Instructions for using the new Windows-based…
“In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD-ROM
i) The CD-ROM will automatically open to the CDMenu. Once in the CDMenu…
ii) Click on the first button, to install the Brother’s Keeper Program on your computer hard drive (Obviously, you only need do this ONCE). After the BK program installation is complete, return to the CDMenu and…
iii) Read Item #3 of the CDMenu. Use the scroll bar to scroll across, and read all of the important information.
iv) Click on the second button to start the Brother’s Keeper Program.
IMPORTANT: AFTER you have started the B.K. Program, you can view each of the data files individually (there are over 150 of them), by clicking on FILE, then OPEN DATABASE, then (using the small black drop-down arrow) choosing the CD-ROM drive letter (usually D:) where the CD-ROM has been placed. Next, double click the GEDCOMS folder (where the data files are located) and then choose the file you wish to view. Then, click on the ?OK? button. Finally, as instructed in the BK opening window, click “Edit” to view the actual data file. Note: You will know when you have properly accessed a data base file, since the number of names and families will appear at the bottom of the BK opening screen.
If the CD does not start automatically, please follow these steps:
– Double-click on the “My Computer” icon on the desktop.
– In the My Computer window, right-click on the CD ROM symbol in which you have placed the CD-ROM.
– Click on “AutoPlay” (at the top of the window).
Note: If for any reason, the CD-ROM does not start as noted above, use the following instructions?
The Simple Instructions:
1. Insert the CD in your computer CD-ROM Drive.
2. Click on the Windows “Start” button.
3. Click on the Windows “Run” button.
4. In the “open” section of the “run” window, enter your CD-ROM Drive letter (usually D:\), immediately followed by BKsetupE.exe so, the “run” command will look like this:
D:\BKsetupE.exe
Note: Obviously, you will need to substitute your own computer CD-ROM Drive letter, if the CD-ROM you are using is NOT D:\
5. The Brother’s Keeper will install on your computer and create a “Brother’s Keeper icon” on your desktop.
6. Double-click the newly created BK6 icon to start the program. The Brother’s Keeper program will open within about 15 seconds (if it doesn’t, see notes below).
7. The first time you start the program, you will be prompted for the location of the data files. These are in sub-folders of the GEDCOMS folder. From the drop-down menu (small black arrow pointing down), choose your own computer CD-ROM Drive letter (usually D: or E: but could be another letter… there will be a very small picture of a disk, on the proper drive letter), then double-click on the GEDCOMS folder (where the data files are located), then choose/highlight the data base file you want to view. Finally, click on the “OK” button.
8. You can view each of the data files individually by clicking on “File”, then “Open List of Databases” and then choosing the GEDCOM file you wish to view. To start the reports and charts, pick from the choices under DESCENDANT, ANCESTOR, LISTS and OTHER. [A good place to start to see all the names on the CD, is by clicking on LISTS, then ALPHABETICAL DISPLAY (Last name) which will provide a complete list of names on the CD. Then double-click any name to see the details of same]. You can also use the F3 “Find” key to search for any/all individuals on the CD-ROM.
9. The next time you use the BK Program, it automatically opens the database you worked-on, previously. To open a different BK data base (at any time), pick “File”, then “Open List of Databases” from the open window. You may then choose a different data base.
10. Be sure your printer is hooked-up to the computer.
PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT need to register the Brother’s Keeper Program, in order to be able to use it!
Note 1 : You will NOT be able to view the information on the CD-ROM until/unless you have accessed the drive and folder(s) where the data files are located. You will know you are in the proper drive and folder, since the bottom of the main screen will show the drive letter and the chosen folder, as well as the number of people in the database (in the “Names” portion of the main screen). If a number does NOT appear in the “Names” section of the main screen, then you are NOT in the proper drive. Review the instruction in number 6. 7. 8. and 9. above, and be certain you are choosing the proper CD-ROM Drive letter of your computer and the folder name you want to view. You can also click on “File” and then “Open Database” to choose the proper drive and folder. The proper drive will be something OTHER THAN C:\
Note 2: While you can view the summary of data base files (by clicking on “File”, then “Open List of Data Bases”), you must use the details provided above, in order to actually access the data base files.
Note 3: I want to immediately stress, that Brother’s Keeper is a shareware program and while permission for its use was granted me by its author, John Steed, to obtain the full benefits of the program (including a complete instruction manual, future updates, additional features of the program and technical support), I encourage you to register the program by visiting BK’s web site at http://www.bkwin.com or http://www.bkwin.net or, click on the Help button and then How to Register. Follow the instructions outlined there. In my opinion Brother’s Keeper is the BEST shareware program available and its minimal cost is well worth it!
Windows Vista & Windows7
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows7, you will need to set the BK6 program to run with administrator rights. Right click the BK6 icon and pick Properties, Compatibility, Run as administrator, then click OK.
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 and you get a message when starting BK that says the data should not be below the C:\program files folder then click here.
The Detailed Instructions:
1. The above-noted Brother’s Keeper web sites, contains tons of information on the use of BK6 (currently the latest 2002 version). The version included in this CD-ROM is in English only however, with updates, BK can be used in Norwegian, French (Belgium), German, Danish and Icelandic. Language files will also be available for French (Canadian), Dutch, Dutch (Belgium), Slovenian, Swedish and Afrikaans (foreign files for those language may be available by the time you use this CD). Check the Brother’s Keeper web sites at http://www.bkwin.com or http://www.bkwin.net for complete details.
2. BK6.0 requires Windows95 (or higher) to operate.
3. While the Brother’s Keeper program installed on the CD is fully operational (except for certain features only available by registration), in the event you want to add, delete or modify information on the database, it will be necessary for you to transfer individual data files (which are on the CD) ending with the extensions .dt6 and .dta located in the D:\GEDCOMS\FILENAME folder, to your own computer hard drive. This is best done by using the “cut-and-paste” method. One additional file that needs to be similarly transferred, is the one (on the CD) named bkoption.p6 HOWEVER, I do not recommend you even attempt to do this, until after you have registered the BK6 program and received the necessary Instruction Manual, provided by Brother’s keeper.
4. Now you will be able to add/edit/delete any/all data provided, but most importantly, you will now be able to enter your own personal data to the existing database.
