Dear Mr Bisset: The program I referred to, "PAFability", would produce reports of single ancestor descendants or a report of all ancestors depending on the options chosen. If I started with myself, I could get a report that listed all of my ancestors and all of their descendants. If I started with one of my children it would list in addition, all of my wife's ancestors and all of their descendants as well as mine. If I started with my youngest grandchild, I would get a report that includes virtually everyone in my file (35,000 people and nearly 3000 pages. Fortunately the printer currently sulking, printed 9 pages per minute) There is a copy I produced some years ago in the Public Library in Sudbury, Ontario. My file includes ancestors of a brother-in-law which, not being my ancestors, will not appear in the file. When it reported on my sister, it would report the name of her husband and that he was the son of his parents, but pursue his line no further. If I started with a nephew son of that brother-in-law, it would report all of his ancestors first, then give all of my sisters ancestors which part would be identical to a report starting with me. Depending on whom you started with and how many generations to report, it was possible to produce a report of very specifically a particular family group, such as a report for a cousin found on the Aberdeen list. If I started the report with the common ancestor I could produce one that included only those persons in my tree that are also in his tree. Referring to the reply from "Carol", Her reference to a "Modified Register Report" sounds rather like Latter Day Saints, in writing a windows compatible version, incorporated all of the features of "PAFability". In this context a "Register" report is one in the format of the New England Genealogical Register. "Modified" indicates that the report will pursue female descendants as well as male. The original Register format pursued only male descendants. In fact if I cannot get the printer attached to the antique computer running on DOS 6, up and running again , it is probable I ought to install a newer version of PAF on the machine running on Windows XP. I would do this only if the Register Format reports were available in the newer versions of PAF. I was surprised at the listers who had trouble transferring the files from one genealogy program to another. Doing this was the original intention of the Gedcom File. If both programs are compatible with Gedcom Files there should be no problem. M Keith Abel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexander Bisset" <A-Bisset@aberdeen-harbour.co.uk> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 4:42 AM Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software > However the original poster DID NOT ASK for something that can take anyone > you choose and produce a descendant tree, almost all FT programs can do > that. What he asked was a program that searched ALL of your most distant > ancestors and produced a report for the lot of them in one go. That is > radically different from MANUALLY searching for the top of each tree and > MANUALLY clicking to produce a descendant report for each line. > > Sadly I know of no such program. Most programs work on the basis of > producing ancestor or descendant reports based off a starting individual. > I've not seen one that automatically trawls your database and gets the > most distant ancestors from each branch. > > I have however got a "treetops" report on my list of things to add to my > FT Analysis program I'm writing. This little program takes a Gedcom 5.0 or > 5.5 file and produces various reports. At present they are lists of "loose > deaths" (people who you know death information for but their death entry > hasn't got that data explicitly recorded), lists of locations sorted by > country, region(county/state), parish etc. Lists of people at those > locations. Lists of people who according to your Gedcom may have been > alive at a specific date but for whom you have no census info. This is > particularly useful for remembering to add people to > http://www.lostcousins.com etc. > > A "treetops" report is on my to do list this is a list of all the people > who are direct ancestors at the top of your tree. Effectively a treetops > report would list all of your most distant direct ancestors you have found > for every branch of your tree. This would not do what the original poster > asked but it might at least make the process of producing the manual > reports somewhat easier as you'd have a list of who to start your reports > from. > > -- > Alexander Bisset > IT Administrator Aberdeen Harbour Board > > -----Original Message----- > From: aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com] > On Behalf Of Ray Forsberg > Sent: 10 March 2010 01:47 > To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software > > Hi all, > > I have the PAF 5 version and it works just fine - will do all you > ask. This is free from the IGI. I am running on a older version of > Windows (can't remember what it is called - a "senior's moment" I'm > afraid). It is not Vista - the one before it. PAF 5 and its upgrades > will produce beautiful "modified registers" for anyone in the > database. > > Cheers, > > Carol > >> On 10 March 2010 09:59, Gordon McLeod <gordon@shieldaig.com> wrote: >> One thing to consider, whichever, software you use is whether or not your >> Windows operating system is 64bit or 32bit. Many of the older programs >> work >> if you installed or had installed Windows 7 32bit but don't worked at all >> if >> you install Windows 7 64bit. >> >> Gordon >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com >> [mailto:aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com] >> On Behalf Of Isobel Davidson >> Sent: March-09-10 3:34 PM >> To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com >> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >> >> I have windows 7 and, because I have never liked FTM2008 tried the >> previous >> version first - which doesn't work on vista. Works perfectly on Windows 7 >> so I am now very happy! >> >> Isobel >> >> Ann Zeman wrote on March 2010 21:57 >> >> I just got a new laptop with Windows 7; found my Family Tree Maker >> software >> wasn't compatible; contacted the FTM company to see if there was a >> software >> patch; NO, there wasn't. I had to buy a new Family Tree Maker, which I >> installed, However! It won't open any of my old FTM files. >> Big sigh. I have to wait to have a free 4 or 5 hours (and a quiet mind) >> to >> try to phone FTM back and see if there's a solution. Isn't technology >> interesting. >> Ann Z >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "M Keith Abel" <kabel@kingston.net> >> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 11:24 AM >> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >> >> >>> Dear Colin: >>> >>> I am using a program which will do exactly as you describe but I suspect >>> it is all obsolete now. The Genealogy Program was Personal Ancestral >>> File Version 2.3 >>> >>> A program called "Pafability" written by an American Woman, I believe in >>> Washington DC, was capable of reading the files produced by PAF 3 and >>> assembling fully and beautifully worded reports beginning with anyone of >>> your choosing. Unfortunately Paf 3 would not work with any version of >>> Windows and as far as I know, the versions of PAF that do work with >>> Windows have a different File Structure and don't work with Pafability. >>> >>> A complication of my own: the printer that works on the computer with my >>> genealogy program has gone into a sulk and won't print anything. I think >>> all it needs is a cleaning out but I haven't found anyone to clean out >>> an >>> antique printer. >>> >>> Perhaps someone out there knows if the newer versions of PAF that >>> operate >>> with Windows have the very fine report generating capability that >>> "Pafability" had. >>> >>> M Keith Abel >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Colin Speed" <colin@caspeed.co.uk> >>> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com>; <angus@rootsweb.com>; >>> <sct-fife@rootsweb.com> >>> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 12:51 PM >>> Subject: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >>> >>> >>> > Some years ago I had a family tree program which could generate >>> > descendant >>> > reports for my entire database automatically. That is to say that it >>> > would >>> > analyse the database and work out the oldest memn=bers of each line, >>> > then >>> > start a new chapter for that line. >>> > >>> > Is there any existing program which will do this nowadays, preferrable >>> > not >>> > too expensive. My old programme was not compatable with a Windows >>> > Update >>> > (it >>> > was Windows 95 or (* I thing) >>> > >>> > Many thanks >>> > >>> > Colin >>> >

Indeed, it's a pain when REALLY useful features like that get left out of more recent versions of family tree software. I've noted over the years that there has been a trend to make FT software "easier" to cope with the massive increase in the numbers of people using software to record their trees. Unfortunately this making it "easier" tends to come at the expense of the more useful features, and those of us used to programs doing things a certain way tend to either stick to old versions or get frustrated by having to work around the newer "features" of software. Unfortunately this trend does also mean that often older versions get left behind and don't work on newer hardware or operating systems, and at some point we are forced to do as you do and struggle to maintain really old hardware or we bite the bullet and reluctantly upgrade and simply lament the lack of that favoured report that we relied on in the old version. All the while muttering about "progress" and why is it needed :) I fully agree that the ability to produce "proper" reports that list everyone related to an individual is a feature often lacking from todays commercial software. Too often we have ancestor reports or descendant reports or mish-mash hybrids that are suitable for neither purpose. I'm sure this is because they are aimed at people who have trees with a few hundred people in them and not at those of us that have a few thousand. It is because of this inability to get decent reports from such programs I started writing a program to produce my own. The best commercial software I came across for ad-hoc reports is Family Historian http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ which works directly on GEDCOM files and purports to