Compact Family Tree

[Bill]

Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family",
can I ask for any suggestions, please.

A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.

Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and
show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet about that individual.

I have played a bit with free versions of various programs and have used
"Family Tree Builder", "WikiTree" and "Ancestral Quest" and downloaded
about 7 other utilities to try, but without so far finding anything that
displays in the way that I had hoped.

The programs I have tried mainly produce a screen with a few large
boxes. I would prefer just to have a scrollable screen full of just text
in tight boxes with, say name and DOB, linked to the other family
members.

[Richard van Schaik]

Post by Bill
Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family",
can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and
show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.
I have played a bit with free versions of various programs and have used
"Family Tree Builder", "WikiTree" and "Ancestral Quest"  and downloaded
about 7 other utilities to try, but without so far finding anything that
displays in the way that I had hoped.
The programs I have tried mainly produce a screen with a few large
boxes. I would prefer just to have a scrollable screen full of just text
in tight boxes with, say name and DOB, linked to the other family members.

Try this site http://www.gensoftreviews.com/

[Jenny M Benson]

Post by Bill
Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family",
can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and
show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.

Have you looked at Legacy? The basic version is free and as well as the
"big boxes" screen which you don't want, it offers a Pedigree View and a
Descendant View. (Long time since I used the Basic version, so forgive
if either/both those options are de Luxe only.) Would need a Windows
emulator to run on Mac, though.

[Ian Goddard]

Post by Bill
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and
show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.

It sounds as if what you're looking for is the creation of a local web
site as a web browser is the only thing you can be sure of finding on
the other end that will allow you to navigate like that*. Look at S/W
that list web or HTML in its output. What it will create will be a
directory which will include a number of files and sub-directories. (Or
folders and sub-folders if that's what you prefer to call them). One of
those files chould be called index.html and clicking that should cause a
browser to open it. You'd need to zip up that whole directory into a
single file which you can email to her and she can unzip it.

I gave Gramps a very quick try with this. It sort of does it that but
its starting point is lists of surnames, individuals etc and you have to
navigate from that. It's probably not what you want but it does prove
the concept.

* There's one possible alternative and that's an eBook reader. In that
case you'd need something that produces epub output which is essentially
the zipped up directory of a website which the eBook reader can open
directly. I've no idea if any genealogy program does that but I'm sure
someone will get round to it sooner or later. HTML output is a more
likely option at the moment.

Ian

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Ian Goddard

Post by Bill
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file
and show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries
being clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.

It sounds as if what you're looking for is the creation of a local web
site as a web browser is the only thing you can be sure of finding on
the other end that will allow you to navigate like that*. Look at S/W

One is Ged2HTML - http://www.starkeffect.com/ged2html/3.6a/ (demo
version limited to 5000 people). [I suspect it may be abandonware, but
that doesn't mean it's a dud.]
[]
There's a list of 24 such at
https://www.cyndislist.com/gedcom/gedcom-to-web-page-conversion/ !

@jpeg22433085
-------------


Do you dislike petitions? See 255soft.uk; #fairpetitions
--
How about a three-way referendum with second choices being taken into account?

[Enno Borgsteede]

Post by Bill
Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family",
can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and
show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.

I don't know what software you use, but if she installs Gramps, you can
send her a GEDCOM and have her work with that. Gramps works on Linux,
OS-X, and Windows, so it should work, but installing it on a Mac may be
a bit difficult, because it's not standard, I think. I don't have a Mac,
so I can't check, but this is what I remember from seeing it.

You mentioned My Heritage, but sharing a tree is not free over there, so
I suggest that you try Ancestry or Geneanet. On both, you can upload a
GEDCOM and invite someone else to visit and work on your tree, and you
can both do that with a free account.

Here on the European continent, I use Geneanet, because it runs in my
language, and because it shows which persons have been modified, so that
you can see which changes she made, if you allow her to.

Regards,

Enno

[Bill]

Post by Enno Borgsteede

Post by Bill
Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by
family", can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file
and show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries
being clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.

I don't know what software you use, but if she installs Gramps, you can
send her a GEDCOM and have her work with that. Gramps works on Linux,
OS-X, and Windows, so it should work, but installing it on a Mac may be
a bit difficult, because it's not standard, I think. I don't have a
Mac, so I can't check, but this is what I remember from seeing it.
You mentioned My Heritage, but sharing a tree is not free over there,
so I suggest that you try Ancestry or Geneanet. On both, you can upload
a GEDCOM and invite someone else to visit and work on your tree, and
you can both do that with a free account.
Here on the European continent, I use Geneanet, because it runs in my
language, and because it shows which persons have been modified, so
that you can see which changes she made, if you allow her to.
Regards,
Enno

Thanks to Enno and everyone else who has answered.

As I am sure people will realise, it takes time to load and evaluate
each program or method and, so far, I haven't settled on a system that
meets my needs. I have dipped a toe into Legacy (their videos are fixed
size and don't fit my laptop screen) and revisited Gramps amongst
others. I will try Ancestry and Geneanet, but the American cousin wants
to stay on paper rather than enter data into a computer.

