Shareware 1 2 the Maxx

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Shareware 1 2 the Maxx / sw_1.zip / sw_1 / GENEFILE / CHART.ZIP / CHART.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1989-08-02 | 9KB | 188 lines

CHART ----- "Shareware" fee of $5.00 Written by Ian Rutherford DONATION to GUM. Using Turbo C 2.0 February 14, 1989 Contact: Most Melbourne BBS's or G.U.M. Updated: May 1, 1989 Purpose ------- The purpose of CHART is to print an 11 generation pedigree chart for use in genealogical studies. Requirements ------------ Firstly, CHART requires an IBM PC or compatible and at least 2 diskettes (since the output file can be upto 340k). Also required is an EPSON compatible printer capable of printing in subscript mode, setting print width to condensed and line spacing to 1/216". For easy use, the ROOTS III package is desirable in order to generate the required data file, but it's format is described below and is very simple so other packages could generate the file. Use --- Type CHART and you will be asked for the data file which contains the specially formatted list of people, this entire file is then read into memory - a full 11 generations can take some time, especially if read from a floppy disk. Next enter the record number of the person whose 11 generation pedigree chart is to be printed. The chart is built in memory and you are prompted to select Disk or Printer output - I usually go for Disk so I can "spool" the print file and work on something else, the Printer option will tie up the PC. If you select Disk, then enter a valid DOS filename for the output, later type PRINT <filename> to spool to the printer. Hints: Although CHART allows you to generate one big file containing your entire ROOTS database, this can be very big, and I suppose given the limits of ROOTS would actually exceed the limits of this program. I quite easily manage about 1100 records but I think the limit is around 3000. For faster processing I turn on the GROUPING option in ROOTS and limit the datafile to only those in the tree, this makes reading in the file much faster and will benefit those without hard disks. Due to the nature of the print modes used (subscript does two passes at 1/216 spacing for each character), printing is VERY slow. At a line spacing of 1/216 inch there are 2376 lines on a page and in condensed subscript mode this adds up to SLOOOW. I thoroughly recommend the print to disk and spool option! Printer ------- Although this program has only been tested on an EPSON FX compatible printer (Brother M1509) any printer which supports subscript mode, condensed mode and allows line spacing to be set in 216ths of an inch should work. I have provided a program called SETUP which can be used to created a customized version of SETUP.PRN, a file containing sequences for the above printer functions. For the Brother, I have set it up as follows: Function No. of Codes Sequence -------- ------------ -------- RESET PRINTER 2 27 @ CONDENSED MODE 1 15 SUBSCRIPT 3 27 S 1 1/216 SPACING 3 27 51 1 10/216 SPACING 3 27 51 10 CANCEL SUBSCRIPT 2 27 T Your version of this will be based on your printer manual. If you do try to reconfigure make a COPY of SETUP.PRN first! Generating the List ------------------- Before you begin, make sure the Roots Install program has set the Disk/Null report width to 132 (wide). Start Roots III and select - Printed Reports - Individual List - tab to the Destination field and press F6 until a blank appears then enter the output filename - cursor to the following fields and select them for reporting: Record Num. Father - press enter then choose Record No. Mother - " " " " " " Name - choose Full name Birth/Chr - choose date 4, place 24 Died/Buried-choose date 4, place 6 Soundex DONE Begin Roots will produce a disk file containing the above information for all persons in your database. The grouping option can be set to eliminate unwanted records. Note: Not all of the above data is actually reproduced in the current version of CHART, however the layout of the file is critical so DO NOT leave out or change anything! There is a Public Domain program called SLASHBAR, which came out in Australian Personal Computer awhile back. It allows a popup 'Lotus' like menu and can emulate key stokes - a bit like the Keyboard Macro programs such as SUPERKEY and NEWKEY. I have created a 'script' using SLASHBAR which I popup under ROOTS to enter the keystrokes required to generate the datafile. I copy of the program and my script is on this disk - read the .DOC file for it's use. General Comments ---------------- The key to the whole printing process is the line spacing, without it the printout would be over 31 pages. If my idea of compressed is a little too much for you, or if you want to make it even smaller, then you can change the 1/216 and 10/216 codes in the Setup file. To spread things out a little more (vertically), the code for 1/216 could be replaced by 2/216. The way the printing works is that once a line containing 6 generations of more is printed the printer goes from "1/216" to "10/216" spacing - 10/216 is about the height of the subscript character. When a line with less than 6 generations prints it goes back to 1/216. Either of these codes could be replaced to alter the vertical spacing. On normal 80 column paper you may lose a little of generation 11 if you have long names and or birth places. I avoid this by printing on 132 column paper. This may seem annoying but the intention is to do a create a version which will do 15 or 16 generations on A3 so I've accepted the problem. I hope your printer is 132 columns or your names are short! In a similar vein, if you do have a 132 column printer and would like bigger print, then replace the condensed mode code with your reset condensed more sequence and the result will be full width subscript - a little easier to read. Copyrite etc. ------------- CHART is available for a nominal fee of $5.00 to be payed to Victorian GUM for the purposes of furthering genealogical computing. If you like and use CHART send them a donation. Technical Details ----------------- For those interested in how things work, here's a brief outline. For portablility, the printer sequences are kept in an external file call SETUP.PRN which can be customized by SETUP and is read in by CHART when it starts up. The datafile is read into memory and a little checking removes the blanks lines, headings and other crud which are not needed. In order to store such a potentially large amount of data (2047 records at 131 bytes = 262kb) I keep each record in a structure and declare an array of 2048 pointers, one for each record. This allocates data on the HEAP rather than the data segment which would limit you to 64kb. Once the data is in memory a fairly simple recursive function traces out all the branches from the starting record and inserts their respective record numbers into an array representing the printed page. A code for the vertical line is inserted into the positions between the parents. Printing reads through this preformed page and substitutes the names and birth details for the record number and prints them. Probably the really niftly part of the printing is that the program toggles the line spacing between 1/216 for generations 1 - 6 and 10/216 for generations 7 - 11. This has the effect of compressing the overall length and bringing the parents in the early generations closer together, whilst spacing out the later ones. Incidently, to print this chart with normal line spacing leaving one line between parents in the 11th generation, would result in 2048 lines or over 31 pages. My chart prints in just over 2 pages (I think Granny is going to make tough going of reading it though) !