+-------------------------------------------+ | "TTGEN" | | Tiny Tafel Generator and Editor Program | | Written by Tom P. Douglas, March, 1987 | +-------------------------------------------+ COPYRIGHT (c) 1987 BY TOM P. DOUGLAS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PORTIONS COPYRIGHT (c) 1984, 85 & 86 BY BORLAND INTERNATIONAL. NOTICE: Sale of this software beyond cost of media for any reason without prior written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This software is not to be used as an incentive toward any purchase of any product or service. Free, non-commercial distribution of this software with this document file, all unaltered, is welcomed and encouraged. VERSION: 1.00 (beta test), released 22 March 1987. AUTHOR: Tom P. Douglas P. O. Box 9046 Colorado Springs, CO 80932 (303) 635-2061 "Please forward any bug reports, comments and suggestions regarding this software to the above address. Thank you!" OBJECTIVE: To provide a properly formatted, compact ASCII file that describes a family database so that the information can be scanned visually or by computer. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Commsoft (2257 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94903) for providing the text file, SPEC.TT (v 1.16) which TTGEN is based on. This file describes the Tiny Tafel "based on an article titled Tiny-Tafel for Database Scope Indexing by Paul Andereck in the April-May-June 1986 (vol 5, number 4) issue of Genealogical Computing." You may wish to refer to this file for the full format description. And thanks to Mid Kolstad of Colorado Springs for loaning me her books and (hopefully) getting me squared away on the proper Soundex coding. BETA TESTING -------------- This version of TTGEN (1.00) is a "Beta Test" version. This means that this software's developement is in the preliminary stages and is released to the public for evaluation. Therefore this software should be used with caution, checking it's created or edited files for errors, and providing feedback (bug reports, suggestions, comments, etc.) to the author. Should the program display an error and "Program Aborted" messages and return to your operating system's prompt, please write down the entire error message (error type, number and "PC=" code). The software version number (found on the introduction screen) will be needed also. A report of what you did just prior to the program abort would be helpful as well. Any and all inputs are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated. The author, Tom Douglas, can be best contacted via FidoMail (Node 128/15), FidoNet's National Genealogy Conference, or U.S. Mail (P.O. Box 9046, Colorado Springs, CO 80932). It is inticapated that future versions of TTGEN will continue to be released as freeware to the public. ABOUT TTGEN ------------- TTGEN was written on a CP/M machine, using Borland International's excellent Turbo Pascal. TTGEN is designed to create and properly format a Tiny Tafel file quickly and easily. The files created or edited are in ASCII form and are designed to be read visually or by computer. Soundex Codes are automatically calculated for each surname in the files. Since TTGEN and TGENINST is not entirely "idiot proof", you should take it easy and watch the prompts and instructions that appear on your screen. You shouldn't have any problem with those as most (if not all) are at least fairly straight-forward. INSTALLING TTGEN ------------------ You should have a backup copy of TTGEN.ARC or TTGENCPM.LBR before you proceed beyond this point. Installation is optional for MS-DOS machines. TTGEN uses cursor positioning and screen clear commands which varies from computer to computer (CP/M). Therefore you need to "install" TTGEN to operate properly on your particular screen (terminal). TGENINST.COM, TGENINST.DTA, and TGENINST.MSG are required to make the installation. Once TTGEN is installed and you are satisfied with the installation, these 3 TGENINST.* files may be purged from your work disk. Type "TGENINST" (without the quotes, of course) and depress the Carriage Return or Enter key (noted hereon as [CR]). At the first prompt, enter "S" to enter the terminal installation procedure. If your terminal is listed, select it by number and [CR]. You'll then be asked if you want to modify your terminal parameters. Chances are, you don't need to modify it. Hit "N" to bypass the modify option. If your terminal is not listed, select the number for "Terminal Not Listed". You will need to refer to your system users manual for Screen Sequence Commands. You will then receive a series of prompts for the command information. Only the clear screen and cursor positioning sequence commands are required to run TTGEN; the remainder of the prompts may be answered just by a [CR]. The next prompt is for your computer's clock speed. This information is used for timing applications within programs which are not used in TTGEN. With that, just press [CR]. The last option is to install again or to quit. Hit "Q" to exit the installation utility. USING TTGEN ------------- Type "TTGEN" and a [CR]. The title screen will come up momentarily, along with a date prompt. Enter the day's date as mmddyy (2 numeric digits for the month, 2 for