Phoenix CD 2.0/Phoenix_CD.cdr/01e/linkage.zip/TUTOR.TXT

Text File | 1987-08-28 | 28KB | 595 lines

A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 1
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     This tutorial is a basic walk through of the Linkages program.  We
     hope it will help guide and answer some questions you may have
     about this program.   Read carefully and practice with the
     different functions.  Try different situations and examples and
     have fun with it.  Shall we begin? This is meant as a guide while
     viewing the LINKAGES program so please install the LINKAGES program
     on you computer now if you have not already done so.  This is not
     intended as a substitute for the manual but a supplement to the
     manual.

     Upon inserting the  Linkages disk in the appropriate drive, type in
     LINKAGES (or you can boot your computer from the floppy disk that
     contains LINKAGES).  The screen will come up with the title screen
     information.  At the bottom of your screen there will be
     instructions for the next step to begin working with LINKAGES.

     UTILITIES F5 is the key for Utilities, press F5. The screen will
     give you a brief idea of what the utilities are for.

     You may begin with the F2 key, System Setup. The screen will show
     how the printer is setup at this point. If you wish to change this
     information press the F3 key and answer yes to the question that
     comes on the screen asking if you wish to change anything.
     Highlighting will travel along this screen asking if you want to
     change each area.  When you have completed the changes to your
     liking, press escape.

     You may now change the colors of your screens so they will be the
     most agreeable to you.  (Some people enjoy the variety of colors
     that can be used to make the program decorative and impressive.
     Others need the right color combination together to avoid eye
     strain after entering a large number of family members.) The color
     change is obtained by pressing F2. On the screen there are 6 screen
     areas for which you may choose to select colors.

         F2 key is for the Borders, the edging around the entire screen.

         F3 is the Folder Outline, the edging around the smaller screens
          that will come up requesting more information or giving you
          information.

         F4 is for Text Colors, the color that text is displayed in.

         F5 is the Edit field colors, this is the color in the
          background that you will be typing on.

         F6 is the Top Line prompt, the instruction or information on
          top of each full screen or smaller screen insert.














A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 2
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         F7 is Bottom Line prompt, the guide showing you what procedure
          you may want to do next and what key to press to accomplish
          it.

     When you decide what you want to change, press the appropriate F
     key.  The color chart on the screen will have an arrow on the side
     and top designating what color the item is currently. By using the
     up/down/left/right arrow keys, on your keyboard, you may move these
     arrows until you come to the color you desire. By watching your
     screen you will see the colors change so you will have a good idea
     of what it will look like.  For example:  If you want to change the
     Top Line prompt,  press the F6 key. While you are moving your
     arrows to find a different color, the top line prompt color will
     change as the arrow keys are pressed.  When you come to the color
     most pleasing to you, press return.  The program will double check
     with you about it with a question "Cancel color changes?"  If you
     don't want the color, type Yes, if you do, just press return.  The
     screen will bring up the first screen you saw when you entered the
     Utilities file.

     If you are not an experienced DOS user you may want to skip to the
     this paragraph.  What F4 does is allows you to tell LINKAGES what
     disk drive and/or directories to search when looking for a data
     file.  Please read manual for more information on this function.

     F5 will save the System Setup you may have just changed.  Be sure
     to save after changes so all your changes and alterations will not
     have been in vain.

     F2 under System Setup allows you to modify the file/card to contain
     the standard information you are interested in. PLEASE NOTE:  This
     is a one time entry. The program cannot go back and change layout
     after you begin entering card information. F2 key will set you up
     with the standard information that is already on the card.

     Linkages gives you the option of adjusting things to your liking,
     such as the way a date will read on the card.  Do you want it to
     say  "31 Jan 1987"? or "Jan 31 1987"?, it's up to you. You may
     delete "events" if you want.  Perhaps you have no need of
     Christening dates and you wish to enter Bah Mitzvah dates instead.
     Using the up/down arrow keys bring the highlighting to the C of
     Christening and Press F4, the delete key.  It's gone.  Press the F3
     key for Insert and a small screen will show highlighting in it
     where you will type Bah Mitzvah. You will then be asked how you
     will want the date to read.  Three of the events cannot be deleted,
     they are Married, Birth and Death.  The other events are all
     optional and up to you.   When deciding what events you want in
     your card layout, keep in mind that the events information will
     print out along with the persons name in the Ancestral printout.
     So if there is a category you want in the Ancestral printout, enter
     it in the events listings.