5. When you “browse” the CD-ROM, you will find a number of other folders which contain the following. [SPECIAL NOTE: DO NOT use the Brother’s Keeper Program to view/access these folder. For example, use a word processing program to view/read the historical text files in the DOCUMENT folder]:
a) a) ACADIAN BOOKS: Numerous sources of Acadian books (none available from me); [added in 2007].
b) ACADIAN-CAJUN Gifts: Here you will find pertinent information regarding the very unique and personalized gifts/products available at the Acadian-Cajun & French-Canadian Online Boutique, for your own surname.
c) ACADIA MUSIC Folder: I am very grateful to my good friend Barry Taylor, for having provided me the approval to include many of the wonderful Acadian midi files (and lyrics) available from his “Great Canadian Tunebook”. Please be certain to read (and adhere) to the readme.html file in this folder, before accessing the “Songs-Lyrics” sub-folder, where you will find the midi and htm lyric files. [Note: This folder is only included on CD’s shipped _after_ March 31, 2003.] Here again, you must use your own media player to start and listen to the music (you cannot merely double-click on the sound file because Brother’s Keeper will unsuccessfully attempt to ‘open’ the file, which will result in a BK error message.
d) ACADIAN RECIPES Folder [Added in 2005]
e) BKINSTRUCTION Folder: Be certain to read the “ReadMeFirst” document for information on using the files contained therein. [Note: This folder is only included on CD’s shipped _after_ January 31, 2003.]
f) CDINSTRUCTIONS Folder: A copy of this document.
g) DOCUMENT Folder: This folder contains a ton of very interesting Acadian-Cajun historical text files which I created using the program MSWord. I encourage you to view each of these files using a word processing program such as Notepad, Wordpad, MSWord, WordPerfect etc.
h) FAMILY CRESTS (Coat-of-Arms) Folder: Added in 2003. Over the years, I’ve collected a vast amount of “Family Crests” the graphic files of which, I include in this folder.
i) GEDCOMS Folder: This folder contains a copy of each of the GEDCOM files which can be viewed using the BK program. As you become more and more familiar with the BK program, you will see the benefit of having/using GEDCOM files. You may also want to IMPORT one (or more) of these GEDCOM files into your own genealogy program.
j) MAPS OF ACADIA Folder: Added in 2003
k) PROGRAM Folder: This is the folder that contains the bksetupE.exe file (as described, above), used to install BK on your own computer hard drive.
l) README Folder: This folder contains a copy of all the information on this page, including the Brother’s Keeper readme6.doc which I encourage you to read using any word processing program.
m) SOFTWARE Folder: Contains over 200 freeware/shareware genealogy utilities/programs, which you may find useful.
n) SURNAMES Folder: Using a word processing program, you can view each file providing details on the surnames contained in each data base, using any word processing program (i.e. Notepad, Wordpad, MSWord, WordPergect etc).Note: There is _no_ master index of all the names in the data bases in the Windows-version of this CD-ROM.
o) TAFELS Folder: Contains a “tafel file” providing a brief summary of the information for each of the data bases on the CD. Use any word processing program to read.
p) Finally, in the TEXT sub-folder of many of the data base files, you will find some additional information, as submitted by the participants of this project. These file likewise can be read using any word processing program.
While John Steed and his web sites will provide technical support for the Brother’s Keeper program, I would greatly encourage you to join the existing Rootsweb Mailing List, where daily discussions take place about the use of BK. There’s no charge to join this List and you merely have to send an e-mail message with the single word SUBSCRIBE (nothing else in the message) in both the subject and body of the message, to:
[email protected] (to receive copy of each individual messages posted to the List)
or
[email protected] (for the Digest mode)
Once subscribed, you will be able to ASK (or REPLY) to any questions or comments made, relative the program Brother’s Keeper. Although the List is NOT run by John Steed, he is in fact a member and views all messages posted. The List is very useful to find out what others are doing with BK, as well as picking-up some great ideas from other users. Incidentally, if you have a question for John Steed (or perhaps want to report a “bug” in the program (be sure to tell him you are using BK version number 6.0.94), do not send your message to the List, but rather directly to John at: [email protected]
Final Notes:
a) Once on your own computer hard drive, BK6 should start within 10 seconds or so. If however, BK6 starts very slowly, the problem could be a conflict with some other program that is currently running on your computer, such as an anti-virus program. Turn off your anti-virus program temporarily and then restart BK6. If it starts quickly, then change the options in your anti-virus program so it does not slow-down BK6 (i.e. disable the anti-virus program when using BK6). Other programs that may slow-down BK6, are phone answering programs, or a program called Babylon, or programs that monitor the temperature of your motherboard.
b) If your mouse cursor disappears when running BK6, then run the mouse Intellipoint program and turn off the option to “Hide” the cursor in some programs.
c) A few users of Windows XP have reported that BK6 only works when they are logged-on as “Administrator”. John is interested in hearing from anyone who may have encountered this ‘problem’ and have any suggestions to offer. Please e-mail John at [email protected] or contact him via telephone at: (616)364-5503 or via Fax at (616)866-3345.
And, if I can personally be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail at: [email protected]
What Is “Shareware”?
BROTHER’S KEEPER is a Shareware product protected by copyright. It is NOT public domain or free software. Shareware is a method of distributing software, whereby copies may be passed around and each user may determine whether or not the program is suitable for him or her. After you have tested this program for yourself, and if you find it to be useful for you, you are requested to send the registration fee to the author of the program, John Steed. The author of the program is not paid any fee when you buy a disk from a user group or company selling Shareware. The only way the author gets paid is when you register. If you want to encourage programs of this type, please register by sending $45 and the registration form that can be printed from the main screen by picking Help, then How to register.
Registered users will be sent the current version and a printed manual and receive technical support, a password to turn on all features, and they are entitled to use the program, and all future upgrades to the program. They will also receive substantial discounts on future versions. The extra features currently include the ability to create RTF (Rich Text Format) reports of the book style reports, to do a Soundex search in Word Search, to print a 6 generation ancestor chart, to print pictures of the children on the Group sheets, to print a single page from the Preview screen, and the ability to print or display a Picture Summary from the Other menu.
