Macintosh Genealogy Utility Programs

The following list of software is in no particular order. It in no way endorses any particular program, but is merely to provide information for genealogists.

GEDcompanion

GEDcompanion creates descendants files that can be opened by MORE from Symantec Corporation or Org Plus from Banner Blue Software Inc. to produce beautiful wall charts. During the testing phase of GEDcompanion, these wall charts have been the hit of three family reunions - it makes it easy to see how members of a family are related. If you have been creating these kinds of charts by hand, or if you have just been wishing for a way to automatically turn your data into wall charts, GEDcompanion is the program for you!

GEDcompanion also creates "Family History" files. These are descendants files that can be opened up with virtually any word processor. Add a title page, choose a font, print, and you've just published a book of your family history! Family History files contain full names, date and place of birth, christening, death, and burial of all individuals and their spouses, along with the names of each spouse's parents. No longer do you have to print out all descendants to see them - just use your word processor to browse through the names.

GEDcompanion lets you create database files, tab-delimited text files that can be opened by virtually any spreadsheet or database program. Sort everyone in your database by date of birth, or search for everyone who was born, christened, died, or buried in the county you'll be visiting on your next trip. The possibilities are endless.

Finally, GEDcompanion also creates Ahnentafel files, standard textual pedigrees that show in a compact format all of an individual's direct ancestors.

GEDcompanion works under both System 6 (6.0.5 and later) and System 7. It is designed specifically for the Macintosh and fully implements the Macintosh user interface. Complete documentation is included. GEDcompanion is NOT shareware, but is available for just $20 from:

Mark Taylor
P.O. Box 2034
Cupertino, CA 95015-2034
Email: [email protected]

AF2MacPAF

AF2MacPAF is a Mac Perl Script. Mac Perl is a freeware programming language that is particularly good at manipulating strings and things like GEDCOM files. This version of AF2MacPAF is a perl runtime meaning that it has all of the Mac Perl runtime library packed away into it, just in case you do not have Mac Perl, and have no interest in getting it. If you already have Mac Perl then you can save this script as a "droplet" and save yourself nearly half a megabyte of disk space of library stuff that you already have in Mac Perl. The author has chosen to distribute the runtime version instead of the "droplet" assuming that most Mac PAF users will not have Mac Perl. (But remember it's free!)

If you experience any problems with this program, or like it, or want to swap ideas on making it better the author would be happy to hear from you. Here are some of the easy ways to get a hold of the author using email etc.:

David C. Adams
1625 Dixon Dr.
St. Paul Park, MN 55071
Phone: (612) 459-9685
FAX: (612) 683-5599
Email: [email protected]

MacPAF Utility

Author's comments: MacPAF Utility is a little "rough around the edges." That's because it's a utility program I created to generate some reports for myself. At the time, I was not interested in adding the fancy user interface that other programs have just extracting the data from the database. If enough people register and give me the incentive, a future version will have all the bells and whistles you're accustomed to. For now, though, you'll have no problem navigating through the program even with the "ancient" interface.

"This all looks suspiciously like the so-called beta version I downloaded a while ago." Yes, that's true, I created a beta version which had a lot of the functionality that this release version has. But this version has more. Users have requested a few new features which I have incorporated including the following:

1. Photo Support. This version of MacPAF Utility introduces a photo repository which allows you to link photos to your database records. The great thing about the photo repository feature is that color is supported even if you don't have a color monitor. The view may not look so good to you if you don't have a color monitor, but the image is properly preserved in your photo file for future computers or generations. Ah, but you have to register for complete documentation on the photo repository.

2. This version of MacPAF Utility allows individual records and marriage records to be exported into a tab- or comma-delimited text file. Such a file can be imported into a spreadsheet, database, or word-processor. Data in this format allows you to write your own reports. For example, once you have the individual's birth and death years, you can create a report based on the age of death (e.g., a simple spreadsheet formula like "=a7-a5"). You can also chart this or any other data to see, for example, the average number of children your ancestors had, the average age of death in the 1800's vs. that in the 1900's. There's no limit to what you can report. Sorting individuals by parent's MRIN, for example, will group all brothers and sisters together.

