A good place to find Macintosh genealogy software is by anonymous ftp to ftp.cac.psu.edu or in the genealogy section of one of the major online services such as eWorld, America Online, or Compuserve. -----------------------Macintosh Genealogy Programs----------------------- "REUNION" for Macintosh (version 4.0) was reviewed in the June 1995 issue of MacWorld. Some of the features include: * Creates large graphic tree charts including descendant charts up to 99 generations, pedigree charts up to 35 generations. Full on-screen editing of box color, font, font size, shadow, border, connecting lines, and captions. Move boxes or branches on-screen, by clicking-and- dragging. Automatically change chart orientation; including top-to- bottom, left-to-right, and waterfall models. Zoom out to give you the big picture of the entire chart. * Creates reports and forms. Provides index, event calendars, family group sheets, family histories, register reports, ahnentafel reports, person sheets, questionnaires, mailing lists, and mail merge files. * Calculates relationships. Tells you, at a glance, how people are related to you. Creates custom relationship lists. For example, a list of all your removed cousins or a list of all descendants. * Links people to color or B&W pictures: old photographs, birth certificates, wills, maps, etc. You can link multiple pictures to a single record, or a single picture to multiple records. Reunion will also magnify and reduce images on screen. You can use up to 40 characters to "describe" each picture and the picture's description appears in its window. * Creates custom lists such as: all males born before 1685 who have more than 8 children. * Five user-defined fields can hold medical, military, education, or other information most meaningful to you. * Supports 16 different date formats. * Pop-up lists for repetitive place and surname entries. * Automatically opens reports in any word processor. * "Shared" reference notes for documenting sources of information. For example, if you wish to cite a source, you only need to record details about the source one time. Information about the library, the book, the date, the quality of the data, etc. can be typed into a single reference note and you can cite this reference note on any record, in any data entry field, as many times as you want. You have the option to include references at the end of reports. * A Family file log keeps track of your research efforts: which libraries you've visited, your written correspondence, etc. * Shows the weekday for the birth, death, or marriage date, the age at marriage, the current age or life span of a person, the length of a marriage (in years and days), and life expectancy. * GEDCOM import/export. Reunion 4.0 comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and is available for overnight delivery from... ($99.95) MacConnection...800-334-4444 MacWarehouse....800-255-6227 MacZone.........800-248-0800 Mac's Place.....800-367-4222 For a free brochure and sample printouts, contact Leister Productions directly, at... Phone number: 717-697-1378 Fax number: 717-697-4373 CompuServe: 74774,1626 America Online: LeisterPro eWorld: LeisterPro InterNet: LeisterPro@aol.com US mail address: Leister Productions PO Box 289 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 "PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE" (version 2.11) is a very popular genealogy program that is available for both IBM PC clones and for the Macintosh. It is produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) in Salt Lake City. The following is from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Department's brochure: A Standard for Genealogical Software * If you are looking for a useful package of genealogy programs for your personal computer, Personal Ancestral File is your answer. * Personal Ancestral File is designed to simplify your genealogical record keeping. * Developed and distributed by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Personal Ancestral File is powerful and sophisticated, yet easy to use. * Personal Ancestral File offers three unique programs: Family Records, Research Data Filer, and Genealogical Information Exchange. Family Records The Family Records program lets you assemble your pedigree, at the same time compiling a wealth of genealogical information for each of your ancestors. You can type in or copy the following information about each ancestor: * Name (surname and up to three given names) * Gender * Title, if any (Dr., etc.) * Birth date and place, and christening date and place * Death and burial dates and places * Spouse, marriage date, and place of marriage * LDS ordinances dates and places (if applicable) * User-assigned ID number Listed below are other features of the Family Records program. Notes. Personal Ancestral File (PAF) allows you to type in or copy historical information or source reference notes for each individual -- valuable background information every genealogist wants to keep. Storage. Because you store your information on diskettes other than the program diskette, you can record information about an unlimited number of people. You are limited by only the number of diskettes you want to buy. For each diskette, the system assigns a unique number (called a Record Identification Number) for each of your ancestors, making it easy to retrieve information. You may also assign to