TINY TAFELS and the TAFEL MATCHING SYSTEM (TMS) By Andrew Koppenhaver 1 Dec 95 Introduction: What is a Tiny Tafel? How do we generate a Tiny Tafel? What can we do with a Tiny Tafel? What is the Tafel Matching system? How do we use the Tafel Matching System? These are some questions we plan to explore and answer in this paper. What is a Tiny Tafel (TT)? A Tiny Tafel was first suggested by Paul Andereck in Genealogical Computing. It is a concise listing of Surnames in a specified format for genealogy data exchange. A TT is a concise description of your genealogical research interests. It contains general information about family lines, but it is not intended to be a source of genealogical data. The TT provides a way to indicate if others share your research interests. COMMSOFT has developed a Tiny Tafel specification. It provides a compact way of describing a family database so that the information can be scanned visually or by computer. The August 1989 ABT-PAF contains a copy of the Commsoft specification. The TT contains header lines to give the name (N), address(A) and telephone number (T) of the person creating the TT. Following the N, A and T lines are other optional lines (S, B, C, D, F, and R) giving information about the individual and/or his system, communication Service, BBS, Communications, Diskette format, Files format and Remarks. This is followed by the required (Z) line which gives the number of data lines. The TT data lines follow which each consist of: Soundex code for Surname (4 characters) Space delimiter (1 space) Earliest Ancestor Birth year (4 numbers YYYY) Ancestor interest flag (1 character...see below) Latest Descendant Birth year (4 numbers YYYY) Descendant interest flag (1 character...see below) Surname (variable length) \Ancestor Birth place (variable length) /Descendant Birth place (variable length) Interest flags consist of: [space] No interest (level 0) . Low interest (level 1) : Moderate interest (level 2) * Highest interest (level 3) Each TT data line must be less than 80 characters long! Use abbreviations for birth place to shorten as necessary. The last line (required) is (W) giving the date (DD MMM YYYY) when this TT was generated. How to prepare a TT. A TT can be prepared in several ways. There are programs available to help you generate your TT. 1. Manually prepare a TT using a text editor. You must know the specification format of the TT! Tom Douglas has a program (TTGEN201) that can be used to edit and modify a TT. This program also helps you get the TT into the proper (specified) format. TTGEN201 is in the CPAFUG disk library, on Vol 13. 2. Prepare a gedcom file from your PAF data using GIE, then use GED2TT to prepare the TT from the gedcom file. GED2TT is in the CPAFUG disk library, on Vol 13. 3. There now is a program available to create a TT directly from your PAF data (PAFTT by William Geissinger). PAFTT.ZIP is on CPAFUG BBS, file area 3. We will discuss the second method (PAF data to a gedcom file - use GED2TT to create TT from gedcom file. GED2TT lets you describe where your gedcom file is located,and to where you want to save the TT. You are also prompted to enter the optional data. The GED2TT program will ask you a few more questions after the names have been selected from the gedcom file. i.e. Which names do you want to delete? Enter names (separated by $), or Do you want to delete names that were in gedcom file only once, twice or three times? Remember that all names in your gedcom file (created from your PAF data) which have an associated birthdate will be counted. Names with no birthdate (death dates are not used) are ignored. You can identify what the interest level is for any or all the names. You can abbreviate state names? The place of birth for ancestor and descendant of names is required. If it was not given in the gedcom file, GED2TT will ask you to insert a place. Anything will be accepted - like PA,USA or just USA. After the TT is completed, GED2TT will tell you if any lines are greater than 80 characters long. Long lines must be shortened (with your text editor, or TTGEN) before you use the TT. Now that we have a TT, What can we do with a TT? You should submit your TT to the local BBS (CPAFUG BBS). Submit to the TAFEL MATCHING SYSTEM (TMS). Other electronic bulletin board systems collecting TT's. By collecting many different TTs, a computer can build a database against which to compare each new submission and report any matches. Each TT added to the database improves the odds that you will be able to connect with someone who has information you want. The success of the TT database depends on you. What is the Tafel Matching System? The TMS is a national network of BBS's which are linked together to search TT's for matches. The TMS has three main functions: 1. Allow the submission to, and management of TTs in, the local TMS database. 