tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793782800729950147.post8427505839754800753..comments2024-03-26T21:29:07.190-07:00Comments on Rejoice, and be exceeding glad...: How do you choose a genealogy program? -- Part TwoJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793782800729950147.post-27646155191360214942014-04-20T07:24:51.186-07:002014-04-20T07:24:51.186-07:00James,
PAF was the first genealogy program to imp...James,<br /><br />PAF was the first genealogy program to implement Unicode. There are still a number of well-known programs that have not. If a person uses the Unicode features of PAF, e.g. to record the spelling of East European names and places in their native languages, then they should make sure they switch to a program that not only handles Unicode, but can also read the Unicode from the GEDCOM that PAF produces.<br /><br />Long ago, it was realized that PAF did not have good capability for recording sources. Back in 1992, the Silicon Valley PAF Users Group Documentation Committee produced a 48 page "PAF Documentation Guidelines" booklet that has since morphed into a 116 page Family History Documentation Guidelines" document. See: http://svpafug.org/pages/docgdlns.html ). This defined in a Shown-Mills-like way (but was pre-Shown-Mills) how to add sources to PAF notes with standardized tags, semicolons and other punctuation so that the data would be retrievable again from a "smart" program. The SVPUG even at the time produced a software utility for DOS called HotNotes to help enter your sources into PAF in this standardized manner. I believe a lot of people took to using this system as I have found lots of GEDCOMs built by PAF containing the telltale exclamation mark at the beginning of many of their notes.<br /><br />Unfortunately, few programs (if any) can read and understand this format. However, anyone who was so meticulous to follow this system should be able to map it into a new program. They likely will have to manually do the work to convert the notes into sources, but the defined structure they would have used should allow them to do this.<br /><br />As long as all the "sources" that people put into PAF can get translated into NOTEs in the new system, there is no reason why a person cannot switch programs. As long as the information is there, they can convert the notes to sources when they have time. They don't have to do so right away.<br /><br />LouisLouis Kesslerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11704667321407909489noreply@blogger.com