each ancestor an ID number unique within your file. Family grouping. Personal Ancestral File lets you group families together, showing relationships between spouses, children, parents, and siblings for each generation. Pedigree searches. As you type in and copy more and more information and establish the links from family to family, the program also allows you to search your pedigree lines on a diskette and either display or print them in a chart. Printouts. The program can print blank or filled-in pedigree charts and family group record forms in either letter or legal size. For Latter-day Saints, the program can also produce completed name submission forms for temple ordinances and also lists of people whose temple work has not been completed. All the information in the computer on any person can be printed out, including history notes. Sorting capability. The Family Records program can sort and print lists -- for example, names of individuals ordered alphabetically, by Record Identification Number, or by user-assigned ID number. Research Data Filer The Research Data Filer program can help you manage large volumes of original research data. Using this program, you can -- * Document your information sources, including details about the author, publisher, book, page, and library where you found the data. * Search, sort, or print your information by event (birth, marriage, military service, death, etc.), place, date, name of person, or relatonship to others. The Research Data Filer does not teach you research principles or strategies. But it does help organize research data so that you can analyze it more effectively. Genealogical Information Exchange [The Genealogical Information Exchange is not a separate program in the Macintosh version. In the Macintosh version, the functions of the Genealogical Information Exchange are incorporated into the Family Records program.] Using this program, you can -- * Convert all or part of your Family Records data to a transmission data format that you can send to another Personal Ancestral File user. * Use your own communications program to transmit converted data to or receive data from another Personal Ancestral File user. * Convert data received from another Personal Ancestral File user to the Family Records format for use on the receiving computer. * Prepare submissions on diskette for the Family History Department's Ancestral File. * Prepare submissions on diskettes with names to be processed for LDS temple ordinances. A Few Final Words * Personal Ancestral File operates only on your personal computer. PAF does not give you access to any of the computer files in the Family History Department. * Personal Ancestral File enables you to group families together and link them from generation to generation based on the relationships that you type into the system. * Personal Ancestral File was developed as an aid for those who own or have access to a personal computer. The Family History Department does not encourage you to purchase a personal computer simply to use this software. Versions Available * MS-DOS computers (Release 2.31) * Macintosh computers (Release 2.11) Other features unique to the MS-DOS or Macintosh versions are not explained in this brochure because of space limitations. Address inquiries about additional features or system requirements of these and other versions to -- Ancestral File Operations Unit Family History Department 50 East North Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150 801-240-2584 Price: $35 Send order to -- Salt Lake Distribution Center 1999 West 1700 South Salt Lake City, UT 84104 Phone orders: 800-537-5950 Information : 800-537-5951 Store : 800 537-5944 PAF Tech Support -- Compuserve: 71520,527 Internet: 71520.527@compuserve.com Personal Ancestral File for the Macintosh was reviewed in the September 1989 issue of MacWorld. "FAMILY ROOTS" is a well-known genealogy program that has been released for a number of computers, including IBM, TRS-80, Commodore, Apple II and now the Macintosh. This program has a rather large following and even has Users Groups in many parts of the country. It was reviewed in MacWorld (February 1988) pp. 213-214. (See also June 1995 MacWorld pp. 147-148) The price for a new Family Roots 3.7 is $129 (that is Macintosh only). All software carries an unconditional 60 day money back guarantee. The advanced features in Family Roots let you accomplish almost any task. For example, use the function keys for quick entry of repetitive place names or surnames. Include information for spouses in the descendants charts. Select 4 or 5 generations for the standard ancestor charts and have them linked and numbered automatically. Make a chart showing only the father's line. Print group sheets on any printer. Trace a line of relations on the screen and send only those you wish to the printer. Print large lists of names easily, include the information of your choice (example: birthdate), or include only those people whose surnames start with a selected letter. Select which information to include in the charts, person sheets, and group sheets. Quinsept has also released Family Links, a GEDCOM utility for Macintosh to be used with Family Roots. Family Links requires a hard disk. Family Links lets Family Roots users exchange data with other genealogy software on the Mac (notably PAF) and other computers. It can also be used to reorganize a Family