What has started to annoy me is My Heritage. Not only does it ask for a
subscription every time I try to do something a little more than very
basic, but it has started to infest other sites, such as ebay, with its
targeted advertising.

I had hoped that a Gedcom to html conversion would be the answer, but
the two I have tried both produce the index plus a number of other small
files, so don't seem to provide the "overall picture" that is what I
want. Another one dumped me into the long forgotten Microsoft "dll
hell". It really shouldn't be necessary to register different versions
of dll's or ocx's in this day and age.

I am surprised it is so hard to find this. I originally entered the data
from this side of the Atlantic by taking the scans I was sent of a large
paper family tree, linking them together and then manually entering them
into a program. It was after this that I heard from the American cousin
with her rival paper family tree.

I find it odd that I haven't quickly found a program that can take my
gedcom files and create a large virtual family tree. My laptop or tablet
could then "hover" over this to give me a zoomable and navigable window
into this tree to enable views of either the big picture or detail.

Maybe a View like this does exist under a name I haven't sussed out in
one or more of the genealogy programs. If so, I have no problem with a
one off fee, but not a monthly subscription, to use it.

Thanks again for all the help. It is appreciated and I will carry on
testing.

[Ian Goddard]

Post by Bill
I had hoped that a Gedcom to html conversion would be the answer, but
the two I have tried both produce the index plus a number of other small
files, so don't seem to provide the "overall picture" that is what I
want.

That's to be expected if you want to be able to navigate between a tree
and your individual sheets. Those sheets are going to be HTML files in
their own right. If you want the sheets to be generated on the fly than
that's going to take something to hold the data and javascript to
generate the reports - more files. And then there'll be CSS files to
control the appearance. What you need to do is zip the directory
containing those files, email that to your correspondent and let her
unzip it and let her start from the index.

Post by Bill
I find it odd that I haven't quickly found a program that can take my
gedcom files and create a large virtual family tree. My laptop or tablet
could then "hover" over this to give me a zoomable and navigable window
into this tree to enable views of either the big picture or detail.

A data file such as you could send doesn't do that all on its own in
real life, only on films. You need an executable program to interpret
the data. You're on Windows, she's on Mac. That requires some program,
available on both platforms, to do that. A web browser is such a
program but, as above, what you're looking for isn't a single web page,
it's a web site and you aren't going to get something that complex in
one page. At least, not a page you'd want to see because it would be a
single big scrollable page with everything on there and the only thing
links would do would be jump about within it.

Ian

[Tony Proctor]

Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family", can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have some sort
of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.
I have played a bit with free versions of various programs and have used "Family Tree Builder", "WikiTree" and "Ancestral Quest"  and downloaded about
7 other utilities to try, but without so far finding anything that displays in the way that I had hoped.
The programs I have tried mainly produce a screen with a few large boxes. I would prefer just to have a scrollable screen full of just text in tight
boxes with, say name and DOB, linked to the other family members.

I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and
diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.

The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.

One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.

This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.

Tony Proctor

[Bill]

In message

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generat
or-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for
images and diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any
thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with
a mouse). There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich
text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual
persons, or for associations between couples (usually meaning
'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed
over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except
printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a
potentially scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.

This is indeed pretty well exactly what I want.

I actually had downloaded it, but not tried it, as I've been working
through the various downloaded installers in alphabetical order and svg
is at the wrong end of the alphabet !

In just part of the afternoon, I've read some of the User Guide and
reached the stage where I have fired off an html file of my family tree
to the distant cousin in the States for her to see what she thinks.

On my, perhaps slightly odd, Windows machines here (Lenovo X220T and
X230T , both tablet convertible laptops), the touch scrolling on the web
page is a bit strange, or I need to find the adjustments, in that
horizontal scrolling moves the page but vertical scrolling zooms.
Presumably this is a setting in the html or the browser.

Printing is not a problem as I assume I will be able to take screenshots
and glue them together if necessary.

All in all, I am delighted, especially since Tony, the writer, came on
here to describe it. It works, it's well documented and it provides just
what I needed. Brilliant!

[Tony Proctor]

Post by Bill

I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill (https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generat
or-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.

This is indeed pretty well exactly what I want.
I actually had downloaded it, but not tried it, as I've been working through the various downloaded installers in alphabetical order and svg is at the
wrong end of the alphabet !
In just part of the afternoon, I've read some of the User Guide and reached the stage where I have fired off an html file of my family tree to the
distant cousin in the States for her to see what she thinks.
On my, perhaps slightly odd, Windows machines here (Lenovo X220T and X230T , both tablet convertible laptops), the touch scrolling on the web page is
a bit strange, or I need to find the adjustments, in that horizontal scrolling moves the page but vertical scrolling zooms. Presumably this is a
setting in the html or the browser.
Printing is not a problem as I assume I will be able to take screenshots and glue them together if necessary.
All in all, I am delighted, especially since Tony, the writer, came on here to describe it. It works, it's well documented and it provides just what I
needed. Brilliant!

