Outline Methods

Normal
Short
Legal
Register
Legal Outline Method and Multiple Spouses

Descendant Report

Family History Report

Register Report

To specify the outline method for descendant reports...

  1. Select Reports > Descendant.
  2. Click the Layout button and choose Define Layouts.
  3. Click Indent/Outline in the Settings list.
  4. Click the Outline button.

The choices are Normal, Short, Legal, and Register. Examples and brief descriptions appear below:

Normal Outline Method

The Normal format will strip all numbering from each indent level.

source
   source person's 1st child
   source person's 2nd child
      source person's 2nd child's 1st child
         source's 2nd child's 1st child's 1st child
         source's 2nd child's 1st child's 2nd child
      source person's 2nd child's 2nd child
   source person's 3rd child
      source person's 3rd child's 1st child

Short Outline Method

This method (also called the Numeric format) numbers each sub-item of a line consecutively.

1. source person
   1. source person's 1st child
   2. source person's 2nd child
      1. source person's 2nd child's 1st child
         1. source's 2nd child's 1st child's 1st child
         2. source's 2nd child's 1st child's 2nd child
      2. source person's 2nd child's 2nd child
   3. source person's 3rd child
      1. source person's 3rd child's 1st child

Legal

This method (also called the Modern numbering method, and similar to the Henry system) shows each line with complete indent history, thus 1.3.2.5 means "the 5th child of the 2nd child of the 3rd child of the source."

1. source
   1.1 source person's 1st child
   1.2 source person's 2nd child
      1.2.1 source person's 2nd child's 1st child
         1.2.1.1 source's 2nd child's 1st child's 1st child
         1.2.1.2 source's 2nd child's 1st child's 2nd child
      1.2.2 source person's 2nd child's 2nd child
   1.3 source person's 3rd child
      1.3.1 source person's 3rd child's 1st child

Register Outline Method

In this numbering system, made popular by Register reports, each descendant is assigned a unique number serially across generations, beginning with 1 for the source, followed by his children as 2, 3, 4, etc. See the example and diagram below.

1. source person
   2. source person's 1st child
   3. source person's 2nd child
      5. source person's 2nd child's 1st child
      6. source person's 2nd child's 2nd child
      7. source person's 2nd child's 3rd child
         10. source person's 2nd child's 3rd child's 1st child
         11. source person's 2nd child's 3rd child's 2nd child
   4. source person's 3rd child
      8. source's 3rd child's 1st child
      9. source's 3rd child's 2nd child

Legal Outline Method and Multiple Spouses

In descendant reports and family history reports, descendants with more than one spouse will automatically receive a lowercase alphabet letter suffix for each of their marriages. For all succeeding generations, you can trace descendants to the correct ancestor by the letter suffix. Put another way, you can tell which ancestor's marriage produced which descendants by looking at the letter in the Legal outline number.

(Refer to the example below.) To trace future generations to either of his marriages, James Larry Leonard's first marriage includes the suffix "a" and his second marriage includes the suffix "b."

1. James Bell Leonard (1894-1960) & Bertha Hammaker (1903-1979)
   1.1
James John Bell Leonard (1922-) & Evelyn Stewart (1926)
      1.1.1a.
James Larry Leonard* (1943-) & Judith Kiner (1947-)
         1.1.1a.1
Jenifer Leonard (1973)
      1.1.1b.
James Larry Leonard* (1943-) & Pamela Klinger (1954-)
         1.1.1b.1
Michael Leonard (1986-)
      1.1.2
Kay Leonard (1945) & Ronald Michaels