Re: Genealogy Software

[Bruce or Tracy Jacobs <bljacobs2@home.com>]

I wrote some that would convert Gedcom into a book format in HTML.  It
is a royal
headache.  Lots of stuff to consider and interpret and keep up with. 
Cross-ref'ing
is probably the most difficult part.

Larry Kilgallen wrote:
> 
> In article <3BD498DF.27E8B66C@otelco.net>, Larry Hazel <lhhazel@otelco.net> writes:
> > Does anyone know of any genealogy software written in Ada?  With source
> > available?  I thought I might attempt to write some.  Any suggestions for data
> > representation will be appreciated.  I haven't done much Ada 95, but a lot of
> > Ada 83.  Will need some way to represent dates going back hundreds of years
> > (maybe just a fixed length string since some of them will be of the form "ca.
> > 1784").  Will need a person object (maybe abstract with separate child types for
> > male and female).  Will link to other person objects which represent spouses,
> > children, and probably backward to parents.  An event object (marriage, birth,
> > death, buying or selling property, ...).  Bibliographical text will also be
> > needed.  Storage of scanned pictures and documents.
> >
> > Maybe this is too complicated for a 1 man home project.
> 
> It is complicated, but in this problem domain I do not think that
> means it is better suited to a larger development organization.
> Discipline is the main requirement, and to some extent that may
> be better achieved by an individual (who is properly motivated).
> 
> There are a lot of details to consider:
> 
>         You need to be able to express _multiple_ birth dates,
>         when there are conflicting data from various sources.
>         There must be a capability to tie each data element
>         back to a source document.  There must be an ability
>         to specify not only January 11-16, 1896 but also
>         January 11 _or_ 16, 1896 for cases where the source
>         document clearly is one or the other but which of
>         the two is not clear.
> 
>         For marriages, some people marry each other multiple
>         times (that is, the same partners changing their minds).
> 
>         I had a great uncle whose wife died, after which
>         he married her sister.  There were children from both
>         marriages.  That sort of arrangement formerly was quite
>         common in the US.  Obviously you can get that correct
>         in the computer -- the challenge is making the user
>         interface clear to the humans.
> 
> I would strongly urge you not to consider writing such software
> until you have tried some that already exists.  PAF was only $ 35
> the last time I checked, but it really is not necessary to buy
> such software for a peek.  Just find friendly genealogy fans to
> "show you" their family records and you will get to see the
> existing software in action.
> 
> Hang around the genealogy newsgroups/chat boards to learn areas of
> satisfaction and dissatisfaction with existing software.
> 
> The last I knew, GEDCOM was still the standard interface format.
> It has a real specification, available from the Church of Latter
> Day Saints (Mormons) in the US.  As part of their theology that
> church has done lots of genealogy work worldwide, and my wife has
> found they are quite open to sharing that information with any
> non-believers who are interested.  The only hitch is that film
> must be viewed on their property, since that is a condition of
> the agreements under which various town clerks let them film the
> records (before there were computers).