Good news, Bill. I didn't understand about the scrolling. If you select the Pan-Zoom option then it uses a JavaScript library to scroll individual SVG
images rather than the clunky whole-page scrolling offered by the browser. Same too for the ability the expand/shrink individual SVG images rather
than the browser's whole-page version.

There's a Facebook group of the same name, and there's a stack of instructional videos on there to help get people started more quickly. If you find
any problems, just post a note on there -- or contact me directly via my blog -- and I'll take a look.

Tony

[Bill]

In message

Post by Tony Proctor

Post by Bill
In message

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generat
or-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for
images and diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any
thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch
(with a mouse). There are configurations that allow pop-up displays
text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for
individual persons, or for associations between couples (usually
meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text"
displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline
reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except
printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a
potentially scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.

This is indeed pretty well exactly what I want.
I actually had downloaded it, but not tried it, as I've been working
through the various downloaded installers in alphabetical order and
svg is at the wrong end of the alphabet !
In just part of the afternoon, I've read some of the User Guide and
reached the stage where I have fired off an html file of my family
tree to the distant cousin in the States for her to see what she thinks.
On my, perhaps slightly odd, Windows machines here (Lenovo X220T and
X230T , both tablet convertible laptops), the touch scrolling on the
web page is a bit strange, or I need to find the adjustments, in that
horizontal scrolling moves the page but vertical scrolling zooms.
Presumably this is a setting in the html or the browser.
Printing is not a problem as I assume I will be able to take
screenshots and glue them together if necessary.
All in all, I am delighted, especially since Tony, the writer, came
on here to describe it. It works, it's well documented and it provides
just what I needed. Brilliant!

Good news, Bill. I didn't understand about the scrolling. If you select
the Pan-Zoom option then it uses a JavaScript library to scroll
individual SVG images rather than the clunky whole-page scrolling
offered by the browser. Same too for the ability the expand/shrink
individual SVG images rather than the browser's whole-page version.
There's a Facebook group of the same name, and there's a stack of
instructional videos on there to help get people started more quickly.
If you find any problems, just post a note on there -- or contact me
directly via my blog -- and I'll take a look.
Tony

Thanks, Tony. I will check out those other resources. My cousin reports
the html file works great on her Mac, she had 13" of snow yesterday and
another foot today, and I am now her "Super Tech Guy". What more can I
hope for!

I really have only had a very short time to play with this, have only
tried the browser scrolling, nothing advanced, and the scrolling on my
machines is still a mystery to me anyway.

I can navigate fine using mouse/touchpad, so below is only in case
anyone is interested.

I have come to these Lenovo machines via earlier versions (X60T, X200T)
which had resistive screens and which, although some supported touch,
didn't really touch-scroll. I've migrated to these 220/230's with
capacitive touch (but only 2 point rather than the usual Android
5-point).
Some standard public web sites will scroll when touched, some won't, and
there is pinch-zoom on the touchpad and on the screen to be considered.
Then there is the combination of Microsoft (W7 and W10) touch effects
and the native Lenovo touch. And I haven't mentioned the stylus and the
trackpoint.
Usually, I have been taking each individual regularly used program and
sorting out which, if any, touch/pinch features help at all. There are a
lot of variables, and I may move to a standard laptop for this program,
but these machines can often be used to achieve a useful, smooth
workflow.

Thanks again to everyone, but particularly Tony.

[Tony Proctor]

Post by Tony Proctor

I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill (https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generat
or-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a
mouse).  There are configurations that allow pop-up displays text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or
for  associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.

 This is indeed pretty well exactly what I want.
 I actually had downloaded it, but not tried it, as I've been working through the various downloaded installers in alphabetical order and svg is at
the  wrong end of the alphabet !
 In just part of the afternoon, I've read some of the User Guide and reached the stage where I have fired off an html file of my family tree to
the  distant cousin in the States for her to see what she thinks.
 On my, perhaps slightly odd, Windows machines here (Lenovo X220T and X230T , both tablet convertible laptops), the touch scrolling on the web page
is  a bit strange, or I need to find the adjustments, in that horizontal scrolling moves the page but vertical scrolling zooms. Presumably this is
a  setting in the html or the browser.
 Printing is not a problem as I assume I will be able to take screenshots and glue them together if necessary.
 All in all, I am delighted, especially since Tony, the writer, came on here to describe it. It works, it's well documented and it provides just
what I  needed. Brilliant!

