IMPORTANT ^^^^^^^^^ This version of the database will not work with data created with version 1.00. This is due to the increased field lengths and other additions to the database. I apologise for this inconvenience but it could not be helped sorry. REMEMBER ONLY USE A BLANK FORMATTED DISK TO STORE DATA ON ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DOCUMENT FILE FOR FAMILY HISTORY DATABASE V1.01 17/11/1991 KNOWN BUGS ^^^^^^^^^^ The date routines have been left unchanged from version 1.00 and will therefore allow you to type in 30 days for February etc. If anyone has written a routine then can you contact me. ADDITIONS ^^^^^^^^^ The main addition is the print facilities. The others include the addition of extra children, and the lengthening of a number of the fields to cope with longer names etc. The entire program has had all the procedures removed as these may have been causing problems with strings going missing when the program is compiled. I have also removed (hopefully) some of the bugs that were sent to me. Thankyou to the people who wrote to me. Also a special thankyou to Aaron Fothergill for my endless telephone calls to the Amos Club Helpline, thanks Aaron.... USING THE DATABASE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The first time you use the system you will be asked for today's date. The format for this is DD/MM/YYYY including the slashes. Once the date has been accepted then everytime that you access the Main Menu you will not be required to enter the date. After entering the date then press a F Key to access the next menu. It is advisable to press F1 and then open/create files. OPEN/CREATE FILES ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ OPEN FILES ---------- From this menu you can open previously created files if you have selected the correct paths for the program to find them. If files have been successfully opened then 'File Flag' shown in the centre of the screen will change from CLOSED to OPEN allowing you to return to the DATABASE MENU and access the open files. The default has been set to df1:. However this can be changed to DF0: if needed. There is no need for you to specify the disk name however remember that your data must be saved onto a blank formatted disk. CREATE FILES ------------ From here you can create your own named files for the program to work on. Remember to change the file paths next time you use the system. When you create these files the program automatically writes the first record on each file with preset data items that shows you the length of each field on each record.These can be overwritten by showing each record and altering it and resaving it to the files. When creating new files remember to include a new index file, this file is used to store the current maximum records created to date for the other files. CHANGE FILE PATHS ----------------- From here you can change the paths that point to your previously created files. The files will need to be opened after this function. DATABASE MENU ------------- Return to the database menu to access your files. MAIN MENU --------- Return you to the main menu screen. DATABASE MENU ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ADD RECORD ---------- Add next NAME record to the NAM file. When a NAME record is created the system automatically creates an ADDRESS and INFO record for the NAME record. DISPLAY RECORD -------------- Display all information available for the given ID (RECORD) number. CHANGE RECORD NUMBER -------------------- Allows you alter the record number to be displayed in DISPLAY RECORD Trying to display a record number greater than the number shown at the ADD RECORD line will cause an error. A RECORD DOES NOT EXIST screen will be shown when you try to display a non existent record. SEARCH FILE ----------- From here you can search the NAM file for a given surname. The Search will show SURNAME GIVEN NAME ID# of all records matching the search criteria. The search routine only relies on the first three characters in the surname for a particular person. However all occurences of the search will be shown on the screen together with their id number. ADD RECORD ^^^^^^^^^^ When selected you will automatically be placed at the start of the input routine for that record. As yet there is no ability to jump from field to field whilst editing the record. Once you have finished editing the last field you will be asked to confirm that the data is correct before it is written to the file. If a mistake is made whilst entering data carry on and save the data because you will be able to enter the ALTER record screen where you can press return to skip valid fields until the offending field has been reached. ADD ADDRESS DATA ---------------- From here you will be shown the corresponding ADDRESS record associated with the NAME record. This screen will have been created when the Name record was added. ADD INFO DATA ------------- From here as with ADD ADDRESS DATA you will be shown the corresponding information record. DISPLAY RECORD ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ALTER RECORD ------------ Alter the shown record. Note! Press return to skip fields. SHOW FATHER ----------- This