MANUAL.TXT: Geni manual
=======================

This file describes the features of Geni in detail. You should start by
reading the file README.TXT and after installing (INSTALL.TXT) you are
advised to look at the tutorial (TUTORIAL.TXT).

Refer to the file INSTALL.TXT for instructions on how to intall Geni.


Table of Contents
=================

1    Using Ged2Geni
1.1  Editing GEDCOM tags
1.2  Building a Geni file
1.3  Preferences
1.4  Foreign character support
1.5  Summary

2    Using Geni
2.1  Loading your database
2.2  Ancestral tree display
2.3  Details view
2.4  Extras display
2.5  Searching
2.6  Help facilities
2.7  Zooming and the clock window
2.8  Editing data
2.9  Multiple databases
2.10 Deleting databases
2.11 Registering Geni


1. Using Ged2Geni
=================

Read through TUTORIAL.TXT to find out how to get started with Ged2Geni.
Once you have selected a GEDCOM file and provided a name for the Geni
database you will be given a menu with then following options:

   Edit GEDCOM tags
   Build Geni file
   Change Preferences
   Foreign characters
   Exit


1.1 Editing GEDCOM tags
-----------------------

Dealing with each of this in turn - "Edit GEDCOM tags" allows you to
ask Ged2Geni to keep extra information on each individual. By default
only a persons name, birth/christening, death/burial, marriage, spouses
and children are stored. Select this menu option and the screen changes
to a blank scrolling list. Press HELP to see what keys are available:

SPACE:
Press the space bar to add a new GEDCOM tag for Ged2Geni to look out
for. The "tag" field should contain the name of the GEDCOM tag which
matches the information you want to keep while the "name" field is
the title which will be used in Geni. A table of useful tags is given
below - select the ones you want (if any):

Tag   Meaning
BURI  Burial event (date, place)
CHR   Christening event
EDUC  Education
NOTE  Notes provided by the user
OCCU  Occupation or job
REFN  User-defined reference tag
RELI  Religion
RFN   User-defined reference tag
SEX   Usually "M" for male and "F" for female
SOUR  Source information - ONLY for old-style sources
TITL  The title of an individual, eg King, Mr

To record occupations you might enter the following into the dialog
box which appears:

   Tag:  OCCU
   Name: Occupation

Press ENTER to accept or ESCAPE to cancel.


ENTER:
This allows you to change the details of an existing tag. Highlight the
one you want to change and press the ENTER key. After altering the
information press ENTER to accept or ESCAPE to cancel.

DELETE:
Use this to delete the highlighted tag information.

ESCAPE
Return to the main menu, saving changes.

Note that all the details you set up here will be remembered for the
next time you use Ged2Geni. It is a good idea to check which tags have
been defined before building the Geni file (section 1.2).


1.2 Building a Geni file
-------------------------

The "Build Geni file" is the main option - select this to convert the
GEDCOM file into a Geni database. Wait for all the progress guages to
go away ("Processing records..." is the last one) and you will be left
with a window telling you how many individuals and families were found.
Press ENTER or ESCAPE to leave the program.

Once you have successfully created the Geni file you can delete the
GEDCOM file from your Psion to save precious disk space. You can also
remove Ged2Geni and all its files if you aren't going to use it very
often - refer to INSTALL.TXT for details.

NOTE: you can pause the conversion process at any time by pressing any
      key. Ged2Geni will bring up a small window asking if you want to
      quit or continue. Select the continue option when you are ready.
      Little or no battery power will be used when Ged2Geni is paused.


1.3 Preferences
----------------

Currently the "Change preferences" only allows you to ask Ged2Geni to
keep the RIN numbers for individuals. If you aren't sure what a RIN
is then you can ignore this setting - make sure it is set to "no". Use
the left or right arrow to change the current setting.


1.4 Foreign character support
------------------------------

The "Foreign characters" option is intended to help users with accented
characters in their databases. If you find that text with accents comes
out all wrong then try this option - select the type of computer which
was used to create the GEDCOM and press ENTER. If your GEDCOM does not
contain accented characters or was produced for a DOS machine then you
can ignore this menu option as no translation is required.

