	This is the LINKAGES help file.
	It may be edited using a normal
	text editor with margins of 1 to 50.
.main

This is the most general decision to be made.  The
choices involve selecting a primary task.  This
task may be one of filling out or correcting data
on a group sheet, generating reports, or doing
something else, such as setting up the system.

The data entry task is always started by 'getting'
a card.  This is true whether creating a new
(empty) card or finishing / modifying an existing
card.  Don't worry about messing things up too
bad, the choices are pretty obvious, and you can
always back out if things get too scary.  For now,
it is not necessary to have selected a file.  When
LINKAGES needs information from a file, it will
take care of finding which one to look in.

The labels at the top and bottom of the screen
indicate available choices.


If you need more help contact:	 Solid Software
				 3821 W. Broadway
				 Mpls. MN   55422.
				 (612)535-8854
.reports

Reports are used to extract and print portions of
your data, either to a printer or a data file for
later reference.  You may be doing this for any of
several reasons:

    You may want to have a hard copy backup of the
    work you've done to review and proof read, or
    simply because you've learned to NEVER TRUST A
    COMPUTER.  In this case you will want to print
    a block of cards, either all cards, or only
    the ones for the most recent session.  Choose
    PRINT CARDS, then select which ones and PRINT.
    You will also want an index to find specific
    cards in the stack.  Choose PRINT INDEX for
    these.

    You may want to get some cards started and
    send copies to relatives so they can fill in
    missing information.  In this case you may
    choose to print a chart of "Uncle Bill" and
    all his descendants, then attach all the cards
    shown in the chart.  You will want to select
    the "Add blanks" option so Bill has a place to
    add information for parents, spouses, and
    children that you didn't know about.  This can
    all be done using the FULL REPORTS selection
    with the attach cards option.

    When you send your stuff to uncle Bill, you
    will want to attach some blank worksheets for
    him to fill out for people you didn't know
    about.  Select WORKSHEETS for this.

    You may want to print a family history book.
    (That is why most of us are here in the first
    place.)  This is done using the FULL reports
    selection.
.compose reports

A report is composed of one or more charts with
supporting cards optionally attached.  The report
composition menu has provisions to select:

    The base individual for the chart
    Number of generations to be included
    Printer characters per inch and lines per inch
    Number of generations to print on each page
    Whether cards should be attached
    Specify a page header.

If a page header is specified, you will enter the
header text using the LINKAGES text editor in a
window 2 lines high.  Format commands may be
embedded in the format text string:

    @date@	Put the date here
    @file@	Put the file name here
    @name@	Put the individual's name here
    @p@ 	Number the pages in this position
.utilities

SYSTEM SETUP allows you to configure LINKAGES to
run on your computer.  The components which may be
configured are:

  Colors - The colors used for text display,
  borders, edit fields, etc.  This is useful for
  any display, not limited to color monitors,
  however, the normal settings are usually ideal
  for monochrome displays.

  Printer - Select the type and "Normal"
  (these are used with PrtSc) settings
  for character spacing, line spacing, paper size,
  and other important printer parameters.

  Where are the files - Allows you to tell the
  program where to look for its data files.  Like,
  for example, data files on drive A: and index
  files on drive B:

  Save system setup - Writes the system conf-
  iguration parameters to a file on the disk so
  the program can find them when it starts next
  time.

FILE/CARD SETUP sets up several optional
components of the "Card".  These components are
part of the card and can not be changed once a
card has been created, so this setup must be done
before or as part of creating a file.  An option
also allows the components to be extracted from an
already existing file.
.files

Save Changes - results in any New or Changed cards
on the desktop being written to the file and their
status being changed to Saved.

Put Away Cards - is used to clean up the desktop
when too many cards are there to be useful.

Delete Card - If a card has been entered by
mistake, (like a duplicate), it may be deleted
using this feature.
.edit card

You are now editing a card.  The things you will
normally see are the highlighted marker along the
right edge of the screen asking if a specific
entry is OK, a small highlighted section of text,
or a window asking a specific question.

In any event, if a specific question is not being
asked, you will usually be asked to type in some
sort of information.

