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1988-07-17
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It's All Relative (tm)
A Truly "Relational" Database for the Atari ST
(c)May 1988 Greg Kopchak
2233 Keeven Lane
Florissant, MO 63031
1-314-831-9482
VERSION 1.0 MANUAL
I. Introduction
II. Quick Start for those who hate manuals
III. Setting up your work disk
IV. Loading the program the first time
V. Adding a person to the database
VI. Adding a second or third marriage for a person
VII. Adding a memory resident note
VIII. Editing an individual's record
IX. Printer controls
X. Data output to the monitor screen
XI. Data output to your printer
XII. Using the quick search features
XIII. File commands
XIV. Using the extended notes feature for unlimited notes
XV. Organizing your records for data entry
XVI. Tips on data entry and keeping records
XVII. Running from a hard disk
XVIII.Error handling
IXX. The Utilities program REL_UTIL.PRG
XX. New features planned and support information
I. INTRODUCTION
"It's all Relative" is a descendants based genealogical program
written with the ST in mind from the ground up. Track your
family's line from its earliest know member to the present and
compute relationships with a user friendly Gem based program.
A descendants based genealogy program tracks the progenitor
(the earliest known member) of a family line and all of their
direct descendants. In a descendants based program all persons
with a primary ID number are direct descendants of the progenitor.
This differs from an ancestors based program where both direct
descendants and relations by marriage may have a primary number.
In an ancestors based program all persons with a primary record
number may or may not be directly related to all other members
with a primary number. Some may be related by marriage only.
Minimum System Requirements:
Atari 520 ST
SF-354 or equivalent disk drive
Monitor (color or monochrome)
Printer
II. QUICK START
For those who don't like to wade through a lengthy manual, this
section will get you up and running. I would suggest reading the
entire manual before you begin to create a large database.
1. Loading the program
Your "It's All Relative" can be booted from any drive or folder
within a drive. The data file it creates will be created on the
drive and directory selected when the program was booted.
Click on create new data file. A Gem selector box will appear. If
you want the data files to be created in the root directory of the
drive you loaded the program from, press return. Four files will
be created and the program will run.
You can have your extended notes written and read to either the
drive and folder you selected or to the root directory of drive
A. Click on yes or no for your selection.
Go to the EDIT menu and select CHANGE. Edit the record for ID #1
to be the progenitor of your family line (Your oldest known
ancestor). Fill in the known information on the individual and
their spouse.
From the EDIT menu, ADD all of their children. ADD all the
children of their children. Repeat until all family members are in
the database. Children should be entered only after the parent is
entered and marriage file created for the parent.
Before quitting "It's All Relative" go to the FILE menu and SAVE
your work. Your file will be saved to the drive you loaded the
program from and will automatically load the next time the program
is run.
III. SETTING UP YOUR WORK DISK
"It's All Relative" is not copy protected. Make a copy of your
original disk (see your computer manual). Store the original and
work with the copy. Format a blank disk for each family line you
are working with. You will use these disks to store your data.
You may either make a copy of RELATIVE.PRG on each work disk by
using the Gem file copy function (see your computer manual) or
load the program each time from the program work disk you created.
If you keep a copy of RELATIVE.PRG on each work disk, you will
have room to store about 700 records on a single-sided double-
density disk. If you don't keep a copy of RELATIVE.PRG on the
disk, you will have room for about 900 records on each single-
sided double density disk.
IV. LOADING THE PROGRAM
"It's All Relative" can be loaded from any drive or folder on the
disk in the drive. All data files will be created and saved into
the disk and folder that you selected when the program was loaded.
To start the program highlight and double-click on RELATIVE.PRG.
The first time you run the program, you will be asked if you wish
to create a new set of data files. Click on YES.
A Gem selector box will appear on your screen. Select the Drive
and folder to create the data files in and type in NAMES.IAR as
the filename in the box. To put the data on the disk you loaded
the program from, simply hit return when the file selector box
appears.
You can either have your extended notes files written and read
from the drive and folder you selected for data or have them
written and read from the root directory of your A drive. If you
answer NO at the prompt, all extended notes will be written to
your selected drive and folder. If you answer YES all extended
notes will be written to your A drive's root directory.
