gramps/doc/gramps-manual/C/mainwin.xml

<chapter id="gramps-mainwin"> 

<!--
	  User Manual for Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program

	  Copyright (C) 2003-2005  Alexander Roitman

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<!-- $Id$ -->

    <title>Main Window</title> 
    <para>When you open a database (either existing or brand new), 
    the following window is displayed.</para>
 
	<!-- ==== Figure: Main Window  ==== -->
	<figure id="mainwin-fig"> 
	<title>GRAMPS Main Window</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/mainwin.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows GRAMPS main window. Contains titlebar, menubar, 
	      toolbar, sidebar, display area, statusbar, progressbar, and
	      scrollbars. Menubar contains File, Edit, View, Go, Bookmarks, 
	      Reports, Tools, Settings, and Help menus.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

    <para>The &app; window contains the following elements: </para>
      <variablelist>
      <varlistentry><term>Menubar</term>
	<listitem><para>The menubar is located at the very top of the window
        (right below the window title) and provides access to all features of
	&app; through its menus.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry><term>Toolbar</term>
	<listitem><para> The toolbar is located immediately below the menubar. 
        The toolbar provides access to the most frequently used functions 
        of &app;. The appearance of the toolbar 
        can be adjusted in the <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> 
	dialog. </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry><term>Progressbar</term>
	<listitem><para>The progressbar is located in the lower left corner 
	of the &app; window. It displays the 
	progress of time consuming operations, such as opening and saving 
	large data bases, importing and exporting to other formats, generating 
	web sites, etc. </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry><term>Statusbar</term>
	<listitem><para>The statusbar is located to the right of the 
        progressbar, on the very bottom of the &app; window. 
	It displays information about current &app; 
	activity and contextual information about the menu items. 
	The behavior of the statusbar can be adjusted in 
	<guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog. </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry><term>Display area</term>
	<listitem><para>The largest area in the center of the
	&app; window is the display area.  
	It shows certain aspects of genealogical information, depending on the 
	currently selected View. The following six Views are available 
	in &app;: 
	<itemizedlist>	
	<listitem><para>People View</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Family View</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Pedigree View</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Sources View</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Places View</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Media View</para></listitem>

	</itemizedlist>
	</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Subsection  -->
    <sect1 id="gramps-views">
      <title>Views</title>
      <para>Views are the various ways to display different aspects of 
      genealogical information, as described below. Since the relevant 
      information is very broad and non-uniform in both context and modality, 
      it is best to split its display into smaller categories, uniform in 
      context and modality. Each View represents such a split and displays a 
      certain portion of overall available information. Before the detailed 
      description of available Views, let us  guide you through the ways of 
      switching between the Views.</para> 

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="view-modes">
        <title>Switching Views and Viewing Modes</title>
	<para>Depending on the state of the <menuchoice> 
	<guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Sidebar</guimenuitem> 
	</menuchoice> menu item, the View could be switched either in the 
	sidebar or in the notebook tabs in the top part of the window. 
	</para>

	<variablelist>
	<varlistentry><term>To switch the View while in a Sidebar mode, 
	click on the desired sidebar icon.</term>
	  <listitem>
	  <!-- ==== Figure: Sidebar Mode ==== -->
	  <figure id="side-nofilt-fig"> 
	  <title>Sidebar Viewing Mode</title> 
	  <screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/mainwin.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	  <textobject> 
	  <phrase>Shows sidebar viewing mode.  </phrase>
	  </textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	  <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
	  </listitem></varlistentry>

	<varlistentry><term>To switch the View while in a Notebook mode, 
		click on the desired notebook tab.</term>
	  <listitem>
	  <!-- ==== Figure: Tabbed Notebook Mode ==== -->
	  <figure id="noside-nofilt-fig"> 
	  <title>Tabbed Viewing Mode</title> 
	  <screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
	  	fileref="figures/noside-nofilt.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	  <textobject> 
	  <phrase>Shows tabbed viewing mode.  </phrase>
	  </textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	  <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
	  </listitem></varlistentry>
	</variablelist>

	<para>To switch between sidebar and notebook viewing modes, 
	choose <menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> 
	<guimenuitem>Sidebar</guimenuitem> 
	</menuchoice> from the &app; menu.</para>
    
      </sect2>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="people-view">
        <title>People View</title>
	<para>When &app; first opens a database, 
	the View is set to the People View (<xref linkend="side-nofilt-fig"/> 
	and <xref linkend="noside-nofilt-fig"/>). The People View lists 
        individuals whose data is stored in the database.</para>
        
