Loadstar 128 #22

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Text File | 1991-01-01 | 9.9 KB | 249 lines

F A M I L Y T R A C E by Dick Heckert NOTE: In the LOADSTAR tradition, the BASIC source code is provided on the disk ("trace 304" on Side One). The program itself is compiled with Abacus 128 Compiler. FAMILY TRACE is a specialized database program for genealogy records. Unlike other programs that limit the records to a paternal and maternal line for the subject, this program keeps track of everyone in the family: your grandfather's children, their children, your grandmother's father and mother, and all their ancestors and children. This is not a simple tree with two roots; it gives you a means of recording all the cousins, uncles, brothers and sisters. There is a separate record for each person in the file. Don't worry; you won't have to type in all those names more than once. There are features to ease data entry and there is a TRACE mode to give you all the ancestors for the subject chosen. NOTE: In the following text, as in all LOADSTAR text files, when it says "press B" it means to press the B key -- not SHIFT-B. WINDOWS ------- The green window at the left of the screen is the COMMANDS WINDOW. The list of letters to press for each command are always there for your reference while you are in command mode. The red window at the top right contains the NAMES WINDOW and the BIO WINDOW. You enter data in these windows. The yellow window at the bottom is the information window. You will be told your options and asked for input in this window. To the right of the information window is the current file name, record number and the total number of records in the file. NAMES EDIT ---------- This command puts you in the NAMES WINDOW where you can add or correct the names of the Subject, the Spouse, the Father, the Mother and the Children. There are lines for 12 children. More than 12 will require putting two on some lines. You may cursor around the window, use INSerT, DELete, CLR and type in the names. Use RETURN to move to the beginning of the next line. You may use ESC "i" to insert a blank line. Nothing is placed in memory until you press F1. The window is then read into memory and blank spaces at the ends of the lines are deleted (to save memory). If you clear the window by mistake, press F7 and the original data will be restored. BIO EDIT -------- Bio Edit puts you in the BIO WINDOW where you enter dates of birth, marriage, death and any other biographical information you may have. The editing is similar to the NAMES WINDOW, except that you can change the suggested format to anything you please. Use B for birthday or D for died date, or erase unneeded words with the SPACE BAR. You can use Jan. 1, 1994 or 1/1/94 format or just 1993 if that is all you have. The screen editor is the same as direct computer mode: you can use INSerT and DELete, you can insert a blank line with ESC "i", you can clear the whole window with SHIFT/CLR, and you can restore the original data with F7. GOTO (SEARCH) ------------- Search mode requests a search word, which can be any name or part of a name. All the names are searched for a match (including children) and the record with the match is shown in the window. You can continue the search by pressing the SPACE BAR or stop by pressing any other key. LOAD FILE --------- When you press L the current disk drive is checked for FAMILY TRACE files (they have "f." at the start of the filename) and the list is shown in the green, COMMANDS WINDOW. Cursor to the one you want to load and press L to load or ESC to go back to Command Mode without loading a file. Records with "blank" on the NAME line will not be loaded. When you find a record you would like to delete, edit the name window with CLR and then enter "blank" on the first line. The next time you load the file that record will be gone. You can also GOTO "blank" when you need to enter a new record. SAVE FILE --------- When saving a file, you are given the option of replacing the current file or changing the filename. The replace is done by scratching the current file on the disk and then saving the file in memory. Files are saved as SEQuential files so you can load them into your word processor. PRINTER ------- Turn on your printer and choose the font and characters per inch on the printer. Then press P and you are given the options of Record, or Trace. The trace option moves from the current record on the screen to either the paternal or maternal line of ancestors. The names of the parents are printed until the earliest mother or father for that line. There is also an option to set the left margin. The current left margin setting is shown in the INFO WINDOW. If you press RETURN it will be used. If you want another left margin just type in the margin you want. You can print one record, back up the paper and print another one next to it with a left margin of 45. Print the father and spouse records on the same page. Then a page for each of the children and their spouse. Put these in a notebook with a section for each sub-line. DISK COMMAND ------------ You will be asked for the command you would like to send to the disk drive. The open and close will be handled by the program. You just enter any valid disk command (v for validate, s0:filename for scratch, and so on). You can send the command to change partitions or directories on your 1581 or RAMLink here. DRIVE ----- Press U and the current drive number will change to the next operating drive number. Drives 8 to 16 are supported. QUIT ---- You are asked if you really want to quit (in case you hit the wrong key) and then you have the option of quitting to BASIC or resetting the computer. Since the program is compiled, it is best to reset. NEXT RECORD/PREV RECORD ----------------------- Just press the + key to move to a higher record number and the - key to move to a lower record number. FIRST RECORD ------------ Press F in Command Mode and you will move to the first record in the file. LAST RECORD ----------- To get to the last record in the file, press Z. From here you can press + and move to a blank record to add more data. ERASE RECORDS ------------- When you are through with a file (and have saved it), you can press E and start on a new, blank file. In case you hit the wrong key, you are asked if you really want to erase all your hard work. ADD NAMES --------- Here is where you can save yourself a lot of typing. First enter the subject's name, spouse, father, mother and children. Then press A and after checking to see if you have the father or mother record, records are added to the file for all the other names with the correct parents, spouse and so on. Each child gets his own record with the current names shown as the father/mother. Answer the prompt with yes (Y) if the current record is male or no (N) if it is female. If you make a mistake the father/mother get reversed and will have to be edited by hand. With some of the families with 12 children, this could be a pain! The file is scanned to make sure the name is not a duplicate before the new record is added. Children's names are checked to see if the duplicate has the same father as well as the same name, since many names are repeated in families. If the name was a duplicate, but is really a new person, you can add it by hand at the blank record at the end of the file. If you have a file you don't want, just clear the window and type "blank" on the top line. Then when you need a blank record press G and search for "blank" to enter your data. The order of records does not matter. TRACE ----- First, find the record of the person you would like to trace to the roots. Then press T and enter P paternal or M maternal. Each mother or father is then shown in the window. Press SPACE BAR to continue the trace, or RETURN to stop. When there are no further parents, you will be notified "End of Trace" and returned to Command Mode. Use this trace to check your records before printing out a Trace. MEMORY CHECK ------------ This command will return the number of bytes free in memory. It is not likely that you will run out of memory on a Commodore 128, but check when you have a lot of records that contain a lot of data. In addition, you are limited to 200 individual records. If the file gets too large, start another one for a branch of your family tree. GENEALOGY TIPS -------------- Start with the earliest ancestor and make use of the ADD feature to add children's names. This will insure that the spelling is correct on each record. The search routine is upper/lower case sensitive and spelling for each person should be the same on each record. After each ADD press Z to move to the end of the file (where the new names are) and add birthdates, spouse names for children, etc. Then ADD for the next generation. Make frequent use of GOTO to move from one record to another. Use the most unique part of the name for the search to avoid having to press the SPACE BAR to find the correct record. You can see all the people with the same first name (or last) by using the GOTO with the common name as the search word. Check your library for books on geneology and for sources of information about your ancestors. For instance, there are books listing passengers on ships, immigrants by states, etc. Send your data to your relatives and ask for help in filling in the blanks. Assemble your information in a notebook and add pictures to the data pages. As genealogy becomes more and more popular, articles on tracing your ancestry are appearing in newspapers and magazines. Check out bookstores for detailed information on genealogy. Make use of PEDIGREE 128 on Loadstar 128 #6 to print a chart of your paternal and maternal family tree. FAMILY TRACE is more of a companion piece to PEDIGREE 128 than a rewrite. DH \\\\\ R - Run RETURN - Menu \\\\\