WardInfo Program - Advanced Features
There are several advanced options that may be used in the WardInfo program. These features are provided for use by the advanced user. Some of them require significant work, such as entering the latitude and longitude for ChurchLocations.Xls [which in this case is because even using the program help, the coordinates for many addresses will probably need to be ‘manually’ obtained from additional sources, such as internet sites].
Advanced features discussed here include:
1) Displaying all characteristics of each output mode, and displaying the configuration names of each item in WardInfo.
2) Producing customized output by using:
a. The /OverRide command line option to change which pages and information are produced in a particular mode.
b. The column headers in the Members.Xls spreadsheet to include special columns in particular custom modes.
3) Using information extracted from the Church Organization Information program to populate the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet.
4) Using the latitude and longitude information fields in the ChurchLocations.Xls and FamilyLocations.Xls spreadsheets to augment the information available about families and about church locations, particularly including creation of lists of neighbors by distance, and inclusion of church facilities within a certain radius.
5) Producing maps that have the name and location of each ward member, using the Street Atlas commercial software package.
Displaying the Output Modes
and Configuration Names of the WardInfo Program
All of the pages and information displayed in the WardInfo program are controlled by the values of a large number of configuration variables. When one specifies an output mode such as ‘/Mode=PriesthoodLeaders’ or ‘/Mode=YouthLeaders’, these configuration variables are set in a way which should closely align with information needed by Priesthood or Youth leaders. However, the needs of each ward may vary, and ward leaders may choose to restrict or add to these default mode settings. One may view the modes and their included information by using the /ShowOutputModes command line option, such as:
WardInfo /ShowOutputModes
This will produce an output similar to:
C:\WardInfo>WardInfo /ShowOutputModes
WardInfo
Program run on
Output Modes for WardInfo:
Mode Bishop Priest Relief
YouthL Leader Member
Default subdirectory BISH
PH RS YMYW
LDR MEM
20 most recent baptisms yes
yes yes yes
yes yes
20 most recent move ins yes
yes yes yes
yes yes
20 most recent move outs yes
yes yes yes
yes yes
Adult age, birthdate, etc yes
yes yes
Approximate move-in order yes
Baptism date yes
Baptismal birthdays yes
yes yes
Birthdates yes yes
yes
Birthdays yes yes yes
yes yes yes
Bishop(ric) action lists yes
Bishopric young adult iviews yes
Bishopric youth interviews yes
Calling duration yes
Callings summary pages yes
yes
Callings, ward organization yes
yes yes yes
yes yes
Chapel locations -addr, more yes yes
yes yes yes
DB irregularity or insuff yes
{the rest of the output has been truncated away}
This command displays each output mode and all of the features that are included with it.
To show all of the configuration variables that may be used to modify the output, one may use the command:
WardInfo /ShowOutputModes=Names
which will produce an output similar to:
C:\WardInfo>WardInfo /ShowOutputModes=Names
WardInfo
Program run on
Output
Modes and Names for WardInfo:
Mode Option Names Bishop Priest Relief
Default
subdirectory
BISH PH RS
20
most recent baptisms
R20Baptisms
yes yes yes
20
most recent move ins R20MoveIns yes
yes yes
20
most recent move outs
R20MoveOuts
yes yes yes
Adult
age, birthdate, etc Age yes yes
yes
Approximate
move-in order Immigration yes
Baptism
date ChurchDates yes
Baptismal
birthdays
BaptismalBirthdays
yes yes yes
Birthdates Birthdates yes yes
yes
Birthdays Birthdays yes
yes yes
Bishop(ric)
action lists ActionLists yes
Bishopric
young adult iviews BishopricYoungAdultInterviews yes
Bishopric
youth interviews
BishopricYouthInterviews yes
Calling
duration
CallingLongevity yes
Callings
summary pages CallingSummaries yes yes
Callings,
ward organization Callings yes yes
yes
Chapel
locations -addr, more ReportFacilities yes yes
yes
DB
irregularity or insuff DBOops yes
{the rest of the output has been truncated away}
Customizing the Output of
the WardInfo Program Using /OverRide
The /OverRide command line option allows the inclusion or exclusion of any of the WardInfo pages and features from any desired list. Multiple features may be modified by using the /OverRide option multiple times on the command line.
The syntax for the /OverRide option is:
WardInfo [… other options] /Override=option:value
Options may be seen using the /ShowOutputModes=Names command, as in the above example.
Values are specified as either 0 (disabled) or something else (enabled). Multiple features may be modified by using the /OverRide option multiple times on the command line.
