From e49c1021bc5e7b65e1545803ad8315209e502704 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alex Roitman Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 03:38:31 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] * FAQ: Added to CVS. svn: r2371 --- ChangeLog | 3 + FAQ | 241 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 244 insertions(+) create mode 100644 FAQ diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog index e68b564db..a3262b496 100644 --- a/ChangeLog +++ b/ChangeLog @@ -1,3 +1,6 @@ +2003-11-24 Alex Roitman + * FAQ: Added to CVS. + 2003-11-23 Don Allingham * src/gramps_main.py: just update information after an edit instead of deleting/re-enter. Caused pygtk to segfault diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ca702987a --- /dev/null +++ b/FAQ @@ -0,0 +1,241 @@ +*** This is GRAMPS Frequently Asked Questions *** + +The questions below frequently come up in mailing list discussions and forums. +This list is by no means complete. If you would like to add questions/answers to +this list, please email your suggestions to gramps-devel@lists.sourceforge.net + + +*** Index *** + + 1. What is GRAMPS? + + 2. Where do I get it and how much does it cost? + + 3. Does it work with Windows? + + 4. Does it work with the Mac? + + 5. Do I really have to have GNOME installed? + + 6. Does it work with KDE? + + 7. What version of GNOME do I need? + + 8. Is GRAMPS compatible with other genealogical software? + + 9. Can GRAMPS read files created by GenApp X? + +10. Can GRAMPS write files readable by GenApp X? + +11. Can GRAMPS print Genealogical tree for my family? + +12. In what formats can GRAMPS output its reports? + +13. Is GRAMPS compatible with the Internet? + +14. What standards does GRAMPS support? + +15. What is the maximum database size (bytes) GRAMPS can handle? + +16. How many people can GRAMPS database handle? + +17. How fast is GRAMPS? + +18. My database is really big. + Is there a way around loading all the data into memory? + +19. Can I create custom reports/filters/whatever? + +20. Why is GRAMPS running so slowly? + +21. Why are non-latin characters displayed as garbage in PDF/PS reports? + + +*** Questions and answers *** + + +1. What is GRAMPS? + +GRAMPS is the Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Program System. +In other words, it a personal genealogy program letting you store, edit, +and research genealogical data using the powers of your computer. + + +2. Where do I get it and how much does it cost? + +GRAMPS can be downloaded from http://sf.net/projects/gramps at no charge. +GRAMPS is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License. +You have full access to the source code and are allowed to distribute the +program and source code freely. + + +3. Does it work with Windows? + +In principle, it could. GRAMPS depends on Python (http://www.python.org) +and GNOME (http://www.gnome.org), so as long as these two are available, +GRAMPS will work. Currently, we are not aware of working GNOME2 port to +Windows platform. This, however, may change in the future. + +GRAMPS is being developed and tested on Linux, and virtually all Linux +distributions satisfy the requirements for GRAMPS. + + +4. Does it work with the Mac? + +A port of GRAMPS to Mac OS X exists from the Fink project +(http://fink.sourceforge.net/pdb/package.php/gramps). It is not unusual +for this version to lag behind the Linux version. The port is not supported +by the GRAMPS project (since few if any of us have Macs), but we try to +help out where we can. + +If you have problems installing the Mac port, you will need to contact +the Fink project. If you encounter a run time bug or have issues not +specifically related to the Mac, contact the GRAMPS project. + + +5. Do I really have to have GNOME installed? + +Yes, but you do not have to be running the GNOME desktop. + + +6. Does it work with KDE? + +Yes, as long as the required GNOME libraries are installed. + + +7. What version of GNOME do I need? + +The latest versions of gramps (0.9.0 and higher) require GNOME 2.0 or higher. +Previous versions required GNOME 1.X. + + +8. Is GRAMPS compatible with other genealogical software? + +GRAMPS makes every effort to maintain compatibility with GEDCOM, the general +standard of recording genealogical information. We have import and export +filters that enable GRAMPS to read and write GEDCOM files. + +It is important to understand that the GEDCOM standard is poorly implemented -- +virtually every genealogical software has its own "flavor" of GEDCOM. As we +learn about new flavor, the import/export filters can be created very quickly. +However, finding out about the unknown flavors requires user's feedback. +Please feel free to inform us about any GEDCOM flavor not supported by GRAMPS, +and we will support it! + + +9. Can GRAMPS