
				 README.TXT

              Release Notes for BirthWrite Windows Genealogy Program

				Version 1.6a

		  (C) Copyright Richard McDonald, 1994-97

This document contains release notes for BirthWrite Windows Genealogy
program. Information in this document is more current than that in the
online Help. This document also contains information that is not in
the online Help on installation and setup.

------------------------
How to Use This Document
------------------------

To view README.TXT on screen in Windows Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.

To view the Summary of Changes for this release, scroll to the last section 
of the document.

------------------------
Installation Notes
------------------------

If you received BirthWrite in a Zip file, then you should unzip it to a 
diskette or directory with some name like TEMP. Then run the SETUP.EXE 
file to install BirthWrite.

If you received BirthWrite as a set of files on a diskette, then just run 
the SETUP.EXE like you would with any Windows Program.

It is NOT advisable to run Setup from File Manager. Please run it from the 
File-Run pulldown menu. Otherwise you may see a "file in use" error.

BirthWrite was implemented in Visual Basic. What that means to you is that
there will be more files installed on the system than just the programs
.EXE and .HLP files.

The complete package contains the following files:

  \BIRTHWRI\BIRTHWRI.EXE                .... you may have changed this
  \BIRTHWRI\BIRTHWRI.HLP                     directory name at install
  \BIRTHWRI\README.TXT
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COMDLG16.OCX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COMPOBJ.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CTL3DV2.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DAO2516.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSAJT200.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSJETERR.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSJETINT.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OC25.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2.REG
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2CONV.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2DISP.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2NLS.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE2PROX.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SCP.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STDOLE.TLB
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STORAGE.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TABCTL16.OCX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TYPELIB.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VAEN21.OLB
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VB40016.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VBAJET.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VBDB16.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\THREED16.OCX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSVIEW.VBX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSVIEW.LIC

Prior releases of BirthWrite were implemented using an earlier release of 
Visual Basic. IF YOU HAVE NO OTHER VISUAL BASIC PROGRAMS INSTALLED, you may
delete the following files. If you don't know for sure, don't delete these.

  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CMDIALOG.VBX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COMMDLG.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSAES110.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSAJT110.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VBDB300.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSAFINX.DLL
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\THREED.VBX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSVBX.VBX
  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSVBX.LIC
 
This program requires Windows 3.1 or subsequent release.

------------------------
SHARE.EXE - IMPORTANT!!!!!
------------------------

If you have Windows 3.1 or earlier, you MUST - repeat
MUST - put the statement

	C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE /L:500 /F:5100

in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before any WIN statement that may be there. 
If it's already there, ensure that the values are at least as large as those listed.

If you have Windows for Workgroups, OS/2, or Windows 95 then you don't need to add 
the Share command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT.

------------------------
Space Requirements
------------------------

Depending on if you have other Visual Basic applications installed or not,
BirthWrite will require anywhere from .5 Mb to 5 Mb. If you should have a 
failure during install due to lack of disk space, please clear AT LEAST 5Mb
of disk space to ensure correct installation. Then retry.

------------------------
Printing
------------------------

Printing can generate pretty big files. If your swap file isn't big enough,
the program and Windows could hang - that is - stop entirely. Please give
yourself lots of swap space if you're planning to print any reports with
a lot of people. This is a general Windows problem and not a problem with
BirthWrite. See your Windows documentation for information on setting the
swap file size.

------------------------
Display size
------------------------

BirthWrite works OK on a VGA screen. However, for best results I strongly
recommend that you use at least 800x600 resolution. I personally use
1280x1024 so I can get lots of windows going.

BirthWrite 1.6 includes a feature to take even more advantage of large 
screens with high resolution. Prior to BirthWrite 1.6, the tree display showed
only 4 generations (current individual, children, parents and grandparents).
BirthWrite 1.6 allows you to optionally show 5 generation (greatgrandparents).

------------------------
If you delete BirthWrite
------------------------

If you delete BirthWrite from your system AND it is the only Visual Basic
application installed, then you will need to delete each of the files
in the list above. Do not delete SHARE.EXE.