be the only 100% compatible program for reading and writing GEDCOM. It's own "All Relatives" tree reports were the closest to what I was after, as well as its free form reporting ability which is amazingly good. The thing I didn't like much was its data entry and since this is the most often used side of a FT program I stuck with Family Tree Maker and upgraded to FTM 2010. I am, however, thinking of changing as there is a MAJOR bug in FTM 2010 in that it does NOT sort people with the same name by date. As I am doing a one name study of Bisset's in NE Scotland it's a right royal pain in FTM 2010 to see my 217 William Bissets sorted by surname & forname (all of course identical). I can display their birth date but it doesn't extend the sort to birth date. So it takes ages to find the one you are looking for. In FTM 2006 & 2008 it did sort by birth date so this is a new bug, and one that drives me mad. PS. 35k people is really impressive, puts my own 7k to shame. -- Alexander Bisset IT Administrator Aberdeen Harbour Board -----Original Message----- From: aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of M Keith Abel Sent: 10 March 2010 14:21 To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software Dear Mr Bisset: The program I referred to, "PAFability", would produce reports of single ancestor descendants or a report of all ancestors depending on the options chosen. If I started with myself, I could get a report that listed all of my ancestors and all of their descendants. If I started with one of my children it would list in addition, all of my wife's ancestors and all of their descendants as well as mine. If I started with my youngest grandchild, I would get a report that includes virtually everyone in my file (35,000 people and nearly 3000 pages. Fortunately the printer currently sulking, printed 9 pages per minute) There is a copy I produced some years ago in the Public Library in Sudbury, Ontario. My file includes ancestors of a brother-in-law which, not being my ancestors, will not appear in the file. When it reported on my sister, it would report the name of her husband and that he was the son of his parents, but pursue his line no further. If I started with a nephew son of that brother-in-law, it would report all of his ancestors first, then give all of my sisters ancestors which part would be identical to a report starting with me. Depending on whom you started with and how many generations to report, it was possible to produce a report of very specifically a particular family group, such as a report for a cousin found on the Aberdeen list. If I started the report with the common ancestor I could produce one that included only those persons in my tree that are also in his tree. Referring to the reply from "Carol", Her reference to a "Modified Register Report" sounds rather like Latter Day Saints, in writing a windows compatible version, incorporated all of the features of "PAFability". In this context a "Register" report is one in the format of the New England Genealogical Register. "Modified" indicates that the report will pursue female descendants as well as male. The original Register format pursued only male descendants. In fact if I cannot get the printer attached to the antique computer running on DOS 6, up and running again , it is probable I ought to install a newer version of PAF on the machine running on Windows XP. I would do this only if the Register Format reports were available in the newer versions of PAF. I was surprised at the listers who had trouble transferring the files from one genealogy program to another. Doing this was the original intention of the Gedcom File. If both programs are compatible with Gedcom Files there should be no problem. M Keith Abel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexander Bisset" <A-Bisset@aberdeen-harbour.co.uk> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 4:42 AM Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software > However the original poster DID NOT ASK for something that can take anyone > you choose and produce a descendant tree, almost all FT programs can do > that. What he asked was a program that searched ALL of your most distant > ancestors and produced a report for the lot of them in one go. That is > radically different from MANUALLY searching for the top of each tree and > MANUALLY clicking to produce a descendant report for each line. > > Sadly I know of no such program. Most programs work on the basis of > producing ancestor or descendant reports based off a starting individual. > I've not seen one that automatically trawls your database and gets the > most distant ancestors from each branch. > > I have however got a "treetops" report on my list of things to add to my > FT Analysis program I'm writing. This little program takes a Gedcom 5.0 or > 5.5 file and produces various reports. At present they are lists of "loose > deaths" (people who you know death information for but their death entry > hasn't got that data explicitly recorded), lists of locations sorted by > country, region(county/state), parish etc. Lists of people at those > locations. Lists of people who according to your Gedcom may have been > alive at a specific date but for whom you have no census info. This is > particularly useful for remembering to