ADD & AMEND ------------- This will be the main screen where you enter any information that you have for your family tree. The screen is split into two areas, one where the data is entered, and one for the control panel. The current record number and the total number of records in the database are in the bottom left of the control panel. Data organisation and movement ------------------------------- The database is organised as a series of records. Each record represents one person and stores all their details. To enter a new person into the database you need to go to a blank record. A blank record is shown by all the input boxes being blank and the `Editing record` number being one more than the `Number of records` number. Although this may seem rather strange, a virtual (i.e. not really there) record is always available and is located at the end of all the real records. The virtual record moves along at the end as the database grows. Example. +---+---+---+---+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | V | (Where V is virtual record) +---+---+---+---+ A record is added (by entering data at position 4 where the V is) +---+---+---+---+---+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | V | V moves along as a record is added +---+---+---+---+---+ To move through the records you can use the arrow buttons to move to the previous record (left) or to the next record (right). If you try to move past the start or the virtual record then you will be wrapped round to the opposite end. Alternatively you can use either the START, END, or NEW buttons to go the the first record (START), the last record (END), or to take you to the new record (the virtual one where new people are added). If you want to move directly to a specific person then pressing on either the SELECT REC or GOTO REC button will allow you to do this. The select rec button allows you to choose the person by name (see CHOOSING PEOPLE) and the goto rec lets you choose the person by record number. Data entry ----------- Data is entered into the boxes starting from the top left and going down the screen. To enter data position the mouse over a field, press the left button and enter the data. You can move from field to field by using the cursor keys, pressing return, or pointing with the mouse and clicking. It is not necessary to enter something in all the fields, neither is it necessary to have to 'move' through all the fields - i.e you can enter the surname, then press the left button over the occupation field, and skip all the fields inbetween. Most of the fields accept characters or numbers in upper or lower case except for the surname and date fields. The surname field will change all characters entered into upper case. See ENTERING DATES for more details on how to enter dates. Gender is entered by clicking on either the male or female button. As of version 1.2 the gender MUST be selected prior to saving a record - this reduces the amount of problems that could be encountered later due to people being the wrong gender. If try and save a person without choosing their gender, you will be prompted to choose the gender. Validation ----------- At the top right of the screen is a small scroll box labelled validation This is used to indicate whether each of the fields is correct, and that you have (or have seen) more than one piece of evidence to prove it. To validate a field just move the mouse over the name of the field and click the left button. This will toggle the name from normal to highlighted or vice versa. When a field is highlighted then this indicates that it is validated. Because all the field names will not fit into the scroll box, it is possible to scroll through them using either the arrows or the scroll bar. Saving the record ------------------ Once you have entered all the details for a person you will need to save them. This can be done in many ways, the most obvious being pressing the save record button. This will save the record and move onto the next. Alternatively you can press on any of the other buttons (apart from exit), if you have changed the current record then it will either be saved for you or you will be asked if you want to save it. For example, you could enter in a person`s details, then add a father which would save the person`s details and then allow you to choose/enter the father. Adding parents and spouses --------------------------- To add a father, mother, or spouse, to the currently displayed record you must press on the appropriate button. When you have pressed on one of the add buttons you will asked whether you want to create or a choose a person for the parent/spouse. Selecting `create` will create a new record and allow you to enter details for the parent/spouse. Selecting `choose` allows you to choose the parent/spouse from a list of everybody in the database. To prevent choosing the wrong gender of person, only people of the correct gender for the chosen option will be shown (e.g. when adding a father, only males will be shown). See choosing people. When you have created or chosen the parent then you will be returned to the person for whom you have added the parent. If a parent has been added successfully then the appropriate button will be also be disabled (indented) so that you cannot choose it again (you can only have one father!). If you have added a spouse you will first be taken to the marriage details screen and then returned to the source person (see marriages). Each child of a family needs to be individually linked to their parents. This will mean that for each person you will have to add both a mother and father if you have their details. When adding a spouse, it is only necessary to link the spouse one way - that is, once you have added a spouse to a person there is no need to go to the spouse`s record and link them to the other person. Miscellaneous -------------- Each record in the database can have an IFF picture and an ASCII memo file attached to it. Any pictures need to be in the `pictures` drawer on the device called `Genie:`. Likewise, the memos need to be in the `memos` drawer. If you wish to keep the pictures or memos elsewhere on your disk (such as another drawer if you have a hard drive) then you will have to assign them before you start the program. E.g. To assign the pictures to the `Work:Pics/` drawer type the following at a CLI prompt: Assign Genie:pictures/ Work:Pics/ The same would apply for the memos drawer but you would need to replace the pictures with memos. When you have the drawers correctly set up pictures and memos can be stored in them. Any pictures will have to be prepared using another program and must be renamed to the record number of the person who the picture is for (marriage pictures are different - see marriages). E.g. You have a picture of ALBERT SMITH - record #146. Store the picture in the pictures drawer and rename the picture to 146 You can only view a picture when the text just below the input boxes says `Picture Yes` (i.e. a picture is there). Press on the picture button to view the picture. When you have finished viewing, press the right mouse button to continue. Memos, unlike pictures, can be created from within the program. If you press on the memo button you will be taken to a simple text editing screen where you enter the memo. If a memo is already present (indicated by the text `memo Yes` just under the input boxes) then this will be loaded so that you can change it. Entering the memo consists of pressing the mouse somewhere within the big input box and typing as normal. When finished you can save or print the memo. RESTRICTION: The memo editor in the program has a restriction of being limited to a screen of text. If you try to load a file that is longer than a screen of text then any extra will be chopped off when you save it again. This will be improved in the next version of Genie. If you do want to store more than one screen of text, or you want to use your own text editor/word processor then you will have to name the memo file to the record number of the person that it's for and place it in the memo drawer (see pictures above for more details). Any ASCII text file will be accepted but remember that the file will be chopped if it is longer than a screen and you try to save it - use the memo button to just view the file then exit when finished. Print ------ This will print out the details of the current person to the printer. Make sure that the printer has paper and is on-line. Links ------ This will open a small window displaying all the relations for the current person - these include the mother, father, all the children, and all the spouses. From here, it is possible to view the relations, and unlink relations. Macros ------- This will allow you to change/view/save the macros currently defined for the system. A macro is a keyboard shortcut that will insert a word or sentence whenever a single key is pressed. Exit ----- This will exit the add & amend screen and take you back to the main screen. If your person or child index is stored in RAM (or similar) then the contents will be dumped to disk to prevent them being destroyed when the computer is turned off.