If you are using a floppy disk, I would suggest not creating the
files inside a folder on the disk. Trying to save to a floppy disk
that doesn't have the same folder on it will result in a folder
not found error.
Four files will be created on the drive and folder you selected:
FAMILY.IAR
MARRIAGE.IAR
WHERE.IAR
NOTES.IAR
All four of these files must be present everytime your program is
run after the first time or your data may be damaged.
The first thing to do after creating and loading a new set of data
files is to CHANGE the data for ID #1. Select CHANGE from the EDIT
menu and type 1 at the prompt for Id number. Edit the data in this
file to make ID #1 the oldest known member of your family line.
Fill in as much information as you know about him/her and their
spouse. The parent of ID #1 should remain ID #0 for now.
Read the sections on adding and changing information for more
details.
V. ADDING A PERSON
Select ADD from the EDIT menu. To ADD a person, you must know the
ID number of his parent and a marriage file must have been created
for that parent.
The arrow keys will move you up or down in the entry box. The
escape key will erase all data from the line of the record you are
working on. Pressing return will move you down a line in the entry
box. HITTING RETURN ON THE LAST LINE OF THE BOX will take you to
the review/add/abort screen where your data can be reviewed one
last time before being entered into the database. Click on Ok,
edit or abort. The default of this box is Ok. Hitting return will
add the record to the database.
You can also move around within the entry box with the mouse. Move
the arrow to where you want to be and click the left mouse button.
Fill in as much information as you know on the individual you are
adding. If you plan on adding a child for this individual, you
must enter y or Y in the married box. This automatically creates a
marriage/child file for the individual. If an individual is an
unwed parent, still put a y or Y in the married box. The spouse
name can be left blank or the notation Unwed can be entered as the
spouse name.
Use ?? or __ for missing date information or leave it blank. If
the date of death field is blank, the program assumes that the
individual is living.
Use the full maiden name for females.
You can't add a child to a individuals record unless a marriage
record has already been entered for the individual. In a
descendants based database, all of the individuals are related. An
individual can't be entered into the database unless they are a
relative of the first person entered in the database, the
progenitor of your family line.
The last entry in the add box is Special ID number. This can be
used to tie this record to either a numbering system you are
already using or some other records you have kept. Its use is
optional.
After adding a record, hitting return again at the onscreen prompt
will take you back to ADD record again. Pointing to NO with the
mouse arrow and clicking the left mouse button will take you back
to the main menu.
See the Utilities disk section for information on formats for
entering names and titles so they may be alphabetized correctly by
this utility.
VI. ADDING A SECOND OR THIRD MARRIAGE
To add a second or third marriage for an individual, click on
MARRIAGE from the EDIT menu. Enter the ID number of the person you
are adding the marriage for. Fill in the data on the spouse of the
individual and press return from the bottom line. All edit
commands in this box work the same as in the ADD person box.
Since this is a descendants based program, children are tied to
the individual rather than the spouse of that individual. You must
have created a first marriage before adding a second or third
marriage.
VII. ADDING A NOTE
A two line note can be tacked onto any record. Select NOTE from
the EDIT menu. Enter the Id number of the person to tack the note
to. Enter your note. Hitting return on the second line of the note
will take you to the confirm/abort option. You can move up or down
in the notes using either the arrow keys or mouse.
If the person already had a memory resident note tacked to his
record, the new note will replace the old one. Only one memory
resident note per person is allowed.
Rather than using the memory resident notes function, you may want
to use the extended notes feature of the "It's All Relative"
program. See the section on extended notes. There is no limit on
the extended notes function.
VIII. EDITING DATA
1. EDITING INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Select CHANGE from the EDIT menu. Enter the number of the person
you wish to add or change the data for. The commands and cursor
movements in the edit box work the same as they do in the ADD box.
Change the information, go to the review box and either confirm
the change or abort the procedure.
WARNING: Changing marriage from Y or y will delete the marriage
record for the individual being edited. All child information for
this individual will also be deleted. Try to avoid deleting a
first marriage if possible and edit instead. If a first marriage
with children is deleted for some reason, you must re-enter the
children after re-entering the marriage.
2. EDITING MARRIAGES
Select MARRIAGE from the EDIT menu. You can then add change or
delete information on the second and third marriages of an
individual. Follow the prompts. Information on first marriages is
changed from the CHANGE function on the EDIT menu.
