How do I enter the
married name (maiden name or other spelling)?
What
should I keep in mind when burning family ties
on CD?
I would like to pass
on data or receive data from others.
I cannot print, what am I doing wrong?
Why are no siblings displayed?
I cannot save changed data, do I always
have to switch to another person first?
My antivirus program considers family
ties to be malware.
How do I characterize
my partner as an extramarital partnership?
Can I assign
several sources to one person?
Why is the
expression not as expected?
I can't print
anything, I only get a blank page. What am I
doing wrong?
Why can't I unpack
the loaded archives?
Source, origin,
location - what belongs where?
In the folder for images and documents
I have files that I no longer need. How do I
get rid of them?
Mac OS: "Family ties.app is from an
unverified developer ..." What to do?
Windows: "The computer has been
protected by Windows." What to do?
How does the output work with
templates?
I get an error message when I start
Family Ties (Windows). What am I doing wrong?
How do I get dates consistently in the
format DD.MM.YYYY?
How do I delete the entries in the
selection menu of the other references?
How big should the
images be to get a good quality when printing?
What are the files with the extensions
BAK, BA1, BA2, ... BA9?
I want to pass on a
part of my data to someone else, how do I do
that?
A window appears outside the visible
area, how can I move it?
How
do I enter the married name (maiden name or
other spelling)?
In family relationships, only a surname can be
entered at present. The field provided for this
purpose is the surname field. Here you should use
the surname that is given in the birth certificate
or baptismal entry. Exactly in the spelling stated
there. For other spellings or further surnames,
which occur by marriage, separation, adoption,
etc., the remark fields are available.
It has been shown that this is the only name that
is (usually) included in name changes, so that the
person can be clearly assigned.
What
should I keep in mind when burning family ties
on CD?
Family Ties runs smoothly from a CD, but there are
some small things that make it even more
convenient to use. For example, Family Ties tries
to save the changes when the program ends. For
this purpose it creates the file
Familienbande.pref in the user directory. If this
file exists in the program directory, it is used
and not searched for in the user directory. This
means that no data is left on the computer used.
It is therefore recommended to burn this file on
the CD as well.
The simplest way is to create a new folder, copy
family ties (the program file), the desired family
tree file, the folder with pictures and documents
as well as help, lexicon and print templates into
this folder. Using a text editor or a word
processor, create a new file called Family
Ties.pref and save it in the new folder.
Now start Family Ties in the new folder, load the
family tree file copied there and set all paths to
this new folder. If you wish to make further
settings, make them as well.
End family ties and open the file
Familienbande.pref with a text editor (under
Windows e.g. Edit).
Change the line (one of the first):
SavePreferences: yes
in:
SavePreferences: no
Now start the program again (always the program
file in the new folder). Now the last used family
tree should be displayed and all paths should be
set as desired.
Burn the files that are in the new folder (or the
complete folder) to CD.
I would like to
pass on my data or receive them from others.
No problem. Family Ties supports the current
Gedcom standard in version 5.5, as well as the
extension Gedcom 5.5EL and the standard 5.5.1
which is currently in draft, so if you receive
data from others, if this data is available as a
Gedcom file, then it can be easily added to your
own data via import.
If you want to share data with others, you can
simply burn the desired data onto a CD. In
addition, add the program file of Family Ties
(depending on your requirements the version for
Mac OS, Windows, Linux or all together).
It is also possible to export individual persons
or groups of persons to a Gedcom file. To be on
the safe side, ask if the recipient needs
certain specifications. Even today many Windows
programs cannot handle Unicode or UTF-8
encoding. Here it is recommended to set the
character encoding to ANSEL. Call names are also
sometimes marked differently. Familienbande
offers various settings here. Please refer to
chapter 8.2.15.9 in the manual or the help if
necessary.
In order to limit the number of persons to be
exported, Family Ties also offers quite flexible
setting options in the Gedcome export. If the
dialog does not offer what you are looking for,
please refer to chapter 8.1.9 in the manual or
help for a detailed explanation. If this is not
enough, I ask for appropriate hints, if
necessary I can build in further possibilities
in Family Ties.
I can't print, what
am I doing wrong?
In family relationships there are several ways to
print something. Label printing, as a special
case, I'll leave out. To print something, you
first have to load a template that defines how the
print result will look like (templates can be
found here on the homepage under templates). To do this,
call the menu item Print ... in the File menu
(under Windows the menu is called File) and there
the sub-item Data set template. In the following
dialog you will find a button Load Template with
which you can load one (or more) templates. For
example, load the template StammblattDinA4.EVL.
This template outputs a master data sheet of a
person. In the dialog that is still open, you can
now specify in the upper area, on the left side,
the persons from whom a master data sheet is to be
printed. After you have made the appropriate
entries, a click on the Print button is sufficient
to obtain the corresponding printouts.
