Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/467.lha/A_Gene/Instructions

Text File | 1991-02-03 | 22.4 KB | 583 lines

A-GENE - NOTES ON DEMONSTRATION VERSION  (N.T.S.C. VERSION)
---------------------------------------

THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES A MINIMUM OF 1MEG OF RAM TO RUN AND IS SET
UP FOR AN N.T.S.C SCREEN, HOWEVER IT WILL RUN ON PAL EQUIPMENT
WITHOUT PROBLEM.
(Registered users can request either PAL or NTSC standards for the full
version).

This demonstration version of A-Gene is copyright, but may be freely
distributed to anyone as long as this notice remains included in the
package.

The demo version is a complete version of A-Gene except that the size
of the data-base is fixed at 600 persons records and 300 marriage
records, and the color requester, text editor and display IFF picture
options are omitted - also the demo disk (or at least the data files)
must reside in DF0: - this only applies to the demo and was done to
ensure the program could be used on any Amiga without need for fancy
set ups.

To obtain the full version (2 disk set) with all the features as
mentioned in the documentation following, send $30 (Pounds sterling
15) or equivalent by cheque to cover cost/postage and to give me some
incentive to continue development of this program:-

        T.M.SIMPSON, 11 MERAUKE ST., WHALAN, N.S.W. 2770 AUSTRALIA.

Registered users will be advised of future upgrades, and I am always
happy to consider changes/further features requested by users. The
product has now been upgraded over a period of 2 years and most of the
features came at users suggestions. However under no circumstances
will I respond to unregistered users (I have been caught by that one
in the past to the extent of many hours work, postage, cost of disks
etc. and not even a thank you!)

This demo version is released as an LHARC compressed archive,
the program and the blank data files are in the archive.

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE READ.ME FILE TO PRODUCE A SELF-BOOTING
DEMO VERSION OF A-GENE THEN - YOU MUST BACK UP THIS DISK AND USE
THE RESULTANT COPY BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER.



                                ++++++++++





                        A-GENE INSTRUCTIONS
                        -------------------

A-Gene Capabilities

A-Gene V3.10 is the latest version of a program on which I have
been working for the past 2 years. It was originally written
in AmigaBasic and later compiled using A-C.Basic V1.2 then V1.3.
Unfortunately there were many problems with sorts using this
combination of programs so I have completely re-written the
program in GFA-Basic v3.041 and compiled it using the GFA-Basic
compiler V3. These two products have proven ideal for such an
undertaking although they both have bugs which have caused some
problems.


This version of the program now produces output of long lists in
the form of ASCII files to disk which you may then print using
your favorite word processor. It is also possible to print files
directly.

GFA have sent me a new version of their interpreter (v3.51) and
their compiler, however I have found a bug in this compiler so it
may be some time before I can risk re-issuing the program with
the newer versions of GFA.

A-Gene V3.10 (full version) is capable of maintaining files on
approximately 2000 persons and 500 marriages on a single floppy
data disk.
(Assuming that you save text/picture files on separate disks)
Larger data-bases can be constructed if you have a hard-disk on
your system.  Extra details (Baptism/confirmation/immigration dates,
occupation etc) for all of the persons in the persons-file are
also allowed for.

The full version of A-Gene also includes access to a text-editor
which is used to append "Free-form" notes/comments to any person's
record in the Data-Base.

Records can be searched for Surname, Christian Name, Full Name,
Birth Date, Birth City and Birth Country.

Details:
A-Gene consists of the main program, plus 3 random-access files
containing details of the Persons, Marriages and Baptisms/
Miscellaneous information.  Once run, there will also be a
Parent/Child index file and a Marriages Index file on your disk.

Environment:
A-Gene as supplied will run on any Amiga, with a minimum of 1meg
of RAM. A printer (80 or 132 column) is really a necessity for
the program to be of much use. The disk supplied with this version
must be run from the internal drive - DF0: (The full version can
be run from any drive/directory.)