3. EDITING CHILD
You can add, delete or rearrange the children of an individual.
Select CHILD from the EDIT menu. You will be prompted for the
record number of the individual to change. Enter the number. A
list of their current children will appear on the screen. Enter
the new or corrected children of the individual. As you enter the
Id number of each child, their name will appear on the screen.
Enter 0 to end the edit process. You will be allowed to either
confirm the changes or redo or abort the process.
Children may be entered in any order. When doing printouts and
reports, the oldest child should be first and the youngest last.
If you entered children in the wrong order or didn't know their
birth dates when their name was entered you can use this screen to
make corrections.
4. EDITING LEVEL
Each person in the database was assigned a level when they were
first entered into the database. If you entered your grandfather
as the first record and later found information on your great
grandfather the level of the entire database must be changed to
make room for him.
From the DISPLAY menu select ANALYSIS. You will be shown a report
of the status of the database in memory. Click either the left or
right mouse button or hit a key. A level adjustment box will
appear on your screen. Move ALL levels UP. You can now enter a new
progenitor (first person) for your family line. Enter 0 as his/her
parent and enter the data as usual making sure that a marriage
file is created.
Select CHILD from the EDIT menu and add the individuals children
to the marriage record. Select CHANGE from the EDIT menu and make
the corresponding change in the parent number of the children to
reflect the newfound parent.
If you make a mistake with the UP level function, you can also
move the level of the entire database down again by choosing down
from the level adjustment box.
If you have entered a wrong parent for an individual, make the
corrections in the Individual's record and the CHILD correction in
the parent file of the wrong parent and the correct parent.
Check the level of the individual. It should be one generation
higher than his parent. If it isn't you can change the individuals
level from the ANALYSIS option of the DISPLAY menu. You may also
need to correct the level of the children of the individual that
had the wrong parent and the children of their children till the
end of the chain.
Use some thought before attempting a level change through many
generations on part of the database. It is very easy to get
tangled up in levels. Not making parent errors when adding
individuals is good way to start.
IX. PRINTER CONTROLS
The program uses the Epson command codes for printer control.
Future versions of the program will support a print driver
construction set to make drivers for any printer.
1. NLQ
Selecting NLQ from the PRINTER menu will put your printer into its
near letter quality mode. A check mark will appear in the menu. If
your printer is turned off after selecting NLQ, it will need to be
set again by selecting NLQ after restoring power.
2. FF
Selecting FF from the PRINTER menu will form feed your printer to
the top of the page.
3. CONDENSED
Selecting CONDENSED from the PRINTER menu will put you printer in
condensed print mode. A check mark will appear on the menu here
also. If your printer is turned off after selecting CONDENSED it
will need to be set again by selecting CONDENSED.
4. CLEAR
Selecting CLEAR from the PRINTER menu will clear all previous
settings and return your printer to its startup default mode. This
is the same as turning off your printer and turning it back on
again.
5. PRINT TO DISK
Selecting PRINT TO DISK from the PRINTER menu will send the output
of your very next print option to a disk file. You will be taken
to a selector box and allowed to chose the drive and filename to
print to. To cancel the option click on cancel from the selector
box. Your output will be re-directed back to the printer.
After one printout, the print output defaults back to printer. You
must select PRINT TO DISK before each print option you wish to
send to disk.
The output is in ASCII format and can be imported to the word
processing or desktop publishing program of your choice for final
adjustments and professional quality output.
WARNING: The filename you selected, if it already exists, will be
erased and a new file written in its place. Selecting the PRINT TO
DISK option and then doing a LONG FORM descendants chart of a
large database can result in a large output printfile. Make sure
the disk you use has enough room for the output you are sending.
The print to disk option can be directed to any disk or folder in
your system. All data files with the exception to PRINT TO DISK
files are written to the same drive and folder you selected when
the program was loaded. This is the only exception.
X. DATA OUTPUT TO SCREEN
1. RECORD
Selecting RECORD from the DISPLAY function will display that
record on the monitor screen. You will get all information on the
individual plus any note tacked to his/her record. If all the
record can't fit on the screen, hitting any key or clicking either
mouse button will scroll additional information onto the screen.
Hit a key or click either mouse button to return to the main menu.