3. As in the beta version of the program, this version reports certain information on your Family Records database.

4. Also, as in the beta version of the program, this version supports birthday and anniversary filter lists. You can filter a list of individuals, for example, and return certain information on only the JOHNSONs in your database, or only those anniversaries in December.

Chris Miksanek
190 Oakland Grove
Elmhurst, Illinois 60126
Email: [email protected]

Also visit the CSAGSI Tool Page.

MacPAF Report Utility

Features:

• Name/Place Frequencies - These will generate files containing frequency counts of all the names used for people and places in the PAF database. Three different frequency counts are available: names of people, names of places, and by place name in different events.
• Data Export - This dumps the entire PAF database (except notes) into three files, ending in '-E', '-I' and '-F' for Events (birth, chr, death, burial), Individuals (names, gender) and Families (spouses, wedding dates, places, etc.) The fields are separated by tabs and therefore you can load them into a spreadsheet or database for analysis.
• Root Families - This will create a file that contains the family RIN (MRIN) for each family where neither the husband nor wife have a parent.
• Reference Note Summary - This option scans the notes field and prints any line that begins with ! - these are referred to as 'family notes' in the PAF reference manual.
• Soundex - This option will produce a list of soundex codes for surnames in the PAF database.
• Ahnentafel - This will generate an ahnentafel list. You will be prompted for an individual's RIN from PAF, a generation limit, and a file name to contain the resulting ahnentafel.
• Descending Charts - This will generate either descending or cascading descendant chart. If descending is checked, a single chart will be produced for the individual indicated. If Cascading is selected, a separate chart will be created for each new surname or generation for ancestors of the individual indicated.

All files generated can be read by a word processor for reports, or can be modified and read by a spreadsheet or database manager (ClarisWorks, FileMaker Pro, Panorama II, etc.) and sorted in various ways.

From the Author: "I originally created MPRU for my own needs and did not spend much time on the user interface and error recovery. When others expressed an interest in the program, I spent considerable time improving these two areas, though they still need work. This time, including learning and relearning quite a bit about Macintosh programming, has prevented me from completing some of the other features I want to add. I am therefore releasing MPRU as a shareware product to see if there is sufficient interest for me to continue investing in the usability features as well as new functions. If you find MPRU useful and are interested in seeing future releases, please register. Registered users will be notified of new MPRU versions, even if they are not released to the on-line services. New versions of MPRU will only be released to on-line services if there is sufficient interest." To register MPRU, send $20 (US) to:

Joe M. Oglesby
2075A Lakewood Club Drive S.
St. Petersburg FL 33712
Email: [email protected]

Home page: http://members.aol.com/nexialist/

When you register, please provide information on your system set-up (system, Mac type, memory & hard drive capacity, printer, preferred word processor, etc.) and an idea of the size of your PAF/FR database (number of individuals, marriages, names, etc.). Also, the author is interested the following surnames: Meriwether, Lawhon, Oglesby, Barker.

There is no additional fee for registered users of MPRU 1.0. The Register Report will appear in MPRU 2.0 and registered users of 1.x will get a discount on the 2.0 shareware fee.

RDFConvert

Perhaps the best way to use RDFConvert is for the conversion of GEDCOM files downloaded from the International Genealogical Index (IGI). All records with a certain surname can be downloaded into a disk to be run through this program. Research Data Filer can then be used to browse through those records to find individuals related to you.

If RDFConvert finds the parents for an individual, they will be written in the relationship field for each event for that individual. For example: an individual in a GEDCOM file has fields for a birth, christening, marriage, death, and burial. RDFConvert will create five separate records for an individual corresponding to the five events. If it only finds one event for an individual then only one record will be written. The parents of the individual will be written in each record except the marriage record. The spouse of the individual will be written in the relationship field for any record with a marriage event. RDFConvert will not create Research Data Filer records for any individual that shows events other than the five listed above.

Comments in Research Data Filer will be placed in the notes field of the GEDCOM file. RDFConvert will not convert document files. RDFConvert writes the last name first in both the name field and in the Relationship field.