For example, the normal output of the PriesthoodLeaders version of WardInfo does not include the baptism dates of members. The /ShowOutputModes=Names option shows that this feature is controlled by the ‘ChurchDates’ option, so to create a version that does include this summary, one would issue the command:
WardInfo /Unit=”Your Ward” /Mode=PriesthoodLeaders /OverRide=ChurchDates:yes
Using similar techniques, the summary of chapel locations may be excluded from the ReliefSocietyLeaders version of the output of WardInfo by using the command:
WardInfo /Unit=”Your Ward” /Mode=ReliefSocietyLeaders /OverRide=ReportFacilities:0
Customizing the Output of
the WardInfo Program Using Custom Modes
The syntax of the /Mode command allows one to specify an additional permission beyond what the normal permissions of the mode are. This is useful in constructing customized lists in the ‘Member Involvement’ page, or in the table summary of member information that appears in the ‘Miscellaneous Lists’ page. The 5th row of the Members.Xls spreadsheet lists the output modes in which a particular column’s information is shown (see Members.Xls for information about the spreadsheet).
So to create a column in the
Members.Xls spreadsheet that is only visible when built for a certain person,
the 5th row of a column must include a string such as ‘
WardInfo
/Unit=”Your Ward” /Mode=Bishopric:”
To have information in “
How to Obtain
This is not presented as an exact method, since finding the church facilities you are interested in may take some experimentation. As a general rule, it is better to include too many units rather than too few, since you may wish to vary the radius of reporting at some later date.
Using the search utility, you may select and extract units from the Church Organization Information (COI) program by several types, including state or other political entity, by mission, by city, by temple district, by stake, or by some other method. You will probably need to experiment with the COI program to find the best method for your area and requirements.
In general the method is to:
1) Install the COI program on your PC, and start it using the password supplied on the CD cover.
2) Click on the menu entry 'Search', followed by 'Detailed Record View (ad hoc search)'. Enter your selection criteria, such as Political Location, and the program provides a list of valid entries in the 'Word:' text box in the lower-left corner of the message box. Press the 'OK button when you have selected your search criteria.
3) Check that all of the units you want are included in the text window of search results. If not, start the search over with another search criteria.
4) When you obtain the desired results, click on the File menu entry, followed by 'Export...'. In the export dialog box, select the directory and file name to save these units to. It is recommended that they be put in the same directory as your Memout.Dat, Orgout.Dat and Htvtout.Dat files and named 'ChurchLocations.Txt'.
To enter the units in the ChurchLocations.Txt file into the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet, you may use the WardInfo program’s advanced command:
WardInfo /UpdateChurchLocations
The ChurchLocations.Xls
spreadsheet should now contain information about all of the Stakes, Wards,
Branches,
When a new version of the COI program is issued, one may use the same steps to update the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet. New information, or updates to the old units will both be entered into spreadsheet.
Entering Latitudes and
Longitudes Into the ChurchLocations.Xls Spreadsheet
The latitude and longitude coordinate information for church facilities may be stored in the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet. It can be entered manually, but it is a lot of work to translate all of the street addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates manually.
One may ease the task by using the Delorme Street Atlas 9.0 (SA9) program to help obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates. WardInfo will create files suitable for import into SA9. SA9 can then be told to export all these points ("Draw Objects" in SA9 talk) to a file, which contains the desired coordinates. This exported file can then be used by WardInfo to update the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet with lat/long coordinates. Do this using these steps:
1) Put all of the church units in the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet that are desired (see instructions above).
2) Create a Delorme Street Atlas 9.0 import format file of these church locations named ‘ChurchLocationsImport.Txt’ by using the WardInfo command:
WardInfo /CreateSA9ChurchImportFiles
3) Start Street Atlas 9.0, and clear any existing Data Objects by selecting the main menu option “File” and then click on “New”. When asked if you want to clear your Draw Objects, click on “OK”.
4) Import the list of church facilities by selecting the "File" option from the main menu again and then choose the "Import Address Book" option. Select the file that was produced in step 2 (ChurchLocationsImport.Txt).
5) When the "Import Address Book" popup window comes up, set the options (using the options button) to:
A) Type:
B) Auto Goto on Locate: unchecked
C) Display Fields:
D) Name: checked
E) other fields: unchecked
F) Match Status Properties:
i) Set the Block Match to a Symbol you like (church is OK), a small size, and a color that stands out , such as red.
ii) Set the Text Properties size to small and Align to E (east) side of symbol.
iii) Set the Street, Area, and Zip Center Matches to something different from a Block Match, to differentiate between an exact an a non-exact match (use something like a medium green cross).
6) Select all of the names in the Import Address Book popup window by clicking on the first name and then holding down the Shift key while pressing the End key.
7) Finally click the Locate button in the Import Address Book popup window. All of the names in your database should be drawn on the map. If any of the addresses are not resolvable, a special query window will come up showing the address information that it has. This will allow you to identify which record has an unresolvable address. The best thing to do here is to use an internet mapping site such as MSN MapPoint or some other means to manually obtain the coordinates for that church facility.
8) Now that you have all of the church facilities located on the Street Atlas map, you can export the latitude and longitude of their locations to a file that will be read by WardInfo. Before you do that, however, you may want to delete all of the Data Objects (church locations) that are not exact matches. All of the facility locations on the map that are Street, Area, or Zip Matches will not have accurate latitude and longitude coordinates. To delete undesired objects, click the right mouse button on each of them and select “Delete Object”.
