A genealogical database
By Ian and Mark Baker v2.20, 16 September 1995
Family tree is a genealogy program (as if you could not tell from the name…) for the Atari ST. It uses the GEM graphical user interface, so is fairly easy to use.
My father and brother were both involved in tracing their family history. They wanted to transfer their data to the computer, but could not find a suitable program for the Atari ST. None of the programs in the public domain at the time were suitable. One of them, which otherwise seemed quite good, deliberately avoided using GEM. It even boasted that you would not need to use the mouse! It was very difficult to use, and you wonder why the author bought an ST and not a PC clone.
So this program was written. It uses GEM as much as possible, so should be easy to pick up. It should work with all operating system versions, including MultiTOS, use all available memory and the whole of the screen area (if you have Overscan, a TT or a large screen monitor).
The program will print details of the people you have entered and their family trees on any standard printer that you would use for word processing. It can also produce better presented printouts and family trees using GDOS if you have this installed. If you have read in magazines how difficult GDOS is and are a little bit apprehensive about this, don't be. Read Appendix A instead!
This is very simple. If you are using floppies it will work as it is distributed - but please make a backup rather than using the original. On a hard disc, create a folder for it (you can call it anything you like) and copy the program GEN.PRG and the resource files into it.
There are two resource files included. GEN_8X8.RSC is used on systems with an 8x8 screen font, such as ST medium res, and GEN.RSC on all others. It doesn't look quite as good, but will work on all current and future display modes because it does not rely on the text size. You do not have to rename the files as was necessary with earlier versions of Family Tree. It loads the appropriate one for you.
The on-line help requires the ST-Guide desk accessory to be active. This means that ST-GUIDE.ACC is included in the root directory of your boot disc. ST-Guide is described by its author, Holger Weets, as Fairware. If you make regular use of it you should send him a donation to ensure the continued development of the system.
In the UK, if you wish to send a donation, send £6 or more to
Joe Connor, 65 Mill Road, Colchester, Essex CO4 5LJ
Joe Connor is handling registration in the UK for a number of shareware programs.
Elsewhere, send donations to
Holger Weets, Tangastrasse 45, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany
email: Holger [email protected]
Bank details: Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg KTO.(Account No): 023-182 041 BLZ.(Sort code) : 280 501 00
You must read and understand this chapter if you are to use Family Tree effectively. While it may seem intuitive, a few things are not quite so obvious, at least, not until you have been told!
First of all, when loading your family tree data, because the database consists of several files, you do not select a file in the file selector. Simply select the folder containing your data (which will have names like P0000010.GEN) and click OK. The exception is when you are starting a new database. The file name you type here will be used to create a new folder in which to store your data.