In order to avoid having to take the detour via
the dialog with input of the desired person(s) in
the future, you can define this (or any other)
template as the standard print template. Move your
mouse pointer to the entry in the table with the
templates that contains the desired template. Now
call up the context menu (usually with the right
mouse button) and select Use as Default Print
Template. From now on it is sufficient to press
the key combination Apple+P (under Windows Ctrl-P
or Ctrl-P) in the main window to print e.g. a
master sheet of the person displayed.
Note that all (export) templates have the
extension .EVL, but not all templates are suitable
for printing. Thus, there are also templates for
creating internet pages, RTF documents, etc.
Why are no siblings
displayed?
Family ties works person-oriented. This means that
all data of a certain person is displayed. This of
course also means links to other persons. So you
can see all partners and children and also parents
and adoptive parents are visible. However,
siblings are not direct links and therefore they
will only appear as children of the parents.
Surely one could have included a table for
siblings, but that would have required additional
space and would have led to further demands for
uncles/aunts, parents-in-law, etc. The concept of
family ties only provides for direct links. With a
double click you can reach the parents and see all
siblings. With such a simple navigation I consider
the additional display of siblings to be
dispensable.
I cannot back up
changed data, do I always have to switch to
another person first?
Yes.
You make your life unnecessarily difficult. Family
relationships can be very clear about what you
want. If it doesn't, it's up to you to find out.
What's your method of operation? You enter new
data or change existing personal data. Now you
lack a possibility to take over the new or changed
data. But why? Just go on with your work, family
ties will ask you if you want to adopt the
new/changed data (if this bothers you, you can
turn off the demand in the settings, then the data
will always be adopted). Even if you end family
ties, you will be asked if you want to transfer
the data, and if necessary the changed data will
be saved on the hard disk. You do not need to
worry about data loss. At least, as long as you
leave the default setting Save with data transfer
activated. Then you may lose the changes you have
made to the person currently displayed.
As you will soon discover for yourself, this
procedure is very useful. Nevertheless, I
understand the desire to decide for yourself when
to save the data. To do this, you can use the menu
item Save File or the corresponding key
combination Apple+S (under Windows Ctrl+S or
Ctrl+S).
My antivirus program
considers family ties to be a malware.
Under Windows, it often happens that individual
antivirus programs mistakenly consider family ties
to be malware. So far I have been told about
McAfee VisusScan and F-Secure. Unfortunately I
have no influence on the detection routines of
these programs. Also my search for a way to change
family ties in such a way that such a
misinterpretation no longer occurs has so far been
fruitless.
Other programmers report that changing the program
code has helped in the meantime. Unfortunately
never definitively. So things could get better
(unfortunately also worse) with the next version
of Family Ties.
My recommendations:
- Update your antivirus program
- Inform the manufacturer of the antivirus program
and ask for remedy
- Use another the antivirus program
How do I characterize
the partner as an extramarital partnership?
Not at all.
At the moment there is no possibility to give a
partnership a status like "extramarital
partnership" or similar.
Can I assign several
sources to one person?
This is also not possible at present. This
requires a change in the current data format. A
corresponding extension is planned for the future.
Why is the expression
not as expected?
First of all, a distinction must be made
between printing by direct printing (by pressing
the corresponding key combination or the menu item
"Print") and printing via the "Print template"
dialog. In the first case, a standard print
template must be defined. To do this, you must
load a print template in the "Print template"
dialog and select it or choose one of the
integrated print templates. Now select "Use as
default print template" from the context menu.
This will give this entry a small purple dot,
which marks it as the default print template. Now
you can leave the dialog and use Str-P (or
Apple-P) to initiate a printout with this print
template.
 Another quite common problem (only
under Windows) is that black areas appear in some
places on the printout (as in the picture on the
right). This is a problem of the printer driver.
The printer driver cannot cope with transparent
output. Unfortunately, I cannot change a printer
driver and recommend in such a case not to print
directly but to choose an image output. You can
then load this image into an image viewer and
print from there. It is also possible to install a
PDF printer driver and print the PDF file created
with it. This procedure is also recommended for
the output on large format printers, e.g. if you
want to print a pedigree in A1 in the copy shop.
From the user side came the tip to write the
output as JPEG into a file and print the picture
with Corel-Photo-Paint 11. Herewith a tiled output
is also possible.
With me nothing is
printed, I only get a blank page. What am I
doing wrong?
If you get only a blank page when printing
or outputting as an image and the preview does not
show anything, this may be due to insufficient
memory. Especially the print function requires a
lot of memory. In most cases it should be
sufficient to increase the virtual memory.
Why can the loaded
archives not be unpacked?
Under Windos, some virus scanners keep the
archives for viruses or other malicious software
and prevent the download. The archives are then
usually smaller than indicated on the download
page. If this is also the case, please update your
virus scanner. If this does not help either,
please send me a mail and tell me which virus
scanner you are using, I will then contact the
manufacturer.