A-Gene may be run from either the CLI (just enter  A-Gene, from
a CLI prompt) or it may be loaded from workbench as normal by
clicking on the A-Gene.Boot Icon. However on this demo version
your program disk with data files must be in DF0:.

This version of A-Gene is supplied on one disk which is auto-
bootable and contains the necessary 'C' directory
entries, the text editor and the A-Gene main program. The disk
also holds the pre-formatted data files already set up for 600
persons and 300 marriages and ready for input of your data.

GETTING STARTED

The first thing you should do on receiving this package is
make copies of the disk, this gives you a back-up in case of
accidental damage to the disk and furthermore, having a
spare data-disk saves you a lot of time if you need a new data
disk. With this demo version it is not possible to produce an
empty data disk from within the program (except by deleting each
record manually).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING A-GENE

You will be asked to confirm the printer settings then you will
be passed to the main screen from which you can select various
options from the menues:-

PROJECT MENU
The first menu holds several items which are self explanatory:-

CHANGE COLORS (NOT AVAILABLE ON DEMO DISK)
Accesses the color requester to change the screens colours
if you do not like the ones I have chosen. (At the present time
the new colours are not saved therefore you will have to reset
them each time you use them).  If you wish to use the new screen
dump facility which is available on many screens to copy the
screen to a printer. Then you should go to the change color
requester, click on Default and Save, this turns the background
screen color to white and gives better printouts - even better
results are gained if all three colors (black, red and blue) are
turned to black.

RESET DATE AND TIME
The date and time can be set from the Project Menu, this will be
necessary if you have not got a built-in clock as some of the
printed output from A-Gene does bear the date and time of
preparation.

CHECK FREE MEMORY
Memory can be checked to see how much free memory you have.

RESET PRINTER
You can also reset the printer parameters if for instance you
change printers during a session. (Please note the version as
supplied has the preferences set up for the Epson X series of
printers, you will have to copy different printer drivers to the
boot disk as required).


UPDATE MENU (Note all 3 items can be selected using key-strokes -
             i.e. Amiga p, Amiga m and Amiga s)

UPDATE PERSONS FILE

This is the main input screen for the program, selecting the item
brings up a screen for the first record. Along the bottom of
which are the gadgets "EDIT, SAVE, MORE, NEXT, PREVIOUS,DUMP,TEXT
ED and QUIT".  Any of these selections can be picked by clicking
on the gadget, or by typing the INITIAL letter of the word.

Selecting EDIT allows you to input a record number (if you are
using a new data base,the record number at the top is -1 so enter
1 to select the new record number 1.) You are then asked to type
the persons name, sex, birth/date/burial information, along with
the record number of their father and mother. If their father/
mother are not already in the data-base, just leave the numbers
blank, they can be entered later once you have the necessary
information.  The instructions for each entry are
selfexplanatory, when you have finished entering data just type
"/" at any prompt, and you will be returned to the gadgets asking
if you wish to SAVE the data.  You may click on SAVE at this
point to save the record, or EDIT to enter some more data on the
person.

If you select Edit and enter ? as the record number, the program
will search for the next blank record. Also if you wish to
delete a record, after selecting Edit, when asked to input the
record no. enter it as a negative number e.g. -83 and this will
delete the record.

Once you have saved the data, clicking on MORE will pass you to
a second screen of supplementary data for the person, e.g.
baptism date, wife's record number, (up to 3 wives) immigration
and occupation details.  Enter these and click on save, and click
on RETURN to return to the first screen.

Clicking on the TEXT ED (NOT SUPPORTED ON DEMO) button will take
you to the built-in text editor to allow you to add extra free-
form information about the person.

Clicking on NEXT will take you to the next record, you can use
this to flick through records or to go to the next empty record
while you are entering a group of new records, PREV will take you
backwards.