2. Provide an Instant Match so the local database can be searched on line. 3. Provide a batch search so the contents of your TT can be used to search for matches throughout the TMS national/international network. A TMS User's guide, prepared by COMMSOFT, Inc., version 2, dated April 1, 1991 is available on the CPAFUG BBS as TMSUSER.ZIP, and in the CPAFUG disk library Volume 13. How to Use the TMS The first step is to log-on to a BBS. The CPAFUG BBS main menu looks like this: /--------------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN: Message Areas File Areas Change Setup Goodbye (log off) Statistics UserList Version of BBS Bulletins Off-line reader Tafel Match. Sys. >System Stats ?help Select: T ---------------------------------------------------------------------\ Selecting T will get you to the TMS. The first time you log on to the TMS you will be given the opportunity to submit a TT. If you upload a TT, the next time you logon, the TMS TOP MENU will look like this: /--------------------------------------------------------------------- Commsoft Tiny-Tafel Query System V1.25 Copyright 1986, 1987 , 1990 by Commsoft, Inc. Welcome to COMMSOFT's Tafel Matching System (TMS). There are 309 Tiny-Tafel files containing 8413 lines of data in the TMS database. This is access number 5863. Tiny-Tafel file for Andrew Koppenhaver: Number of data lines: 59 Date created: 11 Nov 1991 Date submitted: 13 Nov 1991 5:57 PM EDT Users given your contact info: 92 D Delete your Tiny-Tafel file S Scan your Tiny-Tafel file M Match query off-line. I Instant match. R Replace your Tiny-Tafel file Q Quit TMS and return to BB System Enter choice (d s m i r q): ---------------------------------------------------------------------\ You have the capability to look at -scan- (S) the TT you submitted, Delete (D) it, or replace (R) it. You are allowed to have only one TT in the system at any time. If you select (I) Instant match, you scan the local TTs for information. An example to search for Williams follows: /------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTANT MATCH. Search for family names in this TMS database. Enter surname or soundex code to match: Williams There are 47 entries with soundex code W452 in this database. Line Count Surname 1 2 WALLING 2 1 WILENSKY 3 1 WILLEMSE * 37 34 WILLIAMS 45 8 WILLIAMSON 46 1 WILLINGHAM ENTER Line number of desired surname, or A to include All lines, or Q to quit Enter choice (# a q or ? for help) <37>: a ENTER year that is of interest to you: 1800 ENTER minimum interest level to match: 0 ENTER a date (dd mmm yyyy) of your choice. Tiny-Tafels uploaded before that date will be ignored. 15 May 1990 ENTER a number of years tolerance for the date compares: 35 Searching for W452 bracketing 1800 to within 35 years in TTS uploaded since Tue May 15 00:00:00 1990 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 LINE USER DATA 0 Ralph Terry 1768 1768 WALLING\,Grayson,VA/,Grayson,VA 1 George Porterfield 1817:1817 WILLEMSE\Rossum Holland/Rossum Holland 2 John Powell 1814 1814 Williams\,London,England/, London,Eng. 3 Elizabeth Cox 1834*1882*WILLIAMS\ALABAMA/MARENGO COUNTY, AL 4 Elizabeth Cox 1834*1882*WILLIAMS\GEORGIA/MARENGO COUNTY, AL 5 Walter Vanness 1824 1824 Williams 6 Walter Vanness 1831 1831 Williams 7 John Penney 1830:1895:WILLIAMS\Wales, U.K./Fulton, MO ? 8 Barbara Stevenson 1822:1822 WILLIAMS\POSSIBLY MS/POSSIBLY MS 9 Kim Williamson 1826:1826 WILLIAMS\North Carolina/North Carolina 10 John Stephenson 1818*1818 WILLIAMS\Eastern Shore,MD/E. Shore, MD 11 Bob Shandrew 1760*1922 WILLIAMSON\Scotland/Lexington,KY/Brown,IL 12 Lewis Robertson 1800:1845 WILLIAMSON 13 Walter Anderson 1833 1872 WILLIAMSON\Bedford Co,VA/Wilson Co,KS 14 Carl Lambert 1816:1816:WILLIAMSON\PA/PA To obtain contact data on one of the above items, enter the line number: 14 N Carl Lambert A 3425 Stoneybrae Drive A FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044, T 703 354-3222 B CPAFUG.BBS/703 698 7046 C 9600/B/X D 3,MS-DOS,1.4/IBM/1.4 F PAF 2.2 R Pre Rev War pioneers R Grouped on WV Indian frontier 1700s R Migrated to SE OH early 1800s ---------------------------------------------------------------------\ So now you have a contact who has an interest in Williamson which may be of interest to you too. You need to make contact via E-mail, phone or letter if you want to get that persons information on the name you are interested in. If you select (M) Match query off-line you can submit a query to be circulated automatically to all the BBS on the TMS. It would be done like this: /--------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the questions you must answer for a Match query off-line. You may request a report containing the results of matching your query against all Tiny-Tafels in the system. This processing occurs once per day and a report will be available within a few days. You may enter up to 4 queries at this time. Reply Q to quit at any prompt. As always you may reply ? at any prompt to get additional help. Enter Query 1 or Q to quit. Enter surname or soundex code to match: K151 ENTER year that is of interest to you: 1800 ENTER minimum interest level to match: 0 ENTER a date (dd mmm yyyy) of your choice. Tiny-Tafels uploaded before that date will be ignored. 