steven.chan@canrem.UUCP (Steven Chan) (06/05/91)
I've tested a few shareware geneology packages (Family Tree, Family
Ties, and Kinfolks), but have been somewhat disappointed by the
general quality of them. Not the level of software I'd want to
entrust data to be collected and stored over several generations with.
Now I'm looking for commercial geneology packages, having seen
(more or less) the state of the shareware offerings. Can
anyone recommend any specific packages for the PC?
Cheers,
Steven Chan
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Internet: steven.chan@canrem.uucp
UUCP: lsuc!canrem!steven.chan
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NorthAmeriNet Hostpmccurdy@alcalde.EBay.Sun.COM (Patrick McCurdy) (06/06/91)
The Mormon church puts out a software package called Personal Ancestral File (PAF). It is not shareware, but may as well be with a price right around $35. It is not glamorous, but is extremely versatile and functional. I have seen a number of add-ons to it that extend its usefulness even further. There may be better genealogical software out there, but I doubt that you will find a better value than PAF. You can get it from the family history library at your local LDS church. _________________________________________________________________ Patrick McCurdy pmccurdy@alcalde.ebay.sun.com pmccurdy@cup.portal.com Standard Disclaimers Apply 76346,2764 (CompuServe) _________________________________________________________________
fr@compu.com (Fred Rump from home) (06/06/91)
steven.chan@canrem.UUCP (Steven Chan) writes: >Now I'm looking for commercial geneology packages, having seen >(more or less) the state of the shareware offerings. Can >anyone recommend any specific packages for the PC? From the GENEALOG files: Special thanks to James Moores for sharing this info to the Roots-L Members. SUMMARY OF GENEALOGY SOFTWARE Compiled by Richard A. Pence Updated May 25, 1990 GENEALOGY PROGRAMS BROTHER'S KEEPER - John Steed, 6907 Childsdale Road, Rockford, MI 49341. Current version 4.5. Available from the author free by writing and as shareware on Compuserve and BBSs; $25 registration provides support and updates. Steed provides excellent support and packages such utilities as BKBOX and BKREPORT with BK. Many GEDCOM conversion utilities also available. Formerly called FAMILY. EVERYONE'S FAMILY TREE William Dollarhide, Dollarhide Systems, 203 W. Holly St, Suite M4, Bellingham, WA 98225; phone 206-671-3808. For IBM and compatibles, including 386 machines, requires 512K (640 recommended), DOS 3.0 or higher, one double-sided disk drive and hard drive; $179; free preview slid-show disk and sample reports available. Dollarhide's FAMILY RESEARCH MANAGER is no longer available. EZ-TREE Version 1.26 available through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk). FAMILY EDGE Carl York, 150 East 30th St #2E, NYC, NY 10016. Both a shareware version ($10 registration and $5 for disks, s&h if ordered by mail) and commercial version ($99) available. Shareware version available on many BBSs and carries the extension .B0n. The complete file set for the B.01 shareware version consists of EDGPRG.B0n, EDGUTL.B0n, and EDGNEW.B0n, the Program, Utilities, and New Features DOCS - plus EDGDCn.ARC, the manual. Commercial GEDCOM utility also available from York. FAMILY HERITAGE FILE Richard Shipp, StarCom Software, Windsor Park East, 25 W 1480 N, Orem, UT 84507, 801-225-1480; $152.50. Version 1.5. For Macintosh. A port of Personal Ancestral File 1.0, a Basic program written for the IBM PC by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Doesn't have a Mac-like interface. A new version supposedly uses a mouse. For information, write or call Cecil I. Dobbs Jr. (distributor), 1749 Killdeer Ct, Sunnyvale, CA 94087; 408- 257-6461. FAMILY HISTORY SYSTEM Philip E. Brown, 834 Bahama Dr, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Disks with either interpreted or compiled Basic versions of the programs are available for $6 each (manual is not on the compiled version disk). Available on many BBSs as FAMHISTC.ARC (compiled BASIC version) & FAMHISTI.ARC (interpreted BASIC version; manual in this file only, although sometimes manual is posted separately). Registration is $35. GEDCOM export/import utility. Updates available to registered users for $10. Version 9.88 also available through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk; two needed). FAMILY RESEARCH MANAGER No longer available; see Everyone's Family Tree. FAMILY ROOTS Quinsept, 20 Grassland St, P.O. Box 216, Lexington, MA 02173; 617-641-2930 (MA or foreign) or 800-637-ROOT (elsewhere in U.S.). Available for IBM and compatibles, CP/M, Commodore 64, TRS-80, Apple nd others; $185, not cop protected; tria dsk and guide, $9.50; full manual (no disk), $18.50. MC, Visa and American Express. Specify computer type, disk type, CP/M version number, TRS or Apple model, etc. For "tinkerers," the noncompiled BASIC code can be purchased for an extra $20. Apple ProDOS version requires 128K of memory on an Apple IIc, IIe, or IIgs. It will not work on an Apple IIe with only 64K of memory. Quinsept BBS on line from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. at 617-641-1080. FAMILY TIES E. Neil Wagstaff, Computer Services, 1050 E 800 S, Provo, UT 84801; 801-377- 2100. Versions for both MS- or PC-DOS machines and CP/M machines available. Shareware, current version 1.19a, registration $50. Available on many BBSs as FAMTIES1.ARC (program) and FAMTIES2.ARC (documentation). Runs on reasonably IBM compatible MS-DOS computers and nearly all CP/M computers. Order blank available on FAMTIES BBS (Opus 15/13), 801- 374-8080 (up to 9600 baud HST) 24 hrs. A demo/tutorial file and the IBM evaluation copy may be downloaded by anyone. Visa or MC ($2 fee); allow personal checks 14 days to clear; COD via UPS or USPS ($2 fee); shipped next day when ordered by Certfied check or MO. CP/M version also available on BBSs as FAMTIES1.LBR (program) and FAMTIES2.LBR (manual and demo). FAMILY TIES II Computer Services (above). Commercial program and NOT shareware, includes many added features; supports GEDCOM. Available from dealers for $139.50; registered users of FT can obtain a copy for $40 ($20 to those who paid $75 for FAMILY TIES). Existing FAMILY TIES data usable with this upgrade. FAMILY TREE-ETC Pine Cone Software, P.O. Box 1163, Columbus, IN 47202; IBM and compatibles; Lotus-like menus. Version 4.x. Available as shareware on many BBSs as FT- ETC.ARC. No GEDCOM support. An add- on program, by R. L. Mosher, called FT-MORE also available. It expands on FT-ETC considerably. FAMILY TREE JOURNAL Version 7.0 of Family Tree Journal (shareware) available as FTJ70.* on some bulletin boards, about 206K. Registration $35. Genealogy system that produces family history indexed books of various scopes. GEDCOM input and output support. Also has an address database system built in. Ahnentafels have also been added. Up to 32,000 plus names per database unlimited databases. Author and address not available, but can be ordered through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk). FAMILY TREE MAKER Banner Blue Software, P.O. Box 7865, Fremont, CA 94537, phone 415-794-6850; $49. For IBM and compatibles, DOS 2.0 or later, 384K RAM (512 recommended), two floppies or one floppy and a hard drive; $59.95 list price includes both 3- and 5-inch disks (available from dealers for about $49). FIRST FAMILY Computerology, Inc., P.O. Box 30113, San Antonio, TX 78285; 512-492-5151; $129.95. For IBM and compatibles. G:CRAB GENEALOGY: COMPILING ROOTS AND BRANCHES, John Armstrong, Armstrong Genealogical Systems, 5009 Utah Dr, Greenville, TX 75401; 214-454-8209; $150. IBM & compatibles, TRS-80. GENASSIST Prometheus Software Systems, 4310 South Semoran Blvd - Suit 587, Orlando, FL 32822; 407-281-1890. For IBM and compatibles, 512K, DOS and and hard drive; $150 plus $3 s&h, demo; specify 3 or 5 inch. GENE VERSION 4.32 available