        <para> The individuals are arranged in a tree-like structure, 
        according to their family names. Every family name is a node of the 
        tree. Clicking the arrow on the left of the node will toggle its 
        expansion state. When expanded, the node's contents is listed in the 
        window. When collapsed, the contents is rolled up and not visible. 
        However, all the data is still intact, it is just not being displayed.
        </para>
        
        <para>The People View 
        displays people's <guilabel>Names</guilabel>, 
        &app; <guilabel>ID</guilabel> numbers, 
        <guilabel>Gender</guilabel>, and 
	their <guilabel>Birth</guilabel> and <guilabel>Death dates</guilabel>. 
	The list can be ordered by any field.</para> 

	<para>Example: to order list by the Birth date, click on the
	<guilabel>Birth date</guilabel> column heading. To order list in 
	reverse	(descending) order, click one more time on the desired column
	heading. </para> 

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-sub-subsection  -->
        <sect3 id="filters">
          <title>Filters</title>
	  <para>Genealogical databases may contain huge numbers of people. 
	  Since the long lists are hard for humans to handle,
	  &app; provides a convenient way to limit 
	  the scope of browsing by using the filter. To save screen space, 
	  filter controls may be hidden, depending on the state of 
	  <menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> 
	  <guimenuitem>Filter</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> menu item.</para> 
	  
	<!-- ==== Figure: Enabled Filter ==== -->
	<figure id="side-filt-fig"> 
	<title>Filter Controls Displayed</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/side-filt.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows filter controls.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	  <para>When &app; opens a database, the 
	  filter is set to the trivial filter called <guilabel>All
	  people</guilabel>, i.e. no filtering is in effect. To choose a 
	  filter, use the pop-up <guilabel>Filter</guilabel> menu above the 
	  people's list. Once the filter is chosen, click the 
	  <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button in the upper right corner of the 
	  window. The filtering will take effect upon clicking the 
	  <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button. To invert the filtering rule, 
          check the <guilabel>Invert</guilabel> box on the left 
	  of <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button. </para>
	  
	  <para>Example: To show people without children, choose 
	  <guilabel>People with children</guilabel> filter, then check 
	  <guilabel>Invert</guilabel> box, and then click the 
	  <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button. To cancel any filtering, set 
	  the filter to <guilabel>All people</guilabel>  
	  and then click the <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button. </para>
	  
	  <para>Note: even if the filter controls are not displayed 
	  (<menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> 
	  <guimenuitem>Filter</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> menu item is
	  unchecked), the filtering might still be in place. In other words, 
	  the visibility of the filter controls is not related to the actual 
	  filtering imposed on the list. This may be a cause of confusion, when
	  you enable the filtering and then remove the controls from the
	  display. If in doubt, enable the display of filter controls by 
	  checking <menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> 
	  <guimenuitem>Filter</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> menu item and check 
	  what kind of filtering is currently set.</para> 
        </sect3>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-sub-subsection  -->
        <sect3 id="alpha-tabs">
          <title>Alphabetical Tabs</title>
	  <para>&app; offers another way of 
	  managing long lists of people -- alphabetical tabs. Upon loading a 
	  database, &app; checks for the stored 
	  family names and breaks the people list into sublists based on the 
	  first letter of their name. The alphabetical tabs are displayed in 
	  the bottom part of the &app; window. 
	  The last tab, <guilabel>Other</guilabel>, stands for unidentified 
	  characters -- all the entries not assigned to any other tab end up 
	  in <guilabel>Other</guilabel>. In particular, people with no family 
	  name will appear under this category.</para> 
        </sect3>

      </sect2>
      
    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="family-view">
        <title>Family View</title>
	<para>Family View displays the family information of a currently 
	selected (or Active) person. Specifically, this view shows the 
	relationships (e.g marriages, partnerships, etc.) of the active 
	person, his/her parents (or step parents, or guardians, etc), and 
	his/her children (could be step children, adopted children, etc.).
	</para>
	
	<!-- ==== Figure: Family View ==== -->
	<figure id="family-fig"> 
	<title>Family View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/family.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Family View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The Active person's data is in the list box in the upper left 
	corner of the window. Directly below it, another box lists the Spouse's
	data, for each relationship of Active person (can be more than one). 
	The double-arrow button to the right of the Active person list box 
	allows you to exchange the currently selected spouse (Current spouse) 
	with the Active person. Double-clicking on the Active person allows the 
	editing of Active person's data. Double-clicking on the Current spouse 
	allows you to edit their relationship information. Shift-clicking on 
        the Current spouse allows the editing of the Current spouse's data.</para>