RDFConvert will transfer a Research Data Filer file to GEDCOM only if it contains the following events: born, birth, blessed, blessing, christening, marriage, died, dead, death, burial, or buried. RDFConvert ignores any other events. RDFConvert examines each record in a Research Data Filer database separately. If an individual has a record for both a birth and christening, two entries will be written to the GEDCOM file. With this in mind it may be necessary to use the match/merge function in the Family Records program to merge individuals that are duplicates or that have different events.

This program is shareware. It may be freely distributed, but may not be sold or offered as an inducement to purchase another product. If you find this program to be a useful addition to your genealogical software library then send $10 to the author. This will encourage further development of PAF and GEDCOM utilities. You will also be notified of any major upgrades to RDFConvert and other utility software that may be written. The source code for RDFConvert is available for $30.

Send registration information and comments to:

Blake A. Rosenvall
209 NE 176th Ave
Vancouver, WA 98684
206-254-4770

PAF Extras Handler

There are seven Extras that are provided with the Family Records program (they are called the "standard Extras" within this document; see page 168 of your "Family Records Reference Guide" for more information about them). More Extras will become available from various programmers and genealogists as time goes by. To add new Extras to your copy of Family Records, you should only have to copy them to your "PAF 2.3.1" folder.

Unfortunately, there is a bug in Family Records which would normally prevent you from having more than eight Extras. Once you add a ninth Extra, the "Extras" menu stops working. The Extras Handler was developed to overcome this bug.

The Extras Handler allows you to store as many Extras as you like in a folder named "(PAF Extras)" that resides within the "PAF 2.3.1" folder (that is, the folder where the Family Records program resides). It allows quick access to other Extras by simply typing command-H (the command key is the one that has a cloverleaf shape on it). You can then navigate quickly to the desired Extra by using the arrow keys or typing the first few characters of the Extra's name. For those Extras which support it, an "About-box" can be invoked by clicking on the "About..." button or by typing command-A.

If you want, you can also place the standard Extras into the "(PAF Extras)" folder. They will then be accessible through the Extras Handler, and, in addition, will have extensive "About..." information available.

The Extras Handler supports the standard Extras provided with Personal Ancestral File, version 2.3.1. In addition, it supports all Extras produced by Cliffpoint Consulting; these have a slightly different file signature (not directly recognized by Family Records).

The reason for this different signature is to prevent accidentally activating the bug in Family Records if the Cliffpoint Extras are placed in the PAF folder, instead of the "(PAF Extras)" folder. Therefore, the Extras from Cliffpoint Consulting can only be used with the Extras Handler. The icon for the Cliffpoint Extras (with the exception of the Extras Handler itself) have a "plus-sign" on the right-hand side, instead of the usual left-hand side.

The Extras Handler is provided free of charge by Cliffpoint Consulting, in order to overcome a bug in Mac PAF and to encourage the development of new and more Extras for Mac PAF. The Extras Handler is Copyright 1996 by Cliffpoint Consulting, All rights reserved. The Extras Handler may be copied freely as long as this copyright notice is included and no charge is made for the product.

Cliffpoint Consulting
4941 Cliff Point Circle West
Colorado Springs, CO 80919-8110
Email: [email protected]

Home page: http://members.aol.com/cliffpoint/

PAF Extras

• Change Names-   this Extra allows you to change many occurrences of a single name. For instance, you may want to change the abbreviation "Mass" to "Massachusetts" wherever it occurs, or the surname "Douglass" to "Douglas".
• Quick Entry-   this Extra allows you to avoid confirming each new name as it is entered. Normally, whenever you enter a new name or place, Family Records will ask you to confirm the new name. Depending upon how things are set in the Preferences, you may need to retype the name. This Extra allows you to entirely avoid this confirmation process.
• Typing Delay-   This Extra allows you to adjust the delay time when selecting names in a list by typing. Many lists in Family Records allow you select names by typing characters on the keyboard (for example, "Find Individual by List"). However, the standard "delay time" when typing is often too short. This Extra will allow you to adjust the delay so that it is comfortable for you and your machine.
• Descendants to File-   this Extra allows you to create a text file with a list of descendants of your selected individual (the standard MacPAF will print out such a list, but does not allow for a text file with the same information).  Many formatting options are available.  This is very handy for sending a descendants' chart via e-mail.
• Focus Group Combiner-   this Extra allows you to combine focus groups in interesting ways.  Focus groups are an especially powerful tool in MacPAF, allowing you to print special reports, export subsets of individuals, and much more.  This Extra enhances your ability to create new focus groups.
• Multi-Delete-   this Extra allows you to delete many individuals at once, either by families or by focus groups.  Normally it is not a good idea to delete large numbers of individuals from your database, but occasionally such pruning may be necessary.  This Extra allows you to perform this function quickly and cleanly.