A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 3
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     F3 key  - Load a data file as a template, is the same format as the
     F2 setup.  Everytime you start a new family file you need to do a
     file/card setup.  Instead of putting in your own events special to
     your family, you may wish to use the F3 key and make a template
     that you save on file to use for all your different family files.
     This is just a way to help save a little time for card setup.

     That takes care of Utilities.  It may seem like a lot but this is
     the initial setup and unless you wish to change your color scheme,
     your done with it. Press Escape to get out of Utilities and to go
     back to the start of the Linkages.

     ENTERING THE FAMILY INFORMATION

     The bottom prompt will read; F2 - Get Card  F3 - Reports F4 - Files
     F5 - Utilities.  We have mastered Utilities so the next thing to do
     is to get started with our input.

     Since each family member will be represented by a Card, press F2 -
     Get Card. A small screen will come up that will list the different
     files you have in  Linkages.  To start, this should be empty of
     file names.  Press F2 to create a file.  Now enter a name that
     represents this family tree for example, Jones. The name is now a
     file and the highlighting should be on this name, if not just use
     the up/down arrow keys to the name and press return.  Be sure that
     your num lock key is off or you will just get beeping sounds when
     you try to move your arrow keys. A listing of F keys giving you the
     option to create new cards or retrieving existing cards is given.
     Assuming this is new, you need to create a new card.  Press F3.
     Type in family members surname.  In genealogical backgrounds, many
     times the surname of the woman was not even considered relevant.
     I put in Unknown and the married name where the middle name goes,
     and the middle name with the first name.  Of course, you can
     arrange your own method of identifying these people.

     After entering full name, type in M or F for sex. Enter birthdate.
     You may enter the birthdate any way you like. It may be entered
     various ways.  For example:  Nov. 19, 52, 11/19/52, or 19 Nov. 52,.
     Whatever your comfortable with.  The only catch with this is if a
     birthdate is the third day of the fourth month the computer will
     not know which is the month and which is the day.  If you write the
     month out, it will know and if you use the slash method, it will
     know which entry is the month based on how you setup the date field
     in Utilities.  Also, if the year is 19 something, you need only
     enter the last two digits of the year, but if it is 1899 or before,
     the entire three or four digit number of that year needs to be
     entered.  Continueing on, enter birth place.  There is enough room
     for you to enter up to 25 characters for this.

     After entering the information on this screen, the CARD will come
     up on screen.  You will be asked if the name was entered correctly.