Roots database. The price for Family Links is $35. For more information on any of these products, contact: Quinsept P.O. Box 216 Lexington, MA 02173 800-637-7668 617-641-2930 Compuserve: 72470,3027 Internet: 72470.3027@compuserve.com The shareware program "MacRoots" has been upgraded and is now a commercial product called MacRoots II (version 1.6.5). If you want to document all the information for each individual or just print a nice five generation pedigree chart, MacRoots II can handle both. Flexible documentation of event and record sources is a major part of using MacRoots II. Feature List: Data Entry * Four events (with one date and three place fields per event) per individual record * Two events per family record * 30 plus event legends (titles) to choose from. Birth, death, christening, burial, baptism, graduation, immigration and many more. * Occupation field * Two user fields with user-defined labels per individual * Two user fields with user-defined labels per family * Easy linking of families from one screen * Date verification and other date options * Option to have surnames displayed in all caps no matter how you enter them and to place surname first or last * Title field - puts common titles (Reverend, Mr. Ms.) first * Field ditto of event places for easier entry of repetitive data * Marital status of Married, Unmarried, Common law, or Divorced * Double - dating * Allows About, After, Before, Estimated and other dates * Global place changes. Any place level or all levels * Ability to manually set the birth order of children in a family * Option to automatically capitalize first letter of a word in a record entry for faster input Notes * Scrolling, styled, text editor for individual notes of up to 32K (32,000 characters) * Search for text in notes * Include notes on printed Family Group chart if desired Source Documentation * Event footnotes - document each of the events for individual and family records * Record reference - document a complete individual record in one footnote * Major source footnotes - cite your sources. Source records are cross referenced to event footnotes and record references. Up to 32K of citation information per footnote. Format your sources your way with font, size and style choices * Footnotes are superscripted and referenced on Family Group charts and Individual History charts * Repeat footnote references use your abbreviation instead of reprinting the whole source footnote record Reports * All fonts and sizes in your system are available * Availability of Page Setup dialog from the File menu. Print in normal or landscape orientation * Complete laser and ink-jet compatability as well as dot-matrix * Preparer's information optionally printed on charts * User-defined chart titles or select a default * Numerous options for printed charts * Five generation graphic Pedigree chart * Ancestors chart - up to 10 generations. Choose to include individual events if desired * Descendants chart - up to 10 generations. Choose to include individual events if desired. Include spouses if desired * Addresses and mailing labels for any printer * Family Group with or without source documentation and notes. Choose to include all children's spouses or only the first * Individual History report with sources and notes * Complete Individual and Family summaries * Brief Individual and Family lists * Major Footnotes listing * List of un-linked individuals * Parents cross reference list * Notes Directory * Index of Surnames * Print individual notes separately if desired * Surname alphabetized sort listing * Starting page number for any chart can be set by the user Other Features * Up to 10,000 individuals and 10,000 families * Up to 10 marriages per individual * Up to 35 children per family * GEDCOM import and export * Birth status of Legitimate, Illegitimate, Stillborn & Unknown * Parent status of Natural, Adoptive, Foster, & Unrelated * Merging of multiple files into one using GEDCOM * Complete Macintosh interface - NOT HyperCard * Complete printed user manual * System 7 compatible * Preparer's Information * User preferences * German and French versions are also available MacRoots II (version 1.5) requires a minimum of a Mac Plus and a hard disk drive. A demo version is available for $5. Sample charts available upon request. $99 (U.S. funds only. Minnesota residents add 6% sales tax.) Itasca Softworks P.O. Box 427 Bagley, MN 56621-0427 218-785-2745 Compuserve: 72050,320 Internet: 72050.320@compuserve.com (M)agreeable software announces the release of Version 1.5 of "Family Events(TM)", the first event-oriented genealogy program for the Macintosh. In addition to traditional data entry through person and family records, Family Events allows you to enter and link family history data by transcribing birth, marriage, and death records. Family Events helps you resolve inconsistencies of names, dates, or places among documents. The new features of Family Events 1.5 include: * Alphabetical list of persons in entire file In previous versions you could get a list of people with the same surname, the same first name, and so forth, or any combination. With Family Events 1.5 you can also ask for a list of all persons. * Print complete list of found persons. Previous versions of Family Events printed only the visible contents of the list in a Find window. Family Events 1.5 prints the entire contents of the list. * Search