Good news, Bill. I didn't understand about the scrolling. If you select the Pan-Zoom option then it uses a JavaScript library to scroll individual
SVG images rather than the clunky whole-page scrolling offered by the browser. Same too for the ability the expand/shrink individual SVG images
rather than the browser's whole-page version.
There's a Facebook group of the same name, and there's a stack of instructional videos on there to help get people started more quickly. If you find
any problems, just post a note on there -- or contact me directly via my blog -- and I'll take a look.
Tony

Thanks, Tony. I will check out those other resources. My cousin reports the html file works great on her Mac, she had 13" of snow yesterday and
another foot today, and I am now her "Super Tech Guy". What more can I hope for!
I really have only had a very short time to play with this, have only tried the browser scrolling, nothing advanced, and the scrolling on my machines
is still a mystery to me anyway.
I can navigate fine using mouse/touchpad, so below is only in case anyone is interested.
I have come to these Lenovo machines via earlier versions (X60T, X200T) which had resistive screens and which, although some supported touch, didn't
really touch-scroll. I've migrated to these 220/230's with capacitive touch (but only 2 point rather than the usual Android 5-point).
Some standard public web sites will scroll when touched, some won't, and there is pinch-zoom on the touchpad and on the screen to be considered. Then
there is the combination of Microsoft (W7 and W10) touch effects and the native Lenovo touch. And I haven't mentioned the stylus and the trackpoint.
Usually, I have been taking each individual regularly used program and sorting out which, if any, touch/pinch features help at all. There are a lot of
variables, and I may move to a standard laptop for this program, but these machines can often be used to achieve a useful, smooth workflow.
Thanks again to everyone, but particularly Tony.

OK, I think I understand, Bill. I don't want to clutter up this thread with stuff that would be better in the facebook group; however, the blog
article I gave for this (https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html) contains a couple of examples of the
better scrolling. In the bottom-right corner of each of the two SVG images on there, try the +/reset/- control. Also, click anywhere in the SVG image,
hold the mouse button (or touchpad button) down, and see if you can drag the image around OK. Sounds like this might help with .

Tony

[Bill Day]

On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:16:56 +0000, Tony Proctor

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and
diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.
Tony Proctor

I just found this group and read about your program It looks very
interesting, but after downloading & installing it, I find (as you
refer to in your FB page) that date formats are pretty carefully
defined. Unfortunately, I have been creating a GED file for over 5
years using a program which doesn't have strict standards. I have a
very large database..over 900 names now... and I can't see any way to
make a copy and convert it to a compliant date format. It would be
extremely tedious to work out and manually edit it. Unless you have a
better idea, I guess I am trapped. (I have 3 other programs which will
process my GED file in a usable format...including 'Ahenblatt'... )
I see the value of your program, but I can't see how to make it
work with what I have. Any ideas? (I just applied for 'member status
in FB)

Bill Day

[Keith Nuttle]

Post by Bill Day
On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:16:56 +0000, Tony Proctor

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and
diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.
Tony Proctor

I just found this group and read about your program It looks very
interesting, but after downloading & installing it, I find (as you
refer to in your FB page) that date formats are pretty carefully
defined. Unfortunately, I have been creating a GED file for over 5
years using a program which doesn't have strict standards. I have a
very large database..over 900 names now... and I can't see any way to
make a copy and convert it to a compliant date format. It would be
extremely tedious to work out and manually edit it. Unless you have a
better idea, I guess I am trapped. (I have 3 other programs which will
process my GED file in a usable format...including 'Ahenblatt'... )
I see the value of your program, but I can't see how to make it
work with what I have. Any ideas? (I just applied for 'member status
in FB)
Bill Day

Since a gedcom file can be read in a word processor, you may be able to
automate the task using a word processor that you can create macros, or
the programing language in the wordprocessor to do the same thing.

With 900 people you could afford to spend time doing a little programing
to get the job done, even if you had to write a couple of simple ones
that would find one date format and correct it.

[Bill Day]

On Fri, 1 Mar 2019 17:53:34 -0500, Keith Nuttle

Post by Keith Nuttle

Post by Bill Day
On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:16:56 +0000, Tony Proctor

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and
diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.
Tony Proctor

I just found this group and read about your program It looks very
interesting, but after downloading & installing it, I find (as you
refer to in your FB page) that date formats are pretty carefully
defined. Unfortunately, I have been creating a GED file for over 5
years using a program which doesn't have strict standards. I have a
very large database..over 900 names now... and I can't see any way to
make a copy and convert it to a compliant date format. It would be
extremely tedious to work out and manually edit it. Unless you have a
better idea, I guess I am trapped. (I have 3 other programs which will
process my GED file in a usable format...including 'Ahenblatt'... )
I see the value of your program, but I can't see how to make it
work with what I have. Any ideas? (I just applied for 'member status
in FB)
Bill Day

Since a gedcom file can be read in a word processor, you may be able to
automate the task using a word processor that you can create macros, or
the programing language in the wordprocessor to do the same thing.
With 900 people you could afford to spend time doing a little programing
to get the job done, even if you had to write a couple of simple ones
that would find one date format and correct it.

Thanks for the reply, but I have never done programming.. or even
writing macros. I can see that 'someone' might be able to solve my
problem that way, but I suspect I'll just have to carry on doing it as
I ahve been.. (I'm still working out the details of how the date
format is supposed to be entered. None of my other programs made a
point of it.)
I do have one program which will read all the dates and advise me
of logical errors, such as showing a father dying 2 years before his
child... but it says nothing about formats.

