How to Update the Censuses Table

The Censuses table is intended to provide information on each census enumeration for which transcription and indexing is supported.

Further information on the use of each of the fields on this page is available by holding the mouse over the field or button or clicking on an input field.

This page permits modifying the complete information about each census.

If there are more census enumerations than can be displayed on the page then the summary line above the table will include a left arrow (<--) and a right arrow (-->) which provide access to the portions of the table preceding or following the portion which is displayed. You can see those portions either by clicking on one of the arrows, or by using the PageDn key to go to the previous page or the PageUp key to go to the next page.

The body of the form functions like a spreadsheet, particularly with respect to special key strokes.

• You can temporarily hide a column by clicking on the column header. Click again to display the column again.
• You can widen the display of a column by clicking with the right button on the column header.
• The forward and backward tab keys, and the left and right arrow keys, change the selected input field in the table to the left or the right. Motion wraps around at the left and right edges of the table.
• The up and down arrows change the selected input field in the table up or down one row at a time. Motion wraps around at the bottom and top of the table.
• The "Home" key repositions the text cursor at the beginning of the current input field. The "End" key repositions the text cursor after the last character in the current input field.
• The "Ctl-Home" key combination selects the first input field in the row. The "Ctl-End" key combination selects the last input field in the row.
• The "Ctl-Z" key combination discards whatever you have typed in the current input field, and restores the value to what it was when the page was first displayed.
• The "Enter" key changes the selected cell in the table down one row at a time, rather than submitting the form as happens on simpler forms.

The census identifier column is a combination of a domain identifier, usually an ISO 2-character country code, plus the year of the enumeration.

The "Name" column contains the name of the census, normally starting with the enumeration year.

The "Lines" column contains the normal maximum number of lines on the main population form.

The "Collective" column is a Y/N indicator of whether or not this entry is a conceptual collection of censuses. For example prior to Canadian Confederation in 1867 each of the separate British colonies in North America had a separately administered census, as part of the British Imperial Census. Even Canada West (Upper Canada) and Canada East (Lower Canada) had separately administered enumerations, although they used a common form.

The "Part of" column indicates for censuses that were administered at a level below that of a separate nation or colony, the higher level political unit that they were a part of. For example the 1861 Census of Canada West, with identifier 'CW1861' is considered part of the census of British North America, which is prolepticly identified as 'CA'.

The "Provinces" column displays a list of the 2-character identifiers of the provinces or states that are covered by a national census.

The Delete button deletes the specified census from the database.

The Districts button displays the form for administering the enumeration districts into which the census is divided.

Further information on the use of each of the fields on this page is available by pressing the F1 key while the field is selected or clicking on the field.

You must click on the Update Database button at the bottom of the form to apply changes. If you click on the left or right arrow hyperlinks to the preceding and following divisions in the line above the table any changes you made to the table, except deletion of censuses, are discarded. Observe that unlike simpler forms you cannot submit this form by pressing the Enter key, because this simply moves the selected cell down one row in the table.

Once the database has been updated the form is re-displayed showing the updates.