2. ANALYSIS
Selecting ANALYSIS from the DISPLAY menu will give you a status of
the database in memory. You will get information on levels,
marriages and sex of the individuals in the database. Click the
mouse and hit return or hit return twice to get back to the main
menu.
3. SOUNDEX
Selecting SOUNDEX from the DISPLAY menu will prompt you to enter a
name. Type in the last name you want to compute the soundex code
for. The name and Soundex code will appear on the screen. Hitting
return or clicking the left mouse button on Ok will allow you to
enter another name. Pointing at exit and clicking on the mouse
button will take you back to the main menu.
Names like Von Burren are usually coded using only Burren to
calculate the code. The coding of last names with multiple parts
varies. Consult an expert on Soundex for the possibilities for
names like these. The program does not support spaces in names for
this reason. Numerals, accents, and punctuations are also not
supported.
The Soundex code has been used extensively to index census
records. Your local library should have more information on the
coding and be able to order microfilms of census records for you.
4. NAME LIST
Selecting NAME LIST from the Display menu will display all of the
individuals in the database, their record number, and the name of
their spouses. Click a mouse button or hit a key for the next page
of data.
5. DESCENDANTS CHART
Selecting DESCENDANTS CHART from the DISPLAY menu will create a
descendants chart on your screen for the individual selected. Only
the short chart can be viewed on the monitor screen.
Each generation is indented in from the previous generation. The
generation of the individual relative to the progenitor chosen is
also displayed with their Id number. Click a mouse button or hit a
key for the next page of data.
6. RELATIONS
Selecting RELATIONS from the DISPLAY menu will take you to an
input screen. Enter the ID number of an individual and the ID
number of another individual. The relationship between the two
individuals will be calculated and displayed. Hit return to return
to the input screen. Hit enter twice to return to the main menu.
7. DATABASE STATUS
Selecting RELATIVE from the DESK menu will give you a status
report of memory available and records used in the database. Since
"It's All Relative" is a memory resident database, booting the
computer with accessories or ramdisk will have an impact on the
total number of records that may be entered in the system during a
given entry session. The total of individual, spouse or note
records can't exceed the number of records available for your use
based on memory available.
8. EXTENDED NOTES
Selecting EXTENDED NOTES from the DISPLAY menu will display the
extended notes for an individual if they exist on the drive and
folder selected when the program was loaded.
XI. PRINT OPTIONS
1. RECORDS
Selecting RECORDS from the PRINT menu will send the record of an
individual to the printer. You can print either a range or all
records. The default is range. To print one record, enter its
number as both the starting and ending number of the range. Check
your supply of paper before choosing the ALL option of print
record.
2. DATA ANALYSIS
Selecting ANALYSIS from the PRINT menu will print the data
analysis of the records in memory.
3. FAMILY GROUPS
Selecting FAMILY GROUPS from the PRINT menu will print a family
group sheet for the individual selected with information on the
individual, their spouse and children, one page for each family. A
long record with multiple marriages or many children will run over
to a second page. A heading is also printed on the second page.
4. NAMES LIST
Selecting NAMES LIST from the PRINT menu will print out a list of
all individuals in the database, their record number and the names
of their spouses.
5. DESCENDANTS CHART
Selecting DESCENDANTS CHART from the PRINT menu will allow you to
print out two types of descendants charts.
SHORT CHART will print all the descendants of the progenitor you
choose, the record number of the individual, and the level of that
person relative to the progenitor choosen.
As you enter data into the database it is a good idea to print a
short chart from time to time to make sure your information is
correct and all children are tied to the right parent. It also
aides in data entry to make notations on the short chart on new
individuals to add to the database. See the section on organizing
data.
LONG CHART will print a descendants chart for the progenitor you
select giving full information on birth, marriage and death dates,
spouse information and relationship between an individual and a
person you have selected. The person selected for the computing of
relations does not have to be the progenitor chosen. Each
generation display is indented from the previous generation.
Relations and information is displayed for the generation of the
progenitor chosen through twelve generations of descendants of
that individual.
You are given the option of printing out the record number of each
individual and their Special record number if you used one. Click
on Yes or No.
******************************************************************
WARNING: If you are using an eighty column printer the LONG CHART
must be printed in condensed mode. A wide carriage printer can
print a long chart in the standard type size.