[Keith Nuttle]

Post by Bill Day
On Fri, 1 Mar 2019 17:53:34 -0500, Keith Nuttle

Post by Keith Nuttle

Post by Bill Day
On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:16:56 +0000, Tony Proctor

Post by Tony Proctor
I am the author of a free tool called 'SVG Family-Tree Generator', Bill
(https://parallax-viewpoint.blogspot.com/2018/09/svg-family-tree-generator-v50.html). SVG is similar to HTML but designed specifically for images and
diagrams. It is displayable in all modern browsers.
The tool allows you to convert a GEDCOM file to SVG (including any thumbnail images), or to design a family tree layout from scratch (with a mouse).
There are configurations that allow pop-up displays of rich text (i.e. anything you can express or embed using HTML) for individual persons, or for
associations between couples (usually meaning 'marriage' and/or children). You can also have "hover text" displayed over these same elements.
One of the more advanced features is the display of sorted timeline reports for selected persons.
This would seem to offer most of what you asked for, Bill, except printing: you can print from the browser but how it deals with a potentially
scrolling SVG tree diagram is anyone's guess.
Tony Proctor

I just found this group and read about your program It looks very
interesting, but after downloading & installing it, I find (as you
refer to in your FB page) that date formats are pretty carefully
defined. Unfortunately, I have been creating a GED file for over 5
years using a program which doesn't have strict standards. I have a
very large database..over 900 names now... and I can't see any way to
make a copy and convert it to a compliant date format. It would be
extremely tedious to work out and manually edit it. Unless you have a
better idea, I guess I am trapped. (I have 3 other programs which will
process my GED file in a usable format...including 'Ahenblatt'... )
I see the value of your program, but I can't see how to make it
work with what I have. Any ideas? (I just applied for 'member status
in FB)
Bill Day

Since a gedcom file can be read in a word processor, you may be able to
automate the task using a word processor that you can create macros, or
the programing language in the wordprocessor to do the same thing.
With 900 people you could afford to spend time doing a little programing
to get the job done, even if you had to write a couple of simple ones
that would find one date format and correct it.

Thanks for the reply, but I have never done programming.. or even
writing macros. I can see that 'someone' might be able to solve my
problem that way, but I suspect I'll just have to carry on doing it as
I ahve been.. (I'm still working out the details of how the date
format is supposed to be entered. None of my other programs made a
point of it.)
I do have one program which will read all the dates and advise me
of logical errors, such as showing a father dying 2 years before his
child... but it says nothing about formats.

I use WordPerfect that allows you to record the actions you take, save
them and then play them back. This is just a matter of turning on the
recording of the actions. ie a macro.

I beleive MS word has something similar. It does not have to be fancy,
just speed up the process.

[Bill]

Post by Bill Day

Post by Tony Proctor
Tony Proctor

I just found this group and read about your program It looks very
interesting, but after downloading & installing it, I find (as you
refer to in your FB page) that date formats are pretty carefully
defined. Unfortunately, I have been creating a GED file for over 5
years using a program which doesn't have strict standards. I have a
very large database..over 900 names now... and I can't see any way to
make a copy and convert it to a compliant date format. It would be
extremely tedious to work out and manually edit it. Unless you have a
better idea, I guess I am trapped. (I have 3 other programs which will
process my GED file in a usable format...including 'Ahenblatt'... )
I see the value of your program, but I can't see how to make it work
with what I have. Any ideas? (I just applied for 'member status in FB)

Bill, I understand Tony is briefly out of the country, but since his
original contact here with me I have found him extremely accommodating
and helpful.
In my case, he looked at the date formats in my files and issued an
update to his program that dealt with the errors (which were also seen
by other genealogy programs).

The program has proved to be exactly what I was asking for and is
working well on my large file. The family in this country have seen our
"tree", as has my American cousin. All the feedback has been extremely
positive.

I do have a list of questions for him or the forum he runs, but am
awaiting his return.

The things it doesn't do include converting back to Gedcom and also
printing. I understand there is a protocol for SVG printing, which I
looked at on the internet, but found it beyond my understanding at a
quick glance.

I worry about security on the internet, so I have been sending the html
file zipped up with the individual picture files to the interested
parties. This has worked well across Mac and Windows.
Different browsers behave differently in that some offer a "view
picture" on right-click in each little person box, giving a full screen
view of each individual picture, but most don't.

