Alternate spellings

Alternate spellings
Summary	Allows searching on alternate spellings of a name.
Validation
Mod Updated	25 Jan 2025
Download link	For TNG 14.0 v14.0.0.4 For TNG 13.0.1 v13.0.1.2d
Download stats	Show statistics
Author(s)	Michel Kirsch
Homepage	Racines luxo-hennuyeres
Mod Support	TNG Community Forums
Contact Developer
Latest Mod	v13.0.1.2d for TNG v13+ - v14.0.0.4 for TNG v14+
Min TNG V	v13+
Max TNG V	14+
Files modified	admin_secondary.php admin_secondmenu.php admin_updateperson.php ajx_delete.php customconfig.php deletelib.php genlib.php languages/Dutch-UTF8/cust_text.php languages/Dutch/cust_text.php languages/English-UTF8/cust_text.php languages/English/cust_text.php languages/French-UTF8/cust_text.php languages/French/cust_text.php personlib.php search.php searchform.php searchlib.php
Related Mods
Notes

Purpose of the Mod

This Mod allows you to search for alternative names (other forms, spellings,...) for a person.
After installation and before using this Mod, you must go to your menus : Admin >> Import/Export >> Secondary Processes and click on the "Alternate spellings" button to create the new table and collect the alternate spellings already contained in your database.
The table will be created automatically and populated with your existing data.
The table name is modifiable by parameter. Before changing the table name, don't forget to delete the old table. After changing the name, don't forget to re-populate the table !

(See below About Tags, Uninstall and Mod Operation)

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Programming

= Testing : Thanks to Katryne Chauvigné and Rob Severijns
= Translations : Thanks to DeepL on-line translator.
= Author : Michel Kirsch from Charleroi-Hainaut-Belgium

Requirements

A TNG v13.0.1 installation in working order.But it probably works with older versions of TNG. Please let me know. Thank you.

About Tags

For this mod to work, you must define the tags you want to process in your genealogy. To do this, adjust the list that you will find in the settings of this Mod (Admin Menu>>Mod Manager>> Click on the line of the Mod then click on the "Edit Options" button).
It is also necessary that the tags you have designated in this list are activated in TNG: Go to Admin Menu>>Types of events which will open the page of tags present in your genealogy.
Verify that the tag(s) you are interested in are present in the list AND that the column "On Import" is well on "Accept" for these tags.
If a tag is not defined, create it using the "Add New" tab. If it is not on "Accept", modify it by clicking on the appropriate icon to the left of the tag line.
Help is available at the top left of the page.

Click on the link at the right to Show/Hide a screenshot of the page.

The screen for Admin Custom Event Types

To learn more about the tags, click on the link at the right. (source : is no more reachable...)

Formated by the GEDCOM 5.5 norm.

 GIVN {GIVEN_NAME} A given or earned name used for official identification of a person.
                  ''(Un nom donné ou acquis utilisé pour l'identification officielle d'une personne)''
 NAME {NAME} A word or combination of words used to help identify an individual, title, or other item.
             More than one NAME line should be used for people who were known by multiple names.
             ''(Un mot ou une combinaison de mots utilisés pour aider à identifier une personne, un titre ou un autre élément.
             Si une personne était connue sous plusieurs noms, il faut utiliser une ligne NOM par nom connu.)''
 NICK {NICKNAME} A descriptive or familiar that is used instead of, or in addition to, one's proper name.
                 ''(Un descriptif ou un terme familier qui est utilisé à la place ou en plus de son nom propre.)''
 SURN {SURNAME} A family name passed on or used by members of a family.''(Un nom de famille transmis ou utilisé par les membres d'une famille.)''

List of genealogy programs :

    AQ        Ancestral Quest
    BKW       Brother's Keeper (Windows)
    FO        Family Origins
    FTM       Family Tree Maker (DOS)
    FTW       Family Tree Maker (Windows)
    Gen       Generations
    Leg       Legacy
    PAF       Personal Ancestral File
    Reunion   Reunion for the MAC
    TMG       The Master Genealogist

Tags defined by these programs These tags are not part of the GEDCOM 5.5 specification. All these tags must start with an underscore (_).