If you have purchased the registered version of Brother’s Keeper, then the bottom of the main screen should say “registered version”. If it does not, then pick Help, Enter registration number and type in the numbers that are inside the cover of the Brother’s Keeper manual that you received.
Minor upgrades are made frequently to the program, so you may wish to check to see if a new feature you desire has been added. You can read about recent changes and download the current version from the Internet at:
http://www.bkwin.com
or
http://www.bkwin.net
If you share this program with others, please give them the BKSETUP6.EXE file. If you also want to share your data files, you may pick File, Backup data files.
If anyone sells copies of Brother’s Keeper or offers Brother’s Keeper “free” with the purchase of any other product, they must explain to the buyer that they are getting the shareware version of Brother’s Keeper and that there is a $45 fee to be paid to John Steed if they wish to register the product to get the manual and technical support. They may explain that shareware is a “try before you buy” system. Anyone that sells copies of Brother’s Keeper and does not notify the buyer in their advertising or on the diskette that it is shareware is violating the copyright. Anyone that advertises Brother’s Keeper for sale on a web page must indicate on their web page that Brother’s Keeper is shareware. No one may charge more than $10 for copies of Brother’s Keeper without permission from John Steed. No one may give or sell their Brother’s Keeper password or any valid password to another person.
There are a few companies that buy directly from John Steed and sell registered copies of Brother’s Keeper. They will provide you with a printed manual (a white and blue paperback book) with the registration number and password inside the cover. Those companies currently include S&N Genealogy Supplies, Testware Publishing, Ancestral Computer Company (Phil Young), Carl Miller, Michael Pahlow, South Australian Genealogy Society, and Appleton Books. When you purchase the program from them, please send John Steed your name and address and registration number and you will be added to the mailing list to be eligible for discounts on updates. The German version of BK is also sold by Walter Kolzer and he does not provide the English printed manual. He will provide you with a registration number and password. If you need to contact John Steed, please include your registration number and address.
If anyone else sells you Brother’s Keeper and gives you a password, please notify John Steed of the registration number and who sold you the program. They might be a new dealer, but if they are not authorized to be giving out passwords, John would like to know about it. There is no reason for you to give your password to any other person. If someone asks you for your password, please notify John Steed.
This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members’ products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 157-F Love Ave., Greenwood IN 46142 USA, FAX 317-888-2195, or send email to
If you have any problem with the program, contact John Steed directly. (use phone or email for fastest response.)
John Steed
6907 Childsdale Ave
Rockford, MI 49341
U.S.A.
Phone (616) 364-5503
FAX (616) 866-3345
Email [email protected]
Internet web sites:
http://www.bkwin.com
http://www.bkwin.net
Mac Computer Users:
1. While these CDS are intended to be run on PC platform only, be advised that I include the applicable GEDCOM file on each CD. Thus, if you are using a genealogy program on your Mac computer which has the capability of importing GEDCOM files (i.e. Reunion), you can easily import that file into your own genealogy program and run it on your Mac computer.
2. I’m also told by a “Mac friend” that you can run it using Windows emulation software, such as Virtual PC however, it is somewhat slower running because of emulation mode… but I’m told it WILL work.
Final Note: Since all of my CD’s are PC-based (and I am NOT a Mac person), I’d be interested to know how well (or even, if) this ‘solution 2’ works, from any Mac Users.
Brother’s Keeper 6
F.A.Q. and Solving problems
If you get a message that your data files are “Read Only”: If you copy files to a CD and then copy them back to the C: drive they will be READ ONLY. The way to fix that is to change the file attributes of the files. Be sure you have Administrator Rights (see below.) First start BK and at the bottom where does it say the files are located? Then stop BK. To fix it from Windows, go to Start, My Computer and open the folder where the data is located. Then press CTRL+A to select all files. Then pick File, Properties, and turn OFF the Read Only attribute. Then pick Apply or OK.
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will need to set the BK6 program to run with administrator rights. Right click the BK6 icon and pick Properties, Compatibility, Run as administrator, then click OK
If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 and you get a message when starting BK that says the data should not be below the C:\program files folder then click here.
If you try to start BK 6 and get the message: wbtrv32.dll did not load correctly Then
1. Be sure you have Administrator rights for your user account if you are using Vista or Win XP or Windows 7.
2. If you still get the error, then tell John Steed if you have Peachtree Accounting or Maximizer on your computer.
3. Also, are you using Computer Associates firewall.
4. Are you using Comodo Internet Security firewall.
Sometimes when starting the program, BK may say it can not find your default printer. I am not sure what causes this error. It happens sometimes with some Vista 64 computers. If rebooting the computer does not fix the problem, then go to Control Panel, Printers. Pick a printer icon and set it as your default printer. Then change the Properties. Change your printer Port from whatever it is to FILE. Then save that and shutdown Windows. Then restart the computer and go to Control Panel, Printers, and change the Port from FILE back to what it was before. That will often fix the problem. If the problem continues, go to the web site for your printer manufacturer and download and install the current printer driver for your printer and your version of Windows. If you have Vista 64 be sure to get the Vista 64 driver.
To fix the sex of a married person, write down the marriage date and write down the BK numbers of the children. Then from the top menu pick Delete, LINK TO SPOUSE. Then fix the sex of each person. Then pick Add Spouse and link the spouse then pick Add Children and type the BK numbers of the children.
BK6 should start in about 5 to 8 seconds. If BK6 starts very slowly, then the problem could be a conflict with some other program that is currently running, such as your anti-virus program. Turn off the anti-virus program temporarily and then start BK6. If it starts quickly, then change the options in your anti-virus program so it does not slow down BK6. Other programs that may slow down BK6 are phone answering programs or a program called Babylon or programs to monitor the temperature of your motherboard.
If your mouse cursor disappears when running BK6, then run the Intelli-point program and turn off the option to Hide the cursor in some programs.
If you click Edit and get an error number 339 about component UniBox10.ocx then download the program again and install again.
If you are on the main screen of BK6 and you click the menu item EDIT and nothing happens, then run the FULL install program for BK6 again (not the update). If you get an “ordinal” error while installing, or if you click Edit and get an error number 339 about component LTOCX12N.OCX then click here. Otherwise, if you click File, General To Do Items, what is the error number? If you pick Other, Picture Summary what is the error number?