for incomplete name parts. You can now search for the first part of a name part rather than the complete name. For example, you can search for "mag*" rather than "magree" which will give you "Magree" as well as "Magrey". * Life range shown when finding for a window Family Events has shown the life range, for example (1890-1974) in the list when you ask to find a person to open a window. It did not do so when it searched for persons to add to an open window. Family Events 1.5 shows the life range for persons to be added to an open window. This makes it easier for you to select between father and son, say, who have identical names. * Marriage/divorce dates and places entered in family window Previous versions let you enter the parents' birth/date info but left out entering marriage/divorce info. Family Events 1.5 has replaced the parents' birth/death info with the marriage/divorce info. You can enter the parents' birth/death info through their person windows. * Use one change window per person for event records Previous versions showed you an alert dialog for each changed item: one if the birth date in the person record was different than in the event record, another if the birthplace was different, another if ... Family Events 1.5 shows you one window summarizing all changed information for each person in an event window. You choose which information to change and which to keep in the person record. * Expanded online manual with a more detailed example. The online manual was created with DocMaker 4.1 which allows better control of pictures. Many points have been explained in more detail. All registered users of Family Events 1.4 and earlier have been mailed an update notice. Family Events (version 1.5) is no longer shareware. You can obtain a copy for $35.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling directly from (M)agreeable software, inc. 5925 Magnolia Lane Plymouth MN 55442-1573 612-559-1108 AppleLink:MAGREEABLE America Online:MAGREEABLE CompuServe:72167,1700 GEnie:MAGREEABLE Internet:MAGREEABLE@AOL.COM "Gene" (version 4.03) is a genealogy database management program. You can use Gene to store family data and notes, draw and print family trees, show how different people are related, or browse the database by clicking on names in cards and trees. Gene has no difficulty handling complicated databases with thousands of names, multiple marriages and divorces, illegitimate children , or intermarriage between relatives. Gene is shareware. If you use Gene, please register your copy by sending $10 to: Diana Eppstein 8 Owen Ct. Irvine, CA 92715 714-854-6594 Registered users should send bug reports, suggestions, or requests to be added to our mailing list of Gene-related information by sending email to eppstein@ics.uci.edu. "Heritage Genealogy" (version 2.15) is a shareware program to track family histories. The author developed this software to track his own family historym and built some features that he wanted to have, as well as some that other people requested: 1. No limit on the number of people who can be put in the database, and no limits on number of marriages or children per individual. 2. Display and storage of arbitrary textual and biographical information for each individual. 3. An ability to display digitized photographs of individuals, 4. Determination of the exact relationship any two individuals have. 5. Display of family group sheets. 6. Import and export of GEDCOM files. If you like this program, please register it by sending a check for $15 to TAG Software 14049 232nd Avenue, S.E. Issaquah, WA 98027 206-865-2239 Internet: grandine@eskimo.com FamilyData (version 0.0.4) - early version of a new freeware genealogy database program for the Macintosh. Supports long names, sources, photos & sound. Can import/export GEDCOM files. Online help. You can reach the author, Jeff Sly, at 73443.3124@compuserve.com. "MacGene" (version 2.5) - easy to use, supports extensive notes, flexible lists and charts, custom fields, etc. Integrated word processor, database manager and graphics package. $145.00 (demo disk is $25.00). Applied Ideas P.O. Box 3225 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 213-545-2996 "MacAncestors" is a set of HyperCard stacks for maintaining and & displaying a genealogical database. Pedigree, Ahnentafel, Descendants, Parents, Children, Biography and Photograph charts may be displayed and printed. Requires Mac+, SE or II & HyperCard, hard disk or two floppy disks. $35.00 plus $2.00 postage. Seattle Genealogical Society P.O. Box 549 Seattle, WA 98111 "MacGenie" - Macintosh/Hypercard program. Generates 100+ generation pedigree trees. Descendants, marriages (multiples), Deaths, Signatures, Biographies, etc., unlimited information. $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping. Te Corporation P.O. Box 140 Campton, NH 03223 "HeartWood" program for easily using/capturing information on genealogy, including pictures, voice and text. $65 from: HeartWood Software, Inc. P.O. Box 5190 Bayview Station Bridgeport, CT 06610 203-374-7481 "FAMILY HERITAGE FILE" is a "semi-clone" of the LDS Personal Ancestral File program, used with permission of the LDS Church. It uses the Mac interface for most functions and has excellent printouts on an Imagewriter printer. The authors are now working on supporting GEDCOM 2.1. The program is available for $149, members of the National Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group may purchase it for $125 (a substantial discount, as NGS/CIG membership only costs $5.00). The same company also produces "My Personal Life History Disk", a text document that provides fill-in-the-blank prompts or memory joggers for interviewing yourself or relatives. You can use it with Word, MacWrite or any text editor to automate your personal or family history. $19.95 plus $1.50 shipping. Star*Com Software Systems Windsor Park East 25 West 1480 No. Orem, UT 84057 801-225-1480 "SunriseGEN" is a program that claims "saves you time by helping you enter your data efficiently. You enter the person records into the database and connect them into a tree. You can then rapidly find the information you want by navigating through the tree or searching for any string of text. Developed in Sweden by Sunrise System Development, it is available in the USA for $101 from: ComputerWare 2800 West Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 1-800-326-0092 "Roots & Branches" is a HyperCard application for the Mac Plus on up with either Floppy and or Hard Drive. It features: a data base, charting, notes, indexes, on-line help, unlimited entries, etc. It is listed as a "Good basic program, Easy to use". $49.95 plus $5.00 shipping . Douglass A. White P. O. Box 1113 Fairfield, Iowa 52556 515-472-6461 "Family Tree" is a HyperCard program using either floppy or hard drives. It also features a data base, charting and text processing. Jim Palms P. O. Box 70218 Bellevue, WA 98007 "Hyper-Genealogy" is a Hypercard stack available for $79.00 from: The Harbinger Group 6253 BenMore Drive Fridley, MN 55432 "HyperGene" is a basic genealogical application for HyperCard. It has a database and charting and can also add scanned photos. $89.00 from: Compsevco 1921 Corporate Square Slidell, LA 70458 ------------------------Macintosh Utility Programs------------------------ "SESAME" is a program from CommSoft that is available in both Macintosh and IBM PC versions. Sesame combines the features of free-form text and lineage-linked databases. SESAAME is not exactly a free-standing genealogy program. Instead, it is more of a utility used to supplement your primary program and to add functionality that you might otherwise not have. Features: SESAME incorporates three principles fundamental to successful research. Information can be stored exactly as it is found in the original source; the sources of all information can be precisely described; and information is easily entered, displayed, moved and edited. The SESAME screen displays tables of data which contain rows and columns. SESAME tables will look familiar if you have ever seen an IGI microfiche or a census page. Rows contain individual records, and columns contain categories of information. Up to ten tables can be present on the screen simultaneously, giving unprecedented flexibility and visibility of your data. The data is managed through compact index files, greatly reducing storage requirements. SESAME combines the best features of free-form text and lineage-linked databases. Each piece of information can be up to 65,000 characters long. A date such as, "Before July 4, 1917, but may have been later according to conflicting sources," is a snap for SESAME. Relationships can be defined between records through links. If a table contains events, one event can be linked to another. The individuals for whom the events apply can also be linked. Once you have established links, all related data can be easily transferred to a new table or to another program. Sesame is available for $75 from: CommSoft, Inc. 7795 Bell Road Windsor, CA 95492 707-838-4300 800-327-6687 Compuserve: 73710,773 Internet: 73710.773@compuserve.com "GEDcompanion" (version 1.0) converts GEDCOM files from Personal Ancestral File and other genealogy programs into formats that can be read by word processors, spreadsheets, databases, and outline programs. GEDcompanion creates descendants files that can be opened by MORE from Symantec Corporation or Org Plus from Banner Blue Software Inc. to produce beautiful wall charts. During the testing phase of GEDcompanion, these wall charts have been the hit of three family reunions - it makes it easy to see how members of a family are related. If you have been creating these kinds of charts by hand, or if you have just been wishing for a way to automatically turn your data into wall charts, GEDcompanion is the program for you! GEDcompanion also creates "Family History" files. These are descendants files that can be opened up with virtually any word processor. Add a title page, choose a font, print, and you've just published a book of your family history! Family History files contain full names, date and place of birth, christening, death, and burial of all individuals and their spouses, along with the names of each spouse's parents. No longer do you have to print out all descendants to see them - just use your word processor to browse through the names. GEDcompanion lets you create database files, tab-delimited text files that can be opened by virtually any spreadsheet or database program. Sort everyone in your database by date of birth, or search for everyone who was born, christened, died, or buried in the county you'll be visiting on your next trip. The possibilities are endless. Finally, GEDcompanion also creates Ahnentafel files, standard textual pedigrees that