Tag	Programs	Signification
_AKA	AQ3, PAF4, PAF5	used for the "also known as" name (Aussi connu comme)
_AKAN	BKW6, PAF5	Also known as (Aussi connu comme)
_BIRN	BKW6, PAF5	Birth name (Nom de Naissance)
_FKAN	BKW6	Formally known as (Formellement connu comme)
_GERN	BKW6, PAF5	German name (Nom allemand)
_HEBN	BKW6	Hebrew name (Nom Hébreu)
_INDN	BKW6	Indian name (Nom indien)
_OTHN	BKW6	Other name (Autre nom)
_RELN	BKW6	Religious name (Nom religieux)
_SLDN	BKW6	Soldier name (Nom de guerre, de soldat)
_SHON	BKW6	Short name (Nom court)

Other tags (not GEDCOM 5.5) All these tags must start with an underscore (_), but some do not follow this rule:

Tag	Programmes	Signification
AKA	FO, FTM, Leg, PAF	Also Known as (Aussi connu comme)
NAMR	FTW5, Gen, Reunion	Religious Name (Nom religieux)
NAMS	FO, TMG, Reunion	Name Sake, namesake or even eponymous (homonyme voire éponyme)

you can also [read this post] about the Mod.

IMPORTANT

Before installing, it is judicious to make a backup copy of the files that will be modified by this mod.

You can click on the [Expand] link on the right to display the list of TNG Modules change and the [Collapse] link to hide this section again.

The following TNG Modules are modified, and should be backed up prior to installing this mod:

admin_secondary.php
admin_secondmenu.php
admin_updateperson.php
ajx_delete.php
customconfig.php
deletelib.php
genlib.php
languages/Dutch-UTF8/cust_text.php
languages/Dutch/cust_text.php
languages/English-UTF8/cust_text.php
languages/English/cust_text.php
languages/French-UTF8/cust_text.php
languages/French/cust_text.php
personlib.php
search.php
searchform.php
searchlib.php

Copied Files

Source	Destination	Remark
alternate_spellings/alternate_spellings_functions.php	TNGroot/alternate_spellings_functions.php
alternate_spellings/alternate_spellings_vars.php	TNGroot/$extspath/alternate_spellings_vars.php	This file will be protected against deletions when upgrading the Mod.

Created Table

tng_alternate_spellings

INSTALLATION

• Unzip the received file directly in the "mods" sub directory of your TNG installation.
  
• Via Mod Manager, install the Mod.
  

Upgrade

When upgrading to a newer version

• Uninstall and eventually Delete the current Mod.
• Proceed as for an installation with the new Mod.
• Your variable file is protected and therefore keeps your parameters intact.
• After the update go back to Import/Export>>Secondary processes>>"Alternate spellings" button to update the table.

Uninstall

To completely remove the mod, you must follow those 3 steps in the Mod Manager:

1. Click the Drop 'Alternate' table button.
2. Click the Uninstall button
3. Click the Delete button.

Known Problems

None (31 Jan 2023)

In the event of a problem

• Try using the Mod Manager Remove capability
• Copy the backup of the affected files back to your TNG directory
• Contact us through the TNG Community Forums or on the page of Michel Kirsch. At worst, send a mail to

How it works

You can click on the [Collapse] link on the right to hide this section or [Expand] to display the hidden section.

Usually, the Alternative Spellings encountered for a name are encoded in the databases
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using the tags NAME, ALIA, _AKA, _AKAN, or _OTHN (but there may be others).
A default tag list is defined in the settings. You can complete or modify this list according to your needs. (via the Edit button of the Mod Manager)
After installation and click on the 'Alternate spellings' button (see 'Purpose of the Mod' above) a new table is created and filled with the values of all your tags according to the defined list (see above).
Once the table is filled in, you receive a small report with the number of values found for the tags in the list and a list with all the rejected values.
This list allows you to see (and click) the people for whom the same other spelling has been encoded more than once. It's up to you to correct your data.
Each time you modify the tag list, you must go back to the secondary processes and click on the "Alternate spellings" button to rebuild the table.
This table creation/filling operation can be performed several times safely for your data.

