392 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
392 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
<Introduction
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< <What is GRAMPS?
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GRAMPS is an acronym for the Genealogical Research and Analysis Management
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Programming System. To put it shortly, it allows you to store, edit, and
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research genealogical data using your computer. Its functionality is somewhat
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common to other genealogical programs. However, it has some unique features.
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< <Why GRAMPS?
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GRAMPS was conceived under the concept that most genealogy programs
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were designed to provide the researcher the capability to input information
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related to a particular family tree. Most of these programs have allowed for
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the arranging and storing of information consistent with the GEDCOM standards.
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They usually provide means for displaying descendant or ancestral relationships
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by means of graphical displays, charts, or reports. These may be augmented
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with pictures or other media to enhance the data. Most provide for inputting
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data on unconnected individuals/families that may or may not have a
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relationship to the primary surname being researched. Various other
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enhancements may also be provided in the genealogical program that allows for
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different degrees of importing and exporting data from other programs and
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printing the data contained in the various reports.
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GRAMPS, on the other hand, attempts to provide all of the common capabilities
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of these programs, but, more importantly, to provide an additional capability
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of integration not common to these programs. This is the ability to input any
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bits and pieces of information directly into GRAMPS and rearrange/manipulate
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any/all data events in the entire data base (in any order or sequence) to
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assist the user in doing research, analysis and correlation with the potential
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of filling relationship gaps. In short, a tool that provides a way to input
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all your research into one place and do your analysis and correlation using
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the speed, power, and accuracy of your computer instead of pencils and
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unmanageable reams of paper.
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<Getting Started
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<Starting GRAMPS
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You can start GRAMPS either from Application menu or from Command line.
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< < <Applications Menu
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Choose Other->GRAMPS.
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< < <Command line
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Type gramps and press Return. If you would gramps to open a specific database
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or import a specific file on startup, you can give the filename as a command
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line argument: gramps <filename.ged> [Return]
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< <Running GRAMPS for the first time.
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[ FIXME: RE-WORK THIS WITH SCREENSHOTS BEGIN ]
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The first time you run the program, GRAMPS will display its Getting Started
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screens. GRAMPS will guide you through a few pages that prompt you for
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some setup information. The information it requests includes information about
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yourself and your preferences.
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Although GRAMPS requests information about your, this information is used
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only so that it can create valid GEDCOM output files. A valid GEDCOM file
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requires information about the file's creator. If you chose, you may leave the
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information empty.
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[ FIXME: RE-WORK THIS WITH SCREENSHOTS END ]
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< < <Choosing a database on startup
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If the GRAMPS is started without any database to open, the following window
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will appear prompting you to choose what database to open. (Figure 0:
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open existing or created new). If you would like to open an existing
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database, check the top radio button and click OK. You will then be asked
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to specify the name of your existing database. If you would like to start
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creating your brand new database from scratch right away, choose new XML
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database.
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< < <Optional ZODB support
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If either StandaloneZODB or Zope is installed on your system, GRAMPS will give
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you the third option of creating a new ZODB database. You can choose to start
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your new database in either XML or ZODB format. Both formats have their strong
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and weak points.
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XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language, and is a human readable sctructured
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description of data. It could be easily parsed by other programs should the
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need occur. It stores only the data itself. Its weak point is the relatively
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low speed of processing large data files.
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ZODB stands for Zope Object Database and provides the full-fledged database
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support. ZODB files are not human readable. They contain a certain overhead
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to assist working with large data structures. However, ZODB provides a
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significant speed-up when the database size is large (over few thousand
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people).
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Its is hard to tell which format is better, since this is a typical tradeoff
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situation. If you are starting your research then you are likely to be fine
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with the regular XML database. If you have tons of data to import describing
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thousands upon thousands of people, then you are probably better of with ZODB.
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<Main Window
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When you open a database (either existing or brand new), the following window
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is displayed: Figure 1, gramps - GRAMPS (example file loaded).
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< <Menubar
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The Menubar provides access to all features of GRAMPS through its menus.
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< <Toolbar
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The Toolbar provides access to the most frequently used functions of GRAMPS.
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The appearance of the Toolbar can be adjusted in the Preferences dialog.
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< <Progress bar
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The Progress bar is located in the lower left corner of the GRAMPS window.
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It shows the progress of time consuming operations, such as opening and saving
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large data bases, importing and exporting to other formats, generating
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web-sites, etc.
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< <Status line
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The Status line is located to the right of the Progress bar, on the very bottom
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of the GRAMPS window. The behavior of the Status line can be adjusted in the
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Preferences dialog.
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< <Display area
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The largest are in the center of the GRAMPS window is the Display area.
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It shows certain aspects of genealogical information, depending on the
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currently selected View. There are six Views available in GRAMPS:
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People, Family, Pedigree, Sources, Places, and Media.
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< <Views
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Views are the various ways to display different aspects of genealogical
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information, as described below. Since the relevant information is very broad
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and non-uniform in both context and modality, it is best to split it's display
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into smaller categories, uniform in context and modality. Each View represents
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such a split and displays a certain portion of overall available information.
