Frequently Asked Questions

Can I export or print more than one entry at a time?

Yes. The default is a single entry but there is an option to change this on the Print and Export forms.

Can I view entries adjacent to those retrieved by a search?

Yes, use filtering by clicking the filter button (a tick superimposed on a text page).

The filter works by showing all entries, those retrieved by the search being in bold in tables or greyed-out in text and maps. Note that the filter only operates on the active window, so place the cursor in whichever window you wish to filter.

Filtering maps can produce particularly illuminating results. Try a search for slave or slaves, for instance (slave|slaves).

Can I enlarge the Toolbar icons?

Yes. View/Big Buttons selects them. They can be made the default for a particular project via View/Options.

I can't find Robert d'Oilly though I know he was a major Domesday landowner.

Apologies, a bug. A search for "Robert doilly" will retrieve the entries. If any name contains an apostrophe, exclude it (there are other d'Oilly's and two de l'Isle's in the text).

Is there a better way of zooming than with the icons or control keys?

Yes. Using the right mouse button, images can be zoomed in and out very quickly. If the "hand" icon is selected, the image can also be scrolled quickly with the left mouse button.

Can I see the names of places on the maps?

Yes. If you click on any spot on a map, its name will appear in the title bar. You can also show all place-names by clicking on the Show Captions icon, best used where there are only a scattering of points on the map. You can control the zoom level at which captions appear with the Set Current Zoom level icon.

Can I retrieve entries about castles without including those with castle in the place-name?

Yes. Use Properties in your search. Properties are described and explained in the HELP file. In this case, the search should be: castle-(castle=plc). In plain English, this means retrieve the entries for castle but exclude those where the word castle has the property of being a place-name (plc). To be safe, the search should include the word castles as well as castle, in which case the search should be: (castle|castles)-(castle=plc). In fact, this is unnecessary here since the only two entries containing the word castles also include the singular form, castle.

Can I retrieve all place-names ending in -by?

Yes. The search *by=plc will exclude words and personal names ending with -by, leaving only places. The great majority of these (as a map will emphasise) will, of course, be the Scandinavian place-names of the Danelaw though it should be stressed that *by place-names are those in the translation which will not exactly match the *bi endings of the Latin text.

Can I search for Properties by themselves, without specifying words or phrases?

Yes. Place a backslash before the Property code. For instance "\ten hold \plc" will retrieve every entry where the name of the landowner is followed by the word hold then the name of the manor. Since hold is in the singular, the search will retrieve manors held by the institutions or anonymous groups described by this form of words.

Note that the search terms are enclosed by double-quotes. This is essential in phrase searching, even where part of the "phrase" is a Property.

Can I see the Property coding?

In version 1.0, only indirectly. You can edit the text style for many of the Properties. For instance, with the cursor in the text tab, click the icon to the right of the Style drop-down box, select one of the Properties, then change its font, colour, size, etc, then click Apply. All entries containing text with that Property will then be displayed in the new style. In version 1.1, however, the Properties are available on the Search form

Can I exclude phrases where the words are separated by the end of a sentence? For instance, "king. William"

Yes, by using the Property for end-of-sentence (eos). The search "King=-eos William" will retrieve all entries with "King William" but exclude those where a full stop separates title and name.

I am interested in uncommon words: is there any way to locate them?

Yes. Select one of the Table tabs, then Wordlist from the drop-down list on the Toolbar. This gives a count of every word in Great Domesday. If you then drag the column header for Count over to the left, it will group words according to the number of times they occur. You can sort these groups by clicking the column header for Word so that, for instance, all words which occur just once will appear at either the top or bottom of the list.

How do I search for two occurrences of a word in an entry?

To search for 2 occurrences of a word in an entry try the following example phrase search

"Henry % Henry = -TIC"

This search will return all entries that have 2 occurrences of the word Henry; excluding the inserted Tenant-in-Chief name at the end of the entry

Notes:

The double quotes indicate that this is a phrase

The % matches any number of words

-TIC indicates that the word should NOT be a Tenant-in-Chief

Can I map the lands held by a tenant-in-chief, excluding those granted to his tenants? Can I also map the lands of his tenants?

Yes, by using the coding described in the Help file. The relevant codes are TW1 (tenant-in-chief) and TW3 (tenant). So, for instance, the following searches:

• 1. "William of Warenne"=TW1

  2. "William of Warenne"=TW3

  3. ("William of Warenne"=TW1)-\TW3

  4. ("William of Warenne"=TW1) \TW3

would produce all the lands held:

• 1. by Warenne as tenant-in-chief

  2. by Warenne as a tenant of another tenant-in-chief

  3. by Warenne as tenant-in-chief excluding those granted to his tenants

  4. from Warenne by his tenants

The logic of the final search may need explanation. The bracketted search term confines the search to the lands of Warenne as tenant-in-chief while the \TW3 search term requires that there are tenants on the manors concerned.

Can I isolate one or more counties to explore?

To limit a search to a particular county or counties, select the Limit by tab on the Search form, click on Invert, then check the county required or counties. All searches have to specify search words; but a search for "a|e*" - that is, all entries containing "a" OR any word beginning with "e" - will almost certainly retrieve all entries for the selected county or counties.

Is there a more effective way to use the Navigator window other than by scrolling?

Find (Ctrl+F) allows precise targetting. There is a minor bug in Find - it does not always respond - which can be circumvented by clicking in another window. The bug normally only appears on first use during a session.

Can I move around the facsimile other than on an entry-by-entry basis?

Icons on the Toolbar allow movement from folio to folio; use in conjunction with the Find (Ctrl+F) in the Navigator window for maximum flexibility.

What is the most efficient way to explore the Latin form of large numbers of place-names?

Open the "Places in each entry" table in the Navigator window and use Find (Ctrl+F) to locate individual places.