through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk). Compatible with PAF. GENEA-LINK See Linkages. GENEALOGY DB Joseph J. Borrello, P.O. Box 4459, Covina, CA 91723. For IBM compatible machines. Written in dBASE III programing language (but doesn't require you to have dBASE), is available in both regular and LDS versions. Minimum hardware requirements are DOS, 512 kb of RAM, one floppy or hard disk drive. Genealogy db can be ordered from the author, for $95. Operating instructions included in a file on the diskette. Demo versions, limited to 50 persons and 25 marriages, are available for $9.50, and on some BBSs. Also available from Geneware, P.O. Box 55249, Riverside, CA 92517. GENEALOGY ON DISPLAY Genealogy on Display, version 6.0, by Melvin Duke, P.O. Box 20836, San Jose, CA 95160, phone 408-268-6637; $35 contribution suggested. Written in BASIC for IBM and compatibles, DOS 2.0 or later. NOTES AND SOURCES, version 1.1, also by Duke, allows you to provide additional documentation for data in Genealogy on Display. Both programs available as shareware on many BBSs. Also available through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk). GENEALOGY WORKSHOP Micro-Sphere Tenex, 14009 E Jefferson Blvd, Mishawaka, IN 46545; $42.95 plus $5.75 s&h. For TI 99. GENERATION GAP Flying Pigs Software, P.O. Box 688; St. George, UT 84771; phone 801-628-5713; $49.95 including s&h in U.S. For the Atari ST and Mega. Requires 720K drive, 1 meg RAM, hard drive preferred. IBM version promised soon. GENESIS-80 V. B. Miller, 1320 San Bernadino Rd, Upland, CA 91786; $79; IBM and compatibles, TRS-80. GENESIS I: The Family Tree Genesis Historical Foundation, Box 1706, Orangevale, CA 95662; IBM and compatibles; $135 plus $3.50 for postage and handling. Initial release consists of nine modules for the input and updating of individual data, marriages, and military records, for the initialization of data records and for the printing of five basic reports. GENIE Central Research of Utah, Box 808, Bountiful, UT 84010; $49.95; IBM and compatibles. GENIE Interface, P.O. Box 3340, Lacey, WA, 98503; $149; IBM and compatibles. KINFOLKS VERSION 1.0 available through Data Outlet Shareware, P.O. Box 776, Macon, GA 31202 ($3.50 per 5-inch disk). LINKAGES Vincent C. Jacobson, P.O. Box 42102, Plymouth, MN 55442; 612-559-0926; distributed by Solid Software, 3821 W. Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 55422; registration $59. DOS 2.0 or later, requires 256K, two floppy drives or one floppy drive and hard disk. Available as shareware on many BBSs as LINKAGES.ARC. Emulates an index-card filing system. A commercial version, called GENEA-LINK; for MS-DOS machines, 384K RAM recommended (will run with 256K but not do all functions), needs DOS 2.0 or greater. Available through Solid Software, address above. GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH HELPER (shareware). David Brewer, 827 E. 930 N., Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 801-785-6294. Available on GEnie, Compuserve and local BBSs or by sending a blank disk and $10 to the author. FAMILY TREE (shareware). Available on GEnie or from Jim Palms, P.O. Box 70218, Bellevue WA 98007. $5. GENEALOGICAL RECORD (public domain). Available on BBSs or from Budgetbytes, P.O. Box 2248, Topeka, KS 66601; 913-271-6022, disk no. 1099, $7.50. GENEALOGY EXPLORER. Joel Finkle, Food for Thought Software, 9235 Fern Lane, Des Plaines, IL 60016; 312-298-0295. $30. Demo disk available on bulletin boards. HYPERTREE 1.2 (freeware). Available on GEnie or from Joe Crnich, 2931 Sunspot Circle, Anchorage, AL 99507 or from Educomp Computer Services, 742 Genevieve Suite D, Solana Beach, CA 92075; 800-843- 9497; disk no. 475, $12.50. MY ROOTS Mark Peters, 1513 Townee Lane, Naperville, IL 60565; 312- 357-0932; Apple II+, IIe and IIc & IBM and compatibles; $49.95, run- ready version, $25 additional. Mac version projected, will be $99.95. OUR FAMILY Dr. James G. Vaughan, P.O. Box 843, University, MS 38677; IBM and comptibles; $75 ($10 demo