gramps/manual/C/getstart.xml
Martin Hawlisch d464574add Added some cross-references;
URLs updated to gramps-project.org.


svn: r5252
2005-09-29 15:08:57 +00:00

271 lines
8.6 KiB
XML

<chapter id="gramps-getting-started">
<!--
User Manual for Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program
Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Alexander Roitman
This document is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
-->
<!-- $Id$ -->
<title>Getting Started</title>
<para>
This chapter provides the most basic information on starting
&app; and obtaining help. Please proceed to the following
chapters for more information.
</para>
<!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ====== -->
<sect1 id="gramps-start">
<title>To Start GRAMPS</title>
<para>
You can start &app; in the following ways:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu</term>
<listitem>
<para>
The method of starting &app; from the menus may vary
from distribution to distribution. On default GNOME
desktop, choose
<menuchoice><guisubmenu>Other</guisubmenu>
<guimenuitem>Gramps</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Command line</term>
<listitem>
<para>
To start &app; from a command line, type
<command>gramps</command>, then press
<keycap>Enter</keycap>.
</para>
<para>
If you would like &app; to open a specific database or to
import a specific file on startup, you can use the
filename as a command line argument:
</para>
<para>
<filename>gramps filename.grdb</filename>
</para>
<para>
where <filename>filename.grdb</filename> is the name of
the file you want to open. The command line provides many
more ways to start &app; and perform different tasks. The
detailed reference to the command line options is found
in <xref linkend="append-cmdline"/>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ==== -->
<sect1 id="run-1st-time">
<title>Running GRAMPS for the first time</title>
<para>
The first time you run the program, GRAMPS will display the
Getting Started dialogs. Follow the directions that guide you through
<guilabel>Researcher information</guilabel>, <guilabel>Numerical date
formats</guilabel>, <guilabel>Alternate calendar support</guilabel>,
and <guilabel>the LDS extensions</guilabel> sections. Most of the dialogs
are self-explanatory and will not be covered here.
</para>
<!-- ==== Figure: Getting Started Druid Window ==== -->
<figure id="druid-fig">
<title>GRAMPS Getting Started Window: Researcher Information</title>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="figures/researcher.png" format="PNG"
width="510" depth="369" scale="75"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Shows Researcher Information Window. </phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
<para>
Enter your personal information in the corresponding text entry
fields. Although &app; requests information about you, this
information is used only so that &app; can create valid GEDCOM
output files. A valid GEDCOM file requires information about the
file's creator. If you choose, you may leave the information
empty, however all the GEDCOM files you export will be invalid.
</para>
<para>
This information can be entered at any time in the
<guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog (see <xref linkend="gramps-prefs" />), under the
<guilabel>Database/Researcher Information</guilabel> category.
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection -->
<sect1 id="choose-db-start">
<title>Choosing a database on startup</title>
<para>
If &app; is started without a database selected, the following
window will appear prompting you to choose one to open.
</para>
<!-- ==== Figure: Open existing/new database window ==== -->
<figure id="first-open">
<title>Open Database Window</title>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="figures/first-open.png" format="PNG"
width="311" depth="199" scale="80"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Shows Open Database Window.</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
<para>
If you would like to open an existing database, check the top
radio button and click the <guibutton>OK</guibutton>
button. You will then be asked to specify the name of your
existing database (see <xref linkend="open-db" />). If you would like to immediately create a
brand new database from scratch right away, choose new
database (see <xref linkend="new-db" />).
</para>
<note id="file-notdir-note">
<title>Selecting file</title>
<para>
This version of &app; does not require selecting a directory
for the database. Please select filename, as you would in any
other application.
</para>
</note>
</sect1>
<!-- ================ Getting Started Subsection ==== -->
<sect1 id="get-help">
<title>Obtaining Help</title>
<para>
The following items are available from the
<menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu></menuchoice> to provide
immediate assistance:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>User manual</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to access this manual in the help browser.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>FAQ</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to read the Frequently Asked Questions about
&app; in the browser.
</para>
<para>
See: <xref linkend="faq" />
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>GRAMPS home page</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to open the home page of &app; in your
default web browser.
</para>
<para>
See: <ulink url="http://gramps-project.org/" type="http">http://gramps-project.org/</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>GRAMPS mailing lists</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to direct your web browser
to the &app; mailing list archives.
</para>
<para>
See: <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=25770" type="http">http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=25770</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Report a bug</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to file a bug report regarding &app;
with the bug tracking system.
</para>
<para>
See: <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=25770&amp;atid=385137" type="http">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=25770&amp;atid=385137</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Show plugin status</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to display the status of loaded plugins.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Open example database</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this item to load the example database shipped
with &app;. This database is composed of fictitious
people and serves as a useful example for learning how
to work with &app;.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
</chapter>