========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1992 05:41:13 GMT Reply-To: leverich@rand.org Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Brian Leverich Subject: Re: Roots III printing > From: brian@trans2.b30.ingr.com (Brian Tatro) > > I have a problem with my genealogical program (Roots III). Does anybody > know of a way to print output files in Postscript format? I talked to the > support people at Commsoft and they didn't know. Any help would be > greatly appreciated. There are at least two ways. If you have access to a UNIX box, look at the man page for "enscript". Enscript is a utility that converts straight ASCII files to Postscript, but in general its capabilities are pretty limited. A more flexible approach is to have ROOTS dump the output in a format readable by your favorite PC word processor. (ROOTS supports MS Word, and possibly Word Imperfect and others - Karen and I are up at the cabin, and the manuals are down in Saugus.) Have your word processor read the ROOTS output and then print it using the word processor's Postscript printer driver. A win associated with this approach is that you can use your word processor to reformat the text, so you can get output in some socially acceptable proportional font like New Century Schoolbook rather than the horridly primitive fixed-space fonts that ROOTS itself uses. Cheers, B. (karen@rand.org's s.o. and occasional genealogist.) Brian Leverich | Post: Computational Organization Design Lab Voice: (213) 740-4045 | Institute for Safety & Systems Mgmt Internet: leverich@usc.edu | University of Southern California UUCP: | Los Angeles, CA 90089-0021 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1992 05:33:00 GMT Reply-To: Mark Taylor Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Mark Taylor Subject: New Genealogy Program for Macintosh This message is to announce a new genealogy program for the Macintosh called GEDcompanion. It 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. Have you ever wanted to move your data to a spreadsheet or database program, so that you can search and sort, and look for errors? 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 If you use a Macintosh for genealogy, you can't afford to be without GEDcompanion! ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1992 20:50:23 GMT Reply-To: "Brian Tatro" Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: "Brian Tatro" Subject: Re: Roots III printing Hi folks, Just wanted to tell you all that Roots III can only output (as far as I know) output ASCII text, unless you have the JUne '91 update, which I do not have. I will probably have to get that update if I want to enjoy PostsScript quality output. But thanks for the help. ,Brian ____________________________________________________ Brian P. Tatro ********************************** * brian@trans2.b30.ingr.com * (205)-730-3323) ********************************** _____________________________________________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1992 06:59:27 GMT Reply-To: Theodore John Swift Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Theodore John Swift Subject: Re: Search for a Macintosh software > I am cuurently not a subscriber of this list, but I think someone > could help me in my search for Macintosh [genealogical] software. > In fact, I ask this question for my mother who spends a lot of time > drawing our genalogic tree with non specialized drawing programs. > Would someone indicate a good genealogy program running on MacOs, > with a convenient and efficient drawing facility as its main feature. > In case such a program could be found, I would appreciate getting > the exact name and address to get it from. I am having trouble finding my previous answers to this question, but here are some suggestions: Send a letter to VM1.NoDak.EDU!LISTSERV, leave the subject blank, and have the single line "GET FILELIST" or "GET INDEX ROOTS-L" and you will get an exhaustive list of what's available. It's impressive. The files in the list include, but are by no means limited to: FAQ INDEX FAQ Index FAQ 0201 Software for IBM FAQ 0202 Software for Commodore FAQ 0203 Software for Atari FAQ 0204 Software for Amiga FAQ 0205 Software for Radio Shack TRS80 FAQ 0206 Software for Apple and Mac FAQ 0301 Questions When Searching Family Roots FAQ 0401 Resources For Information FAQ 0501 Mail Order Solicitations FAQ 0601 Hardware for Computerized Genealogists FAQ 0701 How To Get Started In Genealogy GENEALOG GENSOFT7 Listing of Genealogy Software GENEALOG HELPFILE HELPFILE FOR GENEALOG FILES GENEALOG NGSTIPS Ideas for Beginners in GEN. GENEALOG PAF-MAC PAF on the Macintosh (INFO) GENEALOG SFAMTREE Searching your Family Tree ROOTSOFT 8788 Software Reviews 1987-1988 ROOTSOFT 89A Software Reviews 1989 (1 of 2) ROOTSOFT 89B Software Reviews 1989 (2 of 2) ROOTSOFT 90A Software Reviews 1990 (1) ROOTSOFT 90B Software Reviews 1990 (2) ROOTSOFT 90C Software Reviews 1990 (3) ROOTSOFT 90D Software Reviews 1990 (4) ROOTSOFT 91A Software Reviews 1991 (1) Of all these, I would recommend FAQ 0206, which lists software for the Macintosh, and GENEALOG PAF-MAC, which describes the program Personal Ancestor File (PAF) for the Mac. I use a Macintosh, and use PAF and a program called Sesame to organize my research. PAF will produce nice pedigree charts, but it will not produce a single, very large chart of *all* one's relatives. I have been in search of such a program for years, and have not found one yet. I, like your mother, use another program, MacDraw, to produce large charts. I find it tedious, but it's the best way I have found so far. Bonne chance! (I hope I got the gender correct?) Oh, and to send for a particular file, send a message with a line such as: GETFAQ 0206 You can request more than one file at a time, one request per line. If you request too many in any single day, the server will complain and ask you to send your request again later. -Ted -- ---------------------- Ted Swift tswift@well.sf.ca.us or, better yet, Ted_Swift@qm.sri.com "You bally well are informed, Jeeves! Do you know everything?" "I don't know, sir" ~P.G. Wodehouse ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1992 19:18:15 -0400 Reply-To: Eugene E Rosen Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: Eugene E Rosen Subject: Paf (MAC) and Wall charts In-Reply-To: <9207142152.AA22853@relay1.UU.NET> ted, I noticed your remarks in reply to a gentlemen seeking guidance on MAC software. I use Mac PAF 2.1 and posted a query for wall charts about six months ago. Mark Taylor replied with the offer of producing wall charts with gedcom files poruduced by the paf program. In a word, the result was spectacular. I took this wonderful wall chart to the reunion (all 1185 names) and you would have thought I was Moses' first cousin. I noticed that Mark Taylor recently posted to roots-l the Gedcompanion program for $20.00 with a comprehensive explanation of its multiple uses and flexibility. My check is in the mail as I have both seen the product in action and worked with Mark under heavy deadline pressures and found Mr. Taylor to be trustworthy and extremely dependable. I trust that if the program has bugs he will work with me and fix them. sounds like a testimonial, doesn't it? It is just that entirely unsolicited and gladly rendered. I hope this is helpful to Mac genealogy nuts who use PAF. Be well, gene Eugene E. Rosen GENIE: erosen 22 Riverside Road COMPUSERVE:74066,3444 Sandy Hook, Ct. 06482-1213 AOL: Gene Rosen ______________________ Internet:eer@world.std.