If you have installed other Visual Basic applications or if you are not
sure if you have installed other Visual Basic applications, then you
should only delete the files in the \BIRTHWRI directory.

------------------------
If you have other Visual Basic applications
------------------------

BirthWrite was written using Visual Basic Version 3.0 with fixes from
MicroSoft applied.

If you install BirthWrite using the install EXE provided, BirthWrite will
operate correctly. It is possible that the install process could update
files common to most Visual Basic programs. If that happens, the behavour
of the already installed program could change. It might even fail. If this
happens, please contact me or the author of your other program. Generally,
you should be OK.

------------------------
Registration
------------------------

BirthWrite is shareware. You are granted by the author a license to use it
for 10 days for evaluation. If you decide to use it beyond those terms,
you are expected to pay for a full use license. You may also redistribute
BirthWrite as you see fit provided that no supplied materials are modified
and all materials are shipped.

Cost of registering for a full use license is $30.00 US ($35.00 Cdn).
Registered users will get my attention when it comes to support. Otherwise
the program is fully functional.

Please read the registration section of the online help.

Thanks

Richard McDonald

------------------------
Summary of Changes
------------------------


Release 1.6a - 31 Mar 97

- prompt button - added in 1.6, changed to small buttons beside each
  field for which it applies. Concluded that it was clearer that way.
- bugs fix:
  - old one - marriage status didn't print correctly on family sheets.
  - new one - pressing prompt when no data in the table for that field
    will cause a program failure.
  - nasty one - help file not readable on Windows 3.1. 

Release 1.6 - 20 Mar 97

- enhanced display to include 5 generations - good for svga display only
- added field to allow recording source for birth, death, marriage, burial
  and christening information.
- added prompt button for person and place names. Simplifies entry of the 
  same name multiple times. Ensures consistent spelling. Works for entering
  data for individuals and for building queries into the data base.
- new listing report. Just a simple report table with multiple columns
  for data. Not all fields are printed (family sheet will do that tho).
  Works for ancestors and descendents from the current individual and  
  will also print all individuals. The design is memory intensive and may 
  fail on trees larger than around 3000 names - depending on machine.
- revamped printer specification dialog. I think it's easier to use.
- lastname no longer is translated to uppercase. Upper case was a hangover 
  from my own Denison data base (read "about the author" in help) where the 
  original data came that way.
- BirthWrite no longer requires you to supply a first or last name (which 
  was usually "?"). It will supply "?" for you. Yes, BirthWrite requires
  *something* for the first and last name fields
- allow double click on any parent or grandparent field in tree view.
  Double click will make parent/grandparent into current individual AND
  open an edit window for that individual.
- upgraded the development environment to Visual Basic 4.0. As a result
  a couple of things had to change:
  1) Direct printing from the print dialog no longer works. You have to 
     preview the print out first. Let me know if this is an issue to you.
  2) A variable related to the photo display will not store it's value 
     properly in a VB 4.0 data base. The program should change the value
     as stored in BirthWrite 1.5 to a correct value as you look at each
     photo. If you see any error messages or bad behaviour, please try 
     to access the photo again. If the problem persists, please contact me.
- updated the details notebook to use a new one to improve performance.

- fixed bugs
  - Gedcom export of a data base and then import would fail for those 
    individuals with a cemetery recorded but no section or plot.
  - double clicking on child list in tree view could cause "type mismatch" 
    message.
  - christening date on family sheet printed on top of title for 
    christening place.
 

Release 1.5a - 30 Oct '95

- MSAFINX.DLL missing in distribution package
  - not a problem for existing users.
  - causes BirthWrite not to start for new users. 

Release 1.5 - 12 Oct '95

- Graphical Report Printing: 
  
  Ancestor and descendent charts can be printed in a graphical form. 
  Charts are generated for the current individuals displayed when 
  print is selected. Relationship lines are drawn between each person 
  shown on the chart.
    
