ORIGINS REVIEW   A review of the Origins Personal Genealogy Database for Amiga users   By Roger Hand   <> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <>  Origins is a dedicated database manipulation programme for recording and managing genealogical information. It accomplishes this with a small fast database engine and a graphical user interface specially designed to work with genealogical data The number of records is limited only by available memory and storage. When first approached to review Origins, I was somewhat apprehensive, being a computer beginner and was inclined to refuse the request before realising it would provide an excellent learning process. I must say I experienced a great deal of difficulty in endeavouring to install the programme on my Amiga 500 which has 1 MB of chip ram. The introduction in the Origins manual states that it will run any Amiga with 1 MB of ram under V1.3 or V2.0 of the O.S. There are a number of references to operating the programme with a single floppy drive. My son who is computer-literate attempted the installation by deleting files and crunching others. We couldn't get it to run properly on a single drive. Having borrowed a second floppy drive we achieved a satisfactory result. A pamphlet obtained later setting out some of the features of the programme mentions that a hard disk is recommended, but Origins will work with a minimum configuratiom of two floppy drives, contrary to what the printed manual says. The printed manual is very helpful (approx. 70 pages) notwithstanding the confusing installation procedure. The manual is supplemented with extensive on-line documentation. Origins databases consist of one configuration file (Genfile) and three data files (Person file, Ordinance file and Marriage file). When Origins is run for the first time, it creates these files. The Genfile is used to save important information about size of databases as well as your preferences etc. The Person file is a collection of records, each describing a person, with links to other records, describing other people related to that person. The Ordinance file is a collection of records linked to a person's file. Each record in Ordinance file describes extra details of the person such as baptism, confirmation, immigration dates, occupation etc. The Marriage file is also a collection of records linked to the person's file, including wedding date, location etc. ENTERING DATA  Almost all data entry is done through intuition string gadgets, a simple and easy method. There is no provision to delete a record. The reasoning is that as all records can be edited quickly and easily, there is no reason to delete records because of errors. If for some reason, you feel you must get rid of a record, enter some new data over the old, keeping in mind the links to and from other records. This problem is well covered in the manual. FEATURES OF THE PROGRAMME   1. Built-in context-sensitive hypertext help is available by pressing the Help key in many functions or when selecting any of the Display/Instruction items from the menu. It's possible to move around in the help file by using the gadgets and keys. Also whenever a "keyword" is seen in the text, enclosed in angle brackets, double clicking on that line gives more information on the subject. A glossary of terms and phrases is also included.  2. Origins is an ARexx editor function host. It is essential to have ARexx running on your system for the programme to work properly. Many important functions are facilitated by ARexx. It is important to document the source of information recorded, both for your own use and others who may wish to access the data. It's desirable also to record notes and anecdotal information about persons, ordinance or family groups. Put some meat on the bones so to speak. Origins will automaticly call the ARexx editor to create or edit source or note files. ARexx is not included with the programme. [Ed: However ARexx can be purchased separately and is included as part of the WB2 operating system.]  3. Searches for people on any combination of surname, given name, birth year, birth city, birth country, personal code or by soundex codes are possible.  4. Support for IFF files. Pictures of individuals, marriages, baptisms and family groups may be displayed after digitising the photograph, certificate etc using a "Digi-view" to store the resulting IFF files.  5. LISTS AND REPORTS A number of Lists and Reports are built in and most may be qualified to include only records meeting certain criteria. The following LISTS may be sent to screen, printer or file. (a) Persons: lists all the individuals in the database in either natural or alphabetical order. (b) Marriages: lists all the recorded marriages in the database in either natural or alphabetical order. (c) Parent/Child Index: lists each child along with his or her parents in alphabetical order. (d) Ahnentafel: lists entire generations of persons, commencing with the person entered and going back in time untill all direct ancestors have been found and listed. (e) Soundex - List/Soundex: function looks for persons based on the way the surname sounds rather than the way it is spelled, e.g. should "Smith" be entered, any name recorded that sounds like smith will be converted by Origins to a soundex code and displayed in the titlebar. A list will then be presented of all the persons in the database whose soundex codes match that code.. The Following REPORTS are sent to the printer, but may be saved to a file by using the programme - "Cmd" (a) Persons: information about a person including personal statistics, marriage details, source and note files. (b) Family Group Sheets: information about a family, including personal statistics on each family member. (c) Pedigree Chart: a standard pedigree including four generations. Does not generate cross references for multi-page pedigree charts. (d) Descendants Charts: up to four generations. First the person entered then their first spouse, then all children of this couple, then the next spouse, if any, etc.  6. USER PREFERENCES A number of preferences are available to enable a customised work environment to be set up including screen colours, whether source files are automatically generated when a person's record is saved and whether the database automatically increases in size when full.  7. PRINTING All printing output in Origins is sent to PRT: Any printer driver may be used. All printer output is formulated for 80 columns, except for Report Pedigree which is printed in condensed pitch (136 columns) due to the large amount of information presented.  8. MULTIPLE MARRIAGES ETC Care has been taken to ensure that multiple marriages, step children, unmarried parents and other difficult situations are correctly handled. 9. IMPORT AND EXPORT OF GENEALOGICAL DATA - GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) GEDCOM is a standardised method developed by Family History Dept. of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of representing genealogical data, designed to allow transfer of information between diverse computer systems. The purpose being to avoid having to re-enter a large database by hand merely to move a family tree from one genealogy programme to another. The Origins manual mentions that many GEDCOM programmes cannot recogise all the data from another programme's output, thus leaving some work for the user. GEDCOM is being refined and programmes that follow the new standard should have fewer problems. Origins provides two programmes - ToGED and FromGED for moving data between GEDCOM files and Origins.  LIMITATIONS  Origins is not intended to be used for religious purposes and does not conform to standards for Latter Day Saint submissions. The Ordinance file does not provide for christenings, sealings, priesthood status or other required information.  MISCELLANEOUS  Memory Usage - the manual advises that when loaded with a database of the minimum size (persons file and ordinance file -100 records each, marriage file - 50 records) Origins uses approximately 175 K of memory. Loading larger databases, the on-line help, showing pictures etc will require additional memory. It is also mentioned that a single floppy disk will hold approx. 2000 persons and 50 marriage records. Tutorial - the manual contains a short tutorial which sets out the method used to enter family records and is very useful in familiarising oneself with the system. The Origins programme also contains family history records of the Kennedy's of Massachusetts which is useful for exploring the various lists, reports etc which the programme generates, in addition to giving an interesting insight into the early history of that family. The programme is without warranty of any kind. However, "technical support" is provided free of charge to registered owners, by telephone! Origins is produced by The Puzzle Factory Inc (the name may explain the installation puzzle) PO Box 986 Veneta Oregon 97487 USA. Origins is fast and powerful, but fairly memory hungary. It's event driven and supports multi-tasking very well. Although it's a very comprehensive programme, it's easy to enter family records after the programme has been installed, allowing the more intricate features to be learned as you progress. It's formatted for the American NTSC system and consequently approx. 20 % of the available screen isn't utilised. The programme is designed to be user friendly and should please both those beginning to record their family history and those who may desire to import data from another programme - I haven't attempted to carry out this procedure. The only criticism I have of Origins is the installation information provided in the manual, and this requires attention. However anyone who has a minimum of two floppy drives and at least 1 MB of ram shouldn't have a problem. Genealogy is a very popular pastime and more and more people are resorting to use of computers to record the information compiled. Origins is an excellent programme for the purpose.  <> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <%> 34 <>