******************************************************************
XII. SEARCH
The search function of "It's All Relative" is very fast. Over 500
records can be searched in less than two seconds. This is where a
memory resident database beats a disk based database by a mile.
Your searches are not limited to a small index field. The full
record can be searched through for almost any criteria.
1. BY NAME
Select BY NAME from the SEARCH menu. You can enter either a full
name, last name or first name to search for. You can also enter a
portion of a name to search for. If the name you entered matches
any individual or spouse in the database, their record will appear
on the screen. With a large database, be specific. One letter
searches will give very large results.
The search is case sensitive. The name "greg" will not match
"Gregory". "Greg" or "reg" or "egory" will come up with a match.
A space alone " " will match all names in the database.
Enter alone will take you back to the main menu.
2. BY NUMBER
Select BY NUMBER from the SEARCH menu. Enter a low and high number
to search. All records between the two numbers will be displayed.
Enter alone will return you to the main menu.
3. BY LOCATION
Select BY LOCATION from the SEARCH menu. Enter a full place name
or any part of a name. The program will display all records that
have either a birth, death or marriage location for the place
name.
This search is also case sensitive. If you use the two letter
state designation for states (OH = Ohio), it is very easy to pull
records by state.
4. BY MONTH
If you used "??/??/????" in the date field when entering data, you
can search for these missing or unsure dates by entering a "?" in
the search field criteria for the missing information. This
applies to the use of "__" also.
Select BY MONTH from the SEARCH menu. Enter the month number to
search for using the two digit number of the month. Enter alone
will take you back to the main menu. All records and spouse
records for that month for birth, death and marriage will be
displayed.
Hit enter only for the main menu.
This feature is handy to display anniversaries and birthdays for
the coming month.
5. BY DAY
Select BY DATE from the SEARCH menu. Enter the month and day to
search for. Enter 1 as the year to display. All entries for birth,
death and marriage for the day chosen will be displayed. Enter
only takes you back to the main menu.
6. BY DATE
Select BY DATE from the SEARCH menu. All records for the exact
date entered will be displayed.
XIII. FILE
1. SAVE
Selecting SAVE from the FILE menu saves your database to disk. You
are prompted to put your data disk in the drive you booted from.
Click on OK and your four "It's All Relative" files will be
written to disk.
To avoid confusion, keep a separate "It's All Relative" data disk
for each family line you are working on and make sure the family
name is well marked on the disk. Nothing is worse than saving the
data for the wrong family on the wrong disk. Keep your data well
marked.
When I do extended data entry, I put what I call my work disk in
the save drive. Every 15-30 minutes save your data to the work
disk. In case of power failure or brownout, only a portion of your
work will be lost. After finishing the data entry session, do a
final save to your actual data disk. If something should happen to
your save disk (out of room or bad disk error), you have the work
disk from the session to fall back on.
WARNING: The files are saved to the same drive and folder that you
originally loaded them from.
If you loaded from a floppy disk, make sure that the write-protect
tab is closed and you have a "save" disk with sufficient room for
the database on it. If you loaded from a folder, make sure a
folder with the same name exists on your "save" disk.
It is not a good idea to use your "It's All Relative" data disk
for the PRINT TO DISK option of the program. You may find yourself
with a full disk and no place to save your data.
2. QUIT
Selecting QUIT from the FILES menu will quit the program and
return you back to the ST desktop. All unsaved data is lost when
you quit the program. You are given a warning before the program
exits to the desktop.
If you made some serious parent/child/level errors during your
data entry session, quitting and reloading may be easier and more
accurate than trying to make extensive corrections.
XIV. EXTENDED NOTES
When printing out records, you are prompted for EXTENDED NOTES. If
you choose this option, when a record is printed, if a matching
file exists on the drive and folder you selected when the program
was loaded, the information is tacked onto the record being
printed. There is no limit to the length that this record can be.
If the extended record exceeds the page limit a new heading is
printed for the record and the balance of the note is printed.
1. CREATING AN EXTENDED NOTES FILE
Select EXTENDED NOTES from the EDIT menu. Enter the number of the
person to add an extended notes file for. Type up to 13 lines of
notes. Cursor control is the same as it is within the ADD box. Hit
return on the bottom line of the box to end entry and write the
file to disk. Make sure that a disk with sufficient room is in the
drive you selected as your note drive and the write protect tab is
in the closed position. If you selected a folder when you loaded
the program, the folder must exist on your data drive.