If your GEDCOM comes from a Windows PC then you should copy WIN95.TBL
into \APP\GED2GENI as instructed in INSTALL.TXT. Apple Macintosh users
need the MAC.TBL file - users of other computers should contact the
author for assistance.


1.5 Summary
------------

Users are expected to use Ged2Geni infrequently so the inconvenience of
having to create a special database for their Psion should be offset by
the advantages of being able to take the information into places such
as record offices and libraries in such a compact format.



2. Using Geni
=============

Before you can start to use Geni you must create a database using the
Ged2Geni program. If you haven't done this please go to section 1. 

2.1 Loading your database
-------------------------

After converting your GEDCOM file with Ged2Geni you can run Geni with
your newly created Geni database. On the Psion system screen you should
see the Geni icon with your new database underneath it. Select this
with the arrow keys and press the ENTER key to start.

There will be a short delay while Geni starts. If you have not
registered your copy then you will be prompted to do so (see the
section "Registering Geni") - press Escape to continue. When Geni has
finished initialising itself you will see an ancestral tree of the
first person in the database.


2.2 Ancestral tree display
--------------------------

The program begins by displaying an ancestral tree for the current
individual. This is either the first individual in the database or the
one which the user was at when the database was last used.

The ancestral tree display shows the current individual and their
parents and grandparents; the lifespan of each person is given for
clarity. From this screen users can browse to the parents, children,
siblings or spouses of the current individual via a few easy-to-
remember keypresses. Alternatively a detailed display of the current
individual can be viewed by pressing ENTER.

At the tree display the following keypresses are available:

     f     go to the father of the current individual
     m     go to the mother of the current individual
     s     select a spouse of the current individual
     c     select a child of the current individual
     o     go to the next oldest full sibling
     y     go to the next youngest full sibling
     x     show extra information on the current individual
   ENTER   show details of the current individual
   DIAMOND same as ENTER
   HELP    show the currently available key-presses
   MENU    bring up the application menu for more options

The "o" and "y" key presses browse to the next oldest or youngest full
sibling where "older" and "younger" is determined by the order in which
the siblings are listed in the GEDCOM rather than by age. Only full
siblings are considered - to browse to half-siblings press "f" or "m"
and then press "c". If the current individual is the oldest then the
"o" search wraps around to the youngest sibling. Similarly the "y"
search will wrap around if the current individual is the youngest.

If extra information is available an "X" will be displayed in the top
left corner of the screen. Refer to the section on Ged2Geni to find out
how to create this information. The section "Extras Display" explains
what to do after you've pressed "x".


2.3 Details view
----------------

On the details/family display you are shown the birth and death events
for the current individual (if known). If the birth is not known but a
baptism or christening is then the baptism is shown. Similarly burial
information is shown if no death info is known.

In addition to this the spouse/partner is shown along with the marriage
date and place. If there is more than one spouse/partner their name
will be shown inside two arrows and a position. If this is the third
spouse/partner out of 7 then 3/7 is shown. Press the left and right
arrows to change to a different spouse or TAB to jump to the current
spouse (make them the current individual).

If there are any children of the current couple these are shown in a
scrolling list at the bottom of the screen. Press the up and down arrow
keys to move through the list and ENTER to jump to a child.

As with the tree display, HELP provides context- sensitive help and
MENU brings up the application menu. Press ESCAPE or the DIAMOND key to
return to the tree display.


2.4 Extras display
------------------

If an "X" is shown in the top left of the screen then extra information
is available on the current individual. Press "x" to view this. If
there is only one piece of information (e.g. just an occupation) then
that will be shown directly otherwise a list of options will be
presented. Select the one you want and press ENTER; press ESCAPE to
return to the list.

When viewing the extra information the arrow keys will move around the
text just as in the Word application. Press MENU for more options - the
Find option may be useful for large pieces of extra information. Pressing
"P" or choosing "Previous" from the "Extras" menu will display the
previous piece of extra information. Likewise "N" or "Next" will show
the next piece. This saves you having to press ESCAPE to return to the
list of extras, scroll up or down and then press ENTER.


