PAF Dates before the year 100. PAF will not accept dates prior to the year 100 AD. One reason for this limit may be the algorythm used to convert the various forms of date entry to the 'dd mmm yyyy' used in the Family Records Display. The two digit number to designate years less than 100 may not be easily distinguished from the two digit representing the month or two digits representing the day. For those who are endeavoring to enter early dates into their data base, especially those dealing with very early Royalty and those dealing with the Bible lineages, the following is suggested as an alternative date entry for dates prior to 100 AD. PAF will accept years up to and including 2100. In dual dates, that is those dates that have a span of years separated by '/' the date on the right can be up to 2300. This offers an opportunity to 'code' your early dates so that they can be entered in the record and be displayed on the Individual Display and on the Pedigree Search Display. Since these very early dates seldom have a day or month connected to them, and since they are approximations at best, the year is the only term deemed to be significant. Using the 'bef' modifier and the dual date it is possible to code dates back to 4,000 BC. Consider using the dual date '/' as separating two years to be combined to display the actual year. Since some may still be using these versions of PAF after the turn of the century, we will consider the year 2100 as the base of your coding. When entering these early dates less than 100 place the year 2100 to the left of the '/' and follow with the actual two digit year. The year 2000 is not used due to the pending turn of the century. Example: For the year 86, enter '2100/86' in the date field. PAF will immediately modify this to read '2100/2186'. From this you can see that the actual date is last two digits in the entry. If these dates are AD then this is all that is needed. It will be obvious that the 2100/2186 is not a current date and it is therefore recognized as a 'coded' date representing the year 86 AD. If the date is BC then we resort to the first name place associated with that date and enter BC or B.C. in that name position. This will then identify the date as BC and not AD. In these examples and for the two utility programs associated with this discussion, the term B.C. is used. Either will suffice, but the programs are designed for the B.C. entries. If the years are 100 or greater, all that is needed is to enter the correct year. For these years all that is needed is to enter the B.C. in the first name field to designate dates BC as opposed to dates AD. Since PAF will not accept years greater than 2100, another modifier is used to add the additional 2000 years needed for early BC dates. The date modifier 'Bef' is used to indicate that the date entered is actually 2000 years later than the correct date. By adding the 2000 to the date displayed, the actual date is determined. If the 'Bef' is not displayed, then the date is as displayed being modified only by the dual date entry of 2100/21nn and the B.C. in the first level name field. EXAMPLES of date entries: Entered as Name field would be read as 100 100 AD 100 B.C. 100 BC 2100/2150 50 AD 2100/2150 B.C. 50 BC 1850 1850 AD 1850 B.C. 1850 BC Bef 1200 B.C. 3200 BC (added 2000) Bef 2100/2160 B.C. 2060 BC (added 2000) Bef 2000 B.C. 4000 BC (added 2000) The date modifiers 'Aft', 'Abt' can still be used on those dates greater than 99 and less than 2001. Avoid the use of the 'Bef' to minimize the confusion that might occur on dates needing the added 2000. Reports created contain records with these coded date entries will display the actual entered date and not necessarily the true date. If are sent to another individaul, then a discussion of the date coding should be included. Most PAF Shareware utilities that use and display dates will also display the actual entered date. Two of these utilities have been checked and a conversion utility developed for them to correct the coded dates to their actual value. The included program DESCCONV.EXE will convert the descendant charts created by John Barron's DESCEND23. The