Generations - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Generations?
A: Generations is a program to build genealogy trees.  You can build a family tree having as many generations as you wish, as long as there is memory and hard-disk space on your system.

Q: What are the files required to run Generations?
A: geno.exe (350 KB). This is the only executable module you need to carry around. For instance, if you want to distribute your
genealogy tree on a floppy disk, all you need to put on the floppy is geno.exe and your genealogy tree document.

Q: What platforms Generations runs on?
A: Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT.  On most systems, you should already have libraries mfc42.dll and msvcrt.dll.  However, if you don't have those files on your system, you can download mfcdll.zip.   Since you are manually installing system libraries, I would highly recommend to put those libraries (mfc42.dll and msvcrt.dll) in the same directory as geno.exe.

Q: What are the steps to install Generations?
A: Copy (or download) the file geno.zip and save it into a folder. Decompress geno.zip to extract geno.exe, create a shortcut of geno.exe to your desktop and double-click on that shortcut. Generations does not require any setup or installation program.

Q: Can I put Generations available for download from my web site?
A: Yes. If you are interested having a download area, you are welcome to do so. If you want, you can copy the HTML pages from my web site and customize or translate them to your own taste. It is preferable you put a link to http://www.danmorin.com/generations/geno.zip so people can download the latest version of Generations. If you make a copy of geno.zip to your web site, send me your email address so I can mail you back when a new version is available.

Q: Why Generations is FREE?
A: My father needed a genealogy program. I wrote Generations during my spare time. I plan to make Generations one of the best Genealogy program available on the Internet. I have all the tools and technology available to make Generations easier to use and more flexible. I add features to Generations wherever I can, and make new releases when there is enough features to make a difference. Future releases of Generations are likely to be free because I am not interested collecting money from individuals. I prefer to buy myself some publicity, so I want Generations to be used by everyone. You can visit my father's web site at http://www.genopro.qc.ca/.

If you like generations, send a post card. The address to send the post card can be found here.

Click here for Technical FAQ.

Generations - Revision History

The rest of this page contains the revision history of Generations.  You will see many incremental changes because I have little time to add features to Generations.   I add features to Generations wherever I can, and make new releases when there is enough features to make a difference.  All version 1.x share the same file format, and thus are fully backward and forward compatible with any existing .gno documents.  Version 2.00 will contain many new features and will be able to read any genealogy tree you built using Generations version 1.x..

Generations Version 1.00

• Can build genealogy trees of unlimited number of generations.
• View the same document from different windows, each with a different zoom.
• Copy, Cut & Paste.
• Drag & Drop.
• Unlimited Undo / Redo.
• Zoom In / Zoom Out.
• JPEG Pictures (.jpg files).
• Print & Print Preview.

Generations Version 1.01

• Improved image rendering on 256 colors display.
• Support for Windows bitmaps (.bmp files).
• Support for dynamic color-depth change.

Generations Version 1.02

• Pictures for Marriages.
• Field to enter picture shot date.

Generations Version 1.03

• Toolbar button to create a family with a single mouse-click.
• Toolbar buttons to select ancestors, descendants, parents, mates, siblings and children.
• Background image.

Generations Version 1.04

• Word Wrap - Allows long names to be displayed into several lines.
• Multiple page printing - Generations can print a genealogy tree up to a maximum of 22,500 pages.
• Bookmarks - Allows the user to quickly navigate in the genealogy tree.
• Zoom Rectangle - Use the mouse to define a rectangle to zoom the window in the specified area.
• Inflate / Compress Tree - Allows a branch of the tree to be larger or smaller.
• Gridlines and mouse coordinates - Can be handy to align objects.
• Statistics Dialog - Displays statistics of selected objects.

Generations Version 1.50

• Internet Support - View and edit your genealogy tree within a browser.
• Family Wizard to easily create a family and/or add children.
• Toolbar buttons to create New Parents, New Mate, New Son and New Daughter - No need to use "Link as Parent" and "Link as Child" menu commands.
• Tip of the Day - Displays a tip about a feature of Generations.
• Data tips - Displays information when hovering the mouse.
• Picture List - Displays a list of all pictures in a genealogy tree. This can be useful to view all available pictures without having to double-click all over the genealogy tree.
• Mouse Wheel - Allows to zoom the genealogy tree using the mouse wheel.
• Age - Displays the age within the squares and circles.
• HTML Help - 1 MB of screen shots, sample files and explanations.

Generations Version 1.51

• Aliasing - Optionally marks objects as duplicates to avoid inconsistencies.
• Display full date - Optionally displays the full date of birth and death instead of year only.
• Minor improvements to the Family Wizard.
• Added context menu to picture zoom.