9) To export all of the latitude and longitude coordinates choose the "File" menu option from the main menu and then the "Export Draw Objects Info". In the dialog box, choose to save the information in the same directory as your Memout.Dat, Orgout.Dat, and Htvtout.Dat files, and make it “ChurchLocationsPoints.Txt".
10) The next time you run the WardInfo program, it will automatically use the information in this file to update the ChurchLocations.Xls spreadsheet. After running the WardInfo program, you should delete or rename the ChurchLocationsPoints.Txt file so that it is not processed each time WardInfo runs.
One nice side-effect of using SA9 is that you then have the churches located on the map. This may be used to advantage when traveling in unfamiliar territory. One may carry all locations of chapels in the desired area easily, with contact information.
Entering Latitudes and
Longitudes Into the FamilyLocations.Xls Spreadsheet
[And entering ward members’ locations onto a map programmatically]
The latitude and longitude coordinate information for each family in the ward may be stored in the FamilyLocations.Xls spreadsheet. It can be entered manually, but it is a lot of work to translate all of the street addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates manually.
One may ease the task by using the Delorme Street Atlas 9.0 (SA9) program to help obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates. WardInfo will create files suitable for import into SA9. SA9 can then be told to export all these points ("Draw Objects" in SA9 talk) to a file, which contains the desired coordinates. This exported file can then be used by WardInfo to update the FamilyLocations.Xls spreadsheet with lat/long coordinates. Do this using these steps:
1) All of the family addresses are already entered into the FamilyLocations.Xls spreadsheet by the WardInfo program, using the data that is in the Memout.Dat file. Although it is possible to modify the addresses in the spreadsheet by hand, this is not recommended, since the next time WardInfo is run, all of the manual modifications will be replaced by the data in the Memout.Dat file. What is recommended is to work with the ward clerk to make sure the ward computer MIS program has the complete address in it.
2) Create a Delorme Street Atlas 9.0 import format file of these family addresses named that includes the WardInfo cross-reference numbers called ‘FamilyLocationsImport.Txt’ by using the WardInfo command:
WardInfo /CreateSA9FamilyImportFiles=IncludeFamilyNumber
You can check the file that is created, the FamilyLocationsImport.Txt file, to make sure it has the cross-reference numbers. They should be in the format:
40.048575, -83.046054, Kirby - Risto (FDOCUR)
3) Start Street Atlas 9.0, and clear any existing Data Objects by selecting the main menu option “File” and then click on “New”. When asked if you want to clear your Draw Objects, click on “OK”.
4) Import the list of ward members by selecting the "File" option from the main menu again and then choose the "Import Address Book" option. Select the file that was produced in step 2 (FamilyLocationsImport.Txt).
5) When the "Import Address Book" popup window comes up, set the options (using the options button) to:
a. Type:
b. Auto Goto on Locate: unchecked
c. Display Fields:
d. Name: checked
e. other fields: unchecked
f. Match Status Properties:
i. Set the Block Match to a Symbol you like (home is OK), a small size, and a color that stands out , such as red.
ii. Set the Text Properties size to small and Align to E (east) side of symbol.
iii. Set the Street, Area, and Zip Center Matches to something different from a Block Match, to differentiate between an exact an a non-exact match (use something like a medium green cross).
6) Select all of the names in the Import Address Book popup window by clicking on the first name and then holding down the Shift key while pressing the End key.
7) Finally click the Locate button in the Import Address Book popup window. All of the names in your database should be drawn on the map. If any of the addresses are not resolvable, a special query window will come up showing the address information that it has. This will allow you to identify which record has an unresolvable address. The best thing to do here is to use an internet mapping site such as MSN MapPoint or some other means to manually obtain the coordinates for that address.
8) Now that you have all of the ward members located on the Street Atlas map, you can export the latitude and longitude of their locations to a file that will be read by WardInfo. Before you do that, however, you may want to delete all of the Data Objects (members locations) that are not exact matches. All of the locations on the map that are Street, Area, or Zip Matches will be a green cross (if that is what you chose in step 5 f iii) and will not have accurate latitude and longitude coordinates. To delete undesired objects, click the right mouse button on each of them and select “Delete Object”.
9) To export all of the latitude and longitude coordinates choose the "File" menu option from the main menu and then the "Export Draw Objects Info". In the dialog box, choose to save the information in the same directory as your Memout.Dat, Orgout.Dat, and Htvtout.Dat files, and make it “FamilyLocationsPoints.Txt".
10) The next time you run the WardInfo program, it will automatically use the information in this file to update the FamilyLocations.Xls spreadsheet. After running the WardInfo program, you should delete or rename the FamilyLocationsPoints.Txt file so that it is not processed each time WardInfo runs.
Entering Family Locations onto a Map
To enter members onto a street map using Street Atlas software, one should use similar steps as those outlined above in steps 1) through 7). Note that you do not want to use the =IncludeFamilyNumber option on the /CreateSA9FamilyImportFiles option, since they will just clutter the map with unnecessary information. Once all of the families are located on the map, they can be used in home and visiting teaching and other proximity-dependant causes.