The best of PAFinder

Reviews of PAF 5

I. Bugs or Operator Error?

By Mary Lou Harline

PAF 5 has been available since late late 2000. The latest version is PAF 5.1.12.

Several updates solved some major problems found by users. The biggest problem was with the download feature, and that has been corrected. Some e-mail lists for PAF 5 (and PAF 4) have been filled with messages about the many "bugs " found in PAF 5.

Certainly there are some "bugs"; no software program is ever completely free of them. However, many problems are caused by "operator error," usually when the user fails to understand the program, does not use the Help text to learn how to accomplish the task, or tries to make the program do something not planned by the authors. Some of the most frequent complaints from users are discussed in this article.

Installation

A program must be installed to be useful. Most people have no problems installing PAF 5, but others have given up hope of ever installing it. One point to remember about installing any Windows program is that all other Windows programs ( especially virus-checking programs) running on your computer must be shut down to achieve a clean installation.

You can put the PAF 5 setup file in any folder you want; just be sure to know where you put it. The name for the current setup file version (PAF 5.1.12) is PAF5EnglishSetup.exe if you are loading only the English version. I have found that I can install a new version of PAF 5 over the old version without causing any trouble though some users say that the old version should be uninstalled first. Your data should remain intact.

Remember that "should" can be a disappointing word, and it is best to backup your data files before doing the installation. It is a good idea to keep your PAF data in a separate folder. This folder could be in the "My Documents" folder with a label "PAF5data." If you have problems after installation, one of the first things to do is to restart your computer and try running PAF 5 again.

Data Files

PAF 5 uses a new database format, and the PAF data files from earlier versions must be converted to PAF 5. PAF 5 will search for all the PAF 3 and PAF 4 data files. When you click on one of these files in the list of PAF 3 and PAF 4 data files, PAF 5 will ask if you want to convert this file to PAF 5 format. PAF 5 conversion should not do anything to change your PAF 3 or 4 data, but you should have a good backup of your PAF 3 or 4 data before you convert it to PAF 5 format.

PAF 2.1 to 2.31 data files must be imported from a GEDCOM file to be used in PAF 5. You may decide to copy your PAF 4 file to your "PAF5Data" folder before you open PAF 5 and convert that file. Because PAF 5 uses the same file extension (.paf) as PAF 3 or 4, use a "5" in the name of the converted data file to avoid saving it over the old PAF data file. You can save it with the same name, replacing the copy of the previous file, but a "5" in the file name is important to help you remember that it is a PAF 5 file.

GEDCOM Files

Creating GEDCOM files in PAF 5 has generated more mail and created more demands for a correction than any other "bug." Computer programmers chuckle when a customer complains about a problem which they consider a "feature" and not a "bug." This GEDCOM problem in PAF 5 is definitely a planned feature and not an error that needs to be changed.

PAF 5 is designed to be able to use Asian and Slavic languages that require a more complete set of alphabetic characters than is available in the character sets usually used by genealogy programs.

When a GEDCOM file is sent to another program, the other program needs to know from the start which Unicode character set is being used. This is done by inserting three characters in the first line of the GEDCOM file, before "0 HEAD." These characters make up what is called the Unicode byte order mark, indicating to receiving systems that the file is in Unicode format.

Because Unicode is not available on many other computer genealogy programs, PAF 5 allows you to create GEDCOM files using different character sets. The choices for the GEDCOM file format are found in the window when the "Expert" icon is clicked. The choices for the GEDCOM files are:

  • PAF 5 (default) PAF 2.1-2.3
  • Ancestral File or Pedigree Research File
  • Temple Ready for DOS
  • Temple Ready for Windows
  • PAF for Palm OS@ Handheld Computer
  • OtherGEDCOM5.5

Choose the character set from: UTF-8, UNICODE, ANSEL, ANSI. Note that 2.x uses ANSI and GEDCOM 4.0; PAF 3 and 4 use ANSEL and GEDCOM 5.5 and box, then click on "Print" and name the PAF 5 uses UTF-8 and GEDCOM5.5, and PAF 5 uses UTF-8 and GEDCOM 5.5. Choose the GEDCOM format that can be read by the program which will read the file.