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Before the detailed description of available Views, let us guide you through
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the ways of switching between the Views.
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< < <Viewing Modes
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< < < <Sidebar vs Tabbed Interface
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Depending on the state of the View->Sidebar menu item, the Views could be
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changed either in the Sidebar (Figure 2. Sidebar, no filter) or in the Notebook
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Tabs in the top part of the window (Figure 3. no sidebar, no filter).
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To switch the View, click on the desired Sidebar icon or the Notebook tab.
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To Switch between Sidebar and Notebook interfaces, choose View->Sidebar from
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the GRAMPS menu.
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< < <People View
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When GRAMPS opens a database, the View is set to the People View.
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People View lists individuals whose data is stored in the database.
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People View displays people's Names, GRAMPS ID numbers, Gender, and their
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Birth and Death dates. The list can be ordered by any field. Example: to order
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list by the Birth date, click on the Birth date column heading. To order list
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in reverse (descending) order, click one more time on the desired
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column heading.
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< < < <Filters
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Genealogical databases may contain huge numbers of people. Since the long
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lists are hard for humans to handle, GRAMPS provides a convenient way to limit
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the scope of browsing by using the Filter. To save screen space, Filter
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controls may be either displayed or not, depending on the state of View->Filter
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menu item.
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When GRAMPS opens a database, the Filter is set to the trivial filter
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called "All people", i.e. no filtering is in effect. To choose a filter, use a
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pop-up Filter menu above the people's list (Figure 4, sidebar, filter). Once
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the Filter is chosen, press apply button in the upper right corner of the
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window. The filtering will take effect upon pressing Apply. To invert
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the filtering rule, check the Invert check-box on the left of Apply button.
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Example: To show people without children, choose "People with children" Filter,
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then check Invert check-box, and then press Apply button. To cancel any
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filtering, set the Filter to "All People" and then press Apply button.
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Note: even if the Filter controls are not displayed (View->Edit menu item is
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unchecked), the filtering might still be in place. In other words, the
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visibility of the Filter controls is not related to the actual filtering
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imposed on the list. This may be a cause of confusion, when you enable the
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filtering and then remove the controls from the display. If in doubt, enable
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the display of Filter controls (by checking View->Edit menu item) and check
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what kind of filtering is currently set.
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< < < <Alphabetical Tabs
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GRAMPS offers another way of managing long lists of people -- alphabetical
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tabs. Upon loading a database, GRAMPS checks for the stored Family names and
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breaks the people list into sublists based on the first letter of their name.
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The alphabetical tabs are displayed in the bottom part of the GRAMPS window.
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The last tab, "Other," stands for unidentified characters -- all the entries
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not assigned to any other tab end up in "Others."
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< < <Family View
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Family View displays the Family information of a currently selected
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(or Active) person. Specifically, this view shows the relationships (e.g
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marriages, partnerships, etc.) of the active person, his/her parents (or step
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parents, or guardians, etc), and his/her children (could be step children,
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adopted children, etc.).
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The Active person's data is in the list-box in the upper left corner of the
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window. Directly below it, another box lists the Spouse's data, for each
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relationship of Active person (can be more than one). The double-arrow button
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to the right of the Active person list-box allows to exchange the currently
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selected spouse (Current spouse) with the Active person. Double-clicking on
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the Active person allows to edit Active person's data. Double-clicking on the
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Current spouse allows to edit their relationship information. To add a spouse,
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press "+" button to the right of the spouse box. To remove Current spouse,
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press "-" button to the right of the spouse box.
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The parents of both the Active person and the Current spouse are listed in
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the corresponding list-boxes in the right-hand part of the window (Active
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person's parents on top, Current spouse parents on the bottom). Both
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list-boxes have a set of three buttons on their right side. The "+"
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and "-" buttons allow to add and remove parents of the Active person and
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the Current spouse, respectively. Pressing the right arrow "->" button makes
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the family in the corresponding list-box and active family. That is, it makes
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the selected Father the Active person, and the selected Mother the Current
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spouse.
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The bottom list-box displays children of the Active person and the Current
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Spouse. Children's list can be order by the Birth date, by usual way of
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clicking on the Birth date column header. In addition to the Name, ID, Gender,
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and Birth date columns, the list includes Status column. The pair of status
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words reflect the relationship between the child and his Father/Mother
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(such as Birth, Adoption, etc.) The three buttons are available on the right
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side of the children list-box. The "+" and "-" buttons allow to add and remove
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children, respectively. Pressing the left arrow button "<-" makes the selected
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child the Active person.
