Re: Genealogy Software

[Kilgallen@SpamCop.net (Larry Kilgallen)]

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).