program AHNENFIX.EXE will convert the ahnentafel created by Ann Turner's AHNENTAF.EXE ver 1.3 A sample of each of these charts in its original form and in its converted form follows. DESCENDANT CHART - Version 2.3 (As produced by DESCEND23) 1 - Peleg - 7331 Born - Bef 244 B.C. Died - Bef 2100/2104 B.C. 2 - Reu - 7330 Born - Bef 213 B.C. Died - 1973 B.C. 3 - Serug - 7329 Born - Bef 181 B.C. Died - 1951 B.C. 4 - Nahor - 7328 Born - Bef 152 B.C. Died - Bef 2100/2103 B.C. 5 - Terah - 7327 Born - Bef 122 B.C. Died - 1917 B.C. 6 - Abraham - 7325 Born - Bef 2100/2146 B.C. Died - 1872 B.C. sp- Sarah - 7326 (3163) (After conversion with DESCCONV.EXE) 1 - Peleg - 7331 Born - Abt 2244 B.C. Died - Abt 2004 B.C. 2 - Reu - 7330 Born - Abt 2213 B.C. Died - Abt 1973 B.C. 3 - Serug - 7329 Born - Abt 2181 B.C. Died - Abt 1951 B.C. 4 - Nahor - 7328 Born - Abt 2152 B.C. Died - Abt 2003 B.C. 5 - Terah - 7327 Born - Abt 2122 B.C. Died - Abt 1917 B.C. 6 - Abraham - 7325 Born - Abt 2046 B.C. Died - Abt 1872 B.C. sp- Sarah - 7326 (3163) AHNENTAFEL ( As produced by AHNENTAF.EXE) (ANCESTOR TABLE) ================================= GENERATION 1 ================================ 1 JACOB/ISREAL,: b 1886 B.C.; d 1739 B.C. to LEAH, ================================= GENERATION 2 ================================ 2 ISAAC,: b 1946 B.C.; d 1766 B.C. 3 REBEKAH, ================================= GENERATION 3 ================================ 4 ABRAHAM,: b bef 2100/2146 B.C.; d 1872 B.C. 5 SARAH, ================================= GENERATION 4 ================================ 8 TERAH,: b bef 122 B.C.; d 1917 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 5 ================================ 16 NAHOR,: b bef 152 B.C.; d bef 2100/2103 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 6 ================================ 32 SERUG,: b bef 181 B.C.; d 1951 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 7 ================================ 64 REU,: b bef 213 B.C.; d 1973 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 8 ================================ 128 PELEG,: b bef 244 B.C.; d bef 2100/2104 B.C. AHNENTAFEL (After conversion with AHNENFIX.EXE) (ANCESTOR TABLE) =============================== GENERATION 1 ================================ 1 JACOB/ISREAL,: b Abt 1886 B.C.; d Abt 1739 B.C. to LEAH, ================================= GENERATION 2 ================================ 2 ISAAC,: b Abt 1946 B.C.; d Abt 1766 B.C. 3 REBEKAH, ================================= GENERATION 3 ================================ 4 ABRAHAM,: b Abt 2046 B.C.; d Abt 1872 B.C. 5 SARAH, ================================= GENERATION 4 ================================ 8 TERAH,: b Abt 2122 B.C.; d Abt 1917 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 5 ================================ 16 NAHOR,: b Abt 2152 B.C.; d Abt 2003 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 6 ================================ 32 SERUG,: b Abt 2181 B.C.; d Abt 1951 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 7 ================================ 64 REU,: b Abt 2213 B.C.; d Abt 1973 B.C. ================================= GENERATION 8 ================================ 128 PELEG,: b Abt 2244 B.C.; d Abt 2004 B.C. The use of AHNENFIX.EXE and DESCCONV.EXE does not alter any data except that entered in the date fields in the coded manner suggested above. The resultant converted Descendancy and Ahnentafel charts display the actual dates that could not be entered due to the limitations of PAF. It should be noted that FRCHK will report an invalid date for those entries 99 BC to 99 AD inclusive and between 2001 BC and 2099 BC. These errors should be ignored as they cause no problem with any other aspect of PAF. It should also be noted that these dates would not be acceptable for Ancestral File submissions and for Temple Ready submissions. These two utility programs and this discussion are offered as FREEWARE to any and all who are desirous of using these concepts to assist in a more accurate entry of early dates into PAF without resorting to using the NOTES for all early date entries. Have fun. Jack J. Chandler 812 Vermillion Dr. Henderson, NV 89015 1-702-565-3158