available, deductible if you decide to buy). PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Distribution Center, 1999 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104; $35.00. Release 2.2, now available for PC- or MS-DOS machines (order number PBGS1840 for 5-inch diskettes and order number PBGS1841 for 3-inch), for Apple PRO-DOS and Macintosh. Specify MS-DOS, Apple (PBGS 1653) or Mac (PBGS 161A). Sales tax required from residents of AL, CA, DO, GA, HA, ID, IA, KS, KY, LA, MS, ND, SC, SD, VA, WA and WY. CP/M and Apple DOS versions no longer available. Make check payable to "Corporation of the President." Toll-free order number: 800-247- 3892. Visa or MC. For information, write the Church in care of Family History Department, Ancestral File Unit 2WW, 50 East North Temple St, Lake City, UT 84150, phone 801-531-2584. Technical Support: 801-240-2585 or 801-240-2584. Bulletin Board: 801- 531-3909. PRISM Prism Systems, 4 East 14th St, Holland, MI 49423. For IBM and compatibles, 640K, 1MB free on hard disk; $99, on four disks, specify size; demo available for $10. PROGENITOR IBM program by Jay Anderson, 528 North Treat, Tucson, AZ 85716. Shareware available as PROGENnn.ARC on many BBSs; $35 suggested registration fee. ROOTS III Commsoft, Inc., 2257 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043, Howard Nurse, President. Toll-free number: Outside of California (including Hawaii and Virgin Islands but not Alaska) is 1- 800-32-ROOTS. Normal business line is 415- 967-1900. Technical support line is 415-967-3678. BBS: 415-967-6730. ROOTS III is $250 plus CA tax and $7 s&h. A demo disk and sample book are available. The $10 price for the demo package (plus CA tax and s&h) is deductible from Roots III when the full program is ordered directly from Commsoft. Visa, MC, American Express or personal checks. For IBM and compatible MS- or PC-DOS computers. At least 512K RAM and a hard disk are recommended. Roots III supports the Lotus- Intel-Microsoft (LIM) expanded memory standard. Expanded memory is required for databases larger than approximately 3,000 individuals. ROOTSMASTER New shareware program available on some bulletin boards. No author or address available. TRACER Wayne Shephard, 2339 45th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116. Shareware version 2.2 available on BBSs as TRACER1.ARC and TRACER2.ARC. IBM and compatibles. Compatible with Personal Ancestral File; $45 registration fee. Version 4.0, not available as shareware, is $64.95. Paid user upgrade fee is $15. GEDCOM 3.0 support. TREESEARCH Array Systems, Inc., 5302 Arrowhead Ln, Ogden, UT 84403; $150. For IBM and compatibles. CONVERSION PROGRAMS FAMILY MOVE Quinsept (see FAMILY ROOTS for address). Allows users of FAMILY ROOTS to exchange data, regardless of how the data base for each Family Roots program has been set. FAMILY MOVE consists of three major integrated programs and is for IBM and compatibles with two floppy drives or a hard disk; at least 128k of memory, FAMILY ROOTS version 3.0 or later and DOS 2.0 or later. Other versions planned for most machines on which FR now runs. The program generates a file in an intermediate format which is suitable for transfer either by exchanging disks or by telephone transmission. The format is based on the LDS Church's Genealogical Data Communications (GEDCOM) standard. The three programs are Export, Import and Transfer. Export transfers selected FAMILY ROOTS data into the GEDCOM format. Import reverses the process: It takes a FAMILY MOVE GEDCOM file and stores the data in your FR data base. You may edit records before saving or you may discard, save or partially import. Transfer allows you to transmit the GEDCOM file by phone; files also can be transferred with any other telecommunications program. FAMILY MOVE is $59. FRASC FRASC converts PAF records to ASCII in either delimited or space-filled (fixed length) format. In the delimited format, fields are separated by commas and enclosed in double quotation marks so