Regarding the “Print Where” field for pictures: If one is set to Primary, that one will be used for reports with pictures. If none is marked Primary, the one marked Group will print. If none are marked, the first will print. It is possible to have one picture print on Group sheets and a different picture print on Ancestor charts if you want.
With Windows XP or Vista BK6 only works when you are logged in with Administrator rights (rights to all folders). It will not run if you have an XP or Vista account with limited rights. Right click the BK6 icon and pick Properties, then on the compatibility tab select “Run as administrator” and click OK
If you find any bugs in the program, please email information to John Steed and include the version number of the program you are using. Pick Help, About BK to see the version number such as 6.3.23
Instructions for using the original DOS-based Acadian CD-ROM
(Click here to view Windows-based Instructions)
Preliminary Note: The GEDCOM data files included on the CD, are NOT encrypted and the simplest way to use this CD, is to merely IMPORT any/all GEDCOM files located in the GEDCOMS directory/folder of the CD, directly into your own genealogy program. (Note: The GEDCOMs cannot merely be _copied_ from the CD into your genealogy program… you MUST use your genealogy program to _import_ the GEDCOM file(s). If you are using the genealogy program “Family Tree Maker” for example, merely skip down (below) to the heading “To open a GEDCOM file in Family Tree Maker for Windows:”, and follow the detailed instructions there, for importing a GEDCOM file(s). But, if you want to “get the most” from the CD, carefully follow the following instructions…
1. Invoking the CD in DOS Mode:
To use the Acadian CD-ROM, merely insert same in your CD Drive and, at the C:\> prompt, type…
C:\>X:acadian X:
…using your own CD Drive letter, instead of the “X” noted above. For example, if your CD Drive is D:\> at the C:\> prompt, type…
C:\>D:acadian D:
Note that the D: is used twice…once at the beginning (to invoke the CD’s start-up file), and once after the word “acadian”, to tell the program that D: is the CD Drive letter.
2. Invoking the CD using Windows95/98:
Click the Windows START button. Next click the RUN prompt. Then enter the command:
D:acadian D:
Note: This assumes your CD Drive is “D”…if not, then substitute the appropriate letter above. Note the TWO D’s are required. Do NOT use the “browse” method to find the CD’s start-up file, since this will cause the problem outlined in the software.doc on the CD (last paragraph under the “installation” heading).
To proceed beyond the “In Search of Our Acadian Roots – (c) Copyright 1994 – All rights reserved, Worldwide” opening screen, press ‘any key’ on your computer keyboard. This will open the following Main Menu:
A. Exit the program.
B. Program options.
C. View information about the author.
D. View information about the project.
E. View information about the files on the CD.
F. View information about the search software on the CD.
G. View disclaimer/copyright information.
H. View a gedcom file on the CD.
I. View a match file on the CD.
J. View a tafel file on the CD.
K. View an index (.ndx) file on the CD.
L. View a surname file on the CD.
M. View a text file on the CD.
N. Search for matches with your own gedcom, against the CD.
O. View the results .mat file, the results of a previous gensrch.
NOTE: The Software on this CD-ROM makes use of ‘temporary files’ and will look for the environmental variable “TEMP” for a place to put temporary files. Windows95/98 users need not be concerned with this since the TEMP file already exists however if you are running a computer in MS-DOS, it is important for you to create a “TEMP” directory/folder and then add the following line in your autoexec.bat file: SET TEMP=C:\>TEMP
A. Exit the program.
Invoke to exit program and return to DOS/WINDOWS.
B. Program options.
Invoke to configure borders and colors.
C. View information about the author.
This option provides you a lot of information about the author and the circumstances under which he produced the CD-ROM.
D. View information about the project.
This option provides complete details, in chronological order (1990 – 1995), leading to and including, the production of the CD-ROM and should be of interest and assistance to anyone contemplating a similar project.
E. View information about the files on the CD.
This document outlines the content of the various directories on the CD-ROM; GEDCOMS, INDEX, INFODOC, MATCH, SOFTWARE, SURNAMES, TAFELS, TEXT etc. To maximize the use of the data on each GEDCOM and for ease of contact, this option provides a complete list of the 135 participants, the name of their respective GEDCOM(S) together with their address. Note: Since the CD-ROM is not encrypted, this (and any other) file can be copied to your Hard Drive. The ‘software directory’ contains 22 Megs (over 225 genealogy-related programs/utilities) of compressed/zipped files, such as BK5.2 and numerous PAF Utilities (don’t overlook Mike St. Clair’s excellent PAF REVUE Program, which provides excellent reviews of these numerous PAF utilities), which can be unzipped using pkunzip.exe. Any/all of these programs can be transferred to your Hard Drive…be certain to read the document outlining the need to register shareware programs.
F. View information about the search software on the CD.
This in fact is the manual.doc written by the author of the acadian.exe and gensrch.exe software, John Smith. The document provides a brief explanation of GEDCOMS and outlines the fact that this CD-ROM can never ‘go out of date’!
G. View disclaimer/copyright information.
Outlines the responsibility and rights of the author.
H. View a gedcom file on the CD.
Using this option, one can view each of the approximate 150 GEDCOMS on the CD-ROM. This, of course, is the long-way-to-do-it!
I. View a match file on the CD.
‘Probable match files’ were created for most of the GEDCOMS on the CD-ROM (the gensrch.exe did not accept a few of the GEDCOMS, which were placed in the ‘bad-ged directory’). Reading left to right, one notes the LAST name of the person, the FIRST name (or initial), the computer-assigned reference number, the last name of his/her SPOUSE, the spousal FIRST name (or initial), the SOUNDEX Code number, the DATE OF BIRTH, the DATE OF DEATH and the name of the GEDCOM.
J. View a tafel file on the CD.
A ‘Tiny Tafel’ file was created for each GEDCOMS and can be viewed from this option. Reading left to right, one notes the Soundex Code number, the earliest year of record, the latest year of record, the name(s) and locations. When unknown, the year 1000 was used to create the Tafels.