show in a compact format all of an individual's direct ancestors. GEDcompanion works under both System 6 (6.0.5 and later) and System 7. It is designed specifically for the Macintosh and fully implements the Macintosh user interface. Complete documentation is included. GEDcompanion is NOT shareware, but is available for just $20 from: Mark Taylor PO Box 2034 Cupertino, CA 95015-2034 America On-Line: MarkTaylor Internet: mdtaylor@apple.com "What Day?" (version 1.1) is a very simple program which calculates the day of the week for any date since 1752. It's fun to find out what days you and your friends were born, and it is very useful in bringing history to life for students. It also makes you sound like you really know what you're talking about, since "The Declaration of Independence was signed on Thursday, July 4, 1776" somehow implies a far more complete control of the facts than "The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776." What Day? is Shareware. If you find it useful, please send $5.00 to: David T. Haberly Seasonal Software P. O. Box 81 Crozet, VA 22932 "Tiny Tafel" (version 1.0) for the Macintosh is designed to help you build a Tiny Tafel database that can be shared with other genealogists. A tiny tafel database does not contain detailed information about each ancestor, but rather information sufficient to allow another genealogist to determine similar interests. A copy of the Tiny Tafel specification as published on the Commsoft BBS in Mountain View, California is printed in the appendix of the doc file with this program. This describes what the format of a Tiny Tafel database should be in order to be usable for searching via computers . The average user doesn't have to worry about this format. The program builds the correct format database. The output of Tiny Tafel for the Macintosh is a plain text file. The output can be edited with MacWrite (be sure when saving to choose the text-only button!) or a programming editor. If you are going to upload this output to a BBS for online searching by other genealogists, be aware that the Macintosh uses a different end-of-line character than IBM PCs. There are many conversion programs available to change the end-of-line character from that of the Macintosh to that of the IBM PC. Tiny Tafel for the Macintosh is Freeware. Send questions or comments to: Brian Bechtel 915 Peggy Lane Menlo Park, CA 94025 or you can send a message on Fidonet node 143/26 (Commsoft's BBS). "GEDCOM to Tiny Tafel" (version 1.0) is designed to read genealogy data bases in the commonly used GEDCOM format and to produce a file in the data comparison format called Tiny Tafel. G2TT should read and process GEDCOM version 2 files and produce version 1.6 Tiny Tafels. GEDCOM to Tiny Tafel is Freeware. Send questions or comments to: Clyde T. Poole P.O. Box 7352 Austin, TX 78712 Internet: ctp@cs.utexas.edu "MacPAF Utility" (version 1.1) is an "add-on" program for the LDS' outstanding genealogy database: PAF/Family Records. MacPAF Utility complements the functionality of the Family Records database by providing additional reporting and exporting features as well as introducing photo support. Author's comments: MacPAF Utility is a little "rough around the edges." That's because it's a utility program I created to generate some reports for myself. At the time, I was not interested in adding the fancy user interface that other programs have just extracting the data from the database. If enough people register and give me the incentive, a future version will have all the bells and whistles you're accustomed to. For now, though, you'll have no problem navigating through the program even with the "ancient" interface. "This all looks suspiciously like the so-called beta version I downloaded a while ago." Yes, that's true, I created a beta version which had a lot of the functionality that this release version has. But this version has more. Users have requested a few new features which I have incorporated including the following: 1. Photo Support. This version of MacPAF Utility introduces a photo repository which allows you to link photos to your database records. The great thing about the photo repository feature is that color is supported even if you don't have a color monitor. The view may not look so good to you if you don't have a color monitor, but the image is proerly preserved in your photo file for future computers or generations. Ah, but you have to register for complete documentation on the photo repository. 2. This version of MacPAF Utility allows individual records and marriage records to be exported into a tab- or comma-delimited text file. Such a file can be imported into a spreadsheet, database, or word-processor. Data in this format allows you to write your own reports. For example, once you have the individual's birth and death years, you can create a report based on the age of death (e.g., a simple spreadsheet formula like "=a7-a5"). You can also chart this or any other data to see, for example, the average number of children your ancestors had, the average age of death in the 1800's vs. that in the 1900's. There's no limit to what you can report. Sorting individuals by parent's MRIN, for example, will group all brothers and sisters together. 3. As in the beta version of the program, this version reports certain information on your Family Records database. 