they can be easily appended to a dBase III data base file created for that purpose. Current version available for downloading on many BBSs, especially CPAFUG. GIE Genealogy Information Exchange, new GEDCOM version from LDS for PAF (see PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE). MMMMMMMM GODtoPAF MMMMMMMM Converts Genealogy on Display files to Personal Ancestral File. Available on CPAFUG BBS and others. PAF-FR-COM Quinsept (address under FAMILY ROOTS). For DOS FAMILY ROOTS users. Transfers files from Personal Ancestral File (PAF) into FR data records. Allows complete conversion of previously entered PAF files or will allow additions to a FR data base from PAF files. The PAF files must be made by PAF 2.0 or later. If they were made by PAF 1.0, then they must be run through the PAF 2.0 convert program (available with PAF 2.0). Also available is FP, which will create a file from Family Roots that PAF can import into its data base. The FR Tree Charts utility has been updated to be compatible with FR 3.5. Will make a family tree of 600 boxes in about 25 minutes. Current users can update for $9; price for new users is $49.95. Other prices: PAF-FR-COM (hard disk only), $20; FP (hard disk only), $20. Combined price for FAMILY MOVE, PAF-FR-COM and FP is $84. Be sure to specify what type of drives you have and how much memory. PAF and Back A utility program for IBM and compatibles with hard disk to transfer data from Family Roots into Personal Ancestral File and the reverse. Available from Quinsept. PAF2Edge Transfers from Personal Ancestral File to THE FAMILY EDGE. Available as shareware on many BBSs or from Carl York (address under FAMILY EDGE). PATHWAY Commsoft (address under ROOTS III). Data conversion utilities for PAF 2.n. PATHWAY contains three modules which allow you to use your PAF databases with dBASE III programs, prepare family books using ROOTS II or III, write programs in BASIC to create your own special forms, or create a Tiny Tafel to use on the Tafel Matching System. The modules are PATHMAKER, TINY-TAFEL MAKER and DATABASE MAKER. PATHMAKER will convert a PAF database into a format compatible with III. TINY TAFEL MAKER automatically creates a "Tiny Tafel" from a database which originated in PAF or in ROOTS II. Database maker converts a ROOTS II database (from PAF or ROOTS II) to a format compatible with many popular commercially available database programs such as DBaseII and Micropros mailmerge. The converted database is characterized by having fields bounded by quotation marks and separated by commas. Format is also compatible with BASIC so that custom programs using PAF data can be written. PATHWAY is $20, including manual. OTHER UTILITIES DROPLINE Legacy Software, 3111 S. Valley View, Suite A214, Las Vegas 89102. IBM and Atari ST versions available, Mac version planned; $49.95 plus $3.30 s&h; demo disk $10, specify 3 or 5 inch. Billed as "the automatic lineage chart maker" and as compatible with PAF, ROOTS III, Family Roots, Family Tree-ETC, others. FTP Keith Wehmeyer, Common Sense Software, FTP Program, 2068 Trailwood Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45230; prints a variety of interesting charts and indexes; available in PAF or Family Ties versions; requires IBM or compatible with 384K and DOS 2.1; $25 plus $2.50 s&h for either version, or $40 for both. A shareware incarnation, FTP.EXE (probably listed as FTP.ARC on BBSs) is available. THE GENEALOGY ASSISTANT L & H Enterprises, 9723A Folsom Blvd, #223, Sacramento, CA 95827. IBM and compatibles, 512K, hard disk required. Five below utilities on seven disks, $49 plus $4 s&h. Includes an indexer ($18+2), mailing list manager ($18+2), "tidbits" to organize miscellaneous notes ($18+2), libary organizer ($18+2) and correspondence log ($18+2). For ROOTS III Several utility packages are available from Commsoft (see ROOTS III for address) for ROOTS III. Among utilities available is ROOTS WRITER, a text processor which has been specially tailored to work with