DUMP will use the program graphdump to dump the screen to the
printer, useful if you just want to print a single screen.
Graphdump is on your Extras disk, and I have copied it to the C
directory of this Demo disk.

QUIT will exit the Update mode (If you have made changes and not
saved a record you will now be advised).

UPDATE MARRIAGE FILE
Allows you to update the marriages file, gadgets are similar to
those on the Update Persons screen. (Note: Persons in the
marriages file must already appear in the Persons file).

SEARCH FOR
Allows you to search through all records for particular criteria,
e.g. after SURNAME you may enter sim as the surname to search for,
you will then receive on your screen
a list of all the SIMMS, SIMMONS, SIMPSONS etc in the file. The
record number of each person is also included so you can then
find a particular person and look up their details. Searching is
allowed on Surname, Christian Names, Birth Date, City and Country.
Furthermore you can search on the user definable Persons Code,
this code can be used for any purpose you require, and records with
a code of say "6" can be searched for and listed.

The Birth Date may be preceded by < for prior to or by > for
following, i.e. <1940 will list births prior to 1940.

Multiple searches are allowed, just press enter on any line you
do not wish to search on, i.e. press enter enter enter england
enter enter and all persons born in England will be listed, whereas
if you had also entered a date of >1899 and a sex of M then
only males born in England since 1900 would be listed.

Searching is not dependant on case, i.e. SIm is the same as siM
for search purposes.

CREATE MENU

CREATE PERSONS FILE (NOT ON DEMO DISK)
This item is used to extend the existing persons and baptisms
files if you have indicated on start-up that you wish to extend
your persons file. Say you have changed your start-up persons
file size from 600 to 850, then you must select the Create Person
menu item.  After selecting this menu item you would enter 601 as
the first blank record, and blank records 601 thru 850 would be
created to expand your file.

NOTE: Using CREATE PERSONS FILE now automatically creates a
baptisms file of the same size as the persons file, i.e. there is
a Baptisms/Immigration details record for every person in the
data-base.

CREATE MARRIAGES FILE (NOT ON DEMO DISK)
Creates a marriages file as in CREATE PERSONS above. It has been
found from experience that a marriages file needs to contain only
about one third of the number of records in the persons file,
i.e. if you set up your persons file at 600 persons, then 200
marriages should be adequate.


PARENT/CHILD INDEX
Creates an index file linking all the Parents/Children in the
persons file.

MARRIAGES INDEX
Creates an index file linking all marriages in the marriages file
to the respective persons in the persons file.

NOTE: The PARENT/CHILD and MARRIAGE options are included for
compatability with old versions of A-Gene,these files are
automatically updated as required in this version of the program
each time you add information to the Persons and Marriages files
so that the index is up to date at all times. However if a file
becomes damaged due to equipment faults/power failures etc, this
option may be used to reconstruct the Index files.


LIST MENU (Note: all the items under this menu allow you to list
                        to screen, printer and to disk)

PERSON'S RECORDS
Outputs a list of all the persons in the persons file in the form
of an ASCII text file. You will get a file-selector asking you
where you wish to save this list, and under what name. The text
file can then be input by any word-processor or text-editor which
can handle plain ASCII text. The file can then be reformatted to
your own requirements for later printing. (Useful for when you
have a large file, and you need to know the record number of say
a persons father or mother who you had entered in an earlier
session.)

MARRIAGE RECORDS
Outputs a list of all the marriages in the marriages file.

PARENT/CHILD INDEX
Outputs a list of the records in the Parents/Child index.

ALPHA PERSONS
Outputs an alphabetical List of Persons

ALPHA MARRIAGES
Outputs an alphabetical List of Marriages

PRINT MENU

The items on this menu allow you to print details as follows:-

PERSON'S DATA
This item prints out information about a person in the Persons
file.

MARRIAGE DATA
Prints information regarding a marriage in the Marriages file.