The lines of notes you typed up to the first blank line will be
added to the extended notes of the individual. If you want a blank
line in your extended notes enter a space " " on the line hit
return and keep on typing.
If you wish more than 13 lines, select EXTENDED NOTES from the
EDIT menu and APPEND additional notes onto the record you have
created for an individual.
You are given the option of REPLACE, APPEND, or ABORT.
REPLACE will replace any old extended notes file for this
individual with a new extended notes file.
APPEND will tack your new note onto the end of any existing note
for that individual, creating a new file if no extended notes file
for the individual exists. Append will leave one line spacing
between your note segments.
ABORT will exit you back to the main menu without any changes
being made or file written.
2. CREATING AN EXTENDED NOTES FILE WITH A WORD PROCESSOR
The name of the extended notes file must be RECORD#.DOC. The
extended notes file for record 2 would be 2.DOC. 123.DOC would be
the name of the extended notes file for record #123.
The record is created by typing the record in a word processor and
saving it as an ASCII file. In a program like First Word or First
Word Plus, turn off word processor mode before saving to make the
save in ASCII format.
Your left margin should be 0 and your right margin no more than
65. The record can be as long as you want to make it. Do not worry
about page breaks. "It's All Relative" will paginate the file for
you as it prints.
See your word processor manual for information on saving a file in
plain ASCII text format.
******************************************************************
WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EDIT ANYTHING BUT EXTENDED NOTES IN A
WORD PROCESSOR. ANY OF THE FILES WITH THE .IAR EXTENSION CAN'T BE
CHANGED IN A WORD PROCESSOR AS THEY ARE FIXED LENGTH RECORDS. ANY
ATTEMPT TO DO SO WILL SCRAMBLE YOUR DATA BEYOND ALL HOPE.
******************************************************************
2. USING EXTENDED RECORDS
It is a good idea to make a disk for each 50 to 100 members of
each family line you are working with. This will allow you up to a
full page of notes for every individual in your database. When
doing printouts for yourself or others,print in ranges of these
numbers making sure you have the correct extended records disk
in the drive that you booted from.
Extended notes are a good place to keep current address, phone
number, place of burial, newspaper clipping, personal notes,
sources of information, clarification of data and related items.
Your final printouts of individual records will look better if you
keep a consistant format to your extended notes. Experiment to
find a format that fits your needs. When making a duplicate
printout for other, all information you have on an individual can
be printed with a couple mouse clicks and keystrokes in a neat
organized format.
XV. ORGANIZING YOUR RECORDS FOR ENTRY
"It's All Relative" is a descendants based program. You will begin
your data entry with the oldest known member of your family line.
If the oldest known member of your family line also has brothers
or sisters you are aware of, you may want to make record number 1
"the father/mother of ...".
You can either enter all information for each individual as you
make each entry or simply enter each individual and appropriate
marriage/spouse information and go back and fill in the missing
information later. You can print out the descendants chart for
this partial listing of relatives and use it to make notes on for
each individual. This saves you from flipping between 200 sheets
of notes and old records while trying to enter the data.
You will create one set of "IT'S ALL RELATIVE" files for each
family line you are recording. Every individual with a primary
record in your database will be a direct relation of all other
individuals with a primary number in the database.
Error trapping is extensive in "It's All Relative", but if wrong
information is put into the computer wrong information will come
out. The most common mistake made is wrong parent number. Be very
careful that your parent numbers are correct.
XVI. TIPS ON DATA ENTRY
Be consistent in your data entry. You may be entering data over
days, months or years. Keep the format the same for all entries.
If you use "Firstname Lastname", don't switch to "Firstname
LASTNAME" format halfway through your data entry. If you use "??"
for missing dates don't switch to "__" without a reason. This will
make for neater printouts and reports and more complete results
for your searches.
Enter a small group of individuals into the database (your father,
brothers and sisters and their children). Play around with the
data. Become proficient with the edit features. Add, delete and
edit some records. Try the different print, display and search
commands. When you feel comfortable with the program, begin data
entry in earnest.
