Some users have asked whether it is possible to add additional data to the Online Tratte data base. For instance, one might want to study the careers of Capitani, Vicari and Podestà in the administration of Florentine territory during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but these names do not appear in the data file. The answer to adding data is no and yes. It is not possible to add additional data to the current main data file (Tre maggiori, Guild elections, and Births) because this would require restructuring the main file, a costly and time-consuming process. Basically, the Online Tratte will remain as it is.
However, a procedure in the existing site foresaw the possibility of researchers using the Online Tratte data along with additional data, which they provided themselves appropriate to their own research plans. This does not require more equipment than a PC or Mac with an internet connection, a data entry program (we recommend File Maker Pro), and a spread-sheet program (such as Microsoft Excel). To study Capitani, Vicari and Podestà one would survey the archival materials (Inventario Archivio delle Tratte, 392-408) and code the names wanted, using the data entry program and a laptop computer in the Archivio di Stato. You will need to study the Brief Codebook carefully and follow its conventions closely. The lists of Surnames, Names, Occupations, Origins, RDRAW codes, etc. of the Online Tratte will help you with the coding. The compatible data format is listed below. Having coded the names, the File Maker Pro data file could be transformed into an Excel spreadsheet and sorted alphabetically. One would then go to the Online Tratte, look up the individuals whose careers one wanted to trace, download the information about them from the main file (using the Download data to spreadsheet option, and taking care to have the right variables), adjust the column widths, add the downloaded information and add it to onebprojects/s own Excel file, and proceed with onebprojects/s analysis. By this means one can analyze data from the Online Tratte easily along with whatever other similar data that one would like.
The data format is as follows: SER [A3], RNUM [A4], PAGE [A3], DDRAW [A2], MDRAW [A2], YDRAW [A4], QUAR [A2], TPURS [A1], DPURS [A4], OFFICE [A2], TELEC [A1], RDRAW [A2], COM1 [A2], NAME1 [A11], COM2 [A2], NAME2 [A11], COM3 [A2], NAME3 [A11], COM4 [A2], NAME4 [A11], SURNAM1 [A11], SURNAM2 [A11], OCNAME [A11], ORIGIN [A11], RECKEY [I6]. An alpha-numeric format is used for all except the last variable because some variables in the file require leading zeros ('0'). For compatibility, use RECKEY numbers beginning with 500001. The Online Tratte data file is sorted in the following order: [all records] BY NAME1 BY NAME2 BY SURNAM1 BY YDRAW BY MDRAW.