A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 4
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     If no, you will be able to make corrections. if yes, press return
     Aka (Also Known As) is the next entry.  This can be a nickname or
     perhaps the original family name from the old country that was
     changed when they got off at Ellis island.  If you have a name to
     enter, type N and press return.  You may enter as many additional
     names as will fit on this line. Press return if the sex originally
     entered is correct or type over to correct if wrong, press return.
     Enter occupation.  This may be the persons primary occupation.  Any
     of the other jobs this person had taken on can be entered in the
     comment section below. This next part is the basic address
     information. If the person is deceased perhaps the last address
     would be important for tracking records down.  Future additions to
     LINKAGES will use this information to print mailing labels for
     living family members. If you entered a birthdate on the screen
     when creating this card, you should now see it listed with the
     other events. Using the return key and the same format for entering
     dates, fill in the information on the other events for this person.
     After you have entered the events, you will be asked "do you want
     to enter data for spouse?"  Press return if No, and type Y if yes,
     and press return. The screen will ask if a card already exists for
     the spouse, if Yes, the Search screen will come up so you may
     identify the card.  Upon identifying the card it will be entered on
     the persons card you are currently working on. If you have not
     entered any information about the spouse they will not yet have a
     card so type N and press return.  Enter name as directed. Enter
     sex. Enter birthdate.  A screen asking you to qualify the dates
     will come up.  When we go back a number of years to get our dates,
     it is difficult to be sure of the accuracy.  Perhaps we can only
     get a month and a year, so we are given the option to let the
     records state that it was about the time of the date given but we
     may never know for sure. Is the date your entering from the Julian
     calendar?  Press return if No and type Y if it is.  Enter the
     birthplace. Enter marriage date.  Enter marriage place.  Is the
     marriage still in effect? If you answer No a listing of options
     will come up.  Using the up/down arrow keys move the highlighting
     to the one that applies and press return  If divorced or deceased
     enter dates of divorce or death.  If death, then enter which spouse
     died.  You may keep entering as many spouses as you know of for
     this family member.  Then you may enter information for the
     parents.  If there is already a card for the parent, use one of the
     search keys to locate the parent and press return and it will be
     entered on the card you are working on.  If you have not entered
     information on the parent as of yet, enter that information now.
     Next you are asked if you want to enter data for a child.  Yes or
     no and is there already a card for this child?  Just like the
     parent data, if there is, search and enter it and if there is not,
     enter the information for the child. Is the relationship with the
     person on the card Biological, Adopted, Step or other? Do you want
     to show relationship with the spouse and if you do what is it.
     Enter information and you will be asked if you wish to continue on
     with entering more children.  You may enter as many children as you












A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 5
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     like. As you are filling out the card and you see an error, use
     your up arrow key to bring the highlighting to the area you would
     like to correct.  If the up arrow key goes up too far, just use the
     return key to bring the highlighting down to the desired area you
     wish to change.

     After you have finished entering all the children for this card,
     the cursor will go to the comments section.  Here you may enter any
     other information you think pertinent to this particular person.
     The amount of room you can use in the comments section is limited
     only by your computers memory.  The screen will scroll up as you
     seem to be running out of typing space but you can go on for pages
     and pages if you so wish.  PLEASE NOTE:  In the above sample, say
     you filled out one card on a person that has been married twice,
     had two biological parents, a step-father, and three children.  How
     many people do you have file cards for after completing the one
     card?  That's right!  Nine.  Press the escape key to lay down this
     card.  The display that gives you a selection of F keys to help
     locate cards will appear. Press F6 - Search by first name (this is
     my personal favorite, because there can be a lot of Johnson's and
     Smith's).  Type in the first name of someone you entered in your
     first card.  When that persons name is highligted, press return and
     the card should come up with the persons name on it, their
     birthdate and some other information depending on whether the
     person was entered as a spouse, child, or parent.  That card is
     halfway finished for you already.  That's where Linkages gets its
     name.

     Entering information in the comments section is like writing in a
     diary,  just let it flow. Enter anything and everything you want
     about this person, don't worry about typing errors or poor grammar.
     With very little effort this can all be corrected later.  You can
     also add more or even erase information later on without any
     difficulty.  Below is a list of the keys you can use while entering
     in the comments section.

     RETURN/ENTER

     For the most part, your keyboard is much like a typewriter.  You do
     not, however, have to press the return key every time you wish to
     move down a line.  The computer will do this for you.  This is
     called Word Wrap.  As you type, the computer is adjusting the lines
     of your words you type to fit in.   The only time you need to use
     the return key as you are typing is when you want to create a new
     paragraph.  This is done by pressing the return key twice so you
     have a double space between paragraphs.  Your return key is the key
     used for "Enter" and advancing to another field when entering your
     data. After you have reread some information you have entered in
     the comments section and you feel, perhaps, that you should have
     had made one paragraph into two, using your arrow keys bring the













A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 6
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     cursor to the point where a new paragraph should begin.  Press
     return twice and you have a new paragraph.  Go ahead and try this.

     BACKSPACE

     The Backspace key is for change.  When pressing the backspace key,
     the letter just to the left of the cursor will be deleted.

     DELETE

     The Delete key will delete the letter the cursor is on.