HTH

[Bill Day]

Post by Bill
Bill, I understand Tony is briefly out of the country, but since his
original contact here with me I have found him extremely accommodating
and helpful.
In my case, he looked at the date formats in my files and issued an
update to his program that dealt with the errors (which were also seen
by other genealogy programs).
The program has proved to be exactly what I was asking for and is
working well on my large file. The family in this country have seen our
"tree", as has my American cousin. All the feedback has been extremely
positive.
I do have a list of questions for him or the forum he runs, but am
awaiting his return.
The things it doesn't do include converting back to Gedcom and also
printing. I understand there is a protocol for SVG printing, which I
looked at on the internet, but found it beyond my understanding at a
quick glance.
I worry about security on the internet, so I have been sending the html
file zipped up with the individual picture files to the interested
parties. This has worked well across Mac and Windows.
Different browsers behave differently in that some offer a "view
picture" on right-click in each little person box, giving a full screen
view of each individual picture, but most don't.
HTH

I am sure Tony will address my concerns when he returns...no hurry.
I no longer have extended family and thus no need to have online
display... although there is a certain amount included in the free
version on https://www.geni.com/ I am doing this mostly for myself,
as I have only my son & his wife to leave it to, and they 'probably'
will not have children. I am likely to be the last member of my branch
of the family. (Geni.com offers me hundreds of relatives in what I
call 'sideways' connections....people I have never heard of and who I
really have no interest in finding.) I just want to make the most
complete ancestral compilation possible directly back from my parents.
Tony's program, if I can adjust to it, looks like a great way to
display and follow the various links, but my needs are not serious
enough to warrant a long transition to a format that requires writing
scripts & macros or manually editing things like date formats which I
didn't realize 5 years ago had to be in 'specific' formay.
I thank you for the reply, and I will monitor both here and in the
FB group to see what Tony says..

Bill Day

[Bill Day]

On Sun, 03 Mar 2019 10:29:36 -0500, Bill Day

Post by Bill Day

Post by Bill
Bill, I understand Tony is briefly out of the country, but since his
original contact here with me I have found him extremely accommodating
and helpful.
In my case, he looked at the date formats in my files and issued an
update to his program that dealt with the errors (which were also seen
by other genealogy programs).
The program has proved to be exactly what I was asking for and is
working well on my large file. The family in this country have seen our
"tree", as has my American cousin. All the feedback has been extremely
positive.
I do have a list of questions for him or the forum he runs, but am
awaiting his return.
The things it doesn't do include converting back to Gedcom and also
printing. I understand there is a protocol for SVG printing, which I
looked at on the internet, but found it beyond my understanding at a
quick glance.
I worry about security on the internet, so I have been sending the html
file zipped up with the individual picture files to the interested
parties. This has worked well across Mac and Windows.
Different browsers behave differently in that some offer a "view
picture" on right-click in each little person box, giving a full screen
view of each individual picture, but most don't.
HTH

I am sure Tony will address my concerns when he returns...no hurry.
I no longer have extended family and thus no need to have online
display... although there is a certain amount included in the free
version on https://www.geni.com/ I am doing this mostly for myself,
as I have only my son & his wife to leave it to, and they 'probably'
will not have children. I am likely to be the last member of my branch
of the family. (Geni.com offers me hundreds of relatives in what I
call 'sideways' connections....people I have never heard of and who I
really have no interest in finding.) I just want to make the most
complete ancestral compilation possible directly back from my parents.
Tony's program, if I can adjust to it, looks like a great way to
display and follow the various links, but my needs are not serious
enough to warrant a long transition to a format that requires writing
scripts & macros or manually editing things like date formats which I
didn't realize 5 years ago had to be in 'specific' formay.
I thank you for the reply, and I will monitor both here and in the
FB group to see what Tony says..
Bill Day

I have contacted Tony and we have been corresponding. He has kindly
updated SVG and repaired part of the problems in my GED file, so I
'may' be on the path to getting it all straightened out....

[Bill]

Post by Bill Day
On Sun, 03 Mar 2019 10:29:36 -0500, Bill Day

Post by Bill Day

Post by Bill
Bill, I understand Tony is briefly out of the country, but since his
original contact here with me I have found him extremely accommodating
and helpful.
In my case, he looked at the date formats in my files and issued an
update to his program that dealt with the errors (which were also seen
by other genealogy programs).
The program has proved to be exactly what I was asking for and is
working well on my large file. The family in this country have seen our
"tree", as has my American cousin. All the feedback has been extremely
positive.
I do have a list of questions for him or the forum he runs, but am
awaiting his return.
The things it doesn't do include converting back to Gedcom and also
printing. I understand there is a protocol for SVG printing, which I
looked at on the internet, but found it beyond my understanding at a
quick glance.
I worry about security on the internet, so I have been sending the html
file zipped up with the individual picture files to the interested
parties. This has worked well across Mac and Windows.
Different browsers behave differently in that some offer a "view
picture" on right-click in each little person box, giving a full screen
view of each individual picture, but most don't.
HTH

I am sure Tony will address my concerns when he returns...no hurry.
I no longer have extended family and thus no need to have online
display... although there is a certain amount included in the free
version on https://www.geni.com/ I am doing this mostly for myself,
as I have only my son & his wife to leave it to, and they 'probably'
will not have children. I am likely to be the last member of my branch
of the family. (Geni.com offers me hundreds of relatives in what I
call 'sideways' connections....people I have never heard of and who I
really have no interest in finding.) I just want to make the most
complete ancestral compilation possible directly back from my parents.
Tony's program, if I can adjust to it, looks like a great way to
display and follow the various links, but my needs are not serious
enough to warrant a long transition to a format that requires writing
scripts & macros or manually editing things like date formats which I
didn't realize 5 years ago had to be in 'specific' formay.
I thank you for the reply, and I will monitor both here and in the
FB group to see what Tony says..
Bill Day

I have contacted Tony and we have been corresponding. He has kindly
updated SVG and repaired part of the problems in my GED file, so I
'may' be on the path to getting it all straightened out....