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1992 15:03:47 GMT Reply-To: Tom Lincoln Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Tom Lincoln Subject: Re: Search for a Macintosh software In article tswift@well.sf.ca.us (Theodore John Swift) writes: > >> I am cuurently not a subscriber of this list, but I think someone >> could help me in my search for Macintosh [genealogical] software. > >FAQ INDEX FAQ Index >FAQ 0701 How To Get Started In Genealogy > >GENEALOG GENSOFT7 Listing of Genealogy Software >GENEALOG PAF-MAC PAF on the Macintosh (INFO) > >ROOTSOFT 91A Software Reviews 1991 (1) > >Of all these, I would recommend FAQ 0206, which lists software for the >Macintosh, and GENEALOG PAF-MAC, which describes the program Personal >Ancestor File (PAF) for the Mac. > [For] a single, very large chart of *all* one's relatives. I have been >in search of such a program for years, and have not found one yet. I, like >your mother, use another program, MacDraw, to produce large charts. I find >it tedious, but it's the best way I have found so far. >Bonne chance! (I hope I got the gender correct?) > The problem with FAQs are the FGAs.. the frequently given answers... which are often not particularly searching or insightful or up to date. For the MAC: Ted Swift's suggestion of using Sesame appears to be a good start, but I havn't tried it. Much can be done in flexible word processing format... but none of the exchanges or print-outs. marktaylor@aol.com has just announced a product: GEDcompanion which may answer the large chart problem for the first time.. worth exploring with him for $20. REUNION makes a very flexible and very usable set of files that is much easier to use than PAF for the MAC. I take it that REUNION 3.0 (which I have from MAC Connections) is a considerable upgrade from earlier versions.. REUNION imports and exports GEDCOM, etc. There is a very fine chart maker. Just a few thoughts, together with Ted's that havn't reached the FAQ files yet (I think). Tom p q \|/ /|\ TOM LINCOLN lincoln@rand.org \|/ "Life is short, art is long, opportunity fugitive, /|\ experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 08:41:00 CDT Reply-To: TAZ Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: TAZ Subject: Brother's Keeper I haven't used Brother's Keeper but I do use Family Tree Maker 2.0 and have found that this is very flexible (lets you add LOTS of information), extremely easy to use, and has nice print-out options. I'm new to geneology so maybe it is to basic but it appears to have room for everything. I haven't seen this program mentioned anywhere. Becky Knol McKiness@fnal.bitnet ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 14:32:37 GMT Reply-To: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Subject: Re: Search for Macintosh Software Let me add my two cents (pence?) worth to Tom Lincoln's comments, and do so to soc.roots/ROOTS-L as a whole, as a follow up to the GedCompanion announcement: |marktaylor@aol.com has just announced a product: GEDcompanion which may |answer the large chart problem for the first time.. worth exploring |with him for $20. | |REUNION makes a very flexible and very usable set of files that is |much easier to use than PAF for the MAC. I take it that REUNION 3.0 |(which I have from MAC Connections) is a considerable upgrade from |earlier versions. REUNION imports and exports GEDCOM, etc. There |is a very fine chart maker. |From the way I read the GedCompanion announcement, which sounds very interesting, its role is to produce files that can then be used by standard wordprocessors, spreadsheet programs, and chart-making programs, such as MORE. |From recent personal experience I can confirm that Reunion 3.0 is an excellent system. It comes complete with a very good chart maker, though I should point out that the this supports just pedigrees and vertical descencendants charts, not conventional "drop-line" wallchart forms of family tree. However, just like GedCompanion, it can produce files that can be imported by systems such as MORE, to produce high quality family tree wallcharts which one can then easily manipulate and re-style as one wishes, and so produce all the wallpaper you can possibly need for you next family gathering. Cheers Brian Randell Dept. of Computing Science, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk PHONE = +44 91 222 7923 FAX = +44 91 222 8232 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 14:56:04 GMT Reply-To: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Subject: Tiny Tafel Generator for Macintosh Responding via the net to a query whose sender's address I did not note, and to Brian Mavrogeorge's comment, there is at least one Tiny Tafel generator available for the Macintosh, by Brian Bechtel. I obtained a copy by FTP from hallc1.cebaf.gov, where it is filed as TINYTAFEL.PIT (However I believe it is also on many Fidonet genealogy Bulletin Board systems.) It seems quite useful, though I have yet to use it in anger. And from what I have read elsewhere about Tiny Tafel submissions, due to the importance of obeying all the syntax rules (since the distribution and checking of Tiny Tafels is automated) it is normally recommended to use a special Tiny Tafel generator if one is available, rather than as Brian Mavrogeorge suggests an ordinary word processor, though this is clearly possible. Cheers Brian Randell Dept. of Computing Science, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk PHONE = +44 91 222 7923 FAX = +44 91 222 8232 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 18:57:44 GMT Reply-To: William LeFebvre Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: William LeFebvre Subject: Re: Search for Macintosh Software Let me also add my hearty recommendation for Reunion. It is a wonderful piece of work, as is the companion "SuperChart". Some things to note with respect to GEDCompanion and wall charts: From what I can tell, exporting a chart from Reunion to Superchart only involves a text file. So not only can you export stuff from Reunion to word processors and MORE, you should be able to take simple-indentation files (say, from MORE) and feed them to SuperChart, even if they weren't produced by Reunion. I haven't tried this, and SuperChart looks for a few special characters (such as "&"), but it seems very doable to me. Reunion can export GEDCOM files, so Reunion users should also be able to use GEDCompanion. I intend to explore this possibility at a later date. Specific impressions about Reunion (you can skip if not interested): Plusses: easy to enter and change information. VERY easy to walk around and examine the information. Full easy-to-use indexing system (indexed by last name), easy-to-use birthdate system (indexed by month and day). SuperChart is incredibly impressive. It can produce (on the screen) and print charts which use a different color for every generation and it uses shading to give the chart a very nice look. It allows you to edit the graphical chart, and you can save it and include it in other documents as well. Minuses: since it is based on Hypercard, it is slow, especially for operations which require changing the entire display (such as entering data for an individual). The descendant charts don't include enough information to suit me, and it doesn't appear that you can ask it to. It only includes names, birth, death for both spouses. You can't add, for example, marriage dates or short notes to the chart. For the hacker: since it is written in Hypercard, you could conceivably edit the scripts to get Reunion to do what you wanted. The stack is editable. William LeFebvre Computing Facilities Manager and Analyst Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Northwestern University ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1992 06:37:14 GMT Reply-To: Mark Taylor Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Mark Taylor Subject: More on GEDcompanion for Macintosh (long) I have received a number of inquiries about GEDcompanion since my earlier posting. It seems that some readers missed my original announcement, so I thought I would repeat the original posting and then make a couple of additional comments. ===== This message is to announce a new genealogy program for the Macintosh called GEDcompanion. It 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. Have you ever wanted to move your data to a spreadsheet or database program, so that you can search and sort, and look for errors? 