Genealogy Software with Concurrent Users?

[Gjest]

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Lund

[Paul Kean]

Hi Lund,

Legacy provides an ability to do this with its "Intellishare" function.
Legacy has a free version (http://www.legacyfamilytree.com) and a
'Deluxe' version for which you have to pay a small amount. I'm not sure
if Intellishare is in the free or Deluxe version, but download the free
one and give it try.

...Paul

[email protected] wrote:

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Lund

[Joe Makowiec]

On 22 Aug 2005 in soc.genealogy.computing, wrote:

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Some passing thoughts:

Some genealogy database products use industry-standard database file
formats (TMG uses FoxPro xBase; Legacy, if I remember correctly, uses
Microsoft Access).

PHPGedView (http://www.phpgedview.net/) is an online database which can
use GEDCOM as input/output. It uses either text files or a MySQL
backend, depending on which you have available. And it allows people
to create accounts and to edit data if you give them write permission.
People who want to work on your project need only a web browser. You
need a web host which supports PHP (most do) and MySQL.

GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) is a least-common-denominator
method for transferring genealogical data. Put another way: different
genealogical databases have different features. In The Master
Genealogist (TMG, http://whollygenes.com/), for example, you can make
use of a feature called roles. At a baptism, say, in addition to the
parents you have the minister, sponsors, the child's namesake. In TMG
you can, if you want, link all this information to the baptism tag.
None of it will transfer to another program via GEDCOM.

--
Joe Makowiec
http://makowiec.org/
Email: http://makowiec.org/contact/?Joe

[singhals]

[email protected] wrote:

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Painful experience speaking here: the only SURE-FIRE, certain way to
avoid shooting yourself in the foot with multiple people working on a
dataset is to nominate ONE of those people was the data-entry human, and
everyone else sends printout with their changes highlited with one of
those nifty highlighters that go 2/$1 about now.

You might look at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com; their free program does
something called Intellishare, for just your purpose. It is, however,
PC-based; I don't know that it has a MAC/*ix/etc version even in the
brainstorming stages.

I have a vague recollection that there's another program that does
something similar to intellishare, but I don't remember which one it is.

Cheryl

[Hugh Watkins]

not print outs but emails

I think tribal pages may allow sharing

it is essentialto notify each other of what is done anyway

one might care to follow one surname and the other a second
how many names in the databaseat thissatge ?


Hugh W


"singhals" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

[email protected] wrote:

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.


Painful experience speaking here: the only SURE-FIRE, certain way to
avoid shooting yourself in the foot with multiple people working on a
dataset is to nominate ONE of those people was the data-entry human, and
everyone else sends printout with their changes highlited with one of
those nifty highlighters that go 2/$1 about now.

You might look at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com; their free program does
something called Intellishare, for just your purpose. It is, however,
PC-based; I don't know that it has a MAC/*ix/etc version even in the
brainstorming stages.

I have a vague recollection that there's another program that does
something similar to intellishare, but I don't remember which one it is.

Cheryl

[Robert Melson]

In article <[email protected]>,
Joe Makowiec <[email protected]> writes:

On 22 Aug 2005 in soc.genealogy.computing, wrote:

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Some passing thoughts:
snip

PHPGedView (http://www.phpgedview.net/) is an online database which can
use GEDCOM as input/output. It uses either text files or a MySQL
backend, depending on which you have available. And it allows people
to create accounts and to edit data if you give them write permission.
People who want to work on your project need only a web browser. You
need a web host which supports PHP (most do) and MySQL.

We all have our particular hobby horse, mine is phpGedView. The current
release of phpGedView (pgv hereafter), supports not only indexed files and
mysql, but several other databases, as well, including MSSQL. On the plus
side, it supports multiple users, with password protection and access control,
as well as multiple "databases" (you can have a separate "database" for each
gedcom you're working on, with completely different access rules for each), as
well as a - to me - fairly intuitive user interface. On the negative side, it
does require a php capable webserver, whether on your own machine or on a
service site. Reports are a bit limited at this point and are a mix of graphic
reports and a few text reports that are output in PDF format. Big plus is that
pgv is opensource and free.

There's a comparable pay-to-play application available, as well, "The Next
Generation" (TNG), also based on php and a webserver. There are differences
between the two, but nothing that I've seen that really makes one superior to
the other.

If you'll google this newsgroup and alt.genealogy you should find a fairly
lengthy set of postings about pgv and TNG as well as most of the other
applications that will be mentioned.

If you'd like to pick my brain, such as it is, regarding pgv, I'll happily
respond to emails to the reply-to address above. I'd suggest, though, that
you do the recommended homework, though, so you'll have a better idea of the
questions you might want to ask.

GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) is a least-common-denominator
method for transferring genealogical data. Put another way: different
genealogical databases have different features. In The Master
Genealogist (TMG, http://whollygenes.com/), for example, you can make
use of a feature called roles. At a baptism, say, in addition to the
parents you have the minister, sponsors, the child's namesake. In TMG
you can, if you want, link all this information to the baptism tag.
None of it will transfer to another program via GEDCOM.

GEDCOM is the de facto standard for genealogical data exchange - while there

are variations between the several applications, all "speak" a dialect of the
current version. There's a move to upgrade the standard to XML, but this
seems to be lagging at present, although several of the applications I'm
familiar with utilize XML internally. Until the new standard is completed and
published, however, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it - just make sure the
application you select supports GEDCOM v.5.X.

Bob Melson
(here's that SOB again!)

--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
"One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation." Thomas Reed
-----

[Gjest]

First of all, thank you all for the replies. Very much appreciated.

I have read, researched and tried the programs mentioned here. I had a
bit of a special situation, so my opinion may not suit anyone else..

We were using a previous program, which got discontinued, used its own
format, that could only be read on Win98 etc.. a bit of reverse
engineering got the data out again, so that's ok. So a small part of
the focus was that it would be nice to do away on dependency like that,
internal DB formats etc. But not a show-stopper, since generally you
can export/backup to common formats like XML or GedCom.

Anyway, IntelliShare probably could have worked too, but it did seem
like a slightly-automated "hand me your changes and merge" system. This
is probably better for some in that you need not be connected while you
work..

... but for us, (these days?) the family is DSL, and I have fiber so
being connected should not be a problem.

In the end, phpGedView seems to suit us just fine. I run php for the
gallery, and hosting isn't an issue since I work for an ISP. I like
that you can assign certain levels of authority, some users I will
approve their changes, and others like dad, have full access. I can
work on it, approve etc, while I'm at work too. (100% Unix there,
although, vmware does work)

About the only negative thing I have to say is the name! Sounds like
you can just view it, and I would have just moved on had google showed
it. But someone mentioned that they are changing it

Anyway, thanks again!

Lund

[Herman Viaene]

[email protected] wrote:

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Lund

If you really need concurrent users, then choose a program which uses a real
database backend to handle its data. By real database I mean something that
provides for concurrent users and supports row locking. Table locking would
provoke a lot of problems for your users.
Al programs that handle data directly in files all have their share of "not
so well - thought out concurrency problems, they are hopeless.
BTW pay attention : programs like MS-Access (at least I know till Access
2000 - not sure of later version) , When used as database handler, support
multiple users , not concurrent users.

Herman Viaeen

[Gjest]

[email protected] wrote:

First of all, thank you all for the replies. Very much appreciated.

What abt this one?

http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php

[Gjest]

That looks pretty good too. Maybe it would be worth trying out. We have
yet to start to actually work with phpGedView.

Lund

[Gjest]

[email protected] wrote:

That looks pretty good too. Maybe it would be worth trying out. We have
yet to start to actually work with phpGedView.

Lund

yeah I've had extensive conversation with TNG
developer. very good customer service.

I'm going to start using it soon.

[Dale DePriest]

[email protected] wrote:

I'm relatively new to the Genealogy field, as I'm taking over the
project from Dad. But I have noticed that with the few software
solutions out there that we have tried, they all seem to be aimed
toward one person doing all the work.

For Dad and I bother to update we have to trade files back and forth
and remember who was the most complete version. Soon we will ask the
other side of the family to help as well.

Have anyone written Genealogy software that has concurrant users in
mind? If one were to write such software, why not use existing
solutions, like CVS or svn? Since some file formats appear to be text
it would seem quite an easy feature to add.

Admittedly I could just wrap our task around CVS manually, but such
steps could be too much for Dad and others who might be adding to the
tree.

Naturally I would prefer a solution that doesn't tie me to a platform
or certain versions of specific software, as we have already been in
the situation where our database was for software that was
discontinued. But sometimes, one doesn't have much choice.

Lund

Roots Magic provides the ability to merge documents from other users and
preserves this ability via GEDCOM files so that you will not lose data.
The basic idea is that it includes a unique tag for each person so if
you share the same database you can easily merge it even when both
people updated the same record.

Dale
--
_ _ Dale DePriest
/`) _ // http://users.cwnet.com/dalede
o/_/ (_(_X_(` For GPS and GPS/PDAs

[Rich256]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

That looks pretty good too. Maybe it would be worth trying out. We have
yet to start to actually work with phpGedView.

Lund

It is my opinion that Legacy has the best merge function going. I have not
seen one quite as good. It displays not only the possible merge candidates
but also extensive information about their family and allows selection and
editing of the information before merge. If you buy the deluxe version,
you can mark individuals as not related. A big help for people like me who
have a couple hundred unrelated "Annas" in their files. I don't have to go
through all of them every time I try the merge.