PEDIGREE CHART
Prints Pedigree charts (Family Trees) for anyone in the Persons
file. The program automatically sizes the chart in accordance
with paper size being used.

FAMILY GROUP SHEET
Prints Family group sheets giving information on various members
of the family.

DESCENDENT'S CHARTS
Displays on the screen or saves Descendents Charts for printing
later - Early versions of the program allowed for 4 generations
only, however this new version allows you to display up to 10
generations either on screen or save to disk.

DISPLAY MENU

Displays genealogical information on the screen in various
formats including a family tree.

The display option has several gadgets at the foot of each screen
allowing you to display data about a person, his family members,
and his wedding. It is also possible to call up data about anyone
else in the data base.

All screens can be dumped to a printer for hard-copy filing.

Furthermore, (FULL VERSION ONLY) it is possible to show pictures
of each person, family group or wedding in the file. To use this
facility, it will be necessary to digitise the photographs using
a program such as Digi-View, and to store them as IFF files on
your pictures disk. Picture files should be stored using the
following filenames:-

PERPIXnnn       For individuals picture, where nnn is the persons
                record number in the persons file.
                e.g. PERPIX20

MARPIXnnn       For marriage picture, where nnn is the marriage
                record number in the marriages file.
                e.g. MARPIX25


FAMPIXnnn       For family group picture, where nnn is the
                FATHER's record number in the persons file.
                e.g. FAMPIX237


The program is very comprehensive, easy to use and large enough
for most families. I hope this program will enable you to carry
out interesting research into your own family background.

On the full version, a Text-Editor can be called up each time you
enter details about a person using the UPDATPER selection from
the menu.

If you have already opened a text file for the particular person
then that file will be shown on screen, if not then you will be
presented with a file outline which you may alter to your
particular taste. Text files may be used to include such
information as the sources of information in your file, and more
detailed descriptions of the person if they are available.

Once you have saved your text file, exiting from the editor will
return you to A-Gene.

You can copy a text-editor of your choice to your data disk,
however please note it must be renamed "ED" and it must be a
single file program, i.e. not one which looks for a set-up or
preferences file in the "S" directory or elsewhere (CygnusEd and
several other popular editors do this). Both ED and MicroEmacs
which accompany your machine are suitable editors to use.

On the full disk I have included the shareware editor "QED", if
you use it regularly, then please send the editor of it a
donation to enable him to continue to provide such excellent
programs.


THANKS

A-Gene like most programs could not have been written without the
help of numerous other people in the Amiga field who have either
directly helped with suggestions, utilities, bug reports and
suggestions. The list is getting longer each day, but the
following have to be included as without them, A-Gene in its
present form would not exist:-

Tomas Rokicki for placing DFC in the public domain.

The Dissidents for the Color Requester.

Adrian Jones of Adelaide for the Icon.

Richard Barrows of King Island for sending me his complete data
base of 1100 family members which allowed me to test the program
to its limits.

GFA Data Media UK for their help in providing updated versions of
their basic interpreter and compiler.

And last but by no means least, thanks to Tim Strachan of
Megadisc to whom the Amiga community in Australia owes so much,
for his help in promoting the program.

I should like to hear from anyone who finds this program useful,
any suggestions for improvements, additions, changes in format
etc will be greatly appreciated. Future enhancements will all
depend on feed-back from users. Foreign language versions can be
supplied if you just advise me of changes in titles/screen items.

Mike Simpson
11 Merauke Street,
Whalan, N.S.W. 2770
Australia
Phone [phone]
Fax   [phone]


.


CHANGES IN RELEASE V3.10
________________________

1. Changes have been made to the pull down menues, to place
PEDIGREE CHARTS, and FAMILY GROUP SHEETS under the print menu
rather than the DISPLAY menu.

2. The UPDATE menu now has keyboard short-cuts - i.e. Amiga
p,Amiga m and Amiga s for update persons, marriages and search
respectively.