4. Also, as in the beta version of the program, this version supports birthday and anniversary filter lists. You can filter a list of individuals, for example, and return certain information on only the JOHNSONs in your database, or only those anniversaries in December. MacPAF Utility is shareware. If you find it useful and you would like to have complete documentation as well as sleep good at night knowing that you're on the level, send $20 to register your copy of MacPAF Utility to: Chris Miksanek 190 Oakland Grove Elmhurst, Illinois 60126 Compuserve: 71521,1152 Internet: 71521.1152@compuserve.com "MacPAF Report Utility" (version 1.2) is a simple program to extract data and generate text reports from Macintosh Personal Ancestral File (PAF) databases created and maintained by the Family Records (FR) program (DOS or Macintosh). MPRU works with PAF/FR databases created by PAF/FR version 2.11 (Macintosh) and PAF/FR 2.2 (DOS) (using the FR Convert utility). Features: * Name/Place Frequencies - These will generate files containing frequency counts of all the names used for people and places in the PAF database. Three different frequency counts are available: names of people, names of places, and by place name in different events. * Data Export - This dumps the entire PAF database (except notes) into three files, ending in '-E', '-I' and '-F' for Events (birth, chr, death, burial), Individuals (names, gender) and Families (spouses, wedding dates, places, etc.) The fields are separated by tabs and therefore you can load them into a spreadsheet or database for analysis. * Root Families - This will create a file that contains the family RIN (MRIN) for each family where neither the husband nor wife have a parent. * Reference Note Summary - This option scans the notes field and prints any line that begins with ! - these are referred to as 'family notes' in the PAF reference manual. * Soundex - This option will produce a list of soundex codes for surnames in the PAF database. * Ahnentafel - This will generate an ahnentafel list. You will be prompted for an individual's RIN from PAF, a generation limit, and a file name to contain the resulting ahnentafel. * Descending Charts - This will generate either descending or cascading descendant chart. If descending is checked, a single chart will be produced for the individual indicated. If Cascading is selected, a separate chart will be created for each new surname or generation for ancestors of the individual indicated. All files generated can be read by a word processor for reports, or can be modified and read by a spreadsheet or database manager (ClarisWorks, FileMaker Pro, Panorama II, etc.) and sorted in various ways. I originally created MPRU for my own needs and did not spend much time on the user interface and error recovery. When others expressed an interest in the program, I spent considerable time improving these two areas, though they still need work. This time, including learning and relearning quite a bit about Macintosh programming, has prevented me from completing some of the other features I want to add. I am therefore releasing MPRU as a shareware product to see if there is sufficient interest for me to continue investing in the usability features as well as new functions. If you find MPRU useful and are interested in seeing future releases, please register. Registered users will be notified of new MPRU versions, even if they are not released to the on-line services. New versions of MPRU will only be released to on-line services if there is sufficient interest. To register MPRU, send $20 (US) to: Joe M. Oglesby 2075A Lakewood Club Drive S. St. Petersburg FL 33712 Overseas users can contact me if they have a problem with transmitting US funds. I may be reached at any of the following electronic addresses: America Online: NEXIALIST Compuserve: 71117,473 Internet: NEXIALIST@AOL.COM When you register, please provide me with information on your system set-up (system, Mac type, memory & hard drive capacity, printer, preferred word processor, etc.) and an idea of the size of your PAF/FR database (number of individuals, marriages, names, etc). Also, let me know if you have any information about the following surnames: Meriwether, Lawhon, Oglesby, Barker. There is no additional fee for registered users of MPRU 1.0. The Register Report will appear in MPRU 2.0 and registered users of 1.x will get a discount on the 2.0 shareware fee. PAFAbility, a popular DOS program that does Register reports only, has a $35 shareware fee, so MPRU with all its other features is a bargain, eh? "RDFConvert" (version 1.2) will convert a GEDCOM file to a Research Data Filer database, and convert a Research Data Filer database to a GEDCOM file. RDFConvert makes it easier for researchers to use the powerful focus and sort routines that are part of the Research Data Filer program. Perhaps the best way to use RDFConvert is for the conversion of GEDCOM files downloaded from the International Genealogical Index (IGI). All records with a certain surname can be downloaded into a disk to be run through this program. Research Data Filer can then be used to browse through those records to find individuals related to you. If RDFConvert finds the parents for an individual, they will be written in the relationship field for each event for that individual. For example: an individual in a GEDCOM file has fields for a birth, christening, marriage, death, and