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README
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1989-12-20
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GRAFTREE.A01
Copyright Bill Beinert, 1989. Compuserve 76407,132.
FILES INCLUDED
README - This file.
GTIBMA01.EXE - The version for IBM compatible printers.
GTLQA01.EXE - The version for Epson LQ series printers.
SAMPLE.DOC - a sample input file
GRAFTREE produces a graphic family tree in a descendant format sideways
on Epson LQ and IBM compatible printers. Each descendant is enclosed in a
box, with his or her birth and death dates, and first 2 spouses or dates
for a sole spouse.
GRAFTREE takes as its input the Descendant Chart produced by The Family
Edge, which must be written to disk prior to running GT. It is
essential that the report be prepared in the format GT is prepared to
accept, otherwise unpredictable results can occur. The toggles for
producing the correct report format are listed below. With Carl York's
permission, a sample report is enclosed. The file name is SAMPLE.DOC.
GRAFTREE is supported in 2 versions:
GTIBMA01.EXE supports IBM and compatible dot matrix printers. It should
work on any printer that accepts IBM graphics commands, either 9 or 24
pin. If you have a 24 pin printer, try GTLQA01.EXE, which should work on
any Epson LQ series 24 pin dot matrix printer or any printer that can
emulate one. The LQ version is very much faster than the IBM version.
Both produce Near Letter Quality output.
A note on pin spacing: 9 pin printers support a line feed of 1/216 inch.
Epson LQ printers 1/180 inch. This means that the IBM version will
print OK on the Epson LQ but the logical page will be longer,
resulting in boxes being printed over the perforations.
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Use The Family Edge to create a descendant chart of a chosen
individual. Use the following toggles:
^C - COMPUTER ID numbers WILL be carried to the printed forms.
This is important even though they don't show up in the output.
^D - Avoid date formats that use - (dash). Any of the others should
be OK.
^G - Choose 7 or less. If you choose more, GT will ignore anyone
past the 7th generation. You will get faster results if you
choose 7 or less.
^O - Order of names is LAST NAME FIRST. GT will print them first
names first.
^P - Printer output is going to the document file "ddmmmyy.DOC".
This is absolutely essential. The PRN format contains printer
control codes that will confuse GT.
The other toggles aren't relevant to GT.
2) Exit The Family Edge. You should only have 1 report in the
ddmmmyy.DOC file. TFE will place as many as you like in there.
GT can only handle one at a time. You can't execute GT by shelling
to DOS within TFE.
3) Execute GT by typing GTIBMA01 or GTLQA01, which must be in the current
directory or in your PATH.
4) GT will remind you to make your printer ready and prompt your for
the filespec of the "ddmmmyy.DOC" file created in step 1. You
only need to type as much of the filespec as you need to access
the file from your current directory. If it's in the current
directory, just the filename.ext will do. GT will read the input
file and count down in 1/6 of a page units.
5) You can stop printing by pressing any key. GT will ask you for
confirmation before aborting.
LIMITATIONS
1) Special characters in the input file. Due to the difficulties of
parsing each line and separating out the various fields, certain
characters are interpreted by GT as separators between the fields.
These characters are ),#|-( The presence of any of these characters
in names or dates will result in strange output. This will cause
problems with hyphenated names, nicknames enclosed in parentheses,
date formats with dashes and other such.
I am considering several solutions for this. One is to offer
alternative character mapping. A user with an ASCII text editor
could change the hyphens in his hyphenated names to backslashes, which
GT would print as dashes. Another alternative is to allow for a
'neutral file' input, which would use only a special character as a
field delimiter. A user or geneology data base system could then
maintain the file and fully control what is printed on each line of
the box.
2) Number of people. This version allows for 300 people (Descendants
+ Spouses) in 7 generations The output can be up to 50 pages long.
3) Name lengths. Up to 15 characters is allowed for surnames. Up to
40 for given names. Given names will be truncated if necessary.
A total of 27 characters will be printed.
IN CASE OF PROBLEMS
If your printer does strange things like move to the right margin
and just stay there, check your printer manual to see if it supports
double density graphics. GT uses the following graphic commands.
If your printer does not respond as expected to these commands,
GT will not work.
ESC @ resets printer to default settings.
ESC 2 sets line spacing to 1/6 in.
ESC 3 n sets line spacing to n/180 or n/216.
ESC L n m sets printer to double density graphics mode
with 256*m + n columns of data to follow.
If GT doesn't finish printing, or prints people in strange places,
it's probably due to unexpected lines of data in the Descendant
chart. GT identifies header and footer lines by looking for
"FAMILY EDGE" or "====" in them. GT would try to treat a line of
asterisks as a person, and would go haywire. Examine the format of
the SAMPLE.DOC file carefully, and compare it to your own.
THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE
GT could easily be modified to handle 11 generations on a wide
carriage printer. Is there any demand for this?
Suggestions and comments are welcome. Address them to me at
Compuserve 76407,132.
The Family Edge is copyright Carl York
150 E.30th Street
New York, NY 10016
Apt 2E