Back up your data disk on a regular basis. Store a remote backup
of extensive information. Having two backup disks and a hard copy
printout of your information at your computer desk won't do any
good if a disaster destroys the desk. The information you are
gathering can be passed on to your children and their children,
Treat it with care.
When making a backup copy of your data, copy each file one by one
from the desktop of your ST rather than making a disk copy. This
will prevent what is known as file fragmentation.
"It's All Relative" will work with well-behaved accessories. Each
accessory you add will take away room for data. Some accessories
may try to overwrite your data. Experiment with any new
accessories you add for use with "It's All Relative".
All printouts are date stamped. Be sure to set your system date
before running the program. The control panel accessory shipped
with your computer has a function to set the time and date. See
your manual on its use. Check with your local user group. There
are many public domain date/time programs that are easier to use
and take less memory than the control accessory.
Using an accessory program like Wholly Macro by Sedroc Software
can make your data entry easier. A keyboard macro can be set up
for frequently used names and locations.
XVII. RUNNING FROM A HARD DRIVE
Before running the "It's All Relative" program, create a folder
for each family line line you plan to create. The folder may have
any legal folder name. I use the first eight letter of the family
name being worked with.
When the program is run for the first time, a gem selector box
appears. Select the folder with your mouse and open it up. Type in
the filename NAMES.IAR in the Gem box as the filename you are
using. The program will create the four .IAR files in this folder
for you. All data files and extended notes files will be created
inside this folder for you.
You are given the option of writing your extended notes to a disk
in drive A rather than into the folder you created on your hard
drive. Having many extended notes on your hard drive can fill the
directory of the drive rather quickly. The extended notes files
can also slow down the operation of the hard drive if they are
large in number.
If you want your extended notes written and read from a floppy in
drive A, select YES from the alert box when the program is first
loaded. I suggest 50-100 extended notes per floppy disk. This will
make sure you do not get disk full errors as your extended notes
gain in depth and quantity of information stored in them. Mark
your extended notes disks with family line and IAR files they
belong with.
Create a new folder for each line you are working with. Make
backups of your folders on a regular basis and make sure that your
hard disk has enough room to store the data you are creating. Each
name record with marriage and note takes 383 bytes of storage.
Extended notes vary in size. The PRINT TO DISK option will also
vary. When in doubt about space remaining, PRINT TO DISK to a
floppy disk rather than your hard drive. Running out of room while
saving the .IAR data set will make your data unusable.
XVIII. Error Handling
Most of all input errors are fully trapped. The program will stop
you from entering a wrong number or name in most places. If an
error does happen to occur in data entry, let us know about it so
future versions of the program can be corrected.
You may get some errors when reading and writing to a disk drive.
When a read or write error occurs, the program goes to a recovery
routine that attempts to correct the problem. When a read/write
error occurs, all open files are closed and you are returned to
the menu screen. An error code is reported. The following is a
list of more common error codes and what they mean:
-13 Write Protected Your write protect tab must be closed
-33 File not found A file is missing from your disk
-34 Path not found A folder is missing from your disk. If
you booted from a folder on a floppy
disk, that folder must be on your data
disk and extended notes disk too.
If you can correct the error, try resaving or reloading the data
files after attempting correction. See your Atari owner's manual
for a complete list of error codes and their causes.
IXX. The utility program REL_UTIL.PRG
The program REL_UTIL.PRG on your "It's All Relative" disk does
five new types of printouts using the data created by the
RELATIVE.PRG.
To load REL_UTIL.PRG, double-click on the file from the Gem
desktop selector. The program can be run from any drive or folder
in a drive.
A Gem file selector will appear when the program loads. Select the
drive and folder that contains your .IAR data set. Double-click
on the file NAMES.IAR. You are now ready to use the program.
If all four .IAR files are not in the disk and folder you selected
you will be taken back to the Gem desktop. Find the problem and
run the program again.
Most of the printouts are dated. Make sure you have set the date
before running the program.
The printer control menu works just like the menu in the
RELATIVE.PRG. Any print output can be directed to disk by
selecting this option.
1. CALENDAR
You have five options of printouts in the CALENDAR menu. You may
print a calendar for BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, BOTH (birthdays and
anniversaries), NECROLOGY, or ALL (birthdays, anniversaries, and
necrology).