K. View an index (.ndx) file on the CD.
Information for the 519,008 names on the CD-ROM, is listed in alphabetical order. For each name, one finds the name of the spouse, the date of birth, the date of death and the name of the GEDCOM in which this information is contained.
Note: While in this option, one may use the letter “S” to do a ‘search’. After invoking the letter “S”, the user is prompted to enter a search string…either the Soundex Code number, or the persons name. This ‘search engine’ is rather slow however, keep in mind that the database is quite large.
L. View a surname file on the CD.
After choosing one of the GEDCOM files, this option provides a complete list of surnames listed in alphabetical order, on that GEDCOM.
M. View a text file on the CD.
Many of the participants provided explanatory and/or historical texts, which can be viewed from this option. For example, one can view eleven Acadian censuses from 1671 to 1777.
N. Search for matches with your own gedcom, against the CD’s.
This is probably the single most important ‘option’ of the Main Menu and is the software which ensures that this CD will ‘never-go-out-of-date’…since one can create a new match file as/when additional data has been entered in ones personal research! And frankly, until/unless you create a “match report” of your own data, versus the complete database on the CD, you will not get the full benefit of the CD-ROM!
To explain the use of this option, I will assume that…
a) The hard drive of your computer is C:\>
b) The CD-ROM Drive of your computer is D:\>
c) Windows is the operating system of your computer.
d) You used your own genealogy program to create a GEDCOM of your own data and named this file… my-data.ged
Note: If the above noted drive letter(s) is NOT correct, just substitute the proper letter and/or filename.
1. Create a new folder on the computer’s hard drive (C:\>) and call it TEMP-GED.
2. Place a copy of your “my-data.ged” file in this newly created folder (TEMP-GED).
3. Click the Windows START button (in the bottom left-hand corner of the monitor screen). Then click PROGRAMS. Next click MS-DOS Prompt. This will _close_ Windows95/98 and place you at the MS-DOS prompt… this could be C:\WINDOWS> of just plain C:\>
4. Now you need to go to the TEMP-GED folder you have previously created. You do this by using the DOS command “cd” (which stands for “change directory”). So, at C:\WINDOWS> you would type the following:
C:\WINDOWS>cd TEMP-GED
…and press the “Enter” key. This should bring you to the following DOS prompt:
C:\TEMP-GED>
…which confirms you are now in the TEMP-GED folder.
5. Now we need to make certain that the my-data.ged file has been properly placed in the TEMP-GED folder. So, at the DOS prompt, type the letters “dir” as follows:
C:\TEMP-GED>dir
…and press the “Enter” key. Note: The “dir” command means that you want to know what is in the TEMP-GED DIRectory. The result should be that your my-data.ged file is listed at the DOS Prompt.
PS: Incidentally, before I forget, when you want to get back to Windows, merely type the word EXIT at the MS-DOS Prompt…or,
C:\TEMP-GED>exit
…when you press “Enter”, the DOS Prompt will shut down and you will be back into Windows. Try it now.
1. Let’s go back to the MS-DOS prompt…click the START, next click the PROGRAMS, next click the MS-DOS Prompt. This will bring you to the following:
C:\WINDOWS>
2. Using the “Change Directory” (CD) command, type the following:
C:\WINDOWS>cd TEMP-GED
3. This will change the directory/folder to:
C:\TEMP-GED>
4. Place the “In Search of…” CD in the CD-ROM Drive. Now, while you are in the TEMP-GED directory/folder, type the following:
C:\TEMP-GED>d:acadian d:
Note: There is _NO_ space after the first “D”, but there _IS_ a space after the word “acadian”.
5. This will invoke the CD and you will see the first screen entitled “In Search of Our Acadian Roots”. Press the “enter” key once, to advance to the Main Menu.
6. The Main Menu list a series of letters…from “A” to “O”.
7. Press the letter “N” of the Main Menu. A window opens which will list some directories/folder (may just be one). Pick the directory TEMP-GED. A second window will open. Chose/highlight the my-data.ged file and then press the “enter” key.
If you have done everything exactly the way I have outlined above, the built-in search seek software will start to compare the data on _your own_ GEDCOM, against the entire database on the CD and prepare a ‘probable match report’ (which you will see scroll across your monitor). Depending on the size of your own GEDCOM and the number of “hits” with the CD’s database, this may take considerable time however, I assure you the end-result will be well-worth the wait.
After the “Match file” has been created, you use the letter “O” to read same…the match file will have been named MY-DATA.MAT or just plain RESULTS.MAT but regardless, it will have the .MAT extension. If you want to print a copy (and I certainly encourage you to just that), then import that file into a word processing program and print it out.
Does all of this sound very complicated? It really isn’t, but remember I’m only “an e-mail away”…so get a hold of me if you need further assistance.
Why create a “match file”?
There are some 150 GEDCOMS on the CD but perhaps only a limited number of those are of _direct_ interest to you… and you want to identity those GEDCOMS which can provide direct “connections” to your own research. So, for example, if the “match file” you create indicates some “match” to my own Y-CYR gedcom, you would want to import that file into your own genealogy program, to determine the information which is of interest to you.
Note: You should import the GEDCOM into a directory/folder which is _different_ than your own data directory/folder, until you’ve at least had the opportunity to review the data to determine if you really want to _merge_ same with your own personal data.
Here’s a brief summary of the above noted…
i) Exit the CD-ROM program.
ii) Create a directory/folder on your own hard drive, called TEMP-GED (or any other name which suits you).
iii) Place a copy of your own GEDCOM (created using your own genealogy program), in this TEMP-GED directory.
iv) While in the C:\ TEMP-GED directory, invoke the acadian.exe software by typing D:acadian D: (assumes your CD Drive is D:). Note the _TWO_ D’s are required.
v) Invoke the letter “N” of the Main Menu. When prompted, chose your own GEDCOM and then press ‘enter’.
vi) The built-in search seek software will compare the data on your own GEDCOM, against the entire database on the CD and prepare a ‘probable match report’ which you will see scroll across your monitor. Depending on the size of your own GEDCOM and the number of ‘hits’, this may take considerable time however, I assure you the end-result will be well-worth the wait!
vii) Assuming you find ‘matches’, the next thing you will want to do is import the particular GEDCOM of interest to you, into your own genealogy program for viewing.
vii) If you encounter a problem transfering a GEDCOM file from the CD to your own computer hard drive (you may see a message, such as: “read-only file”), you will need to change the “attributes” of the GEDCOM file. To do this, RIGHT-click on the GEDCOM file, choose “properties”, remove the check-mark from the “read only” box and check-off the “archive” box, instead. You will then be able to transfer the GEDCOM file from the CD to your own computer hard drive.