burial. RDFConvert will create five separate records for an individual corresponding to the five events. If it only finds one event for an individual then only one record will be written. The parents of the individual will be written in each record except the marriage record. The spouse of the individual will be written in the relationship field for any record with a marriage event. RDFConvert will not create Research Data Filer records for any individual that shows events other than the five listed above. Comments in Research Data Filer will be placed in the notes field of the GEDCOM file. RDFConvert will not convert document files. RDFConvert writes the last name first in both the name field and in the Relationship field. RDFConvert will transfer a Research Data Filer file to GEDCOM only if it contains the following events: born, birth, blessed, blessing, christening, marriage, died, dead, death, burial, or buried. RDFConvert ignores any other events. RDFConvert examines each record in a Research Data Filer database separately. If an individual has a record for both a birth and christening, two entries will be written to the GEDCOM file. With this in mind it may be necessary to use the match/merge function in the Family Records program to merge individuals that are duplicates or that have different events. This program is shareware. It may be freely distributed, but may not be sold or offered as an inducement to purchase another product. If you find this program to be a useful addition to your genealogical software library then send $10 to the author. This will encourage further development of PAF and GEDCOM utilities. You will also be notified of any major upgrades to RDFConvert and other utility software that may be written. The source code for RDFConvert is available for $30. Send registration information and comments to: Blake A. Rosenvall 209 NE 176th Ave Vancouver, WA 98684 206-254-4770 "GEDCOM Transfer" (version 1.0) will read a GEDCOM file and allow you to export either a tab delimited or quote delimited ascii text file. This program is freeware. Itasca Softworks P.O. Box 427 Bagley, MN 56621-0427 Compuserve: 72050,320 Internet: 72050.320@compuserve.com "MacGene Converter" (version 1.0) does a minimal export of a MacGene (by Applied Ideas, see above) exported file to GEDCOM format. Only individual information is converted, no family info. You can then import this GEDCOM file into your genealogy program that supports GEDCOM. You will need to do some editing and linking of individuals. This program is freeware. Itasca Softworks P.O. Box 427 Bagley, MN 56621-0427 Compuserve: 72050,320 Internet: 72050.320@compuserve.com "AF2MacPAF" (version 1.1) is a utility which will take a GEDCOM that was created by the LDS "Ancestral File" program and "clean" it up by translating the little inconsistencies where Mac PAF and AF disagree on what a GEDCOM file ought to look like. AF2MacPAF is a Mac Perl Script. Mac Perl is a freeware programming language that is particularly good at manipulating strings and things like GEDCOM files. This version of AF2MacPAF is a perl runtime meaning that it has all of the Mac Perl runtime library packed away into it, just in case you do not have Mac Perl, and have no interest in getting it. If you already have Mac Perl then you can save this script as a "droplet" and save yourself nearly half a megabyte of disk space of library stuff that you already have in Mac Perl. The author has chosen to distribute the runtime version instead of the "droplet" assuming that most Mac PAF users will not have Mac Perl. (But remember it's free!) If you experience any problems with this program, or like it, or want to swap ideas on making it better the author would be happy to hear from you. Here are some of the easy ways to get a hold of the author using email etc.: David C. Adams 1625 Dixon Dr. St. Paul Park, MN 55071 Phone: (612) 459-9685 FAX: (612) 683-5599 Internet: dadams@cray.com UUNET: uunet!cray!dadams Packet (Ham Radio) kg0io@tcman.#msp.mn.usa.noam Inquiry Tracker (version 1.2) - this HyperCard stack is designed to keep track of inquiry letters sent out to potential kin. Record names, dates of contact, money spent, and more. At the click of a button, it will also exit to your standard inquiry letter and insert the name, date, address, and salutation. Make your mass mailings easier with this simple program. If you like this shareware program, please send $15 to: Angela A. Trigg 557 Boulevard SE Atlanta, GA 30312 Internet: AngieTrigg@aol.com Farmer's Plotter 2.0 Tour (demo of commercial software $29.95) - This is the "Self-Guided Tour" for Version 2.0 of "The Farmer's Plotter", a deed plotter for genealogists. Solve a "same name" problem in your research or simply illustrate your families' land holdings without a lot of tedious hand drafting of legal descriptions. Metes & Bounds OR Rectangular Survey. Included is a glossary of surveying terms useful to the genealogist, not found in the earlier Tour of Version 1.0. This demo is a HyperCard stack to cut download time. The plotting program itself is embedded in a HyperCard Player, so it is "stand-alone," and you do NOT need HyperCard to use it. For more information, contact: James Rogers (Older Kids & Co.) 8547 E. Arapahoe Rd., #J-144 Greenwood Village, CO 80112 Internet: JR007@aol.com ==========================================================================