  Large trees will print seamlessly across multiple pages on fan-fold 
  paper. Wallpaper your room with your family tree. The fonts can be 
  changed so you can make it as big as you like.
- Print Preview: All reports are shown in a preview screen before they 
  are printed. This allows you to check the report before printing it.
- Family Sheet Index: Family sheet reports are cross referenced between 
  each other, but there is no way to find a specific individual. The 
  index lists each individual and the sheet that they appear on. This 
  allows you to print book like reports about your family.
- Family Sheet Photos: Photos can be printed on the family sheet. The 
  photo is printed 2 inches wide on the right side of the sheet. The 
  height of the photo is determined by the aspect ratio of the photo. 
  Printing of the photo is optional as it takes time and system resources. 
  Also, some printers may not support graphic printing.
- Query: As well as finding entries by searching by name or id number, 
  you can now search for entries using a number of fields including 
  birth and death date and place plus others.
- General Improvements: Many improvements have been made to the printing 
  system. Specifically:
  - Family Sheet Header: Now includes the name, type of report, and 
    number of generations being printed. Also includes page number 
    which may be different from the sheet number if a sheet flows 
    over more than one page.
  - Font Handling: BirthWrite 1.4 reports were optimized for a narrow 
    range of font sizes. This release handles larger fonts somewhat 
    better.
  - Photo Support: Photo’s are now stored with their aspect ratio (ratio 
    of height to width). Resizing the photo will maintain the aspect 
    ratio regardless of the size of the photo.
  - Marriage Page Tabs: Fixed the tab order on the marriage page of 
    the individual details window.
  - Christening Date: By popular demand, added support for Christening 
    date and place. Included GEDCOM import and export.
  - GEDCOM date import: Now recognize 'c', 'circa' for circa dates.

Release 1.4 - 01 Nov '94

- Family sheet reports: This new report prints all information about an
  individual (except photos). A set of family sheets can be produced for 
  the ancestors or descendents of the current individual. Within the set, 
  each sheet is cross referenced with other sheets within the family. 

- Photo support: Photo’s can now be stored with any individual.

- Ordered Lists: Lists of children are now shown in birth order with 
  the eldest first.

- Misc Fixes:
  - Graphical chart display: Under some circumstances, the peoples 
    names will overlap on the display of a descendent chart.
  - Marriage Status and End dates: On the Marriage details notebook 
    page, clicking on any pushbutton cleared ALL pushbuttons. Push 
    buttons have been grouped to correct the behaviour.
  - Marriage end date: This date was not saved if the individual was new. 
  - Spouse drop down list: On the tree display, the spouse drop down list 
    had the first spouse in the list selected. Now shows the current 
    spouse as selected. Also corrected name format to match that 
    used in the tree display.
  - GEDCOM import: Misc fixes applied to improve support.
    - Date handling: Improved recognition of dates.
    - ID Numbers: No recognize hex id numbers.
    - Merge with empty: Merging GEDCOM file with an empty data 
      base caused a program failure.
    - Divorces/Adoptions: Fixed some problems.
    - Messges: Messages are only issued once for each problem found.
  - Spelling: Fixed a very silly one on the main window at startup.
  - Fathers become mothers: This is a nasty little bug that showed up in 
    release 1.1 and I’ve had enough comments that I added some checks 
    on it in release 1.3. I had thought it might be a user problem related to 
    BirthWrite accepting same sex marriages, but alas, a user took me 
    through a scenario to show me what happened. With that I tracked 
    it down to a coding error of mine. Apologies to all. 

Release 1.3 - 23 Jul '94

- improved performance of most data base accesses.

- printing/previewing of descendent/ancestor trees in chart format
  - accessed via print push button.
  - chart version of either type of tree will be previewed from print dialog box.
    Print can be invoked from the preview display.
  - limitations
    - prints only one page. Anything off the page will not be printed.
      Go for landscape printing and a large paper printer. You can specify
      that the page boundries should be displayed to let you know how bad
      it'll be.
    - can only display trees of a certain size. Once the size is exceeded,
      the building of the chart is stopped and the chart shown as far 
      as it got. 
    For BirthWrite 1.3, consider chart printing to be in beta form. It'll 
    get better with BirthWrite 1.4.