You can contact us by e-mail at [email protected] or by postal mail at:

Cliffpoint Consulting
4941 Cliff Point Circle West
Colorado Springs, CO 80919-8110

Home page: http://members.aol.com/cliffpoint/

PAWriter

The basic use of PAWriter is to generate a set of Lineage Chapters for a book, with Ahnentafels pasted in as needed. The edited Lineage Chapters can then be manipulated with FrameMaker's book functions, and an index for the entire book generated. n-Generation Pedigree Charts can also be included in the book. A Register may become a book. A (genealogical) Dictionary can be produced, with a separate chapter for people whose surnames start with a given letter or group of letters.

PAWriter produces an MML file on disk when a document such as a Birth Brief, Lineage chapter, Ahnentafel or Dictionary chapter is written. These documents are selected under the Write item in the File menu. (Only Pedigrees are printed out directly.) A FrameMaker 6 template is provided for each type of MML file. Each template contains formatting information for that type of MML file. The MML file should be Imported by FrameMaker into a copy of the template, and edited further as desired.

People appearing in the following types of documents are fully indexed by PAWriter: Lineage Chapters, Ahnentafels, Registers and Family Group Sheets. The index can generated by FrameMaker's Generate/Book function, using Standard Index with index markers. A special template is provided for the indexes. Of course, any template may be modified to suit specific needs. In the imported Ahnentafels and Lineage Chapters, indexed people are underlined. The underlining may be deleted or changed to some other format (such as a color) with Find/Change.

A 68030/40 or PowerMac CPU is required, with a speed of 25 MHz or faster recommended but not required. System 7.x is recommended. PAWriter will run nicely on a Mac with as little as one megabyte of free RAM, but its capacity for people will be noticeably limited. The preferred allocation for PAWriter is four megabytes, which is sufficient to contain records for about 12,000 people, with some notes. The maximum number of people permitted in a PAF file read into PAWriter is 32,766, which probably will require an allocation of eight megabytes or more.

PAWriter is shareware. If you decide to continue using it after a trial period of thirty days or so, please send $20 to:

Howard Metcalfe
2863 Westshire Drive
Hollywood CA 90068

Comments may also be directed to Howard at [email protected].

Family History Composer

Many options are built into Family History Composer to enable you to create your history the way you want it. You can compose as much or as little of your ancestry at any one time as you choose - from one lineage chapter to your entire ancestry. Title page, Table of Contents, Bibliography and Personal Name Index are yours for the asking. Capabilities such as source documentation, footnotes, italic type, exponents and column formatted text can be caused to appear in your history even if your genealogical database makes no formal provision for such necessities. Graphics and charts can be added to the composed histories using your word processor.

The free DEMO version of Family History Composer creates only two generations of one lineage at a time. All of the functionality of the utility is intact, however, so you can fully judge its capabilities, options, ease of use, and the design of its printed output. Vist the Cygnal Software web page to download the DEMO and a sample Family History.

Family History Composer 2 requires:

• Macintosh running System 7.
• Memory equal to 500 KB plus at least twice your GEDCOM size.
• Genealogical data in GEDCOM format.
• Word processor to read Rich Text Format (RTF) files.