3. The names of parents now appear on the update person screen
once their numbers are entered.

4. Death date now appears on the descendents screen/printouts

5. The marriage details on the GENEALOGICAL INFO. screen is now
correct.

6. Screen Print or Dump gadgets appear on most screens - the
program "Graphicdump" on the extras disk is needed in your "C"
directory for this option to work. This option gives a graphics
dump of your screen to printer, and works best if colors are
changed to black writing on a white screen.

7. Details of up to three wives/husbands can now be shown on the
Personal Information printout.

8. The editor on this version has been changed to "QED" rather
than "JED" but this is a matter of personal choice - even ED will
work. For some reason it does not seem to be possible to print a
file from either QED or JED when the program is called from
within A-Gene.

9. Update Person and Update Marriage now starts from record 1
rather than searching for the next blank record. This saves a lot
of time when working on a large data base.

10. Dates may now have the format c.1902 as well as the previous
formats.  The date formatting has had to be fairly rigid as the
last four characters of the date are used in sorting family
members on some screens.

11. All update screens now have hot keys on them in which it is
possible to just type the first letter in a gadget to select that
gadget, e.g. to select NEXT, just type "n" or click on the
gadget. This enables you to to go from the Update Persons screen
to the Update Marriages screen in 3 keystrokes - i.e. q Amiga m

12. The ? may be used instead of a Record No. on Edit screens, it
will then cause the next blank record to be displayed.

13. Entering a negative record number will blank that record.

14. The Click on a Box message now occurs in the correct place.

15. The Line # entry on the Geneological Info. display now works
correctly.

16. A PREV as well as NEXT gadget has been added to the Edit
displays.

17. The pre-formatted file for the text-editor has been included
within the program and cleaned up operationally.

18. The editor should now be located in the C directory

19. Problems from some writers where they have found files like
"A-Gene.datamarrfile" appearing on their disks have been narrowed
down to the disk name being entered in a requester without the
following ":", this is now checked for ald coprected.

20, Depth gadgets now appeap at all times, and the program multi-

tasks nicely, it is simple to click screen to back to use the CLI
etc if necessary.

21. Problems with the requester crashing if a save was cancelled
appear to have been fixed.

22. The program has been fixed so that it will work with a single
drive with the minimum of disk changing.

23. Format has been moved to the C directory, and I have taken to
using DFC4, renamed as Format, as this gives a file requester and
enables you to ensure you have the correct disk in the drive
before doing the format.

24. The ability to show color pictures of persons/families/
weddings has been added to the display screens.

25. A bug in the Create functions which caused the program to go
into a loop on a blank screen once you had formatted a disk and
installed new files on it has been fixed.

26. Version 3.101 - The sorting of the parent/child index has
been corrected so that on all screens/printouts, the children are
listed in order of birth-year, where the birth-year is not
entered, they are listed in order of record number.

27. A Print option has been included on all items of the LIST
menu to enable printing directly of all items.

28. The options to produce new data disks/format disks have had
minor bugs removed.

29. In version 3.104, the search screen has been greatly improved.

Notes:  1. I have not updated the on-line help screens yet, so
Help is not included with this release.


BUGS:
Sometimes the window title "GFA-Basic" appears when a requester
is shown, this is a bug in GFA which is fixed in their 3.51
interpreter, but the 3.51 compiler has a bug which precludes opening
multiple random files, therefore I will have to live with this
one until the compiler is fixed.

Sometimes when printing a family group sheet or other long print,
an "Object in use" error occurs - also a GFA error. (I think this
is now fixed, please advise if you get this bug).

I have been advised of some printing problems using sheet fed
printers (HP Desk-Jet etc.) - I have no access to such a machine
to test it, if anyone has problems printing, please document the
problems and advise me - thanks. However I am now lead to believe
that if the driver for the HP Desk-Jet Plus is used, then printing
is OK.

Please advise of any other problems found.