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 If you use a Macintosh for genealogy, you can't afford to be without GEDcompanion! ===== Now, a few additional comments: The original inspiration for GEDcompanion was a strong desire to produce wall charts automatically. Drawing charts by hand in MacDraw is simply unacceptable, especially for families numbering over a thousand individuals. The whole point of typing everybody in to a program like PAF is to be able to do this sort of thing automatically, right? I made my first attempts at porting descendants files to MORE by Symantec by printing a PostScript file of the PAF descendants chart using the System 6 print dialog trick, sending the PostScript file to my UNIX box, running the file through a complex shell script to strip out irrelevant information and reformat it for MORE, sending it back to my Mac, and then importing it into MORE. The results were so well received at my family reunion two years ago that I decided to write a Mac program to do it and provide such a program to the Mac community at minimal cost. Along the way, I've added additional features to the program to alleviate other deficiencies in PAF. Finally, I feature-froze the program and am releasing it now to elicit comments and suggestions for future directions. I want to provide in future releases those features and improvement that users tell me are most needed. My philosophy is that GEDcompanion is the link between PAF (and other programs) and other Macintosh applications such as word processors, databases, spreadsheets, and charting programs. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, I'm using the text importing facilities of these programs to bring together the best of both worlds. In response to Steve McLean, yes, GEDcompanion can handle multiple marriages on the wall charts. It accomplishes this by having a separate box for each marriage, in addition to separate boxes for unmarried individuals. Therefore, a set of parents will have under them a box for every marriage each child of theirs has had, in addition to boxes for children that never married. It's the best solution I could come up with to adapt org charting programs like MORE and Org Plus to genealogy. I have a lot of ideas for future directions for GEDcompanion, including more detailed database exports, the ability to edit databases and convert back to GEDCOM format, automatic Tiny Tafel generation, register-type descendants files, the ability to split a GEDCOM file, searching for inconsistencies and typos (children born before their parents, etc.) and so forth. Feedback from those who buy the program will determine future directions and the priority level of individual features. I hope this answers some of the questions. Of course, I will be happy to answer any other questions anyone may have. - Mark Taylor (MarkTaylor@aol.com) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 16:41:20 GMT Reply-To: Tom Lincoln Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Tom Lincoln Subject: Re: REUNION: Search for Macintosh Software In article <1992Jul15.185744.20140@eecs.nwu.edu> phil@eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) writes: >Let me also add my hearty recommendation for Reunion. It is a wonderful >piece of work, as is the companion "SuperChart". > > >Minuses: since it is based on Hypercard, it is slow, especially for >operations which require changing the entire display (such as entering >data for an individual). The descendant charts don't include enough >information to suit me, and it doesn't appear that you can ask it to. >It only includes names, birth, death for both spouses. You can't add, >for example, marriage dates or short notes to the chart. > >For the hacker: since it is written in Hypercard, you could conceivably >edit the scripts to get Reunion to do what you wanted. The stack is >editable. > The HyperCode is very compact, but clear. I have made numerous changes for my own use without upsetting the underlying structure, speeding up certain functions, or making them more direct. SInce everyone as a somewhat unpredictable work sequence and set of priorities that they like best, this is a great boon! I do some of my work on a Mac Plus (and drive a 1967 Volvo -- I'm into robust technology..) and I find that, with adequate memory and cache, it moves along reasonably well -- at least as well as PAF. Because I have a small screen on this machine, I have added a scratch field where I can cut and paste material from other formats... which speeds thing up a lot.. I am particularly pleased with the ways that I can record tentative material and use the system in problem solving mode as well as documentation mode. Here is a summary of the things that I have found useful to modify: I have addressed six separate issues in my modification of the REUNION stacks: 1) DATE ARITHMETIC: Answers the need for a better Ages... program in Dialogs 3.0 to calculate and screen critical dates. This is my most serious contribution... allowing much stronger date arithmetic. (REUNION made a good and imaginative start, but the functionality was handicapped by an inadequate algorithmic base.) a.) There is a user modifiable table of transition dates from the Julian (Old Style) to the Gregorian (New Style) calendars. This is presented both as short (unconfusing) set of options for the common places that might be of interest like Rome, London, Paris, Alaska, and No Transition (Orthodox) and a long list of esoterica. I have made enough errors in trying to put this table together to appreciate that proof reading should be done well, but only once! a1. MouseDown over the Short List button or over the field containing the present transition date opens a menu on the right, from which the common alternatives can be chosen. The transition from the old to the new calendars was painful and uneven throughout Europe, generally following the Catholic/Protestant split in allegiance. MouseDown over the Long List puts up a long list of places and the dates when their calendars changed. a2. Option click on the long button allows additions to be made to this long list. A sequence of prompts asks for a PLACE and then the date of the LAST DAY of the Old Style Calendar in that place. The new entry follows at the end of the table. One would not expect many uses for this! b.) This program will now handle not only date arithmetic for precise intervals, but will also estimate age from the usual imprecise ones... It only shows the day of the week for precise dates.. c.) Some non-standard date forms are interpreted. It will calculate the date if the whole month