Dictionary tiddlers and variables

[History Buff]

Hello all,

I am using dictionary tiddlers to store each of the individual lines from a genealogical record transcription (like a census, for instance). So far, I have been manually creating each entry in the dictionary tiddlers which is a rather tedious process. I then use a dynamic table to display the transcription.

There are some things that I can't avoid entering manually such as individuals' names, ages, etc. However, there are some things that they all share such as address and location. I have a button already created that creates an individual dictionary tiddler that is tagged with the record that is being transcribed and I would like to be able to prepopulate certain indexes with fields from that record tiddler. So far, I have not been able to get what I want other than using fields instead of a dictionary tiddler which I could ultimately do. I just feel like I want to solve this so that I have a better understanding of Tiddlywiki. 

Thanks a bunch.

[History Buff]

Here's the code I'm using to create the tiddler in the first place:

\whitespace trim
\define newDataHereActions()
<$set name="tags" filter="[<currentTiddler>] [{$:/config/NewTiddler/Tags}]">
<$action-sendmessage $message="tm-new-tiddler" tags=<<tags>> type="application/x-tiddler-dictionary" caption="" text="Line:
Name:
Birth:
Born:
From:
To:
Circumstance:
Location:
Parish:
County:
Date: "/>
</$set>
\end
\define newDataHereButton()
<$button actions=<<newDataHereActions>> tooltip={{$:/language/Buttons/NewDataHere/Hint}} aria-label={{$:/language/Buttons/NewDataHere/Caption}} class=<<tv-config-toolbar-class>>>
<$list filter="[<tv-config-toolbar-icons>match[yes]]">
{{$:/images/fa5/solid/database}}
</$list>
<$list filter="[<tv-config-toolbar-text>match[yes]]">
<span class="tc-btn-text">
<$text text=$:/language/Buttons/NewDataHere/Hint/>
</span>
</$list>
</$button>
\end
<<newDataHereButton>>

[History Buff]

After a considerable amount of searching in the forum, I think I have learned the answer to my question.  In a previous thread (https://groups.google.com/g/tiddlywiki/c/VrFXprNCxVM/m/ZMw1zS8XCAAJ), I saw that you could use the $action-setfield widget to modify/create/remove the index and values in a dictionary tiddler. That is not intuitively obvious, at least not to me. I believe I now have a path forward.

[TW Tones]

History buff,

Consider using the clone button on a tiddler to start with a prefilled copy, then make changes.

Tones

[History Buff]

Hey Tones,

Thanks for the reply. That's exactly what I've been doing up to this point and I may continue to do so. I did what I described above more as an experiment and learning experience than anything else. Doing stuff like this is the best way to learn Tiddlywiki and its powerful features.