The delivered report, after filling of the table.

Visualization

When you view a person's record, you will see that the alternate spellings of the name are :
1) grouped on the same line, each spelling being separated by the separator that you can set (via Edit in the Mod Manager). 2) clickable and allow you to search for all people with the same alternative spelling as the current person. (Image 2 and 3)

Research

Research can be done in three ways:

1. by the method mentioned above, by clicking on the alternate spelling of a name.
2. by the "Search" button on your site where a new "Alternate spellings" text area is present. (Image 4). You can enter a full name or a part of the name.
   

The search will return a list of names with other spellings of the name that contain what you entered.

1. In the advanced search form, a new option for searching by last name is present in the drop-down list for the name. (image 5)

The search result includes an additional column 'Alternate spellings' with all the alternative spellings for the searched name.(image6)

Others

Internally, the Mod also provides:

• the update of the new table when you add/modify/delete one of the concerned tags.
• the deletion of the data in the new table when you delete a person.
• the update of the new table when you delete a tree.

Parameters

You can change the following settings via the Edit button of the Mod Manager:

1. The separator, the sign that will separate each alternative name value found. Leave a space before and after your separator for better readability. The default separator is a hyphen (-), but it can be a comma or any other sign you prefer.
2. The list of tags. The list can be empty (in which case the Mod is not much use) or have one or more tags. Each of the tags must be separated by a comma in the list, excluding any other sign. Spaces are accepted, but will not be taken into account. It is intended for a series of standard tags. However, if you have used a personal tag, you can register it here.
3. The alternate spellings are displayed on one line. You can add the normal display of alternate spellings in the page.
4. The column title. By default, the column title is "Alternate spellings". If you don't like it, you can change it. Any other title is valid: 'Alternative spellings', 'Aliases, 'Other spellings', ...
   Modify and see your screens what your choice gives. WARNING. You will notice that there are two parameters for the English language (ISO and UTF-8). If you don't know which one to change, change both...
5. Where to display alternative spellings in getperson.php. Either just under the Name, or after the name elements (prefix, title,...) and before the gender.

Languages

This version is delivered with the French, English and Dutch languages. If a language is added, the following variables from the language files cust_text.php must be added.

Click on [Expand] to display this section or on [Collapse] to hide it.

This version is delivered with the French, English and Dutch languages.
If a language is added, the following variables from the language files cust_text.php must be added.

// Alternate Spellings Mod - Michel Kirsch
$text['records'] = "Records";
$text['result'] = "Result";
$text['finished'] = "Finished";
$text['foundinserted'] = " found and inserted.";
$text['rejected'] = " rejected (already existing).";
$text['result0'] = "(Found 0 for the others tags)";
// Alternate Spellings Mod - Michel Kirsch

In addition, a small file containing the language-dependent variable must be created and placed in the mods/alternate_spellings directory.
Example for the English language: varEn.php

<?php
// variable used by the Alternate_Spellings Mod
$text['altspellings'] = "Alternate Spellings";
?>

Finally the Mod will take care of the parameters this way:

================== column_name EN ===================

%target:$modspath/alternate_spellings/varEn.php%
%fileoptional:%
		Dénom du nouveau champ
%parameter:$text['altspellings']:Autres formes%
%desc:<div style="text-align: left;"><font color="blue">Dénomination of the new field on your TNG pages. Will apply to buttons, labels and column names. WARNING: if you use accented characters, use HTML notation (&eum l, &egrav e, etc...)<br /></font>Don't add quotation marks! <br /> default: (Alternate Spellings)</div>%