Cygnal Software
1225 Vienna Dr. #986
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Email: [email protected]

Gene Utilities

Itasca Softworks
P.O. Box 427
Bagley, MN 56621-0427
Email: [email protected]

GEDCOM Families

This utility is especially helpful for those persons who do not use a dedicated genealogy program for their genealogy research. It gives access to GEDCOM information and eliminates the need for painstaking editing of GEDCOM files in a word processor. Of course, the file created using GEDCOM Families will also require editing, but at least the text is there in an organized manner.

Itasca Softworks
P.O. Box 427
Bagley, MN 56621-0427
Email: [email protected]

GEDCOM Transfer

Itasca Softworks
P.O. Box 427
Bagley, MN 56621-0427
Email: [email protected]

Genealogy Pro

Genealogy Pro requires a Macintosh computer with a 256K enhanced ROM or greater. This includes the Macintosh SE/30, MacintoshÊII range, LC range, Quadra range, Mac classic, Power Macintosh, and later models. Genealogy Pro does not currently support the Macintosh SE, Macintosh Plus or earlier models. Although all of the mentioned models are capable of producing all chart types, a Macintosh with an MC68LC040 or greater processor is recommended if a large quantity of circle charts are to be produced. Circle charts will print satisfactorily with an inkjet printer (Hewlett-Packard DeskWriter or Apple StyleWriter) but best results are obtained using a PostScript printer.

System requirements for Genealogy Pro is now MacOS System 7.0 or greater.

A demo version is available.

Genealogy Pro with manual costs only (US) $89.00 plus freight ($4 Australia, (US) $6 NZ, (US) $10 other).

To order send money (international bank cheque or money order in **Australian Dollars**) to:

Micro Evolution Technologies
72 Speight Street
Newport
Vic. 3015
Australia
Phone: 61 3 9399 1723 (mobile) 61 15 043 722
Email: [email protected]

Sparrowhawk 1.0

Sparrowhawk requires System 7.0 or higher. It is a fat binary and will run a bit faster on a Power Macintosh (the difference isn't as dramatic as you might expect because much of the Mac file system is emulated in the latest MacOS). Although the author can't say for sure, it probably doesn't work well (if at all) on 68000-based Macs, such as the SE or Classic.

Sparrowhawk is $20 shareware, half of which will go to the original author of GED2HTML (Gene Stark) and the other half will go to the author of Sparrowhawk. Payment for Sparrowhawk is accepted only through the Kagi Shareware payment system.

The author enjoys getting comments about Sparrowhawk, whether good or bad.

Brad Mohr
7519 34th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98115
Email: [email protected]

For more details on Sparrowhawk, go to Brad Mohr's Home Page.

Inquiry Tracker 1.2

Angela A. Trigg
557 Boulevard SE
Atlanta, GA 30312
Email: [email protected]

The Farmer's Plotter

James Rogers (Older Kids & Co.)
8547 E. Arapahoe Rd., #J-144
Greenwood Village, CO 80112
Email: [email protected]

InterCal

Calendar systems implemented are: Julian, Gregorian, "Western Historical" (a cross between the Julian and Gregorian), Jewish, Islamic, the Elliott Super (invented by the author of InterCal), the French Revolutionary calendar (the official calendar of France for a few years after the Revolution), and Mayan.

Certain religious holidays and festivals are highlighted (under user control) when they occur in a displayed month, regardless of which calendrical system is in use at the time. Some which can be highlighted are Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukah, Id al-Fitr, and the first day of Ramadan.

InterCal was designed with 16-inch or larger monitors in mind. But smaller monitors can be used if one is willing to scroll around the display. InterCal exists in a 680x0 version only (no native Power PC version). InterCal requires System 6 or later (it uses pop up menus) and 32-bit QuickDraw. (Actually, it will run without 32-bit QuickDraw with some annoying but non-fatal display anomalies.) Comments, corrections, bug reports, and suggestions are welcome by the author, Denis Elliott, at the following Internet address:

[email protected]

HaYom

To order HaYom, send a check for $36 (U.S.) to:

Arnold G. Reinhold
14 Fresh Pond Place
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 491-4937
Email: [email protected]

You can also visit the HaYom On-line Hebrew Calendar home page

What Day?