Select either output to screen or printer. Enter the name of the
family you are printing a calendar for. Enter the starting and
ending month number. The ending month must be larger than the
starting month number. Hit return and your calendar will be
printed out.
All events that have a complete month and day in an individuals
record will be displayed for the events chosen.
If you chose ALL and months 1-12 as the range of the calendar, a
full listing of number of family and spouse births, deaths, and
marriages you have recorded by month is made.
2. TIME LINE
Select TIME LINE for a complete time-line for the family in your
.IAR database. Enter the family name you are working with.
The program goes through your data and finds the earliest and most
recent year that had an event occur in it. An event is any birth,
death or marriage you have recorded. Incomplete year information
is skipped. Any event with a complete year will be displayed. Any
year before 1500 is also skipped.
Each year from the earliest to most recent is displayed and, if
you have a recorded event for that year, the event is printed. A
summary is printed as the last page of the printout.
3. PROGENITORS
Selecting PROGENITORS from the LIST menu will display or print out
a listing of one branch of the family tree from its tip back to
the root. Enter the ID number of the person to trace ancestry on
and press return.
You can print this list with or without ID numbers.
The following information will be displayed:
Name / ID number / date of birth / date of death
Relationship
marriage date / Spouse Name / date of birth / date of death
If there is information on the parent of the individual being
displayed the same information will be printed for them. The
program continues till the last known parent is found and
displayed.
4. BY LEVEL
Select BY LEVEL from the LIST menu. Enter a starting generation
level and an ending generation level. Information will be
displayed or printed for all individuals in the database for all
generations between the low and high generation level chosen. Each
level is printed from the oldest to most recent.
The following information is displayed:
Name / ID number / date of birth / date of death
marriage date / Spouse Name / date of birth / date of death
5. ALPHABETICAL
When a name is entered into "It's All Relative", it is entered in
the format [firstname lastname]. This routine converts the name
to the format [lastname, firstname] and sorts them into an
alphabetical index. Both family and spouse names are sorted.
Select ALPHABETICAL from the LIST menu. Be patient here. The
program must turn the name around and then sort it into
alphabetical order before either printing out or displaying to
screen. This is one routine that is not lightening fast! Future
versions may be faster, but there is quite a bit of work being
done with the names.
If you use the following conventions of data entry for names, your
list will print in the correct order.
a. All titles must be three letters or less.
MD SJ JR Jr. IV III V are all good.
M.D. S.J. VIII is not good.
Ben Casey M.D. or Ben Casey Junior is not good.
Ben Casey MD or Ben Casey III or Ben Casey Jr. is good.
b. Titles at the beginning of a name can be any length.
Doctor Ben Casey or Sister Mary Williams is good.
c. All last names must be at least 4 letters long. Pad the last
name of a one, two, or three letter last name with a
character of your chosing.
William Lee_
Bill Yi__
d. You may designate missing name information any way you want,
but if you are consistent, your indexes will be neater. I use
???? ???? to designate missing name information. This appears
in an index as ????, ????.
You can print the alphabetical index with or without ID numbers.
If you chose the ID number option. The ID number of the individual
along with any special ID number you may have assigned them will
be printed. The ID number for a spouse will be the ID number of
the family member they are married to with an S to signify spouse
(S-1).
XX. NEW ADDITIONS COMING
The additional print options utility addition to the program was
released in July 1988. If you have a print option that we haven't
covered yet, please let us know. It can be included in a future
release of the program.
We will make an update disk available to all registers users of
the program in the future. Additional printouts and utilities will
be included on the update disk. Be sure to register your copy of
the program to receive information on the updates.
For additional support for "It's All Relative" you may call 1-314-
831-9482 between 9:00 a.m and 7:00 p.m. EST. E-mail messages can
also be left to GREG on the GEnie network. The mailbox is checked
every few days.
You may also post questions in Category 2 of the Genealogy
Roundtable of the GEnie Information System. There is a topic set
up for "It's All Relative". Information on the program and
updates are posted there on a regular basis.
If you have a wish list for the update disk, let us know. We are
currently working on some import/export routines for moving data
to and from the program.
"It's All Relative" is available for $25.00 postpaid from:
Greg Kopchak
2233 Keeven Lane
Florissant, MO 63031