        <para> To add a new relationship use one of the two upper buttons to the
        right of the spouse box. Click the top one to add a new person to a
        database and to the new relationship. Click the middle one to add a
        person already existing in the database to the new relationship. 
	To remove Current spouse, click the lowest button 
        (<guibutton>-</guibutton>) to the 
	right of the spouse box. Note that removing a spouse from the
        relationship does not remove the person from the database. Most of these
        functions are also available by right-clicking into the spouse box and
        selecting an appropriate items from the context menu. </para>
	
	<para>The parents of both the Active person and the Current spouse 
	are listed in the corresponding list boxes in the right-hand part of 
	the window (Active person's parents on top, Current spouse parents 
	on the bottom). Both list boxes have a set of three buttons on their 
	right side. The <guibutton>+</guibutton> and <guibutton>-</guibutton>
	buttons allow you to add and remove parents of the Active person and the 
	Current spouse, respectively. Clicking the right arrow button
	makes the family in the corresponding list box an active family. 
	That is, it makes the selected Father the Active person, and the 
	selected Mother the Current spouse. Most of these
        functions are also available by right-clicking into the parent box and
        selecting an appropriate items from the context menu. </para>
	
	<para>The bottom list box displays children of the Active person and 
	the Current  Spouse. The Children's list can be ordered by the Birth date 
	in the usual way of clicking on the <guilabel>Birth date</guilabel> column 
	header. In addition to the <guilabel>Name</guilabel>,
	<guilabel>ID</guilabel>, <guilabel>Gender</guilabel>, and
	<guilabel>Birth date</guilabel> columns, the list includes a  
	<guilabel>Status</guilabel> column. The pair of status words reflect the
	relationship between the child and his Father/Mother (such as Birth, Adoption, 
	etc.) Four buttons are available on the right side of the 
	children list box. The top (left arrow) button makes 
	the selected child the Active person. The next two buttons add a new
        child to the family: the upper one adds a new person to the database 
        and to the family, the lower one just adds a person existing in the
        database to the family. Finally, the lowest <guibutton>-</guibutton> 
        button removes the selected child from the family. Note that removing 
        a child from the family does not remove the person from the 
        database. Most of these functions are also available by right-clicking 
        into the children box and selecting an appropriate items from the 
        context menu.</para> 

	<para>The layout of the Family View can be switched from the 
        left-to-right arrangement (shown above) to the top-to-bottom 
        arrangement (shown below). This can be done in the 
        <guilabel>Display</guilabel> section of the 
        <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog. The top-to-bottom view 
        has the same functionality as the left-to-right view. </para>

	<!-- ==== Figure: Family View ==== -->
	<figure id="family-alt-fig"> 
	<title>Alternative Family View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/family-alt.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Alternative Family View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

      </sect2>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="pedigree-view">
        <title>Pedigree View</title>

	<!-- ==== Figure: Pedigree View ==== -->
	<figure id="pedigree-fig"> 
	<title>Pedigree View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/pedigree.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Pedigree View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The Pedigree View helps to visualize the place of the Active 
	person in the tree of his/her ancestors. The Pedigree View shows four 
	generations, going back in time from the Active person
	<guilabel>1</guilabel> to his/her parents <guilabel>2</guilabel>, 
	to grandparents <guilabel>3</guilabel>, to great-grandparents 
	<guilabel>4</guilabel>. 
	Each person is denoted by a box bearing the person's name. 
	The two lines that converge on the box represent ties with the 
	person's Father (top line) and mother (bottom line). Solid lines 
	represent birth relations, while dashed lines represent non-birth 
	relations (such as adoption, step-parenthood, guardianship, etc.). 
	When the mouse moves over the white box, it expands to display the 
	corresponding person's dates of birth and death. When the mouse is 
	placed over the family line, the line become highlighted to indicate 
	an active link: double-clicking on the line makes the corresponding 
	ancestor the Active person. The display in that case is re-adjusted 
	to show four generations, starting from the newly selected Active 
	person. </para>
	
	<!-- ==== Figure: Pedigree View ==== -->
	<figure id="pedigree-child-cut-fig"> 
	<title>Children Menu</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/pedigree-child-cut.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Children Menu in Pedigree View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The left-hand side of the window shows the left arrow button. 
	Upon clicking, the button expands to the menu listing the children 
	of the Active person. Selecting the menu item makes the corresponding 
	child the Active person. The appearance of the children's names 
	in the menu serves to differentiate the "dead ends" of the tree from 
	the continuing branches as follows. The children who have children 
	appear in the menu in the boldface and italic typeset, while the 
	children without children ("dead ends") appear in a regular 
	font. If the Active person has a single child, no menu will be 
	displayed (since there is no choice) and the child will become 
	the Active person upon clicking	the arrow button. </para>