is given (such as 10 January 1945), but will flag it as not conforming to GEDCOM standards. It will also calculate the date if given in Quaker format (i.e. 12m 14 1701/2 for 14 Feb 1702) or in transition format (i.e 24 Mar 1704/5 for 24 Mar 1705 [New Year's Eve in an earlier English world]). This follows my philosophy that the user should not be forced to conform to GEDCOM standards, but rather that an interpreter should be introduced to establish conformation if one wants to do a GEDCOM transfer... [This example is thus a beginning, but only a beginning; the same must be done for ":" and any other symbols that confuse GEDCOM... don't refuse them going in... parse the text going out and give the user freedom (the material at input time will come more and more from scanners.. some of mine does).] d.) The program now checks across the date fields and notes where non conformities exist. It complains (with an asterisk) if these can be interpreted, but are not in GEDCOM format. Others are flagged with a check mark and the calculations are overlooked. As a special case, the routine looks for the inadvertent lower case "L" that may be substituted for a one (as in 17ll) -- a common error among typists of an earlier generation. e.) It only shows the public health smokers program when individuals are included that are alive today... (although clicking on the Cover Button will show the buttons underneath... so the editorial on public health is not lost.) 2) ENHANCED DOCUMENTATION CONVENTIONS ON THE FAMILY CARD: Many genealogy programs force decisions about relationships into black and white categories, while, in the real world, there are many shades of gray and many different contingencies.. REUNION already addresses many such issues with special status flags.. and in its structure is thus conducive to further extension without disturbing the REUNION coding conventions. (Indeed REUNION is sufficiently modular and object oriented that many different kinds of modifications can be made in this manner without disturbing the underlying structure. a.) It is now possible to enter parent names without a generating card.. REUNION allows one to enter children without forcing the generation of a "family card". I have provided a means of doing the same thing for parents. As one goes back, there are parent families about whom one has nothing but a name. It is convenient to treat these in the top fields of the family card. Clicking on the parent fields, when there is no card now adds a third option to the dialog box: "Make labels only?" In which names are entered, but no cards produced. Other information can also be entered when no names are known, such as "Came from Wessex". What is entered is marked with an asterisk and there is an automatic comment in the first date field under the "Father" that notes that no card has been produced. Clicking over these fields in the usual way provides the same card generation utility to make a card and override what is in these fields, or one can replace what is there with new data. b.) The revisions provide some more general data fields that concern the family unit as a whole, rather than just the husband and wife in particular. I identify two such fields: a "Big Picture" field and a "Family Context" field. (These are not yet a part of a GEDCOM format, but remain, for the present, only internal to the stack itself. The next step should not be hard to introduce). b1. We all live in a flux of history. In many instances the family fate and the meaning of certain events or actions can only be interpreted in the light of this big picture. A field is provided to enter such data that overlays the fact fields and has its own (light bulb) icon button. b2. Families have group experiences that are important to the unit in a more focused way. A field is provide to enter these kinds of data (toggled by a little house icon). It also overlays the fact fields. c.) Providing some temporary comments in the date fields underlying the parent mothers. A button (-) allows one line of comment entry and its modification on each side. Updating a parent fact field destroys this comment, but such comments are particularly useful where the parents are entered as only labels, or where the fact fields are stable. d.) Two lines of display for the circumstances surrounding a marriage. Often, in earlier times, this was the most interesting (or only) detailed information preserved about family style in the life of the wife (apart from birth, children and death). It is a shame not to display it! The display automatically skips to the bottom line, if only one line is used. e.) Underlining children buttons. The button is provided that restricts "bold" children buttons to those with cards. For more flexibility I have added an underline capability. A simple click with the option key toggles underlining on or off for any child button. One purpose to which this can be used is to indicate less personally interesting directions in the tree. f.) Enhance the child status symbol options that can appear on the child button (and in the name header) by reintroducing a further option as a "User Option" (added other2 = 215) on the child status page. As a default I suggest a qualification of status option, which defaults to: "Link is Uncertain" - - for example where the relation between a child and the grandparents is established, but there is only a best guess among the next generation as to who is the child's parent . This allows a documentation of linkages, with proper navigation, even if they are less than certain. A number can follow this symbol that quantifies the degree of uncertainty. 3) ENHANCED DATA ENTRY: Entry sequences have been simplified and the handling of name modifiers such as "Jr." or "M.D." that follow a name are now handled separately. a.) On the Fact Entry Form, the return key has been captured so that it spaces down. There is a skip from the birth fields to the death fields and down to the occupation fields, because these are the commonest in many circumstances. The up and down arrow have also been captured. These move up and down and rotate over the top and bottom. These modifications ease transcription from paper. b. The return key is also captured in a similar manner on the marriage form, so that return skips down through the place field before it acts as an enter signal. c.) The numerous modifiers that can follow names such as Esq. or Ph.D. are handled automatically so long as no more than one of these separate words is present. They are identified when the last word consists of at least 2 letters plus a period. This last word is removed when name fields are added or updated, and then reattached in its proper place at the completion of the process. STILL NEEDED: a better means of changing field names in the optional "Christening Fields". At present only one can be changed. Preferred would be to be able to change both Christening and Place to, for example, Date and Event in the usual order. This implies some deep understanding of the "userz" global, and has not been altered. Also the ability to put in up to 5 characters in the header text would be useful (even if the last character bleeds to the left on the Fact fields -- if this is so, one can think again.) 