     ARROWS

     The arrows will be found on your numeric pad when the NUM Lock is
     on.  On some versions of the AT you will also find the arrows
     located in an area all to itself.  The left, right, up and down
     arrow designates which direction you wish to move your cursor.
     This enables you to move the cursor faster and more exact rather
     than pressing space bar or backspace to get where you want to go.

     INSERT

     Upon making changes to the comments, you will find that all you
     have to do is to type over the item you want to change.  Sometimes
     just an additional word might be necessary.  Of course you may
     choose to retype the whole line over again but that takes time.
     Move your cursor using the arrow keys to where you desire, then
     press "Insert".  The cursor will change from a single letter
     underline to a box shape.  Type in the word(s) you wish to add.
     When done, press "Insert" again and the cursor will go back to a
     single letter underline and your ready to continue on.  When the
     cursor is in the single letter underline position you may type over
     any previous information. To repeat, when the cursor is a block
     shape you are in INSERT mode, when the cursor is an underline you
     are  in OVERTYPE mode.

     HOME

     This key will bring you to the beginning of each line the cursor is
     in.

     END

     This key will bring you to the end of each line the cursor is in.

     CONTROL-BACKSPACE

     To erase an entire line of text move the cursor to any position on
     the line you want deleted.  Press the Ctrl (Control) key, holding
     it down, then press the backspace.  The line will be deleted. All












A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 7
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     of these keys will become second nature to you soon.  Type in a
     bunch of hodgepodge in the comments section of one of your cards
     and just try each key listed above and combinations of them.  When
     you have finished with the comments, press Escape and return to the
     title screen again.

     FILES

     Assuming that you are done entering cards for the day, you will
     need to file the cards away for safekeeping.  Press F4 - Files. A
     screen will come up briefly describing what the bottom prompts are
     for.  F2 - Save changes - To save new cards and cards that have
     been changed. F3 - Put away cards - To file away cards that were
     brought up to the screen but not changed. F4 - Delete a Card - If
     you have entered a card in error and you want to delete it, use
     this. F5 - Get new File - This will bring up a new file for a new
     family name.  (This is when you would use the file/card setup in
     Utilities again. After putting your cards away, press escape and
     your back to the title screen.

     REPORTS

     The main idea of having a family tree is so you can give a copy to
     your relatives and with there help, hopefully, expand on the theme.
     F3 is the key you should press now for the Reports part of
     LINKAGES.  Reports include several categories ranging from printing
     out hard copies of the cards as they appear on the screen with
     associated indexes to full reports including pedigree and
     descendant chart in report format. At the bottom of the Report
     screen you will be given 4 options, F2-Print Cards, F3-Print Index,
     F4-Full Reports and F5-Worksheets. F2-Print Cards enables you to
     print hard copies of cards for backup, or to distribute to family
     members for comments and corrections.  The cards are printed as
     they appear on the screen.  You may choose to print all the cards
     in the file or a block of cards between specified card numbers, F2,
     or select specific cards to be printed, F3. To print a block of
     cards press F2 and highlight the name of family file you want to
     work with.  Highlight whether you want All Cards printed or a
     Specific Range of Cards.  If you want a specific range of cards the
     screen will request what card number you want the printing to start
     at and what card number you want it to stop and it will print all
     cards in between. F3-Print Index will give you a listing of cards
     you have on file by either numeric order, alphabetically by surname
     or alphabetically by first name, whatever you choose. F4-Full
     Reports offers the Pedigree (Ancestral) charting and the Descendant
     chart.  At the bottom of the screen the prompts will be F2-Load
     Report Configuration, F3-Compose Report and F4-Print.  F2 is for
     entering the family name you want to work with.  F3 will arrange
     the report to your liking.