O. View the results.mat file…the results of a previous gensrch.
Once the results.mat file has been created (using option ‘N’ above), it can be viewed using the option “O”.
NOTE: Be certain to also read the numerous ‘documents’ on the CD, pertaining to its use:
a-read.1st ………….in the ‘ROOT’ Directory of the CD
software.doc ……..in the ‘INFODOC’ Directory of the CD
gensrch.doc ……….in the ‘SOFTWARE’ Directory of the CD
fileinfo.doc…………in the ‘INFODOC’ Directory of the CD
badgeds.doc……….in the ‘FILEINFO’ Directory of the CD
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Special Note The full benefits of the Acadian CD-ROM can only be realized when used in conjunction with your own Genealogy Program (with Gedcom capabilities). GEDCOM format is merely used to transfer genealogical data from one computer to another. However, the file format is not very user-friendly and is certainly not easy to read. Thus the reason one must IMPORT the GEDCOM file into his/her own genealogy program. (See below for added information). |
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IMPORTANT NOTE For additional information on using the Acadian CD, I highly recommend users to read the very excellent independent/unsolicited reviews prepared by Bob Shumway and Jim Gaboury and others. These “reviews” can be found by ‘clicking’ the following URL address: https://acadian.org/reviews.html |
A Word About GEDCOMS
As you will quickly come to realize, the “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD contains over 150 GEDCOM and that, together with the fact that Family Tree Maker is probably the most popular genealogy program on the market, makes it logical for me to provide you additional information on both.
GEDCOM is a standard file format for exchanging information between genealogy programs. The acronym GEDCOM stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunications. The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) developed the GEDCOM standard and it is used by most popular Genealogy Software Programs.
Once you’ve used the CD’s built-in software to compare your own data against the entire database of the CD and (using letter “N” of the Main Menu) created a “match file”, you’ll want to view those GEDCOMS which “matched” with your own data. As indicated previously, the best way to do this is to import the GEDCOM into your own genealogy program which, for the sake of explanation, I will assume is Family Tree Maker.
The Acadian CD is NOT encrypted and thus, you can use the GEDCOM feature of Family Tree Maker (or any other genealogy program which supports GEDCOM) to transfer information from the CD into Family Tree Maker. By using GEDCOM, you can avoid having to retype all of your family information.
Note: You can also use GEDCOM to share data that you have prepared with a fellow Genealogist. There are many genealogists on the Internet that have prepared GEDCOM files of their data and they make it available publicly to other researchers. As you can imagine, this method of sharing is the ultimate way to obtain information, since you do not have to manually enter each piece of information.
Click Here for Another great explanation (by Dick Eastman) of a GEDCOM.
To open a GEDCOM file in Family Tree Maker for Windows:
1. From the File menu, select Open Family File (ALT, F, O).
2. Click the “Files of type” drop-down list and then select GEDCOM (*.GED).
3. Place your “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD in the CD-ROM Drive…let’s assume it’s called “D”.
4. In the ‘Look In’ lists, select the drive letter of your CD-ROM Drive…I’m assuming it’s “D”…and then the folder called “gedcoms” where the file you want to open is located and then select the file name. If you are unsure where your file is, click Find file and follow the instructions in Finding files.
5. Click Save
6. In the New Family File dialog box, you must give the GEDCOM file a new name so that Family Tree Maker can make a copy of it and convert the copy to a Family-Tree-Maker-for-Windows file.
You can either click Save to accept the name that Family Tree Maker suggests or type a new name and then click Save. Note: If you look at the “Save In” box, the directory “GEDCOM” is still there (this is the CD directory); this means that you’d be saving your file to THAT directory, which would result in a “no privileges” error message. To eliminate this potential conflict, make sure that the “Save In” box lists the directory/folder in which you want to save the file ON YOUR COMPUTER. For example you may want to use the directory/folder FTM. If GEDCOM is still in the Save-In” box, you will not be allowed to do it… you will get a message stating that “you don’t have privileges”. From here, you can either click “Save” to accept the name that Family Tree Maker suggests, or type new name and then click “Save” to your choice of directory/folder (on your computer). The assigned file name can be anything you want, up to 255 characters, although it must have the extension .FTW. If you do not type in the .FTW extension, Family Tree Maker will add it for you. Family Tree Maker reloads your file as a Family-Tree-Maker-for-Windows file and then displays the Import from GEDCOM dialog box.
7. Some programs format information slightly differently than Family Tree Maker. Using the options listed below, you can reformat your information.
a) Location: Some programs (like PAF) have longer location fields than Family Tree Maker does. For example, PAF can hold the location “Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada.” Select the ‘Keep first part’ if location fields are too long option button to keep the first part of the location. Select the ‘Keep last part’ if location fields are too long.
b) Options: Some programs (like PAF) add an underscore between compound names (for example, St._Germaine). Select the ‘Delete underscore’ from names check box to replace the underscore with a space.
c) Spacing: Some programs also don’t put spaces between the city, county, and state in location fields. Select the Add spacing in location fields check box to add the normal space between these words, if necessary.
8. Now you must tell Family Tree Maker which information to import from the GEDCOM file. Family Tree Maker automatically imports an individual’s name, sex, and the dates and locations of birth, death, and marriage. If there are sources for this information, it is also imported. If this is all of the information you want to import, click OK and skip the rest of these instructions. If you have additional information in the GEDCOM file and you want to import it, click Fields to Import. (This button may not be available if you do not have additional information to import.) Family Tree Maker displays the Fields to Import dialog box. There are two lists in this dialog box. The list on the left, Fields to Import, contains the GEDCOM tags from which the information is being imported. (“Tags” are labels for the different fields of information in the GEDCOM file. For example, the tag for occupation is “OCCU”.) The list on the right, Resulting Fields, shows which Family Tree Maker fields are being filled with information from the GEDCOM file.