4) FAMILY CARD NAVIGATION: Certain enhancements make the navigation of these cards clearer to me and others just make interaction easier. a) I like the convention of a highlighted button when it is associated with a field that is hidden, but may contain data. Thus the Misc. Notes button and the Button to Display "Medical & Research" highlight when they contain data. (The system provides a tiny tick next to these buttons, but this is too specialized and subtle for me. In addition, I want consistency with the other field buttons that I have added.) b) These buttons should toggle. If closed they should open, and if open, close. One should not have to search for another place to recover the Fact Fields. The display should always default back to the Fact Fields as one moves from card to card or returns from entering notes, etc. They now do this to display the Fact Fields as the fundamental data. c) The dialog box for navigating among wives from one family page to the next is inelegant. One is forced to remember which wife is "number one" and which "number two". I make use of the table which is already there and display it instead. d.) As it stands, redesignating a first card is not cancelable once evoked. A cancel button has been added to the dialog box to prevent inadvertent changes that have to be undone. e.) If one works on-line and almost without paper (as I do) one is often faced with importing chunks of text from other documents by cut and paste. The import feature from the Misc. Notes field for importing and exporting text documents is for small amounts of text in pure text file format only. On a MAC with a single screen it remains awkward if no means is provided to put text temporarily in a field on the relevant family card. A scratch field has been added to mange this problem... which opens in scroll mode over the parent fields... It has a conventional "radio button" toggle. f.) HyperCard stacks make it possible to modularize a full genealogy into separate families. Although Reunion allows one to go from family to family by opening a separate stack, it provides no links. A new linking feature has been added that passes from one stack to the next at the level of the same family card. 5) ENHANCED HYPERTEXT NAVIGATION: The hypertext feature is potentially very powerful, but only primitively implemented here. Several extensions have been made, some of which depend upon a discipline in the use of the reference cards (see below). a.) Program now allows hypertext navigation from the marriage place field, facts fields, and my context and big picture fields to the reference pages, and from one reference page to the others. b.) Hypertext footnotes: In a mature genealogy, there are often very many references to one or more individuals with the same name. Going to the particular reference, not just the page provides a hypertext footnote. The hypertext button can now search for reference labels thus: (01.6Person where reference labels are set up as 6@Person in reference field, or (99.12TEXT for book or document references. (Using card 99 for book and article references and working backward separates the general from the specific). c.) Hypertext back to a family card or (among family cards [not yet implemented]) adds very convenient navigation links. The $ symbol goes to the family page with that family card id. A new "Link" button on the References background sets up a hypertext return symbol of the form ($0000 that points to the family page last displayed (see below). 6) ENHANCEMENTS TO THE REFERENCE STACK: Some features already in the reference stack have been enhanced. Handy handy italic, underline, and bold buttons that work on selected text have been added at the top, following the conventions already in use along the right side. The cut and past group of buttons have been consolidated to make room for some new buttons. a.) A "go back" button has been added to allow a navigation among the various cards in the Reference Stack (which gets more complicated when Hypertext links are introduced). Go back avoids the push/pop conventions. However, if go back implies leaving the stack, the message is trapped on closeBackground, and a message sent to the "Done" button, so that the return to the other stack (using the pop card convention) takes place cleanly. b.) The Link button places a symbol with a pointer back to the last displayed family page just after the end of the line containing an insertion point. It can be cut and pasted to any other place from there. c. A scratch field has been added to the Reference background so that text material can be brought over by cut and paste, and temporarily stored while it is distributed among references. The conventions are the same as the family page, but more space is allocated to the scroll field. d.) A procedure for adding references has been set up that asks for the first line of the reference (or the initial part of it) in a dialog box. It is usually a last name or a category . A number from an automatic counter and an @ symbol are added in front of the first word to make a distinctive reference indicator on that page, i.e. 6@Name. The HyperText search convention to find a reference by number and subject, or the find command can find words in the subject header as key words alone. This first line is highlighted, and a schema for references is appended. THE ONLY STACKS OR COMPONENTS TO HAVE BEEN MODIFIED ARE: 1) The Family Stack 2) The Ages... card in Dialogs 3.0 3) The Child Status card in Dialogs 3.0 4) The Marriage card in Dialogs 3.0 5) The References Stack Tom Lincoln lincoln@rand.org July 17, 1992 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1992 11:59:44 -0700 Reply-To: Valerie Shahan Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: Valerie Shahan Subject: Re: GENEALOGY SOFTWARE In-Reply-To: <9207151509.AA13416@henson.cc.wwu.edu> To all who are interested in Everyone's Family Tree software.... call 1-800-733-3807 and request a free preview disk along with a booklet showing all printed reports. This software is by Dollarhide Systems of Bellingham, Wash. It sells for $149.00. It has the capability to "write" your family history. You enter names, dates, notes,... and EFT prepares a complete narrative in the "Register" style. In addition, EFT prints good looking family groups sheets, pedigree charts, ancestor tables (lineages), ahnentafel lists, etc. EFT is for IBM compatibles only, 640k of RAM and hard disk operation required. Valerie Shahan ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1992 18:42:00 EDT Reply-To: RBETTENCOURT@UMASSD.EDU Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: A VAX cluster with VMS V5.5, PMDF V4.0-22, JNET V3.5 & UCX V1.3A From: RBETTENCOURT@UMASSD.EDU Subject: Brother's Keeper I want to thank all those who responded to my request for reviews of Brother's Keeper. The program was strongly recommended by most. Those who didn't comment on Brother's Keeper also had important concerns to keep in mind, e.g. make sure ANY software you pick supports GEDCOM (Brother's Keeper does). As one person put it, the reason this program is mentioned so little in the group is probably that there are so few problems with it. I sent John Steed a check for $40. The price is up to $45 now but it's still well worth it. (This info needs to be updated in FAQ 0201). Version 5.0 is out now and the main benefit I found is that the separate programs (BK, BK BOX CHART, BK MORE REPORTS, and BK UTILITIES) are now all accessible from one main menu. Other features or improvements over earlier versions include the ability to handle 1 million names (!!); a person can have two sets of parents (e.g. birth and adoptive); mailing address and phone number can be included; mailing labels can be printed; sources may be entered for data fields; designate unmarried and divorced; add