2.5 Searching
-------------

Individuals may be searched for by name from the menu. Searching is
case insensitive and limited pattern matching facilities are available
via the * and ? symbols. The * will match zero or more characters while
the ? matches any single character. For example, to find someone called
William Gordon with unknown middle names (or even no middle names) the
pattern "william*gordon" could be used. To search for someone whose
name might be spelt as Elizabeth or Elisabeth the pattern "eli?abeth"
should be used.

Surnames in Geni are enclosed in two slashes (/). This enables the user
to just search on a surname if they wish. For instance, to find the
first person in the database with the surname ROBERTS you should search
for the text "*/Roberts/". To find the next person in the database with
that surname use the "Find Again" menu option.

Note that Geni always adds a * after the pattern you type so "*b*sM?th"
matches "Fred /Blacksmith/ Jr" as well as names such as "Barbara /Smith/"
and "Basmyth".

There are no facilities for querying relationships or for searching for
people using anything other than their name. It is hoped that these
facilities will be available in version 2.00 of Geni.


2.6 Help facilities
-------------------

Context-sensitive help is available at all times by pressing HELP. This
will bring up a small window listing all the available key presses.
More detailed help can be obtained via the "Info" menu.


2.7 Zooming and the clock window
--------------------------------

The size of the text used to display the ancestral tree can be changed
by choosing the "Zoom in" and "Zoom out" menu options. Three sizes are
available - the medium and large settings just show three generations
(individual, their parents and their grandparents) while the smallest
size shows four generations (includes great-grandparents).

The current zoom settings will be retained after you quit Geni and be
used as the default level when you run Geni again. Note that the zoom
setting on the tree display is separate from that on the details and
extras displays so you can have a tiny font on the tree display and
a large one on the details view.

By default the full-size status window is displayed to the right of the
ancestral tree. Press Control-Menu to make the status window narrower
and press it again to make it disappear. Pressing it a third time will
bring it back at full size. Geni remembers what type of status window
you last used so you shouldn't need to keep fiddling with it!


2.8 Editing data
-----------------

There are no facilities for altering the information stored in the
database except by modifying the original GEDCOM file and recreating
the database with Ged2Geni. There is another Psion genealogy program
called KGene which allows users to edit their data and Geni has been
used successfully as a browser for it. Contact the programmer for
more information (see README.TXT).


2.9 Multiple databases
----------------------

Geni supports multiple databases although only one may be viewed at a
time. Various details of recently used databases are remembered such as
the current individual, search string, zoom settings etc so users can
leave Geni and restart at the point where they left off.


2.10 Deleting databases
-----------------------

Deleting a Geni database from your Psion isn't simply a matter of
choosing "Delete file" from the "File" menu of the system screen.

For technical reasons a Geni database consists of a small file which is
shown under the Geni icon on the system screen and a directory. The
directory contains all the main files that Geni needs and its name is
based on the file listed under the Geni icon.

There are two ways of remove an unwanted Geni database - the first way
is to use PsiWin/PsiMac/PsionLink. If your database is called MARTIN
then when you look in the \GENI directory you will see a file called
MARTIN.GNI and a directory called MARTIN. Delete the directory and it's
contents as well as the .GNI file.

If you want to delete the database without using PsiWin etc you should
highlight the name of the database under the Geni icon. Press the TAB
key and a list of files will appear. As before, if your database is
called MARTIN the file highlighted will be MARTIN.GNI and somewhere
above that will be a directory called \GENI\MARTIN.

Move the highlight over the directory name and press the MENU key. Now
select "Remove directory" from the "Directory" menu, make sure MARTIN\
(or whatever your directory is called) appears in the box and press
ENTER. Answer "yes" when you are asked if you want to delete the files
in \GENI\MARTIN\.

Now you will be dropped back to the system screen and you can choose
"Delete file" from the "File" menu to remove the MARTIN.GNI file.


2.11 Registering Geni
---------------------

Geni is shareware - this means that you can try it out for free and see
if it does what you want. If you don't like it you must delete your
copy. If you continue to use it Geni will stop working after 50 browses
and will only start working again once you register.

Registered users won't get the nagging screen asking you to register
and browsing will be slightly faster. Upgrades to future versions is
completely free.

Read the file REGISTER.TXT to find out how to register your copy.

  ===============================================================
   (c) Martin N Dunstan  (mnd@dcs.st-and.ac.uk)  March 20th 1998
  ===============================================================