will display the NAME record of the father of the current ID#. SHOW MOTHER ----------- As SHOW FATHER but for mother. ADDRESS MENU ------------ Show corresponding ADDRESS record. INFO MENU --------- Show corresponding INFORMATION record. CHART PRINT MENU ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ From this menu you have four items that can be printed. A Blank Questionaire, A Blank Family Tree, A Filled Family Tree and a Family Report. The blank questionaire and family tree are for your research information. The Filled Family Tree ---------------------- Will produce an ancestor chart for a given record number from the information on your data disk. The data printed will be the id number, Surname, Given Name, Date Born and Date Died plus the ancestor lines ie:- +------- | 2. Tate | +-----------------------------+ | Given Name: Leslie | | Date Born : 00/00/0000 | | Date Died : 00/00/0000 +------- | 1. Tate | --------------------------+ Given Name: Michael | Date Born : 06/09/1955 | Date Died : 00/00/0000 | +------- | | |3. Tate | +-----------------------------+ Given Name: Rosemary | Date Born : 00/00/0000 | Date Died : 00/00/0000 +------- When you first use this menu you will be asked for record number you want to print. This will only show fifteen records. To go further back then re-enter the routine after printing the first chart and then enter the record number of the ancestor you wish to start another chart from. I have done it this way to save on memory and needless printing of information. This way you can print out a particular ancestor line rather than printing out the mothers ancestors or vice versa at the same time. If the routine comes across a record that is not already created the information will be shown as "000" etc, this will indicate where a line has ceased or no records exist yet. This particular chart uses virtually all the length and width of 11 x 8.5 printer paper therefore ensure that your printer head is positioned before printing the chart. The print routine has been directed to the parallel port and uses the generic printer driver on the program disk. If anyone has problems with printing then first try putting your own printer driver on the program disk and make sure the preferences are set to this driver. If that fails then don't hesitate to contact me. Family Report ------------- Again as with th family tree this will print information stored on the data disk concerning a given record number. The information given is :- Name,Surname,Date born/died and where. Parent given names and id numbers. Spouse name and id number, date married/divorced and name and id of spouse 2 if available. Address as shown on the address screen and the name of all children together with their parents id's, date born and their id's. Also printed at the end of this report are the comments that were entered on the Name and Address screens. These are useful to store information that is not covered by their own input fields. This report uses approximately half of the printer paper page. ENDING ^^^^^^ I would appreciate it if anybody finds this program useful then drop me a line. If you have any problems with the program again let me know the nature of the problem and what you were doing when it occurred and I will try and remedy it. However bear in mind that I am not a programmer just a hobbyist on the Amiga. Please remember that if you require a reply please enclose return postage. I have included my telephone number however I work long shifts and alternate weekends and not in until 8.45pm on the days I am at work. People have written to me saying that occassionally the program hangs up. At present I am uncertain as to what causes this to happen, if I receive descriptions of what happened and you were doing/or attempting to do at the time would greatly increase my chances of tracking down the problem. I must admit that I have not had this happen to me but that could be because I know what the program is doing unlike another user who may be trying to do something the program does not like. So any bug reports will be gratefully received. Ideas/Bugs to - Michael A Tate 22 Welland Avenue Gartree Market Harborough Leics LE16 7RW Tel 0858 466068 (9pm - 12pm most evenings) THE FUTURE ^^^^^^^^^^ As a result of releasing version 1.00 of this database I have been approached by a full time genealogist to produce a more professional version of the database which includes mouse facilities and pull down menus, on screen buttons and better quality screen output together with full technical details involved with researching your family tree. At the moment this project is approximately a third complete, hence the delay in releasing this version of FHSystem. I will if time permits work on producing better versions of this system for release through Sandra and APDL. PS Support your Amos PD Library contact Sandra Sharkey AMOS PUBLIC DOMAIN LIBRARY 25 PARK ROAD WIGAN WN6 7AA Thankyou....... PPS There will not be a manual produced for this database as I feel that the program is easy enough for even the novice to use and my resources do extend to producing a separate manual, however if you are having problems drop me a line.