read files created by GenApp X? + +See above. + + +10. Can GRAMPS write files readable by GenApp X? + +See above. + + +11. Can GRAMPS print Genealogical tree for my family? + +Yes. Different people have different ideas of what Genealogical tree is. +Some think of it as a chart going from the distant ancestor and listing +all his/her descendants and their families. Others think it should be a +chart going from the person back in time, listing the ancestors and their +families. Yet other people think of a table, text report, etc. + +GRAMPS can produce any of the above, and many more different charts and +reports. Moreover, the plugin architechture enables a user (you) to create +his own plugins which could be new reports, charts, or research tools. + + +12. In what formats can GRAMPS output its reports? + +Text reports are available in HTML, PDF, AbiWord, KWord, LaTeX, RTF, and +OpenOffice formats. Graphical reports (charts and diagrams) are available in +PostScript, PDF, SVG, OpenOffice and GraphViz formats. + + +13. Is GRAMPS compatible with the Internet? + +GRAMPS can store web addresses and direct your browser to them. It can import +data that you download from the Internet. It can export data that you could +send over the Internet. GRAMPS is familiar with the standard file formats +widely used on the Internet (e.g. JPEG and GIF images, MP3, OGG, and WAV sound +files, QuickTime, MPEG, and AVI movie files, etc). Other than that, there is +little that genealogical program can do with the Internet :-) + + +14. What standards does GRAMPS support? + +The nice thing about the standards is that there never is a shortage of +them :-). GRAMPS is tested to support the following flavors of GEDCOM: +GEDCOM5.5, Borther's Keeper, Family Origins, Familty Tree Maker, Ftree, +GeneWeb, Legacy, Personal Ancestral File, Pro-Gen, Reunion, and +Visual Genealogie. + + +15. What is the maximum database size (bytes) GRAMPS can handle? + +GRAMPS has no hard limits on the size of a database that it can handle. +In reality, however, there are practical limits. Currently GRAMPS loads all +data into memory, so the limiting factor tends to be the available memory +on the system. + + +16. How many people can GRAMPS database handle? + +We have found that on a typical system, GRAMPS tends to bog down after around +15,000 users. Again, this is dependant on how much memory you have. + + +17. How fast is GRAMPS? + +No idea. + + +18. My database is really big. + Is there a way around loading all the data into memory? + +Currently, there is no way around it. However, this is our biggest priority +after releasing 1.0 version. The real database backend will be incorporated +in the next stable release (1.2) which will dramatically improve performance +in both speed and memory usage. + + +19. Can I create custom reports/filters/whatever? + +Yes. There are many levels of customization. One is creating or modifying +the templates used for the reports. This gives you some control over +the fonts, colors, and some layout of the reports. You can also use GRAMPS +controls in the report dialogs to tell what contents should be used for a +particular report. In addition to this, you have an ability to create your +own filters -- this is useful in selecting people based on criteria set +by you. You can combine these filters to create new, more complex filters. +Finally, you have an option to create your own plugins. These may be new +reports, research tools, import/export filters, etc. This assumes some +knowledge of programming in Python. + + +20. Why is GRAMPS running so slowly? + +If GRAMPS seems too slow to you, it is most likely that you have a large +database. Currently, GRAMPS loads all the database into memory, therefore +large databases lead to be less than responsive. Specifically, the system +can be virtually brought to its knees if swapping is needed for GRAMPS' data. + +This will be addressed in the stable release following 1.0 version. +Temporarily, adding more memory could make a huge difference, but we realize +that this is a poor way of treating the problem. If you would like to help +with the implementation of the real database backend, please don't hesitate +to email us at gramps-devel@lists.sourceforge.net + + +21. Why are non-latin characters displayed as garbage in PDF/PS reports? + +This is a known problem -- PS (and PDF) have builtin fonts which pretty much +reflect the latin-1 charset. Any font in principle could be used with PS/PDF +but then it would have to be embedded in the file. This is problematic since +every system has different idea about fonts and their setup. + +This should be resolved as we move to gnome-print. In the meantime, a useable +workaround is to generate reports in OOo format and the export to PDF from OOo. + +*** End of GRAMPS Frequently Asked Questions ***