355 lines
12 KiB
XML
355 lines
12 KiB
XML
<preface id="gramps-preface">
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<!--
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User Manual for Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program
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Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Alexander Roitman
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This document is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
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(at your option) any later version.
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This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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GNU General Public License for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
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Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
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-->
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<!-- $Id$ -->
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<title>Preface</title>
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<para>GRAMPS is a software package designed for genealogical
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research. Although similar to other genealogical programs, GRAMPS
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offers some unique and powerful features, which we'll discuss
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below. </para>
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<para>GRAMPS is a Open Source Software package, which means you
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are free to make copies and distribute it to anyone you like.
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It's developed and maintained by a worldwide team of volunteers
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whose goal is to make GRAMPS powerful, yet easy to use.</para>
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<sect1 id="why-gramps">
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<title>Why use GRAMPS?</title>
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<para>Most genealogy programs allow you to enter information
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about your ancestors and descendants. Typically, they can
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display family relationships through charts, graphs, or
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reports. Some allow you to include pictures or other media. Most
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let you include information about people even if those people
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are not related to the primary family you happen to be
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researching. And they may include features that let you exchange
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data with other programs and print different types of
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reports. </para>
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<para>GRAMPS has all these capabilities and more. Notably, it
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allows you to integrate bits and pieces of data as they arise
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from your research and to put them in one place — your
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computer. You can then use your computer to manipulate,
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correlate, and analyze your data, rather than messing with reams
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of paper. </para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="whats-new">
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<title>What's new since 1.0.X</title>
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<para>If you are new to GRAMPS, it may not be important for you
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to know how GRAMPS version 2.0.0 (the object of this manual)
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differs from previous versions of the software. You may
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therefore elect to skip this section.</para>
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<para>However, if you are already familiar with GRAMPS and are
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interested in the new aspects and features of version 2.0.0,
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please read on.</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry><term>Berkeley database backend</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've adopted the Berkeley database format (BSDDB) as
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the default for GRAMPS. Berkeley is the most widely used
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open source developer database in the world.</para>
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<para>This change allowed us to overcome issues of
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performance and memory requirements that beset version
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1.0.X. With the new back-end, database sizes of up to a
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hundred thousand people no longer present a major
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obstacle.</para>
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<para>The default extension for GRAMPS' BSDDB database files
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is grdb. The new format is open and fully documented in the
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developer's API reference distributed with the source code
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of GRAMPS. </para>
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<note id="default-format">
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<title>Preferred format</title>
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<para>The preferred and default format for &app; is the
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new BSDDB format.</para>
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</note>
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<para>A consequence of the new database back-end is that the
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"saving" function is no longer necessary (or even
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possible). Now, once you approve changes, they are
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immediately applied; this means that clicking
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<guibutton>OK</guibutton> in the Person, Family, Source,
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Place, Media object, or Event editor immediately records
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changes in the database. </para>
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<para>In previous versions, you could "quit without
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saving." This option no longer exists per se; however,
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in version 2.0.0, you can achieve the same effect if you
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abandon or "cancel" all changes and then
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quit.</para>
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<para>Also, it is now possible to undo recent
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actions.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>Other database back-ends</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>Along with the BSDDB backend, we've incorporated
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"in-memory" database handling for the GRAMPS XML
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and GEDCOM formats. This means you can now open files in
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those two formats and work with their data without having to
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first create a new database and import data into it. Since
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this approach requires GRAMPS to hold all the data in
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memory, it is only useful for small databases (depending on
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available memory size).</para>
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<warning id="gedcom-editing">
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<title>GEDCOM Editing</title>
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<para>Please keep in mind that some information in a
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GEDCOM file may be lost during import into GRAMPS. Simply
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opening and viewing the file will not change it. However,
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if any changes were made and they were not abandoned upon
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exit, exiting GRAMPS will save the data, with the possible
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data loss.</para>
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</warning>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Desktop integration</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've improved the way GRAMPS integrates with the GNOME
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desktop interface common to many Linux distributions. All file
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formats recognized by GRAMPS are now registered as mime types;
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each has its own icon and has GRAMPS as its default
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handler. Thus, if you double-click on any file having one of
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these formats, GRAMPS will launch and open the file.</para>
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<para>We've also added support for GNOME's "recent
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documents" function and have incorporated this function
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within GRAMPS itself.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Interface improvements</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've made numerous changes in the interface. Most of
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them are subtle and incremental improvements, and all of them
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cannot be listed here. The most notable are:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Removal of alphabetical tabs.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Ability to add/remove/rearrange columns in list views.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Removal of the Save function and addition of Undo.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Proper window management and removal of most modal windows.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Support for Tip of the Day.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Person-dependent context menus (right-click) in
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Pedigree View, listing parents, children, spouses, and
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siblings.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Addition of an Export wizard.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Built-in Find function in list views.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Addition of a Date selector dialog.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Name editor enhancements: patronymic names and
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non-default grouping.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>"Recent document" support (both within GRAMPS and
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GNOME-wide)</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Import and Export</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've added import and export filters for the GeneWeb format.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Reports</term>
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<listitem>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've added a new report: Statistics Chart. </para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>We've changed the overall report framework. All
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reports now remember the options you configure for
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them.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>It is possible to generate reports from the command
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line, without launching the interactive GRAMPS
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session.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>The report API is much simpler now, making it easy to
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write custom reports.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>A single code instance may be used for a standalone
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report, a book item, and a command-line report. </para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Internationalization</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The approach for entering and displaying dates has
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been completely reworked. The new framework allows for a
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deeper localization of displayed dates than was ever
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possible using the translatable strings.</para>
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<para>The internationalization of names has also been
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improved. Names can be grouped under a non-default
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string. Patronymic names are supported, and it is easy to
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program new ways to display names in the manner customary to
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a given culture or language.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="typography">
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<title>Typographical conventions</title>
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<para>
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In this book, some words are marked with special typography:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<application>Applications</application>
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<command>Commands</command> you type at the command line
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<filename>Filenames</filename>
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<replaceable>Replaceable text</replaceable>
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<guilabel>Labels</guilabel> for buttons and other
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portions of the graphical interface
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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Menu selections look like this:
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<menuchoice>
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<guimenu>Menu</guimenu>
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<guisubmenu>Submenu</guisubmenu>
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<guimenuitem>Menu Item</guimenuitem>
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</menuchoice>
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<guibutton>Buttons</guibutton> you can click
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<simpara>
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<userinput>Anything you type in</userinput>
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</simpara>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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<para>
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The manual also provides assorted bits of additional information in
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tips and notes, as follows.
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<tip id="example-tip">
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<title>Tip</title>
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<para>
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Tips and bits of extra information will look like
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this.
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</para>
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</tip>
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<note id="example-note">
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<title>Note</title>
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<para>
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Notes will look like this.
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</para>
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</note>
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</para>
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<para>
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Finally, there are warnings, notifying you where you should be careful:
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<warning id="example-warning">
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<title>Example Warning</title>
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<para>
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This is what a warning looks like. If there's a chance
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you'll run into trouble, you will be warned beforehand.
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</para>
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</warning>
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</para>
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</sect1>
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</preface>
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