Revision History

Mod Version	Date	Contents
14.0.0.4	25 Jan 2025	Modify the display with Tag: alternate spelling (Date) in getperson.
14.0.0.3a	31 Jan 2023	Adapt the menu in post-import utilities for TNG14.
13.0.1.2d	08 Jan 2022	Fix 2 PHP8 warnings. Adapted to work with the Display Jobs Facts Mod and a future version of the Optional Person Rows Mod.
14.0.0.3a	22 Dec 2022	TNG 14 ready.
13.0.1.2c	16 Dec 2021	Adapted to work with the Age at event Mod.
13.0.1.2b	09 Jul 2021	In the search results, the width of the "Alternate Spellings" column can be limited by means of a new parameter.
13.0.1.2a	10 Jun 2021	Fix an installation problem with the Census Plus International Mod
13.0.1.2	09 Mar 2021	If SearchNamesToo = 1 and there is no altspellings found, do a normal search on firstname + lastname
13.0.1.1f	25 Jan 2021	Assure max compatibility for language vars files. Add a tng_real_escape_string - if $SeachNameToo is set to 1, a list of names containng the search string is returned, even there are no alternate spellings found for this string. (Michal)
13.0.1.1e	10 Jan 2021	- Dutch and or French languages folders must no more be installed/copied - Fix Mod compatibility with Regroup Person Profile Robin's Mod. - Reduce the lenght of alspelling field to 200 in the table to avoid a max lenght error for the key - Multi language works now with specifics varXx.php files containing the language dependent variable for buttons, labels and column Name
13.0.1.1b	04 Jan 2021	Fix a SQL error when deleting a person.
13.0.1.1a	04 Jan 2021	Search result Message adapted - Modify code to avoid conflict with Create SiteMap Mod - Table name is a parameter - It is possible to search on the Alternate spellings AND on the surname at the same time - Add a parameter to display Alternate spellings on one line AND display them normally (image 3).
13.0.1.1	02 Jan 2021	First online version.

Sites using this mod

If you download and install this mod, please add your TNG site to the table below: If you have any problem doing it, send me a mail...

URL	User	Note	Mod-Version	TNG-Version	User-language
Racines luxo-hennuyeres	Michel Kirsch	Mod's Developer	14.0.0.3a	14.0.3	FR,EN,NL,GE,SP
Baza danych Rodziny Jarocińskich	Michał Jarociński	Private/public site. Brilliant mod!	14.0.0.3a	15.0	PL,EN
Malkins in New Zealand	Rick Malkin	Private / Great Mod	13.0.1.2c	13.1.1	EN
Les Lapierre d'Amérique	Normand Lapierre	Public/Private	14.0.0.4	TNG 14.0.6	FR,EN,SP
Racine d'Alsace	J-Louis Valory	Public (registration)	13.0.1.2b	13.0.4	FR
Von den Isert's und den Schmidt's	Madeleine Bähler-Bonomini	Private/Non-Public	13.0.1.2b	13.0.4	DE
Harnett Sheehan Families	Kathy Harnett Sheehan	Private/Very helpful mod!	14.0.0.3a	14.0.2	EN
GénéaKat	Katryne	Public & Private	14.0.0.3a	14.0.4	FR,EN,SP
Ô mes aieux! O mijn voorouders! Ó, meus ancestrais!	Jean-Luc Halleux	Public site	14.0.0.3a	14.0.2	FR,NL,PT,EN,ES
Auf den Spuren meiner Ahnen	Michael Klein	Public/Private site	14​.0​.0​.3a	TNG 14.0.3	EN, DE
Our Family History	Marc Irish	Public/Private site	14.0.0.3a	14.0.3	EN

Visualization

getperson.php - Main screen, Mod NOT installed.

Mod's action on the alternate spellings of the name.

But changing in parameters can lead to this view too

The new research text area. The search is done on "Alternate spellings contains: what-you-type-here"

The advanced search form proposes a new option for the last name in the drop-down list of options.

A list returned by a 'normal' search. A new column 'Alternate spellings' is added. Some names have alternate spelling(s).

By clicking on "KIRCHE", ...

... this result is returned.