9. To fill an additional Family Tree Maker field with GEDCOM information, click the name of that GEDCOM field in the “Fields to Import” list.
10. Click Change fields. If there is more than one possible field into which that information can be imported, Family Tree Maker displays the Change Fields dialog box. In this case, continue with step 11. If there is only one possible Family Tree Maker field into which that information can be imported, Family Tree Maker inserts the field name opposite the GEDCOM tag in the “Resulting Fields” list. In this case, skip to step 13.
11. In the Change Fields dialog box, click the name of the Family Tree Maker field that describes the information you selected in step 9.
12. Click OK to return to the Fields to Import dialog box. If you later wish to change the mapping of a field, click the field name in the Resulting Fields list and then click Change fields. If this button stays grayed out, the mapping for that field is preset and cannot be changed.
13. Repeat steps 9 through 12 until all of the GEDCOM fields that you wish to map to Family Tree Maker fields are in the “Resulting Fields” list.
14. If you want to remove a field from the “Resulting Fields” list, click the field name and then click Don’t import. Family Tree Maker removes the field from the list.
15. Click OK when you’ve made your selections. Family Tree Maker returns to the Import from GEDCOM dialog box.
16. Click OK again to create the Family File. If any errors were generated as your Family File was created, Family Tree Maker asks you if you want to see an error report. If you choose to look at the error report immediately, Family Tree Maker will display it in a dialog box on screen. If you want to look at it later, you can open it in a word processor such as Notepad or MS Word. The file will be in the same folder and have the same name as the Family File you just created, except with the extension .LST.
Following is the document.doc (original on the CD-ROM), as prepared by John Smith, the author of the acadian.exe software used on the Acadian CD-ROM.
This document is broken up into several sections:
1. INTRODUCTION;
2. COPYRIGHT;
3. GENSRCH;
4. THIS CD IS NEVER OBSOLETE;
5. INSTALLATION;
6. A FEW THINGS YOU CAN CONFIGURE;
7. DISPLAY COLORS;
8. ACADIAN.CFG;
9. WHAT’S A GEDCOM FILE;
10. THANKS TO;
11. THE AUTHOR;
1. INTRODUCTION;
The program “acadian.exe” is just a user friendly (hopefully) interface to the gensrch package. You should find a copy of gensrch.zip in the software directory of the Acadian CD-ROM. The zip contains the full gensrch package of which Acadian.exe only makes partial use.
Gensrch is a Unix style set of programs with command line options only. Not user friendly I suppose, if you are not used to that sort of thing. That’s the reason for the acadian program. Anything Acadian.exe can do, gensrch can do and more, but you would have to go through a learning curve to figure out how to do it. See the gensrch.doc file in gensrch.zip.
With the gensrch package you could duplicate the style of database and reports that you get on the Acadian CD-ROM. For example, I have a database for my local Genealogy club of all the people in it.
Acadian allows you to view files on the Acadian CD-ROM with a rather klunky file viewer. I wrote it, I can say it. 🙂 I wrote it so we wouldn’t have to pay for a viewer. Much of acadian.exe was written with this in mind.
Acadian.exe will also allow you to check your own personal gedcom files against the CD-ROM data.
2. COPYRIGHT;
Acadian and Gensrch are copyrighted software. However, you are encouraged to copy and share it. I place no restrictions on it’s use for non-profit people and organizations.
However, if it is used for commercial purposes, I want a piece of the action. It would be nice to break even.
See the file copyrite.doc for Copyright information about the Acadian CD-ROM and it’s data.
3. GENSRCH;
Gensrch was the software package used to generate the index data in the CD-ROM index directory, and the match data in the match directory. A much more extensive document file for it exists in the software directory in the gensrch.zip file.
A simple explanation of the index and match data is as follows.
1. The gensrch package scanned all the gedcom files in the gedcom directory, and generated a one-line statement for each person in each gedcom file. This is in the A.NDX…Z.NDX files. Each line is a person, his/her spouse, birth date, death date and the gedcom file he/she came from.
The ndi (not ndx) file is just something for optimizing the searches, you can ignore it as far as understanding gensrch.
2. Pick one of these gedcom files. You could tell gensrch to look at all the ndx files and see if any of the other gedcom files have people that look like the ones in the gedcom file you selected.
This always seems hard to get across, so I will try and say it in a different way. Lets say you told gensrch to test for matches using Joe Shmuck’s gedcom file (Shmuck.ged). You might find out that 15 people in Joe Shmuck’s gedcom file seem to be duplicated in other gedcom files. Some in John Jones gedcom file, and some in Clark Kents gedcom file. Joe should call John and Clark and have a family reunion!
That’s what is in the match directory. All the gedcom files in the CD-ROM have been tested against all the others and the match reports placed on the CD-ROM.
An example of a match file would be something like this.
Search for matches to database johns1
===============================================================
Last Name, First Name, INDI#, Spouse Name, Soundex, Birthdate, Deathdate, Database
===============================================================
Possible match[s] for:
SINGLETARRY, Lydia, 349, LADD, Daniel S524 johns1
_____________________________________________________________________
SINGLETERY, Lydia, 456, LADD, Daniel S., 524 30 Apr 1648 taylor1
SINGLETERY, Lydia, 456, LADD, Daniel S., 524 30 Apr 1648 pricej1
SINGLETERY, Lydia, 456, LADD, Daniel S., 524, 30 Apr 1647 mark1
===============================================================
Possible match[s] for:
Thayer, Cicely 394, DAVIS, James T600, 28 May 1673 johns1
_____________________________________________________________________
THAYER, Cicely 255 T600 1595 28 May 1673 thayer
===============================================================
Possible match[s] for:
Mathis, Frances 495 Coleman, R M320 johns1
_____________________________________________________________________
MATHIS, Frances 1902 COLEMAN, R Sr. M320 20 Feb 1749 1809 coleman2 Done
===============================================================
My gedcom file’s name is johns1.ged, so my database name is also johns1. The report says that in johns1.ged there is a person (Mathis, Frances) who looks to be the same as in the coleman2.ged. Also, I match people in pricej1.ged and thayer.ged, mark1.ged and taylor1.ged
Once you know this, you can load coleman2.ged in your genealogy program (PAF, ROOTS, BK, etc.) and look to see if the coleman2 database goes back further than yours. I suppose you could even talk to Coleman, but that’s rather archaic don’t you think?
