Searching the Wampler/Wampfler Database Off-Line

Appendix A.8 Last update: 6/27/'01

The first character of each line in a database file identifies what type of line it is. Lines that DO NOT BEGIN WITH the "[" character or the space " " character ARE NOT PART OFF THE DATABASE ENTRIES. The one exception to this rule is the "<A NAME=" tag that starts each entry (and ends the last one). These HTML tags are the basis of the indexing and links between the index files and the database files. Other lines beginning with the Hypertext mark "<" are part of the HTML code and do not need to be part of a search.

Since each individual entry starts with the "[" character on the ID tag line and all other lines begin with two spaces followed by an data identifier (b. for birthdate, etc.), various simple text searches are then possible. The first two letters of the ID tag point to one of the database files. The third character is a generation number (in each file, generation 0 is assigned to the first immigrant generation, even if that person was listed in another file). For example, hg2 is for the children of Hans George Wampfler [he1-8], one of the immigrants to colonial America who entered with his parents in 1741. Since Hans George was also a child of an immigrant parent, he is listed as generation 1, rather than 0. This part of the identifier is separated by a dash, -, from a sequentially assigned accession number for that individual. These last numbers are assigned at the time of entry into the database and DO NOT represent birth order. Individuals from the same family may not have sequential numbers.

You may find individuals with the WAMPLER surname by searching for their first name preceeded by TWO SPACES. You can search spouse surnames by search for the ALL CAPS spelling. Any person with a given name may be search using the name alone (without surrounding spaces).

To search for the children of a person in the database, use the ID tag followed by the first name followed by the symbols =>. For example, the string "[hm4-51]Joseph=>" would find the children of the entry "[hm4-51] Joseph" (with two spaces separating "]" and "J"), since their lineage lines would all end with this sequence.

To find all of the descendents of this individual in the database, search for the string with no space separator, e. g "[hm4-51]Joseph". This search string finds all individuals with "[hm4-51]Joseph" in their lineage line. Other miscellaneous references to this individual can be found with the string "[hm4-51] Joseph" where only one space separates the id-tag from the name. Searching the id tag alone would then find all of the lines found by each of the examples above.

In summary, the SPACE and "[" characters are the critical ones for searching off-line. If a line does note begin with either of these characters, it may be ignored. If it starts with the "[", it is an ID tag line. If it starts with two spaces, it is a datum line. When the id tag is separated from the first name by two spaces, you will find the first line of an particular entry. When separated by one space, you will find miscellaneous other references to that entry. When separated by NO spaces, you will find the lineage records containing reference to that entry.