add people to > http://www.lostcousins.com etc. > > A "treetops" report is on my to do list this is a list of all the people > who are direct ancestors at the top of your tree. Effectively a treetops > report would list all of your most distant direct ancestors you have found > for every branch of your tree. This would not do what the original poster > asked but it might at least make the process of producing the manual > reports somewhat easier as you'd have a list of who to start your reports > from. > > -- > Alexander Bisset > IT Administrator Aberdeen Harbour Board > > -----Original Message----- > From: aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com] > On Behalf Of Ray Forsberg > Sent: 10 March 2010 01:47 > To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software > > Hi all, > > I have the PAF 5 version and it works just fine - will do all you > ask. This is free from the IGI. I am running on a older version of > Windows (can't remember what it is called - a "senior's moment" I'm > afraid). It is not Vista - the one before it. PAF 5 and its upgrades > will produce beautiful "modified registers" for anyone in the > database. > > Cheers, > > Carol > >> On 10 March 2010 09:59, Gordon McLeod <gordon@shieldaig.com> wrote: >> One thing to consider, whichever, software you use is whether or not your >> Windows operating system is 64bit or 32bit. Many of the older programs >> work >> if you installed or had installed Windows 7 32bit but don't worked at all >> if >> you install Windows 7 64bit. >> >> Gordon >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com >> [mailto:aberdeen-bounces@rootsweb.com] >> On Behalf Of Isobel Davidson >> Sent: March-09-10 3:34 PM >> To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com >> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >> >> I have windows 7 and, because I have never liked FTM2008 tried the >> previous >> version first - which doesn't work on vista. Works perfectly on Windows 7 >> so I am now very happy! >> >> Isobel >> >> Ann Zeman wrote on March 2010 21:57 >> >> I just got a new laptop with Windows 7; found my Family Tree Maker >> software >> wasn't compatible; contacted the FTM company to see if there was a >> software >> patch; NO, there wasn't. I had to buy a new Family Tree Maker, which I >> installed, However! It won't open any of my old FTM files. >> Big sigh. I have to wait to have a free 4 or 5 hours (and a quiet mind) >> to >> try to phone FTM back and see if there's a solution. Isn't technology >> interesting. >> Ann Z >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "M Keith Abel" <kabel@kingston.net> >> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 11:24 AM >> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >> >> >>> Dear Colin: >>> >>> I am using a program which will do exactly as you describe but I suspect >>> it is all obsolete now. The Genealogy Program was Personal Ancestral >>> File Version 2.3 >>> >>> A program called "Pafability" written by an American Woman, I believe in >>> Washington DC, was capable of reading the files produced by PAF 3 and >>> assembling fully and beautifully worded reports beginning with anyone of >>> your choosing. Unfortunately Paf 3 would not work with any version of >>> Windows and as far as I know, the versions of PAF that do work with >>> Windows have a different File Structure and don't work with Pafability. >>> >>> A complication of my own: the printer that works on the computer with my >>> genealogy program has gone into a sulk and won't print anything. I think >>> all it needs is a cleaning out but I haven't found anyone to clean out >>> an >>> antique printer. >>> >>> Perhaps someone out there knows if the newer versions of PAF that >>> operate >>> with Windows have the very fine report generating capability that >>> "Pafability" had. >>> >>> M Keith Abel >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Colin Speed" <colin@caspeed.co.uk> >>> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com>; <angus@rootsweb.com>; >>> <sct-fife@rootsweb.com> >>> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 12:51 PM >>> Subject: [ABERDEEN] Family Tree Software >>> >>> >>> > Some years ago I had a family tree program which could generate >>> > descendant >>> > reports for my entire database automatically. That is to say that it >>> > would >>> > analyse the database and work out the oldest memn=bers of each line, >>> > then >>> > start a new chapter for that line. >>> > >>> > Is there any existing program which will do this nowadays, preferrable >>> > not >>> > too expensive. My old programme was not compatable with a Windows >>> > Update >>> > (it >>> > was Windows 95 or (* I thing) >>> > >>> > Many thanks >>> > >>> > Colin >>> > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ______________________________________________________________________ This message has been checked by Dionach for all known viruses using MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service. For further information visit http://www.dionach.com ______________________________________________________________________ This message has been checked by Dionach for all known viruses using MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service. For further information visit http://www.dionach.com