Several keys are used in moving around the screen:
    The RETURN (or ENTER) key finishes an answer
	and moves to the next editable field.
    The DOWN ARROW key finishes an answer and
	moves to the first field on the next line.
    The UP ARROW key finishes an answer and moves
	to the next field to the left (if any) or
	to the field at the beginning of the
	previous line.
    If a Yes/No answer is requested, an UP ARROW
	or DOWN ARROW may also be used to ignore
	the question.
    The TAB key usually has the same effect as
	RETURN.
    The shifted TAB (BACKTAB) key usually has the
	same effect as UP ARROW.
.add member

In editing a card, you have just passed the last
one of a given linked member (parent, child,
spouse).  You are now being asked if there are any
more to be linked.  If you have chosen to add
another member, you must decide which individual
to add.  If you are certain that a card does not
exist for an individual, you can immediately jump
create one.  If you are not sure, say that one
does exist.  Later, if a card is not found, the
option to create a new one still exists.
.cross link

A linkage has just been made to a spouse or child.
The program is checking each child of each spouse,
and if not already linked, allowing you to quickly
establish any reasonable relationships without
having to 'get' each of the cards involved.

The cards which are created or modified in the
process are brought on to the desk top for future
reference and marked as new or changed.
.select from list
A list of names is being displayed, with status
information.  The name now highlighted may be
selected by pressing return.

If you want to search again or using a different
type of search, ESC will give you another chance,
remembering the name that was highlighted and
taking you back to the selection menu.
.select multiples from list

A list of names is being displayed, with status
information.

If you want to search again or using a different
type of search, ESC will give you another chance,
remembering the name that was highlighted and
taking you back to the selection menu.

You may mark a selection for printing by pressing
the right arrow key (the mark will be visible), or
remove the mark with the left arrow key.  You may
wish to select based on ancestors or descendants.
This is done by finding a name or card number,
then using one of the other searches to actually
mark the card.
.configure screen

The display colors (attributes) listed on the
screen may be altered by pressing the proper
function key selection.  This will bring up a
screen showing the allowable choices of
foreground / background colors.

Colors are selected by choosing what you wish to
select an attribute for (for example, folder
outline), then using the arrow keys to choose a
color from the displayed matrix.  The colors are
displayed as they are selected.

When exiting this section, the following choices
are available:

    RETURN - pressing the return key will keep
	      the attributes as they are now
	      displayed on the screen.

    ESCAPE - pressing escape will cancel any
	     changes, leaving the attributes as
	     they were before entering this
	     section.

If F8 is pressed, the changes are made permanent.
The program will use the new attributes next time
it is executed.
.Select Files

LINKAGES is looking for a file of a specific type.
It has gone out and checked to see what is
available.  The choices, if any are displayed on
the screen.

If no choices are shown, you may choose to place a
different disk in the drive, press RETURN, and see
what files, if any, are available on that disk.

If the file you are looking for is shown, simply
press return, otherwise you may enter a different
DOS Pathname, such as A: (':' is required), or
c:\LINKAGE).  See your DOS manual if you really
want to know about this stuff, but the fact is
that if you don't already know about path names,
you will do just fine thinking of them as drive
letters.

In the case of Linkage Data Files, you also have
the option of creating a new file.

.search menu

The function key choices are somewhat obvious.	It
should be noted that the search based on ancestors
or descendants cannot be done unless a name
appears in the window.	It just won't let you do
it.

The best way to search for ancestors or
descendants is to search by name, or whatever,
then press ESC to search some more.  The selected
name will appear and the ancestor / descendant
search may proceed.
.select from tree

A pedigree chart is displayed for an individual.
The root individual is indicated in the top left
of the screen.	Arrow keys may be used to move the
selection bar around the screen.  For any pedigree
which continues beyond the limits of the screen, a
right arrow appears at the right edge of the
screen.

If the right arrow key is used to move 'off the
screen', a new pedigree chart will be displayed
using the last highlighted member as the root.

If the left arrow key is used to move 'off the
screen', a descendant chart will be displayed for
the last name on the screen.

Any individual may be selected as the new root,
and their pedigree charts displayed using the F7
and F8 keys.
.select desc

A descendant chart is being displayed for four
generations of the member at the top of the
screen.

If the chart is incomplete for any of the direct
descendants, the number of children is displayed
to the left of his name.

Any name displayed may be selected by pressing
return or additional ancestors or descendants may
be displayed by using the F7 and F8 keys.
.file setup

This feature allows renaming adding, or deleting
fixed line entries on the data card (such as
christening date).  The initial settings may be
those which are part of the system by default, or
may be loaded from another data file.

The settings are displayed, and function keys
allow adding or deleting.  When one is selected,
it may be changed by pressing return, changing the
text, and entering it with another return.

THIS IS ONLY VALID FOR A FILE WHICH DOES NOT YET
CONTAIN ANY CARDS .