a single person to the database; easy delete routine; find people using your own numbering system; browse when displaying ancestor chart on the screen; unusual last names can be coded to sort correctly (important when you want De Bethencourt to sort as "B" and not "D"); custom reports can be created; available in English, French, Danish, German, Norwegian, and others. I particularly like the ability to link text files of unlimted size to any person in the database (these print out in the Register and other reports). Although I haven't used this yet, it also creates Tiny Tafels. Thanks your help and suggestions, Ron Bettencourt Internet: rbettencourt@umassd.edu ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 17:54:38 EDT Reply-To: botteron@BU-IT.BU.EDU Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: botteron@BU-IT.BU.EDU Subject: "Family Tree" software for Apple The following software was advertised in the magazine "InCider/A+." It is not listed in the Apple/Mac software FAQ. Does anyone know anything about it, especially if it works well on an Apple IIGS and is clear enough for a beginner to figure out? Family Tree Let Family Tree automatically link together your family's history into an easy to operate (and fun to use) data file. Print a wide variety of charts, namelists, ahnentafels and group sheets to your printer or AppleWorks files. It even shows family relationships! Imports data from Appleworks or LDS-PAF data files. For Apple enhanced IIe, IIc or IIGS. Truly a best buy ... $39.95+$2.50 S+H... 90 day satisfaction guarantee... Robert M. Merrill 6180 Via Real A-25 Carpenteria, CA 93013 Thanx for any comments on this or other software for the Apple IIGS. Carol Botteron botteron@bu-it.bu.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 10:25:14 PST Reply-To: RLEE%MSACADMN.mtsacnet@IBM.MTSAC.EDU Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Resending note of 27 Jul 92 10:21:31 PST from From: RLEE%MSACADMN.mtsacnet@IBM.MTSAC.EDU Subject: Wall Charts From: Bob Lee *** Resending note of 07/27/92 10:21 Date: 27 Jul 92 10:21:31 PST From: To: ROOTS-L Server From: Bob Lee Banner Blue's software is called Family Tree Maker. They are currently on version 2.0. It runs on IBM & compatible. It has many nice features and is great for the home user. It has several different print formats and options including wall charts. I am surprised that it has not been mentioned on this list before. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lee, VSE Systems Programmer | Voice: (714)594-5611 x4365 Mt. San Antonio College | Fax: (714)598-6995 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut, CA 91789| Internet: rlee@ibm.mtsac.edu ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 18:42:18 GMT Reply-To: Don Wiggins Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Don Wiggins Subject: Wall Chart Thanks to all who sent me information on this subject. A couple of people told me about a program called pafp21 on hallc1. I downloaded it last evening and it seems to do exactly what I wanted. I haven't actually printed anything with it yet, since the program indicated it would print 65 pages (!) for my whole database, but I'll give it a try one of these days. I understand that there are many other programs available at the same site, so for the benefit of those who might be interested, you should do an anonymous ftp to hallc1.cebaf.gov. The file that I mentioned above (listed as pafp21.zip, of course) is in /genealogy/paf. ======================================================================== |Don Wiggins | _Researching_ | |306 East Franklin | WIGGINS, STALEY, HALL, | |Fisher, IL 61843-9440 | BIRKHIMER, MCINTIRE, | |email: wiggins@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu | PARK(E), CHANCE, MUNRO....| ======================================================================== ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1992 15:01:46 PDT Reply-To: Christi Richardson <6500HMS@UCSBUXA.BITNET> Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: Christi Richardson <6500HMS@UCSBUXA.BITNET> Subject: Macintosh Users Hello. This is an announcement for all of you who use Macintosh computers. It has appeared before, but it is NOT an "ad." The History and Macintosh Society is a non-profit, academic group. Please don't consider this junk mail. The History and Macintosh Society (HMS) is an international user group for academics using Macintosh equipment in the research, writing, and teaching. HMS's purpose is to provide information and advice to Macintosh users of all skills levels, particularly beginning and middle-level users, on computer concerns to members of the academic world, such as word processing, note compilation, database creation and management, and desktop publishing. "History" is very broadly defined. Our members represent all disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and many members from the physical and biological sciences as well. HMS distributes a quarterly newsletter accompanied by a disk of shareware, with an emphasis on those programs designed for educational and scholarly use. The group is Apple-registered, which insures continued support, receipt of system updates, news, and shareware. Members are encouraged to share shareware with HMS, write articles and reviews for the quarterly newsletter, and form HMS subgroups in their own areas. Dues are $15 per year. Foreign members pay no extra for air mail, but please submit dues in US funds. For further information, request an electronic copy of the most recent newsletter from this electronic address (6500hms@ucsbuxa.bitnet or 6500hms@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu). To join, please send your dues to: HMS 734 Elkus Walk #201 Goleta, CA 93117-4151 USA The HMS founder, Joe Coohill, may be reached at 2120jtc@ucsbuxa.bitnet or 2120jtc@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu. He may also be contacted during the day (US Pacific time) at gd03jtc@ucsbvm.bitnet. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 04:54:16 GMT Reply-To: "Stephen A. Wood" Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: "Stephen A. Wood" Subject: Genealogy files available via anonymous ftp A FTP site devoted exclusively to Genealogy related files and programs is available at hallc1.cebaf.gov (129.57.7.19). This site is primarily for programs as genealogy text files are available at other sites. At present, most of the programs available are MS-DOS programs, but anyone is invited to submit programs for other platforms (unix, vms, macintosh, ...) to be archived here. Since there is a fine archive of genealogy text files located in the ROOTS-L directory of vm1.nodak.edu, text files will be kept to a minimum. The following files have been added since the last announcement to soc.roots about this ftp site. --- New genealogy files since Jun 11 on hallc1.cebaf.gov /genealogy/paf cfr111.zip 119487 Jun 22 Compares PAF databases for differences locase13.lzh 6732 Aug 8 changes name to lower case in PAF data Base reclam30.lzh 13828 Aug 8 reclaims unused space in PAF data base notes /genealogy/programs bk50bnew.zip 243723 Jul 2 Newer BK5MAIN.EXE and BK5REP.EXE for bk50b frll101.zip 50399 Aug 8 Family Roots Library Loader. Freeware from Ray ftj82-1.zip 174472 Jul 15 Family Tree Journal v8.2 1/2 ftj82-2.zip 157913 Jul 15 Family Tree Journal v8.2 2/2 ftp120c.zip 162627 Aug 8 A powerful print util/conversion util. Works wit /genealogy/text bhancock.zip 45590 Aug 9 Descendants of Benjamin Hancock, Muhl. Co, KY bostcem.zip 6528 