Working with Family Data

DRAFT

Most databases are primarily interested in recording individual records. To make these tasks as simple as possible, the common method is to record the couple as a single record, “John and Mary Smith”. If the purpose of the system is to record checks and print mailing labels this is a well-suited solution, but it fails to record individual connections and engagement. 

TejonBT takes household data a step further and records information about individuals. If the mom volunteers and serves on the board, and dad pitches in on workdays and sometimes makes presentations on behalf of the organization, it’s good to record these individual actions.

Therefore, TejonBT is designed to record each family member as a separate object and then connect them using a spouse, or family connection. To mitigate the extra work this creates, TejonDb includes several short cuts:

• The Object Editor’s Data tab includes a link to the spouse. One click and the spouse’s Object Editor tab opens.
• Spouses can share a primary address. The Contact Tab displays the shared address for the spouse using the other’s address, and all the other objects using the address for the object who owns that primary address.
• The Object Editor’s Mailing Label preview gives a quick visual check of the how that spouse data will be merged in mailing.