To get the files after all, you can switch off the
virus scanner temporarily or you ask me to send
the files by e-mail.
Source, origin,
location - what belongs where?
Source
Admittedly, the rather nested system of source,
origin and location is a bit complex and opaque.
Generally speaking, the source window is where you
enter the information that you received as data
somewhere (usually in writing). So the actual
information about the event.
Origin
The origin (top left of the source window)
contains the information about the institution
that originally created the data (e.g. a registry
office or a parish/church register). Since several
source data can have the same origin, you create
the origin only once in the origin management and
can now assign the same origin to any source data.
Only one location can be specified for an origin
(designation).
If several places of discovery are required for an
origin, the place of discovery must also be taken
into account in the origin (designation) so that
when selecting the origin, the one with the
matching place of discovery is selected.
Example: Different designations for the origin
"StA Kolberg" ("the civil registry yearbook of
1889 from Kolberg" lies in four finding places
(locations) and one would like to distinguish
this)
Origin (designation): "StA yearbook 1889 Kolberg
StaAKolberg" with location "StA Kolberg".
Origin (designation): "StA Jahrbuch 1889 Kolberg
Archiv Köslin" with location "Archiv Köslin
Origin (designation): "StA Jahrbuch 1889 Kolberg
Berlin StA 1" with location "Berlin StA1
Origin (description): "StA Jahrbuch 1889 Kolberg
Archiv Berlin" with location "Archiv Berlin
Place of discovery
With the place of discovery is meant the place
from which one has received the documents. It is
possible that one does not get a direct insight
into the church book but for example via a
research center of the LDS or the archive of the
church district (there copies are stored on
microfilm). Then this research center or the
archive is the place of discovery. Again, the
place of discovery can be used for several
indications of origin. Since only a name and an
address are given for the place of discovery, the
places of discovery can be found in the address
management. Here, addresses can be given the
status "location of discovery". This makes it
possible to take over an address in the origin as
a finding place.
Sounds complicated? - It is.
Fortunately Rüdiger Arnold has taken the trouble
and has shown the connections in a quite good
description. There are also some practical
examples.
The PDF file from 19.03.2012 can be found here
(german):
Source management
guide
I have
files in the Pictures and Documents folder
that I no longer need. How do I get rid of
them?
The folder for pictures and documents is
reserved for family ties. If possible, you
should not make any changes here!
Nevertheless, it happens that you have replaced
files over time and now some of the previously
used files are no longer needed. Since Family
Ties does not automatically delete the unneeded
files when you delete the file references, the
folder gets bigger and bigger.
In Familienbande there is a separate menu item
to check the file references (in the menu
"Administration", menu item "Document
management", submenu item "Check file references
...").
There is the button "Start" on the second tab
(Assignment). This will check and display the
assignments of the files to persons.
When the check is done, you have another button
(Collect unused files). This moves all unused
files to a new folder (Unused Files) in the
Pictures and Documents folder. You can now
delete this folder or move it to another
location.
In this folder there are also small files with
the extension ".thumb". These files were created
by family band and are small thumbnails, which
can be seen for example in the document
management at the beginning of the line. You
will also find such files in the folder for
images and documents, you should not delete the
files there.
Mac
OS: "FamilyTies.app is from an unverified
developer ...". What to do?
With Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion), Apple has
included a new feature that is supposed to
protect the user from malware. This is very
welcome. For this function, it is necessary for
software developers to register with Apple
(annual fee 99, - US dollars, if someone will
pay for it, I will register). Now, if an
application starts under Mac OS 10.8 or later
and it does not come from a certified developer,
Mac OS refuses to start the application with the
following notice:
So installieren
Sie Programme von nicht verifizierten
Entwicklern (nur Mac OS X ab Version 10.8):
If the message shown above appears after
double-clicking on an installation program,
first confirm the message with Ok. Then
right-click on the icon of the installation
program. Alternatively, hold down the [ctrl] key
and click on the icon.
Click Open in the context menu that appears
afterwards.
Another message appears:
However, this dialog additionally offers you the
option to open the application. If you have
started Family Ties via this way, Mac OS will
not ask again for.
Windows:
"The computer has been protected by
Windows." What to do?
Under Windows you may get the following hint
(without the red arrow):
This notice comes because I have not
registered the program with Microsoft or any
other certification service provider.
To use Family Ties anyway, please click on the
underlined text (see arrow). You will then get
this dialog:
Here you have the option to run Family Ties
despite security warning.
This action is necessary only once (after each
reinstallation/update). After that you can use
Family Ties without any restrictions.
How
does the output work with templates?