Gensrch normally works only with the data in the ndx files, but it has one mode that you can use to compare a gedcom file not on the CD to the ndx files on the CD. The -g option. Acadian.exe handles this for you.
4. THIS CD WILL NEVER BE OBSOLETE;
Ok, now you have looked at all the mat files, and poked around in the information files, now what do you do? You can’t get your new data added to the CD, so how can you do new research with it?
Here’s how! Convert your new genealogy information to a gedcom file (See WHAT’S A GEDCOM FILE). Invoke the CD’s acadian software from the directory where you have this gedcom file, and run the “N” menu option. This will compare your new information against all the data in the CD for possible connections. Talk to the authors of the gedcom files. Add to your own data, and run the “N” again. And again, etc.
5. INSTALLATION;
Acadian.exe should run with no modifications to your machine as long as you understand a few simple items. Acadian and gensrch make use of temporary files. These will be placed in the current directory, or in the one specified in your TEMP or TMP environmental variable. The advantage of having this variable is to keep temporary files from cluttering up your directory. Normally they are deleted when the program exits, but things happen. Ctrl alt del for example.
It’s important to tell acadian.exe where the CD-ROM drive is. You do this when you invoke it like this.
e:acadian e:
The above example assumes e: is your CD-ROM drive name. Notice I used e: twice. The first is to tell DOS where the program acadian.exe is. On the CD. The second is to tell acadian.exe where the CD-ROM drive is, and therefore where all the data and gensrch programs are.
If you don’t give it the second e: Acadian will appear to work, but it will only be looking in the current directory for data files, and using your path statement to look for the gensrch programs.
NOTE! Don’t try and invoke Acadian.exe with your current directory on the CD. Since it tries to place files here, it will choke. Won’t hurt the CD, but the program won’t run correctly.
6. A FEW THINGS YOU CAN CONFIGURE;
Well there’s the TMP or TEMP variable I mentioned above. It is normally specified in your autoexec.bat file with a line like this:
SET TEMP=c:\temp
Of course you need to have a directory named c:\temp also.
You can specify a different file viewer with the command:
SET ACVIEWER=EDIT.COM (The standard DOS editor)
or
SET ACVIEWER=LIST.COM (A shareware file viewer that I like the looks of.)
7. DISPLAY COLORS;
You can change them via the options menu. If you have trouble reading the default colors you can bring up acadian in black and white mode with the -b option. “e:acadian -e: -b”
8. ACADIAN.CFG;
This stupid acadian.cfg file keeps popping up all over my system! What is it?
It’s the file that keeps track of what colors you like your acadian displays to be. You can change them via menu options and the changes are saved to this file. When you invoke acadian and there isn’t one in your current directory it creates one with the default colors.
Pick one place to invoke acadian.exe from and that’s the only place it will be created at. It’s also another reason why you cannot invoke acadian with your current drive/directory on the CD. CD’s are not writeable so this file cannot be created.
9. WHAT’S A GEDCOM FILE;
There are a lot of programs now that have the sole purpose of making it easier to maintain genealogy information on your ancestors. One problem with them, is none of them store their data in the same format.
How do you get data from your cousin back east who uses Roots, and you use PAF? The answer is a gedcom file. All of the better genealogy programs will read and write a gedcom file.
It’s merely an ascii file you can look at with any ascii editor, but it is laid out in a strict set of rules that most of these programs stick to.
You can save all your ancestor information from Roots, or Brothers Keeper to a gedcom file, and restore it all into Paf, etc.
It is not designed to be used by a database management program to maintain your ancestors information. It would be extremely slow for that purpose.
It’s designed to be a way to exchange information.
10. THANKS TO;
In creating Acadian.exe, I made use of another programmers freeware program. We have placed his program “swap300.zip” on the CD along with gensrch.zip. Although only programmers would be interested in it, it deserves recognition.
Marty Del Vecchio, 99 Marlboro Road, Southborough, MA 01772 (508) 485-9718 [email protected]
His main bulletin board is:
Channel 1 BBS, Boston, MA (617) 354-8873
11. THE AUTHOR OF THIS SOFTWARE;
John Smith, 28032 Singleleaf, Mission Viejo, California USA 92692 – [email protected] OR [email protected]
Important Points To Remember
1. You will NOT get the full benefits of this CD-ROM, until you have been successful in using Option N) of the Main Menu to compare your own personal data against the CD-ROM’s complete database and created a [RESULTS.MAT] “match file report”.
2. You MUST start the CD-ROM from the MS-DOS Prompt, to be able to successfully create a “match file”. For Windows95/98 users, click START, then PROGRAMS, then MS-DOS Prompt.
3. You MUST start the CD-ROM from the directory/folder in which you have placed a copy of your own GEDCOM. Use the DOS command “CD” [change directory] to move to the proper directory/folder. If, for example, you’ve placed the GEDCOM you created using your own genealogy program in the suggested C:\TEMP-GED> directory/folder, once at the MS-DOS Prompt, use…
C:\WINDOWS> CD C:\TEMP-GED
Next, start the CD-ROM by using the command…
C:\TEMP-GED>D:acadian D:
Of course, this assumes that your CD Drive is D:\ and, if this is NOT the case, then substitute the proper Drive letter (in lieu of the D:\).
4. Use the Option O) of the Main Menu to VIEW the “match file report”.
5. It is using the “match file report” that you will be able to determine which of the GEDCOMS on the CD-ROM is of most importance/interest to your own research.
6. Once you’ve determined which GEDCOM is of most importance/interest to your own research, import the GEDCOM into your own genealogy program.
7. THIS CD-ROM WILL NEVER GO OUT OF DATE. From the above noted, you can see that this “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD will never go out of date, since you need only create another (and another) “match file report” as you add more and more ‘cousins’ to your own personal data. I recommend creating a new “match file report” after every 100 names added in your own data.