There are two distinct representations of Events in the database. The Event table which represents the real events we believe happened in the past and the Eventa table which represents the documented record of an event. Both these tables use a common system of event groups, types and roles. The link between these records is explored further in the Event - Eventa overview page.
Event Types
A list of Event Types and the Roles normally associated with them is maintained as part of the core data - see the Core Data: EventTypes page for the current list. The user is free to extend this list as required.
Event Type Groups
All Types are categorized into one of the groups shown below. This list cannot be extended by the user, although it may be extended by a future database version.
| EventType Groups | ||
|---|---|---|
| Group | Name | Description |
| 0 | Unstated | Normally an invalid value. |
| 1 | Birth | The single birth event for an individual. |
| 2 | Near Birth | ie Baptism or Birth registration. If the date of birth is not known, then the date of this event can be used as an approimation |
| 5 | Death | The single death event for an individual. |
| 6 | Near Death | ie Burial or Death registration. If the date of death is not known, then the date of this event can be used as an approimation |
| 8 | Personal | These are events which last the lifetime of an individual. Although the details may change over time, at any given time they normally have a single state. ie Occupation, Physical appearance or Residency |
| 3 | Family Union | Normally a Marriage, but can be any event which signifies the official start of the relationship. |
| 4 | Other Family | Any family event in which both partners are equally equally prime, other than a official union event. It may occur before (engagment) or after (divorce) the union event. |
| 10 | Family | Relationship within a family. Used by an Eventa record only, they can be converted to Family records on the conclusion side. |
| 9 | Relation | Relationship outside of a family. Used by an Eventa record only, These can be converted to multiple Family Eventa. |
| 7 | Other | Anything which does not fit into the other Groups |
The Group designated for an EventType has a significant effect on the way the Event is handled by the application.
Births and Deaths Events
It is safe to say that for any individual, they have one, and only one, Birth and Death event. There may be conflicting evidence about the circumstances of the events, but there is only one true account of the event. Even if we cannot always be certain which it is.
In an attempt to model this, these two events have a single event each known as a summary event. This event details our current conclusions. Attached to this are the events we have gathered from records, these are Event/Eventa pairs that link reference records to the conclusion event.
Near Birth and Near Death Events
There may be events close to and connected with the Birth and Death events. These can often be used as an approximation for the main events when the precise details are not known.
These events are not automatically structured like the Birth and Death events. They can be manually assembled as required.
Personal Events
Personal events plot the changes of certain attributes over an Individuals lifetime. Generally, there is a summary event for each attribute (occupation, residency etc.). Two types of Event/Eventa pairs may be linked to the summary event, a snapshot event which gives details of the attribute at a particular date (ie a census or pop book) or a change event which records a change in a particular attribute (ie a change in employment).
Family Union and Other Family Events
These family events are any which affect a significant two person relationship. Normally this would be a standard nuclear family, but the system should be flexible enough to cover other relationships.
Family and Relation Events
Unlike the other event groups, these groups are only used for Eventa records. This is because the Family records are a specialised Conclusion Event but optimised to enable family trees to be created.