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< < <Pedigree View
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Pedigree View helps to visualize the place of the Active person in the tree
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of its ancestors. Pedigree View shows four generations, going back in time
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from the Active person (1) to his/her parents (2), to grandparents (3), to
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great-grandparents (4). Each person is denoted by a white box bearing the
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person's name. The two lines that converge on the box represent ties with
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the person's Father (top line) and mother (bottom line). Solid lines
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represent birth relations, while dashed lines represent non-birth relations
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(such as adoption, step-parentship, guardianship, etc.). When the mouse moves
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over the white box, it expands to display the corresponding person's dates
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of birth and death. When the mouse is placed over the family line, the
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line changes color to indicate an active link: double-clicking on the line
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makes the corresponding ancestor the Active person. The display in that case
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is re-adjusted to show four generations, starting from a newly selected
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Active person.
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The left-hand side of the window shows the left arrow button. Upon clicking,
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the button expands to the menu listing the children of the Active person.
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Selecting the menu item makes the corresponding child the Active person.
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The right-hand side of the window shows two right arrow buttons. When the
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top button is clicked, the Father of the Active person becomes Active person.
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Clicking the bottom button makes the Mother of the Active person the Active
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person. Again, the display is re-adjusted to show four generations, starting
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from a newly selected Active person.
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< < <Sources View
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Sources View lists the sources of information stored in the database.
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This can include various documents (birth, death, and marriage certificates,
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etc.), books, films, journals, private diaries, i.e. virtually anything that
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can be classified as a source of information. The sources can be used as the
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reference for any event stored in the database. The Source View lists the
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title, ID, and the author of the source. All the columns can be used for
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sorting the list. The usual rules apply: one click for ascending order,
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another click for descending order.
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< < <Places View
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Places View lists the geographical places in which the events of the database
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took place. These could be places of birth, death, marriages of people, as
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well as their home, employment, education addresses, or any other conceivable
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reference to the geographical location. The Places View lists places' Name,
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ID, Church Parish, City, County, State, and Country. All of these can be used
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for sorting by the usual sorting rules.
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< < <Media View
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Media View is a list of Media Objects used in the database. Media Objects
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are any files that relate somehow to the stored genealogical data.
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Technically, any file can be stored as a Madia Object. Most frequently,
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these are images, audio files, animation files, etc. The list-box on the
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bottom lists the Name, ID, Type, and Path to the Media Object. The top part
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of the GRAMPS window shows the preview (if available) and the information
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about the Media Object.
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<Usage
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As commonly encountered in everyday life, in GRAMPS there is usually more
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than one way to accomplish something. The alternatives to some actions
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will therefore be listed as appropriate.
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< <Opening database
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To open a database, either choose File->Open menu item or click on the
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Open button on the Toolbar. You will then be prompted with the following
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window (Figure X) asking to specify the name of the database.
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Either type the full path into the text entry field, or press
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Browse... button to get to the graphical file selector dialog.
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If you previously opened files with GRAMPS, you can retreive your past
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selections from the drop-down menu by pressing the down arrow button.
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Finally, if the Revision Control System (RCS) is enabled in the Preferences
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dialog, the check-box prompting to revert the database to an older version
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from RCS will be available. Check it to revert your database to an older RCS
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version.
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Note: the name you type or select should be the directory (folder) which has
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your data (data.gramps or data.zodb files) as well as any possible copies
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of Media Objects.
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< <Starting new database
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To start a fresh database, choose File->New menu item. You will then be
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prompted with the File Save dialog asking to specify the name under which
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the new database will be stored. Choose an empty directory for your new
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database (create one if necessary).
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< <Saving database
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To save changes made to your database, choose File->Save menu item or click
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on the Save button on the Toolbar. The Status line will then
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display "Saving <filename>..." message, and the Progress bar will advance as
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the saving progresses.
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< <Importing data
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Importing data allows you to incorporate the data created in other
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genealogical programs into your currently open GRAMPS database.
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GRAMPS can import GEDCOM data files from a number of software packages,
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as long as they comply with GEDCOM standards.
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To import GEDCOM file, choose File->Import->GEDCOM menu item. You will then
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be prompted with the Open File dialog asking to specify the GEDCOM file name.
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Upon starting the import, GRAMPS will display the following GEDCOM import
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dialog (Figure Y) with the summary of the information about the data.
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The information is updated as the import progresses.
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< <Exporting data
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Exporting data allows you to share any portion of you GRAMPS database with
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other researchers by way of standard GEDCOM files.
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< <Editing
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< < Edit personal data
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< < Edit relationship data
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< < Edit children data
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< < Edit Sources
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< < Edit Places
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< < Edit Media
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< <Navigation
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< < Setting Default Person
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< < Bookmarking People
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< < Using Family View
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< < Using Pedigree View
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< <Generating Reports
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< < Graphical Reports
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< < ...
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< < Text Reports
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< < ...
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< < Window-View Reports
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< < ...
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< < Web Site
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< <Running Tools
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< < Analysis and Exploration Tools
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< < ...
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< < Database Processing Tools
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< < ...
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< < Utilities
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< < ...
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<Preferences
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< Usage
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< Find
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< Report Preferences
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< Researcher Information
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< Data Guessing
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< Display
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< General
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< Dates and Calendars
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< Tools and Status Bars
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< Database
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< General
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< Media Objects
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< GRAMPS Internal IDs
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< Revision Control
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<Authors
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<License
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