What Day? is Shareware. If you find it useful, please send $5.00 to:

David T. Haberly
Seasonal Software
P. O. Box 81
Crozet, VA 22932

GeneDraw

What is GeneDraw? Where to find it? The principle...

GeneDraw is a software to manage and to draw Family Trees for the MacOs (which means the Macintosh and PowerMacintosh computers). This program permits to draw family trees very easily by sliding on a white page the symbols which you seek in the Toolbars. To establish a relationship between two symbols, it is sufficient to choose a type of link (childrenhood, brotherhood, marriage, etc...) in the Toolbar.As soon as a symbol is slided on the page, its file is created. To enter that file, and it is not written, you just have to click on its symbol... You then access an individual file where it is possible to attach to the person some texts, some sounds some QuickTime films, some photos... and all kind of document (for example a text in Word) which GeneDraw will be able to follow. The basic of GeneDraw reside in its capability to see a family no longer as a list but but as a big tree in which we click to go and get information which catches (sound, picture, video). * The Ideal way to discover it is to try it by downloading the demonstrator for MacOS.

The users : GeneDraw therfore serves the purpose of drawing Family Trees, which means manage families. Acces on multimedia and equiped of a free Run Time (all with the mouse). It is suitable for family use even if many genetic loboratories, doctors, notaries, science faculties, have already adopted it (version specially adapted to doctors is available).

History : GeneDraw was born in June 1993 from an idea by Philippe PUECH and was rapidly edited by JoliCiel. It has received numerous rewards : * UNIVERS MAC : March 1994 Disquette Program * SVM Mac : Four mouses on Five in June 1994 * SVM Mac and Apple News : elected third of the Top CD in June 1996). * Fifth of the Top Mac in August/September 1996 Points of sale : For a long time sold by correspondance by JoliCiel (announced in the main magazines), GeneDraw is presently available in FNAC all over France. The medical version is always available from JoliCiel 3 square Jacques Menier 77186 NOISIEL FRANCE Tel : 01 64 11 90 56 Fax : 01 64 11 90 55

Next version of GeneDraw...

GeneDraw is actually at version 2.0.7. The programming of a new version 3.0 is presently in production and should open the door to the Power PC and the Windows world. This version will be completely rewritten in C++ and will be compatible with the GEDCOM standard. It should not be available before September 1997 (yes 1997 !)

Note : A version 2.0.8 could eventually could eventually come out, being formed of a version 2.0.7 containing GEDCOM and other minor improvements. More information on the details will soon be given here...

Demonstrator downloading

You can download the demonstrator of version 2.0.7 grand public de GeneDraw. This version is completely usable with a limit of 20 symbols per page.

Note : a demonstration of the medical version is available by mail from JoliCiel.

Minimal configuration : Macintosh Plus with system 7 and 4 Mo of active memory.

Desired configuration : Processor 68030 or better, system 7, coloured screen, hard drive of 8Mo of active memory.

Compatible PowerMacintosh. Genedraw 2.0.7 demo + two examples (405 ko).

Write to the author...

To send me quickly a remark you can use Email: othervise, if you want to ask a question on the performance of GeneDraw or get help, you should preferably use the form below....

Philippe PUECH appt 17 - 17 rue Jules Lefebvre 59000 LILLE FRANCE

please do not send by registered mail, or they will not be treated.

Home page: http://genedraw.online.fr/

Reunion Planner

The program is password protected, but you can download and try the demo for free. (The demo is restricted to a maximum of ten records.)

Cost : $59.95

Home page: http://www.minutiaesoftware.com/reunion.htm

Bygones

The current version of Bygones is 0.9d. It is a full working program, but it does not include any technical support; and only some rough drafts of the first few chapters of the manual are currently available. There is a Bygones Users Mailing List to which you can submit questions.

Home page: http://home.utah-inter.net/bygones/

GedPage

Cost : $10.00

Home page: http://www.frontiernet.net/~rjacob/gedpage.htm

GenScribe

Cost : $12.00

Home page: http://www.ultranet.com/~psherman/genscribe.html

Last update 11 November 2002

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