ROOTS III; REVENT, a historical book of days which helps add historical context to a family's past; a historiogrph utility; a calander converter; and RPLOT, a sophisticated chart utility. Write or call Commsoft for latest packages and prices. For FAMILY ROOTS TREE CHARTS is a supplemental program that uses the data files created by FAMILY ROOTS (Quinsept, Inc). It is available from Quinsept, Inc, P.O. Box 216, Lexington, Massachusetts 02173, phone 617-641-2930. Price is $60. TREE CHARTS creates and prints special wall-type charts in which each person is in a box, and linked vertically and horizontally to other members of the family. Written by Alexander G. M. Smith, 175 Daniel Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y OE1. Available in MS-DOS and Apple ProDOS. FAMILY CONNECTIONS, a utility program for IBM and compatibles with hard disk, prints a variety of reports using Family Roots data transformed into dBASE III format. Available from Quinsept (address above). It can also prepare Tiny Tafels from Family Roots database. Can import from: Family Roots data via FAMILY ROOTS and also TREE CHARTS, ROOTS II data via Pathways, PAF data via FRASC, dbASE type data via Nantucket's (Clipper) CXUTIL Utility, which is included in the package. Can export to: dBase, Lotus, Wordstar, Footprints in History, TinyTafel. For PAF GENEALOGY CONVERT, by Craig Miller. Written in Pascal for MS- DOS machines. Available as shareware on many BBSs as GENENUM.ARC (includes GENENUM.EXE and GENENUM.DOC). Also available on GEnie. Processes INDIV2.DAT file and copies RIN to the I.D. field. Avoids confusion with new files created by GEDCOM, which starts the numbering system for for both individuals and marriages all over again beginning with 1. The program repeats the RIN (up to 99,999), marks it distinctively so it won't be confused with the RIN on reports and permits a three letter or three numeral code to be added to help identify the file from which it came. GENE, GEDCOMG and Ged2TT, PAF add-ons to save, modify and display genealogy data, are add-ons by Andrew Koppenhaver and available as shareware on many BBSs. GEDCOMG transfers data back and forth between PAF (or any other genealogy program which is gedcom compatible) and GENE. GED2TT is a program to modify gedcom files and to create a TINY TAFEL file from one or more gedcom files. A documentation file (GSUMMARY.DOC) briefly describing all of the above programs is found in the archive file GGEDTT50.ARC. The GENE/GENEX/GEDCOMG programs and documentation are found in the archive GENEVnnn.ARC on many BBSs. The GED2TT program and documentation are found in GED2TT50.ARC. dBase Applications James Q. Cahill, Rt 2, Box 92, West Branch, IA 52358, has developed several utilities of interest to dBase III users: (1) Model database files with selected (or all) data for U.S. census of 1850, 1860, etc.; (2) model database files for Iowa censuses; (3) standards of usage and format for entry and later interpretation of census data; (4) program which enters unchanging fields for all or part of a data file, such as county, township; (5) program which computes and enters approximate year of birth based on age given in census, (6) programs which generates and enters Soundex-type code based on last name, first name and approximate year of birth in data file, or which generates a similar code for information entered on keyboard; (7) a find-and-display program which searches census data files for matches of keyboard entry. Write Cahill for more precise descriptions and prices (from $2 to $15 per unit), or call 319-643-2829 between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. This guide was compiled by RICHARD PENCE, 3211 Adams Ct, Fairfax, VA 22030 ==================================================================== -- W. Fred Rump office: fred.COMPU.COM 26 Warren St. home: fred@icdi10.COMPU.COM Beverly, NJ. 08010 bang: ...{dsinc uunet}!cdin-1!icdi10!fred 609-386-6846 "Freude... Alle Menschen werden Brueder..." - The Ode