Yes, Tony Proctor has been extremely patient with me, too, and has
helped with stuff that I should have been able to do myself if only I
had taken in all the information in his guides.

As I said before, I hadn't realised how different browsers behaved so
differently. My main browser has been "Pale Moon" for some time now, and
I used its "View Picture" right click feature without realising it was
unique.
Firefox has "View Picture", but it doesn't work, and the other browsers
I've tried don't offer the option. Tony's workaround, or feature, with
the little button works everywhere, though, to provide a blown up
picture of each thumbnail.

[Bill Day]

Post by Bill

Post by Bill Day
I have contacted Tony and we have been corresponding. He has kindly
updated SVG and repaired part of the problems in my GED file, so I
'may' be on the path to getting it all straightened out....

Yes, Tony Proctor has been extremely patient with me, too, and has
helped with stuff that I should have been able to do myself if only I
had taken in all the information in his guides.
As I said before, I hadn't realised how different browsers behaved so
differently. My main browser has been "Pale Moon" for some time now, and
I used its "View Picture" right click feature without realising it was
unique.
Firefox has "View Picture", but it doesn't work, and the other browsers
I've tried don't offer the option. Tony's workaround, or feature, with
the little button works everywhere, though, to provide a blown up
picture of each thumbnail.

I use standalone programs for 'almost' all display... and I have no
plans to post my GED in a browser. I also use PaleMoon a lot, but also
use Vivaldi a lot since some pages would not display correctly in
PaleMoon. If & when I get SVG working right in my files, I'll test it
in both browsers... (Oh... I also use one called "FlashPeak Slimjet"
which I have devoted to just geneology searches...)

[Bill]

Post by Bill Day

Post by Bill
As I said before, I hadn't realised how different browsers behaved so
differently. My main browser has been "Pale Moon" for some time now, and
I used its "View Picture" right click feature without realising it was
unique.
Firefox has "View Picture", but it doesn't work, and the other browsers
I've tried don't offer the option. Tony's workaround, or feature, with
the little button works everywhere, though, to provide a blown up
picture of each thumbnail.

I use standalone programs for 'almost' all display... and I have no
plans to post my GED in a browser. I also use PaleMoon a lot, but also
use Vivaldi a lot since some pages would not display correctly in
PaleMoon. If & when I get SVG working right in my files, I'll test it
in both browsers... (Oh... I also use one called "FlashPeak Slimjet"
which I have devoted to just geneology searches...)

Sorry to be going very "wordy" and probably well OT for this group!

It's interesting that we seem to be on almost parallel, but different
lines. I started testing on different browsers with the idea that the
"tree" I have built may be of interest in a casual way to members of my
extended and largely out of touch family. SVG does seem to be the way to
do this, and I have been doing it by zipping up the html file with all
the small pictures into one file for anyone to expand into a single
directory of their choice.
This seems to me to be the simplest way to keep everything moderately
secure and off the internet, and yet easily accessible to family members
to explore and comment on.

So, it has to work on a range of browsers, and it does, but Pale Moon
does seem to be unique in that if I right click a thumbnail in any
individual person, it brings up the View Picture option which shows the
picture in the same tab. I personally prefer this to Tony's button
method which brings up the picture in a separate tab, but ymmv and it's
no biggie.

For the record, it has been tested on Pale Moon, Firefox, IE, Edge,
Brave, Opera and Chrome on Windows and Safari on Mac. I have now tried
Vivaldi and FlashPeak SlimJet as well.
It doesn't work too well on the Dolphin browser on my 7" Android 4.2
tablet, but I'm told it does work on a full size iPad. I have a 10"
Windows 8.1 tablet, and it basically works on that, but the experience
isn't very calming.

[Tony Proctor]

Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family", can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have some sort
of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file and show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries being
clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.
I have played a bit with free versions of various programs and have used "Family Tree Builder", "WikiTree" and "Ancestral Quest"  and downloaded about
7 other utilities to try, but without so far finding anything that displays in the way that I had hoped.
The programs I have tried mainly produce a screen with a few large boxes. I would prefer just to have a scrollable screen full of just text in tight
boxes with, say name and DOB, linked to the other family members.

Thanks for all the comments that appeared here while I was "out of the country". It seems several of you have found the associated facebook group so
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup up and annoying other subscribers.