- added page breaks to text version of descendent chart. Upon encountering
  a new page, the immediate ancestors of the individual who caused the page
  break will be printed at the top of the page.  This allows you to tell 
  from one page how a descendent relates to the individual. Try it with a 
  large tree. You'll see.

- changed create File-New dialog from a Windows "Open" dialog to a 
  Windows "Save-As" dialog. Shouldn't mean much to you, but you'll see
  that the file name list box is now grayed out. You can still select 
  from the grayed out list. Selecting a file that already exists will 
  result in a confirmation   prompt before existing data base is deleted.

- can now choose from 4 different date formats. See the "Options" pull down.

- added new fields to the data base for marriage status including date of
  ending and marriage status. GEDCOM import and export supported. 
  Only married, divorced and annulled marriage settings are exported.

- age (if alive) and age at death displayed on details screen

- improved GEDCOM import a little;
  - now handle OCCU, RESI, and EDUC tags
  - handle dates like 1795/96 by translating into About 1795
  - handle marriage DIV and ANUL tags with dates
  - can print error report

- misc bugs fixed
  - nasty little one when creating a new data base. If the sex is changed
    from female to male, then a Type Mismatch error will occur. Only ocurs 
    on first individual when creating a new data base.
  - if the addition of a new individual is cancelled, under some 
    circumstances, the redisplay of the tree may abend with error "No 
    current record". 
  - converting data base from 1.1 to 1.2 upon opening data base would cause
    tool bar to clear. Toolbar now displayed correctly after conversion.
  - cleaned up startup of new tree display. Used to show incomplete tree. 
    Now paints the tree before displaying it.
  - displaying About screen with a no data base open causes user interface 
    to lock up. Now can close About screen with OK push button.
  - upgraded install program
    - eliminated a number of bugs caused by Microsoft install program.

Release 1.2 - 15 May '94

- added GEDCOM Export support

- improved performance of GEDCOM Import.

- unrecognized GEDCOM fields are written as notes. 

- replaced Details and More Info display with a single window with index
  tabs to select the information required. This is known in the trade as 
  a "Notebook" control.

- added Adopted field to the data base. Data bases are automatically 
  converted when they are opened. You will be asked if you want to do the
  conversion.

- added birth dates and titles to list of individuals. My famiy has too 
  many John Denison's to easily tell which is being selected.

- added Window Cascade push button. I found I was using it quite a bit
  with my laptops small VGA screen. 

- optionally can choose to print statistics with descendents. 
  Statisitics include number of people per generation.

- added Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete push buttons to Notes section. These use
  the standard Windows Clipboard.

- misc bugs fixed
  - when showing multiple trees and a details screen, closing a tree 
    display that is currently driving the details display would cause 
    a error
  - GEDCOM submitter fields were not being length checked.
  - occasionally the tree display would paint twice when the number of 
    children would cause a change in the size of the children list.
  - married date wasn't being checked after an error found.
  - checking incomplete dates such as only month and day specified.
  - fixed GEDCOM import keycap changing
  - added a few more hourglass icons for long running tasks.

Still to come.....

- printing of graphic style charts.

Release 1.1 - 04 Apr '94

- fixed a couple of spelling mistakes

- added hourglass to a couple of long running functions

- clarified message shown when attempt made to deleted someone with
  siblings. Can't delete then because of "blank" parents recorded to hold
  family together.

- clarified dialog box shown upon first time use. Now says that user can
  create a new data base OR import gedcom.

- adjusted size of child list for large families so that list always has
  a little white space.

- "about" dialog box disappears on it's own without requiring OK to be
  clicked.

- fixed "delete tree" icon so that it didn't change to "add tree" icon
  after use.

Release 1.0 - 31 Mar '94

- Initial release