Under no circumstances should you try to change the GEDCOM file by using a word processor to delete the three characters before "0 HEAD." It may appear to import data correctly, but there may be problems that you cannot readily see. If the default (PAF 5) GEDCOM won't import into the program you want, click on "Other GEDCOM 5.5" and choose "ANSEL character set."

Print-to-File Problems

Most printing problems observed in PAF 4 and the earlier versions of PAF 5 have been corrected. If you are still using PAF 4, be sure you have PAF 4.0.4.18 to print to a file in Rich Text Format (.rtf). PAF 4.09.4.18 and PAF 5 have a print-to-file option found on the print screen in the lower right corner. Click this box, then click on "Print" and name the file and folder to use. Please remember that you checked the "Print to File" box when next you want to print to the printer. The computer program will remember. It won't be a "bug" in the program; it will be "operator error."

Child in Wrong Family

There has been a concern about the child labeled as "adopted" when the child wasn't adopted, or a child being put in the grandparents' family instead of the parents family. This error is frequently caused by entering individuals without any family with the intent that you will link them up later. PAF 5 makes it easier to enter individuals without a family or add a family not linked to any other relatives. This can lead to trouble.

The best method to use when entering data is to add the individual linked to an already entered person (except for the first person entered, of course ). When you are building a database of ancestors: (1) add parents, (2) add spouses, (3) add children, and (4) keep adding individuals with these relationships. When you are building a database of descendants: (1) add children, (2) add a child's spouse, (3) then add children for the couple. This way you will be sure to have the children in the correct family.

If you add a child into a family, and later select that child as an "existing individual" for another family , that child will have the parent link specified as "adopted" for the second family. To have the child listed as a natural child in the second family, you must unlink the child to the first family and then change the parent link to "biological" ( with the child's name highlighted, click on "Edit," click on "Parents," then change the parent link.

II. PAF 5.1 Available

By Allin Kingsbury

The big news is that there is an update and PAF 5 is now PAF 5.1 since 21 March 2001. Four features were added:

  • PAF checks for updated software when you go to the "Help" menu and select the option "Check for Software Updates."
  • PAF allows you to now select individuals and families for export to Palm Operating System (Palm OS) handheld computers. You can also use the PAF program for the Palm OS to view your data on the handheld.
  • Additional languages available include German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Swedish.
  • The date display formats now include a year, month, and day option.

According the FamilySearch.org Website, the following errors were fixed:

  • If a template referenced a user-defined event that was not in your database, it would crash or create an invalid event record. If a person had multiple sets of parents and you went to the edit parents dialog, clicked on a non-primary set of parents, and then clicked the "Save" button, the sealing information for the primary set of parents was replaced with the information from the set of parents that were highlighted when you pressed "Save."
  • When editing an individual, if you replaced a date with a date code (Deceased, Child, and so forth) PAF would erroneously report it as a nonstandard date.
  • The marriage list did not display correctly if one of the spouses was unknown. Web pages and book reports had a number of problems corrected, including RIN after name, person' s name sometimes duplicating, missing space between surname and name, sealing to spouse shown twice, and so on.
  • When printing source citations, information in the "FilmlVolume/Page Number" field was omitted.
  • When inserting symbols, the cursor did not advance properly.
  • Pedigree Resource File could not be started from the "Tools" menu. Several problems with read-only files (files on CD, for examp]e) have been fixed.
  • Data sometimes printed both at the bottom of one page and at the top of the next.
  • Some printers cou]d not print information, only lines. While this is a defect of some printer drivers, PAF can avoid the problem. However, some non-roman data will not print with these defective printer drivers. Some reports printing on some printers caused an error message that there was not enough printable space.
  • The "Source" button did not work for custom events defined in templates. The cursor in edit fields would sometimes disappear when returning to a field.
  • On some computers, pasting from the clipboard into notes or other edit fields didn't work.
  • Problems where links were incorrect after match/merge were fixed. Maiden names of wives sometimes printed twice on the calendar report that included anniversaries.

Several minor problems with creating and editing templates were fixed. If you are using PAF 5, you will want to get the update.