A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 8
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     Press F3 and compose a report. Press enter, yes, I want to compose
     a report.  Will it be a Pedigree or Descendant report?  If a
     Pedigree press Enter, Yes, I want to select an individual to show
     their pedigree.  Using the search method we have already covered,
     locate the individual you want and press Enter.  Enter the number
     of generations you want listing in your report.  Do you want
     Bloodline Only?  If you do, type yes and your report will exclude
     Step-parents and Adopted children.  If you do not want these people
     excluded just press Enter to continue with the next item.  That
     will be your page format setup.  It is up to you to decide what
     your report will look like.  What size paper is in the printer?
     How large spacing do you want the characters printed to be.  There
     are six options, decide by highlighting and press Enter. How many
     generations do you want on the page?  The last screen lists the
     maximum amount of generations on a page depending on the character
     spacing and paper size.  Type in the number you want.  How many
     lines of type in an inch of paper do you want?  6 or 8?  Do you
     want to have Cards with the report.  For every person listed you
     can have their card printed with the report.  Do you want a Heading
     for each page of the report.  If yes, at the top of the screen a
     long narrow screen will come up where you may enter your heading.
     An example would be:  The pedigree of Mary Smith.  Press Escape
     when you have finished entering header you desire.  Now that you
     have composed your report you have the option to make any
     additional changes you want to your report.  If you are satisfied
     with the setup then highlight Quit and press Enter.  Press F4-
     Print.  Do you want report to go to Printer, Text File or to Cancel
     the printing process?  You will be asked if the printer setup
     should be checked.  Make sure your printer is on and ready.  Do you
     want to start with page number 1?  This is if you have to pick up
     your report printing where you left off yesterday or something like
     that.  It helps to reduce duplicate printing.  After deciding on
     the page number, press Enter and the printing process will begin.
     When completed, press any key and you are ready to compose another
     report or press Escape to bring you to the first screen in the
     Reports section.

     F4-Worksheets are cards containing blank entries to be used as a
     "form".  A blank worksheet is a form which has no data filled in.
     When cards are being printed, you may choose to add blank worksheet
     entries to each card.  In that case, the printed cards contain all
     the information displayed on the screen as well as the blank
     entries.  These forms are very useful to hand out to family members
     to fill in for you.  They give them back and you have the
     information already on a hard copy for you to enter in the Linkages
     program.  You can adapt your worksheet card by adding spaces for
     Spouses, Parents, and Children.  This is another way to customize
     this program to your family needs. Take some time and experiment
     with the setup of your reports and see what looks good to you.
     Once you have decided on what you like composing a report takes
     only a few seconds.












A TUTORIAL FOR LINKAGES.                                           PAGE 9
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     F4-FILES

     This is where the family member cards you have been filling out are
     stored.  After creating new cards or making changes to cards
     already entered you need to press the F2 key to save them to the
     file.  If you have looked at some cards without making changes to
     them you may press the F3 key to put the cards back in the file for
     using and viewing later.  F4 will delete a card.  You cannot,
     however, delete a card that is "Linked" to another person.  If for
     some reason you want to delete someones mother, you must go to the
     card of that person and delete the relationship to the mother and
     then you can delete the mother's card.  For deleting a card press
     F4 and using the search method described before, locate the person
     you want deleted.  The screen will beep and ask if you really want
     to delete this person.  Press No and you will go back to the Files
     menu, press Yes and the card will be deleted.  Remember if you
     delete a card it's gone!  The only way you can get it back is by
     creating a new card for that person and re-entering the
     information.  F5 is Get New File.  If you have a number of family
     files in your program you may put away one file and press F5 to
     start working a another file.

     This takes care of the LINKAGES tutorial.  I hope this has been
     informative and helpful as you begin working with LINKAGES.  If you
     feel that your stuck on something reread the section of the
     tutorial covering that area and make sure to read carefully all
     prompts on the screen.  Once you get going on this everything
     should go quite smoothly for you.  The job of tracing and keeping
     track of family trees can be overwhelming but LINKAGES puts it all
     in a very comfortable and efficient way giving you more time for
     delving farther into your heritage.  We hope you will be pleased
     with LINKAGES.  Feel free to offer advice on any enhancements you
     would like to see in LINKAGES or if you have any questions please
     write to us at:   SOLID SOFTWARE,  3821 W. Broadway, Robbinsdale,
     MN. 55422