	<para>The right-hand side of the window shows two right arrow buttons. 
	When the top button is clicked, the Father of the Active person 
	becomes the Active person. Clicking the bottom button makes the Mother of 
	the Active person the Active person. Again, the display is re-adjusted 
	to show four generations, starting from the newly selected Active 
	person.</para> 

	<!-- ==== Figure: Pedigree View ==== -->
	<figure id="pedigree-anchor-fig"> 
	<title>Pedigree View with the Anchor</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/pedigree-anchor.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Pedigree View with the anchor set.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
    
    <para>An additional advanced scheme of labeling generations exists in 
    Pedigree View. It becomes available by setting the anchor on some active 
    person. If the anchor is set, the generations are labeled as follows. 
    The anchor
    person (and his/her generation) is labeled as <guilabel>0</guilabel>. 
    The ancestor generations are numbered with positive integers 
    (<guilabel>1</guilabel>, <guilabel>2</guilabel>, <guilabel>3</guilabel>, 
    etc.) while the descendant generations are numbered with negative integers
    (<guilabel>-1</guilabel>, <guilabel>-2</guilabel>, <guilabel>-3</guilabel>, 
    etc.). In all cases, the number represents the number of generations 
    between the labeled generation and the anchor person. In this mode, 
    you can travel along the extensive pedigree line and see the number 
    of generations counting from the anchor person.</para>
    
    <para>To set the anchor, select the <guilabel>Set anchor</guilabel> menu
    item from the right-click context menu, when the desired person is the 
    Active person in the Pedigree View. The labels will change immediately, 
    and the name of the anchor person will appear at the lower left corner
    of the display area. 
    The set anchor person will stay in effect until either the anchor is 
    removed (by selecting the <guilabel>Remove anchor</guilabel> item from the 
    context menu) or until the active person chosen is unrelated to the anchor 
    person. The latter move can be made using extensive navigation tools 
    available in &app;, see <xref linkend="gramps-nav"/> for the detailed 
    reference. 
    </para>

      </sect2>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="sources-view">
        <title>Sources View</title>

	<!-- ==== Figure: Sources View ==== -->
	<figure id="sources-fig"> 
	<title>Sources View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/sources.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Sources View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The Sources View lists the sources of information stored in the 
	database. This can include various documents (birth, death, and 
	marriage certificates, etc.), books, films, journals, private diaries, 
	i.e. virtually anything that can be classified as a source of 
	information. The sources can be used as a reference for any event 
	stored in the database. The Source View lists the 
	<guilabel>Title</guilabel>, <guilabel>ID</guilabel>, and the 
	<guilabel>Author</guilabel> of the source. Any column can be 
	used for sorting the list. The usual rules apply: one click for 
	ascending order, another click for descending order.</para> 
      </sect2>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="places-view">
        <title>Places View</title>

	<!-- ==== Figure: Places View ==== -->
	<figure id="places-fig"> 
	<title>Places View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/places.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Places View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The Places View lists the geographical places in which the events 
	of the database took place. These could be places of birth, death, 
	and marriages of people, as well as their home, employment, education 
	addresses, or any other conceivable reference to the geographical 
	location. The Places View lists the places' <guilabel>Name</guilabel>,
	<guilabel>ID</guilabel>, <guilabel>Church Parish</guilabel>,
	<guilabel>City</guilabel>, <guilabel>County</guilabel>,
	<guilabel>State</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Country</guilabel>. All of
	these columns can be used for sorting by the usual sorting rules. </para> 
      </sect2>

    <!-- ================ Main Window Sub-subsection  -->
      <sect2 id="media-view">
        <title>Media View</title>

	<!-- ==== Figure: Media View ==== -->
	<figure id="media-fig"> 
	<title>Media View</title> 
	<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject><imagedata 
		fileref="figures/media.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	<textobject> 
	<phrase>Shows Media View.  </phrase>
	</textobject></mediaobject></screenshot></figure>
	<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->

	<para>The Media View is a list of Media Objects used in the database. 
	Media Objects are any files that relate somehow to the stored 
	genealogical data. Technically, any file can be stored as a Media 
	Object. Most frequently, these are images, audio files, animation 
	files, etc. The list box on the bottom lists the Name, ID, Type, and 
	Path to the Media Object. The top part of the GRAMPS window shows 
	a preview (if available) and information about the Media 
	Object. </para> 
      </sect2>

    </sect1>
  </chapter>