date, and last 2 of year). The next prompt you'll see is for a file name. Specify the name of your Tiny Tafel (TT) file as you would name any file, and hit [CR]. If no extention is specified, ".TT" is used. If you are in doubt about file names, go to your system users manual. If the named file is found on disk, it is read into memory. Otherwise you'll be queried rather if you want to create a new file or not. If you choose not to create one, you'll have another chance at naming your file. A [CR] without any entry at the file name prompt will send out on the way out of TTGEN. Confirm that you do want to get "dumped" out of the program and into the operating system. Going on in TTGEN, the first screen contains the header data about the person having custody of the family information. If you have just created the TT file, you'll already be in the "edit mode". Otherwise you'll see an "Information okay?" prompt. Hit "N" to go into the edit mode. In the edit node, a note between the 2 rows of "="'s will give you more specific instructions and formatting information to "jog your memory". Enter each line in full to make the entry. Simply hit [CR] to default the line as is. Or enter a space and [CR] to null the line. The Header Data screen entries are as follows: NAME: This entry is manditory! This is the name of the person having custody of the family data. You will not be able to exit the current screen without this entry! ADDRESS #: 5 lines of the person's address are available. Although optional, it would be a wise idea to input that information. That makes it alot easier for follow researchers to contact the named custodian (unless he or she is renouned throughout the world, of course). TELEPHONE: Optional; just don't forget to include the area code. INFO COMM: Optional; communication service used for research or contact, with telephone number and area code if applicable. Entry format: service/telephone Use MCI, ITT, ONT, RCA, ESL, CIS, SOU, etc. (e.g., CIS/77123,512). BBS INFO: Optional; custodian's Bulletin Board System (BBS) name and telephone number with area code. Entry format: BBS/telephone BBS CONFIG: Optional; communications configuration of above BBS. Entry format: nnnn/X/P where nnnn = maximum baud rate X = O(riginate only), A(nswer only), B(oth) P = Protocol (Xmodem, Kermit, etc.) DISK FORMAT: Optional; diskette format used by custodian. Entry format: d/f/c where d = disk diameter (3, 5, 8) f = disk format MS-DOS, Apple II, etc. c = disk capacity in KB or MB (specify which) FILE FORMAT: Optional; data file format, or simply put, database software used (Roots II, Roots/M, PAF Version 1, etc.). Free form entry. REMARKS: Optional; free form entry. After going through the inputs, you'll be queried if these inputs are alright. Hit "N" and you'll repeat the above inputs again. Otherwise TTGEN will proceed to the next phase, the genealogical data entries. This is where the family information goes. Select: "N" to make a new entry; "F" to display the next entry; "B" to display the previous entry; "E" to edit an existing entry currently on display (watch for instructions between the 2 rows of "="'s); "D" to delete an existing entry currently on display; "L" to look at all of the entries in memory so far; "S" to save the TT to a disk file and prompt for another file name; "A" to abort the work file (return to header information or name another work file). Each entry has the following entries: SURNAME: Manditory; surname being researched. Up to 5 seperate spellings are permitted to be used. If using more than 1 name, seperate the names by a "," (comma) delimiter. ANCESTOR'S BIRTH YEAR: Manditory; earliest known birth year of ancestor. ANCESTOR'S BIRTH PLACE: Optional; birth place of ancestor if known. ANCESTOR INTEREST: Interest level of the researcher for additional ancestor information if found. Non-entry assumes the lowest interest level. Interest levels are defined as: 0 = No interest 1 = Low interest 2 = Moderate interest 3 = Highest interest DECENDENT'S BIRTH YEAR: Latest decendent's birth year known. Non-entry defaults to Ancestor's Birth Year. DECENDENT'S BIRTH PLACE: Optional; above decendent's birth place if known. DECENDENT INTEREST: Interest level of the researcher for additional decendent information if found. Non-entry assumes the lowest interest level. Interest levels are defined above. Select "S" to save the TT to a disk file. The family information lines are sorted by surname and a Soundex Code is automatically assigned to each entry as the file is saved. "M" and "P" switches are used to enable the use of up to 5 surname spellings (Soundex Coding is based on first surname only) and the use of place names (see SPEC.TT for details). Or select "A" to exit the genealogical entry screen. If you don't wish to abort the current work file completely, the Header Data information screen will be returned to. Otherwise you'll receive another prompt for another file name, thus loosing your current work file in memory. A [CR] at the file name prompt will exit TTGEN. ============================== REMINDER: This version of TTGEN is under a Beta Test and should be used with caution. Bug reports, comments, ideas, etc. would be very much appreciated. Enjoy using TTGEN!