<chapter id="gramps-getting-started"> <!-- User Manual for Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Alexander Roitman This document is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA --> <!-- $Id$ --> <title>Getting Started</title> <para> This chapter provides the most basic information on starting &app; and obtaining help. Please proceed to the following chapters for more information. </para> <!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ====== --> <sect1 id="gramps-start"> <title>To Start GRAMPS</title> <para> You can start &app; in the following ways: </para> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term><guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu</term> <listitem> <para> The method of starting &app; from the menus may vary from distribution to distribution. On default GNOME desktop, choose <menuchoice><guisubmenu>Other</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Gramps</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Command line</term> <listitem> <para> To start &app; from a command line, type <command>gramps</command>, then press <keycap>Enter</keycap>. </para> <para> If you would like &app; to open a specific database or to import a specific file on startup, you can use the filename as a command line argument: </para> <para> <filename>gramps filename.grdb</filename> </para> <para> where <filename>filename.grdb</filename> is the name of the file you want to open. The command line provides many more ways to start &app; and perform different tasks. The detailed reference to the command line options is found in <xref linkend="append-cmdline"/>. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> </sect1> <!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ==== --> <sect1 id="run-1st-time"> <title>Running GRAMPS for the first time</title> <para> The first time you run the program, GRAMPS will display the Getting Started dialogs. Follow the directions that guide you through <guilabel>Researcher information</guilabel>, <guilabel>Numerical date formats</guilabel>, <guilabel>Alternate calendar support</guilabel>, and <guilabel>the LDS extensions</guilabel> sections. Most of the dialogs are self-explanatory and will not be covered here. </para> <!-- ==== Figure: Getting Started Druid Window ==== --> <figure id="druid-fig"> <title>GRAMPS Getting Started Window: Researcher Information</title> <screenshot> <mediaobject> <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="figures/researcher.png" format="PNG" width="510" depth="369" scale="75"/> </imageobject> <textobject> <phrase>Shows Researcher Information Window. </phrase> </textobject> </mediaobject> </screenshot> </figure> <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== --> <para> Enter your personal information in the corresponding text entry fields. Although &app; requests information about you, this information is used only so that &app; can create valid GEDCOM output files. A valid GEDCOM file requires information about the file's creator. If you choose, you may leave the information empty, however all the GEDCOM files you export will be invalid. </para> <para> This information can be entered at any time in the <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog (see <xref linkend="gramps-prefs" />), under the <guilabel>Database/Researcher Information</guilabel> category. </para> </sect1> <!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection --> <sect1 id="choose-db-start"> <title>Choosing a database on startup</title> <para> If &app; is started without a database selected, the following window will appear prompting you to choose one to open. </para> <!-- ==== Figure: Open existing/new database window ==== --> <figure id="first-open"> <title>Open Database Window</title> <screenshot> <mediaobject> <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="figures/first-open.png" format="PNG" width="311" depth="199" scale="80"/> </imageobject> <textobject> <phrase>Shows Open Database Window.</phrase> </textobject> </mediaobject> </screenshot> </figure> <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== --> <para> If you would like to open an existing database, check the top radio button and click the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button. You will then be asked to specify the name of your existing database (see <xref linkend="open-db" />). If you would like to immediately create a brand new database from scratch right away, choose new database (see <xref linkend="new-db" />). </para> <note id="file-notdir-note"> <title>Selecting file</title> <para> This version of &app; does not require selecting a directory for the database. Please select filename, as you would in any other application. </para> </note> </sect1> <!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ==== --> <sect1 id="get-help"> <title>Obtaining Help</title> <para> The following items are available from the <menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu></menuchoice> to provide immediate assistance: </para> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term>User manual</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to access this manual in the help browser. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>FAQ</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to read the Frequently Asked Questions about &app; in the browser. </para> <para> See: <xref linkend="faq" /> </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>GRAMPS home page</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to open the home page of &app; in your default web browser. </para> <para> See: <ulink url="http://gramps-project.org/" type="http">http://gramps-project.org/</ulink> </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>GRAMPS mailing lists</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to direct your web browser to the &app; mailing list archives. </para> <para> See: <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=25770" type="http">http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=25770</ulink> </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Report a bug</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to file a bug report regarding &app; with the bug tracking system. </para> <para> See: <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=25770&atid=385137" type="http">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=25770&atid=385137</ulink> </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Show plugin status</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to display the status of loaded plugins. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Open example database</term> <listitem> <para> Select this item to load the example database shipped with &app;. This database is composed of fictitious people and serves as a useful example for learning how to work with &app;. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> </sect1> </chapter>