Jun 22 Boston Area Jewish Cemetaries burned.zip 2134 Jul 2 What to do when the courthouse records burn cigs9206.zip 29696 Jun 22 Genealogy Computer Interest Groups / George Arch dcsource.zip 1318 Jul 2 Sources in Washington, DC e.zip 1332 Aug 9 List of genealogies for "E" echnam11.zip 82025 Jul 9 Echo names/addresses updates. gbbs9206.zip 30464 Jun 22 Latest Gene. BBS list/R. Pence gbbs9207.zip 31307 Jul 9 Latest Gene. BBS list/R. Pence genmags.zip 2962 Jul 2 List of Genealogical magazines gentrace.zip 47785 Jul 2 "Tracing Your Family Tree" by Brian W. Hutchison italy.zip 4620 Jul 15 Italian research jewsoc.txt 6220 Jun 22 List of Jewish genealogy societies. ldsigi.zip 2145 Jul 2 Info on LDS IGI medterm.zip 1200 Jul 2 18th century medical terms muhlen1.zip 126160 Aug 9 Muhlenberg Co. KY marriages 1799-1850 natarchv.zip 1289 Jul 2 Microfilm rentals from the Nat'l Archives ngstips.zip 4018 Jul 2 Tips for beginners /genealogy/utils namev300.zip 90955 Aug 8 Nameview Ver 3.0 Message searcher, reader, sorte srch132s.zip 48105 Aug 8 Search BBS messages for items of interest ---- To access these files, ftp to hallc1.cebaf.gov, give anonymous as the username, and your network address as the password. All of the genealogy files are in the subdirectories /genealogy/paf, /genealogy/programs, /genealogy/text, and /genealogy/utils. Files that end in ".zip", "lzh" or ".exe" are binary and should be transferred in binary mode. Files that end in anything else are probably text files and should be transferred in ASCII mode. Binaries will usually be in ZIP format with a file extension of ".zip". A self extracting copy of PKware's shareware programs is in the file "pkz110eu.exe". Some files are also compressed with lharc having the ending ".lzh". The software to unpack those files can be found in the self extracting archive "lha213.exe". There are also several files that end with ".exe". These are generally self extracting archives The current listing of files on hallc1.cebaf.gov in the /genealogy anonymous ftp directory is in the file INDEX also in the /genealogy directory. If there is a program that you think should be posted, write me a note requesting it. The file AVAILABLE contains a list of files that are available to me from a local genealogy BBS. If you would like a file that is in the AVAILABLE list, just send me a note. Please make sure that the file is not already available on hallc1 before requesting it. This ftp site welcomes uploads. Files should be transferred to the directory /genealogy/Uploads. Please send mail to saw@hallc1.cebaf.gov after uploading something. Please include a description of what it is. This ftp site is subject to removal at any time without notice. However, I don't anticipate having to discontinue it any time in the near future. If at some point in the future I needed to terminate anonymous ftp access, I would make a serious effort to transfer the files to another anonymous ftp location. Some network users can send and receive mail, but can not use ftp. (Because they are not directly connected to internet.) These users can still retrieve files from hallc1.cebaf.gov (or any anonymous ftp site) using a ftp mail server at the address ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. Cliff Manis has prepared some instructions on how to use this service. Send mail to the address LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU, with the following line as the entire body of the message get genealog how2dec And a file with instructions will be mailed back. If one is on a bitnet node, use the address LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 instead. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Stephen Wood, CEBAF, Newport News, VA Presently Searching: LAMB SHIFLETT HUMES LIMB TODD CONY SELF BITNET: saw@cebaf INTERNET: saw@hallc1.cebaf.gov -- --------------------------------------------------------- Stephen A. Wood CEBAF/SURA Internet: saw@hallc1.cebaf.gov Mail Stop 12H Internet: saw@cebaf.gov 12000 Jefferson Avenue Bitnet: saw@cebaf Newport News, VA 23606 Phone: (804)249-7367 Office: CEBAF Center C121 FAX: (804)249-7363 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 21:58:00 GMT Reply-To: Steve Hayes Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Steve Hayes Subject: PAF Capacity On <13 Aug 1992 17:57> FAC_DBOYDRUS@JMUVAX.BITNET (5:7104/2) said to All : FDB>Does anyone know if there is a maximum number of individuals FDB>who can be entered FDB>on PAF? I'd hate to exceed the limit. I already have several FDB>thousand entered. About 65000. -- INTERNET: Steve.Hayes@p5.f22.n7101.z5.fidonet.org via: THE CATALYST BBS in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (catpe.alt.za) +27-41-34-1122 HST or +27-41-34-2859, V32bis & HST. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 22:25:28 GMT Reply-To: ray whidden Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: ray whidden Subject: paf capacity In an article by Dorothy Boyd-Bush of Harrisonburg, Viginia: FD>Does anyone know if there is a maximum number of individuals who can be FD>entered FD>on PAF? I'd hate to exceed the limit. I already have several thousand FD>entered. FD>Thanks. I don't see any mention in the books with PAF re: capacity but recall that there was a 65,000 individual limit, I believe based upon the fact the RIN's are stored in two byte fields, thus 2 E16. That's quite a few, so often the disk space is more of a factor. You might want to be aware that moving a 10,000 name database from PAF to Brother's Keeper v.5.0b took about 9 hours, so there becomes a practical consideration in creating large databases, if importing/exporting is a frequent occurance. I don't under- stand the long time required by BK since PAF handles this same database in about 30 - 45 minutes. However, since BK does such a good job, it's worth knowing. Regards, Ray Internet: ray.whidden@canrem.com : RIME : ->CRS : 46 Campania Crescent, UUCP: canrem!ray.whidden FidoNet: 1:250/632 : Scarborough, Ontario M1V 2E9 * DeLuxe2 1.21 #4419 * I'm afraid I put too much BS into BBSing. -- Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario/Detroit, MI World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 05:55:08 CDT Reply-To: Cliff Manis Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: Cliff Manis Subject: Re: paf capacity (fwd) Readers: Reference part of this message: I sent the referenced msg, about how long it takes to load a PAF GEDCOM file into a empty BK5 database and received this answer back from John Steed in 1 day. Good luck to all... I am still busy in Washington, DC, and expect to be here for about 3 more weeks. I am visiting the National Archives, and writing lots of letters to relatives here. Good luck to all.. Cliff > From compuserve.com!75745.1371 Mon Aug 17 21:40:37 1992 > Date: 17 Aug 92 22:15:07 EDT > From: John Steed <75745.1371@CompuServe.COM> > To: > Subject: Re: paf capacity (fwd) > Message-Id: <920818021506_75745.1371_EHK104-2@CompuServe.COM> > > I just made a change on my gedcom program so that importing into BK > will run faster than previously when you are importing into an empty > BK database. It does take longer than PAF does since BK is building > four indexes into the database and is updating each index with each > new name added. These indexes allow you to find any name without > having to read the whole file each time. The fastest way of course > is to create the database in a RAM disk and then copy it to the hard > disk when finished. The new faster gedcom program BKGED5.EXE is on > my BBS at (616) 364-1127. It is still slow when adding names to > an existing database, because it takes extra steps to avoid possible > damage while updating indexes. > Cliff Manis K4ZTF Manis/Manes Family History Researching: MANIS MANES WHITEHORN CANTER BIRD FRANCIS NEWMAN USMAIL: P. O. Box 33937, San Antonio, Texas 78265-3937 BITNET: cmanis%csoftec.csf.com@NDSUVM1 Caretaker of GENEALOG INTERNET: cmanis@csoftec.csf.com >>> There's only one of me, I've ever meet <<<< Standard Disclaimer: We are not associated with anyone. (PERIOD). (.) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 15:29:37 GMT Reply-To: Brian Randell Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Brian Randell Subject: Re: Reunion In article <9208201913.AA20190@csoftec.csf.com>, cmanis@CSOFTEC.CSF.COM (Cliff Manis) wrote: > Will Reunion except data from a GEDCOM file ? Yes - and I gather it has just received the LDS "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for its GEDCOM import/export facilities. (In fact when I came across and reported an obscure bug in the GEDCOM export facilities a short while ago, I was very impressed with the way that REUNION's developer responded to my report, and within a week or so airmailed me a free upgrade correcting the problem.) > I would appreciate a note from anyone or all who are using it. It seemed > like a good package, as I read the ad on side of packaged box, but the > people did not know anything about it. > Do you like it ? I like it very much. In almost all respects its facilities are more comprehensive than MacPAF - the main exception is pedigree listing. REUNION produces nice pedigree summaries, but not the detailed pedigrees (with places and dates of birth, etc., that MacPAF does. On the other hand its descendants listings are much better than MacPAF's.And unlike MacPAF it can produce family histories (i.e. descendants listings with full notes printed), questionnaires, and birthday calendars. It will calculate and display relationships and direct lines, and help you find common ancestors. > How about GEDCOM input of the data ? No problem with GEDCOM from MacPAF, which is all I've tried. (The problem with GEDCOM is that different systems support different variants/extensions of it.) > Will it accept text files which are in the GEDCOM data ? If this means the notes fields then yes - if not, then I don't understand the question. Both REUNION and MacPAF are instantly attractive to a Mac user because of the way that they make good use of the standard Mac approach to pointing and selecting with the mouse, and to using cuta nad paste to minimize typing. Their interfaces look somewhat different, but they similarly allow one, say, to point at the name of a child and click, whereupon the relevant record opens up in place of the parent's record. In general the REUNION facilities for this are marginally better than those of MacPAF, but MacPAf's facilities for moving up and down a pedigree are slightly better. But REUNION scores heavily over MacPAF in that it also adheres to standard Mac conventions for data interchange. Thus the various REUNION outputs can in fact be fed into Mac applications such as databases, word processing and desk top publishing programs. In particular the descendants listings - which REUNION provides a fancy charting system for (producing vertical graphical descendants listings, with neat boxes and lines and the ability to incorporate digitized photos) - can also be fed into organization chart packages such as MORE. By such means I have produced very neat laser-printed "wallpaper roll" family trees of all the descendants of my earliest Randell ancestor. To sum up with respect to facilities, REUNION has - for the time being at least - caused me to abandon my use of the MSDOS emulator with which I occasionally polluted my Mac in order to use some PC-based shareware GEDCOM add-ons. The other main way in which REUNION beats MacPAF is that it has much more sophisticated facilities for searching and analyzing a family tree. As regards performance, I would guess that REUNION is perhaps slighly faster that MacPAF in data entry and in browsing. However it is definitely slower in such things as importing or exporting GEDCOM. (The largest file I have used on iot is the Royals file which is available by ftp - operations on the whole of the file, as opposed to browsing and updating are best done when you want a coffee - or a three course meal!) It is Hypercard-based, and makes great use of Hypercard facilities, while minimiozing Hypercard's limitations. There is a final reason why REUNION wins - that is that it is possible for users to get at the code (written in Hypertalk - a high-level object-oriented language) and add or alter things. Which is how Cliff's question got started, because a student of mine is fitting an extra facility to REUNION which will estimate missing dates.) But for all this, I'm in fact - for the moment at any rate - continuing to use both REUNION and Mac-PAF, though I'm careful to regard one as the master, via which data entry is done. One of my main reasons for doing this is that I'm collaborating with a distant cousin in my Randell researches, and he uses MSDOS-PAF. And I guess my advice to someone with (or with the taste to purchase) a Mac who is starting to dabble with computer genealogy would be to commence with MacPAF, which is very good and very good value for money - but then to consider moving up when things get serious. Cheers Brian Randell PS I have no connection with REUNION other than as a satisfied customer. Dept. of Computing Science, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk PHONE = +44 91 222 7923 FAX = +44 91 222 8232 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 03:35:17 -0400 Reply-To: "John Buck, Jr." Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List From: "John Buck, Jr." Subject: Re: Brother's Keeper Anyone can always take a look at and/or download the most current version of Brother's Keeper by calling the author's BB at 616-364-1127. John Steed also monitors the Fidonet Genealogy Echo, and will answer questions there, as well as through CompuServe (the ID number is 75745,1371). If you need a more personalised type of help he can be reached by phone usually in the evenings between 8pm and 10pm Eastern time. He does programming during that time but will not mind taking a few minutes to answer some questions. To call him, call information (area code 616 Rockford, Michigan) for his number. Hope that this helps. John. John Buck, Jr. - 1779 Middlehurst Road - Cleveland Hts., Ohio - 44118 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 12:03:50 GMT Reply-To: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU From: Brian.Randell@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK Subject: Computers in Genealogy, vol 4, no 7 The latest issue of this quarterly publication by the UK Society of Genealogists, which is dated September 1992, contains 48 pages, with the following contents: Editorial, Meetings, News. Local computer group feature: Northamptonshire FHS. Family Trees by Computer by Rosemary R. Lockie. GIPSI, by Michail J. Hulme Toolworks Lengthwise, by Dave Gilroy Pedigree - the latest news, by Lonny Race Managing Genealogical Data, Part 1, by Robert Isaac Review: Family Tree Maker, by Douglas Jopling Letters: Drawing with a Computer, Rules for Pedigree Charts, A Binary Descent Code. Cheers Brian Randell Dept. of Computing Science, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk PHONE = +44 91 222 7923 FAX = +44 91 222 8232