The video tutorial on Youtube: Familienbande
Druckvorlagen laden und nutzen
Familybande distinguishes between print
templates and text/HTML templates when
outputting data. Everything that is not sent
directly to the printer runs through the latter
(except the Gedcomexport).
Using the template as an example Ahn_Kreis_Dialog,
I
will describe the usage here as an example. In
general, the use for all other templates works
the same way.
You have to download and unpack the template
"Ahn_Kreis_Dialog". You will then get a folder
of the same name with all the necessary files.
Read absolutely also the notes in
"Ahn_Kreis_Dialog.txt"! Here you will find
important notes, especially about the fonts
used.
Now start Familienbande and load your data (if
this is not done automatically). Call the text
export (under Windows the "File" menu is called
"File")
and load there, via the button "Load template",
the template "Ahn_Kreis_dialog.evl" from the
previously created folder.
A click on the Export button now creates the
desired graphic with your data.
Note that a root holder must be specified for
the template, since the persons to be output are
determined from this.
The description of the operation is much more
detailed in the manual, in the corresponding
chapters. There it is also described how you can
limit the output to certain data records.
I get an error
message when I start Family Ties (Windows).
What am I doing wrong?
You have downloaded the current Windows version
of Family Ties and opened the zip archive. When
you start the program you get the following
error message:
Please note that Family Ties cannot be started
directly from the zip archive. You need to copy
the files and folders contained in the archive
together into a folder on your hard drive and
only then start it.
How do I
get dates consistently in the format
DD.MM.YYYY?
Call the Replace function ("Edit" menu ->
"Replace ...") and set the values as in the
following picture.
Then click on the "Replace" button.
For the months February to December continue
with correspondingly adjusted values.
How do I
delete the entries in the selection menu of
the other references?
In the dialog that displays all references to
the person, you can use your own designations
(bowling brother, neighbor, etc.). If you have
entered a text here that you want to delete, you
will not find a corresponding function.
Family ties remembers which designations you use
here when loading the data and creates the
selection menu from it. So if you don't use the
last entry of a certain notation any more, it is
enough to save the data and load it again. After
that, this entry no longer exists.
How big should the
images be to get a good quality when
printing?
The quality of a printout is not determined by
the file size but by the image size in pixels
and the desired output size.
A good quality printout of an image should reach
at least 180dpi (dots per inch). So if you want
to print a passport picture 3x4,5cm (= 1,18x1,77
inch)the picture must be 212 x 319 pixels (1,18
x 180; 1,77 x 180).
The file size then depends on the image content
(a completely monochrome image has a smaller
file size than a photo) and the degree of
compression (at some point the quality becomes
unsightly due to compression).
For Family Bonds, the output image is fixed at
90x88 pixels. Thus, the images, for viewing on
the screen, do not need to be larger. Here, the
output quality is greater than with the printer
anyway, since each pixel can take on any color.
The printer has to combine several color dots to
a color impression, since it has only cyan,
magenta, yellow and black as colors available
(one speaks here of rasters).
If a section of an image is selected for the
output image, this section should fulfill the
same conditions. Thus, group photos should be
used in a correspondingly higher resolution.
Conclusion:
For a pedigree chart or a pedigree sheet it
should be sufficient if the output image has a
size of 200x300 pixels.
What are the
files with the extensions BAK, BA1, BA2, ...
BA9?
"Normally Family Ties backs up the personal data
in a file with the extension ".STB". If you
backup multiple times, the last version of the
STB file will not be deleted, but will have the
extension ".BAK". However, if you specify a path
for backup files, the last ten versions of your
personal data with the extensions ".BAK" and
".BA1" to ".BA9" are saved in this directory.
This directory can also be a directory on a
completely different drive. Then, in case of a
hard disk failure, this directory would be
preserved."
I want to pass on a part
of my data to someone else, how do I do
that?
For the data exchange with other programs there
is the Gedcomexport (5/2015 still missing the
export of source and origin information).
However, if you want to give the data to someone
who also uses family ties, there is a way to
transfer all data completely. The procedure is
as follows:
First copy the STB file and work with the copy
(I assume that you have a backup of your own
data anyway, if not now would be a good time for
a backup)!
First find the desired I-No's and enter them in
the dialog "Remove records ..." under "Index-No.
(selection)". Select the function "Invert
selection" in the context menu and click on
"Remove records".
For the compilation of the desired index numbers
you can use the search window. There you can
copy the index numbers of the selected records
using the context menu.
The desired records will remain.
To get the required files (linked to the
records) I recommend the Gedcomexport. There
also enter the desired index numbers and select
the option "Copy documents to separate folder".
With this export you will not only get a Gedcom
file but also the folder with the required
files.
Finally, adjust the path for images and
documents to the new folder and save the data.
Done.
A window
appears outside the visible area, how can I
move it?
If you hold down the alt key while opening the
window, the window will open in the top left
corner. No matter what was previously saved.
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