tree.
So in Summary the issue is. Original poster appears to have be attempting to search Ancestral File using ID's from Family Tree which will not work. If you go the other way and search Family Tree with ID's from Ancestral File and the IGI you can find where those records have been either combined or merged into in Family Tree. Attempting to do the same with Pedigree Resource File is not as successful as only a limited number of Pedigree Resource file records are in Family Tree.
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