PAF 5.2 - still to be improved
I downloaded PAF 5.2 and did not found any improvemant compared to PAF 5.1.
The only changes are "pure cosmetic" and at least two very big issues are still to be implemented :
A- handling of places
B- handling of events witnesses
A: Places are not very well implemented in PAF. Commercial softwares and even some free sofwares (such as Ancestrologie downloadable at http://www.ancestrologie.comhttp://www.ancestrologie.com ) format the place data field and request the user to organise its places in :
- place name (city...)
- code (can be a zip code)
- area name
- region name
- country name
- free field
For example in France I would enter :
La Péruse; 16270; Charente; Poitou-Charente; France; 16219; Chez Legros
for an ancestor whos event is located at La Péruse in the "Chez Legros" farm-yard.
Of course, I can enter the string myself but PAF will generate a warning (for the digits and commas not welcom in places) and will not check the consistency of the record... this is a big lack.
With the fields properly entered, the user could then extract "quick lists", use mapping tools, do statistics on the places...
These softwares also implement favorite places for quick entry (such as the dropdown places list but in a more convenient/controlable way). Some of them also have databases with cities already entered. You just have to find it and all fields are automatically filled. If the city does not exist (changed name, disappeared, merge with a neighbour...), then you can add it to the database...
But PAF is free and most of these softwares are not...
B: Witnesses are not supported in PAF. The only way is to put a note. But witnesses who most of the time are family relatives or friends can be a good clue to find further information.
Best regards
frédéric Michaud
More Replies:
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Re: PAF 5.2 - still to be improved
Clive Carpenter 1/29/03
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Re: PAF 5.2 - still to be improved
Fred 1/30/03
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Re: PAF 5.2 - still to be improved