Tony

[Graeme Wall]

Post by Tony Proctor

Post by Bill
Inspired by the thread "Uploading Family tree for scrutiny by family",
can I ask for any suggestions, please.
A relation in the USA wants to swap data with me. She is on paper, I
have loaded some data into My Heritage. I am on Windows, she does have
some sort of Mac laptop.
Is there any software, preferably free, that will take a Gencom file
and show and print a very compact basic tree, with individual entries
being clickable to bring up an information sheet  about that individual.
I have played a bit with free versions of various programs and have
used "Family Tree Builder", "WikiTree" and "Ancestral Quest"  and
downloaded about 7 other utilities to try, but without so far finding
anything that displays in the way that I had hoped.
The programs I have tried mainly produce a screen with a few large
boxes. I would prefer just to have a scrollable screen full of just
text in tight boxes with, say name and DOB, linked to the other family
members.

Thanks for all the comments that appeared here while I was "out of the
country". It seems several of you have found the associated facebook
group so I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this
newsgroup up and annoying other subscribers.

Not annoyed at all, it's very interesting.

[cecilia]

On Thu, 7 Mar 2019 10:59:28 +0000, Graeme Wall

Post by Graeme Wall

Post by Tony Proctor
Thanks for all the comments that appeared here while I was "out of the
country". It seems several of you have found the associated facebook
group so I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this
newsgroup up and annoying other subscribers.

Not annoyed at all, it's very interesting.

Quite.

[Bill]

As the OP, perhaps I should tie this thread up as follows

It turns out that Tony Proctor's 'SVG Family-Tree Generator' does do
everything I was asking for in a simple program to enable distribution
of a family tree so that family members with only a casual interest can
look at and enjoy it.
Tony has been extremely helpful and I understand he will include
guidance in a future edition of the program to show how to do some
things I was asking for.
His program was designed to produce .svg or .html files that could be
put on a website for study by anyone interested. Some of my family were
unhappy with this for privacy and security reasons. This program enables
me to zip up an html file together with all the associated image files
in a subdirectory and email just the one zip file to family members.
Gmail provides the means to email this if it proves too large for normal
email.
At the receiving end, it makes it easy for the recipient to see the one
html file they have to load.

One final note: Earlier in the thread I reported not being happy with
either an elderly Android tablet and also a Windows 8.1 10" tablet for
displaying this "Tree". Those two remain the only machines I have found
that are unsatisfactory, but perhaps I should say that I work primarily
here on a couple of Lenovo tablet convertible laptops, X220T and X230T.
These fold into 12.1" Windows tablets, and both work really well with
this program in either laptop or tablet mode.

[Steve Hayes]

On Thu, 7 Mar 2019 10:26:33 +0000, Tony Proctor

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup up and annoying other subscribers.

Why not put them in soc.genealogy.computing?

[Evertjan.]

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

[Charles Ellson]

On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:34:32 +0100, "Evertjan."

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

That is the usual description for the process of enabling your
software to access a group and making use of it. The various meanings
of the word go beyond payment of money or using your signature to
participate in an activity. See e.g. "subscribing" to a particular
opinion.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subscribe

[Evertjan.]

Post by Charles Ellson
On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:34:32 +0100, "Evertjan."

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

That is the usual description for the process of enabling your
software to access a group and making use of it. The various meanings
of the word go beyond payment of money or using your signature to
participate in an activity. See e.g. "subscribing" to a particular
opinion.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subscribe

True, but in the Usenet sense, it is most common for newbees to understand
it in the literal way, so I will not subscribe to your definiton in this
case.

Also "cluttering *up*" is mainly understood to filling limited space, a
limitation Usenet groups do not have.

[Charles Ellson]

On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 15:20:54 +0100, "Evertjan."

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Charles Ellson
On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:34:32 +0100, "Evertjan."

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

That is the usual description for the process of enabling your
software to access a group and making use of it. The various meanings
of the word go beyond payment of money or using your signature to
participate in an activity. See e.g. "subscribing" to a particular
opinion.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subscribe

True, but in the Usenet sense, it is most common for newbees to understand
it in the literal way, so I will not subscribe to your definiton in this
case.

:-)

Post by Evertjan.
Also "cluttering *up*" is mainly understood to filling limited space, a
limitation Usenet groups do not have.

[Ian Goddard]

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

You can, however, subscribe* to a Usenet server.

* Other words for paying a fee to obtain a service are also available.

Ian

[Evertjan.]

Post by Ian Goddard

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

You can, however, subscribe* to a Usenet server.
* Other words for paying a fee to obtain a service are also available.

Yes, and to an unrelated idiology.

[Steve Hayes]

On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:34:32 +0100, "Evertjan."

Post by Evertjan.

Post by Tony Proctor
I'll put subsequent responses there to avoid cluttering this newsgroup
up and annoying other subscribers.

You cannot subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup.

I've subscribed to this one, and you must have done so too if you are
reading it.

You can also unsubscribe -- that means you will stop receiving posts.