15 May 1991 Enter Query 2 or Q to quit. Enter surname or soundex code to match: q Query Soundex Year Surname Uploaded Interest === ==== ==== ======================== =========== === 1 K151 1800 15 May 1991 0 Is the above information correct? ENTER Y to accept, or N to not accept, or Q to Quit Y ENTER a number of years tolerance for the date compares: 25 Query logged. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------\ In a few days or weeks TMS reports will come back to CPAFUG BBS. When you log on to the BBS you will have a message that a TMS report is waiting for you. The report will identify which node of the TMS is reporting and give information on the person having information on the names you are interested in. It will be up to you to make contact with that person to get information you want. Each BBS in the TMS network is given a four letter code identified as follows. The four letter codes tell which node contributed the following lines to your report. A list of the current nodes is given below. This report is a result of the collective effort of all participating bulletin boards. Be sure to pass along your appreciation on the National Genealogy Conference. Additional reports may come in over the next week or so. Be sure to check back for more possible contacts! TMS NODE LIST 01/22/94 ---------------------- Node BBS name SysOp Phone ------------ ----------------------------------- ------------------ ------------ 104/330.AAAA Root Cellar Too!!, Littleton, CO Charles Simpkinson 303-770-3217 103/151.ABAA World Tree, Stanton, CA David Ahia 714-827-3814 363/18.ADCA Cornucopia TBBS, WinterPark, FL Jim Howard 407-645-4929 114/22.ADDA Rare Readers, Tempe, AZ Ron Stalzer 602-756-2855 125/30.BAAA Roots(SF!) San Francisco, CA Brian Mavrogeorge 415-584-0697 213/742.BBAA Library Com, Reno, NV Randal Putnam 702-785-4191 271/300.CAAA Relatively Speak', Williamsburg, VA Hershel Kreis 804-566-0219 209/720.CBAA The Gene Splicers BBS, Las Vegas NV John Le Duc 702-731-9453 105/212.CDAA Northwest Genealogy BBS Tualatin OR Gary Roth 503-692-0927 105/222.CDBA N.W. Family Hist., Oregon City, OR Wayne Silsbee 503-657-6578 370/70.CEAA Options Unlimited, Athens, GA Ben Bedell 706-543-5468 112/8.CFAA River City Roots, Jacksonville, FL John Boots 904-384-1407 106/117.DAAA PasTracks Genealogy, La Porte, TX Edward Hayden 713-470-8657 106/270.DBAA TRACE!, Houston, TX Susan King 713-862-6400 106/71.DCAA Bayou Bend, Houston, TX Petra Wright 713-894-0574 109/422.DFAA CPAFUG, Columbia, MD Walter Anderson 301-989-8960 264/152.DFBA Intercity BBS, Richmond, VA Tyronne Foy 804-353-4160 274/33.DFCA RamsGateWest, Fredericksburg, VA Gary T. Moore 703-898-4821 3639/16.DFDA Visions_Past and Pr. Spartanburg,SC Mike Champion 803-587-9133 3647/3.DFEA Vangaard Keep, Sumter, SC Derek Cosby 803-469-3184 109/465.DFFA The Relative Connection, Chuck Haine 301-762-6813 280/9.EAAA So of the River BBS, Overland P, KS John Schnake 913-642-7907 282/4030.EBAA Genealogy Central, Cloquet, MN Robert Hunt 218-879-9658 159/525.FAAA Colonial Family Rsrch, Lansing, MI Bill Korroch 517-882-0717 234/29.FBAA Northwest Ohio Roots, Vanlue, OH Bob Wells 419-387-7393 250/414.FCAA OGS/Kintracers, Toronto, Ont. Ray Whidden 416-932-9781 154/501.FDAA City - Flags Genealogy, OakCreek WI John Robins-Wells 414-761-2582 124/1107.FEAA Mainframe Exchange, Dallas, TX Doug Light 214-221-8931 124/7007.FEBA Xanadu, Grand Prairie, TX Don Wills 214-647-8125 221/177.FFAA K-W Amateur Radio, Kitchener, Ont. Fred Hicks 519-578-9314 108/107.FGAA The Mountain Top BBS, Cincinnati OH Gerald Ellison 513-921-5568 226/130.FHAA Genealogy Hotline!, New Albany, OH Carol Montrose 614-855-0955 252/406.FIAA Sunset Years BBS, Victoria Harb. ON Earl Robichaud 705-534-6359 347/3.HAAA The Idaho Root Cellar, Boise ID Don Haacke 208-362-1441 342/67.HBAA Zarahemla (genealogy), Onoway, AB John McCaslin 403-967-3642 340/85.HCAA Metchosin Central, Victoria, BC Jessica Veinot 604-478-7678 440/50.IAAA Roots (UK)!, Guildford, England Mike Fisher 44-483579631 800/807.IOAB PC Media Access, Morphett, Australia Ken Richards 1-8-326-2843 285/152.NAAA Walburght, Zwijndrecht, Netherlands Bastiaan Bosman 31-78-129670 512/130.NABA Gendata, Son, Netherlands Willem Lanfermeier 31-499077612 280/603.NAEA GensData, Alkmaar, Netherlands Johan Robert Poot 31-72-643533 500/44.NBAA HCC Delft 1, Delft, Netherlands Paul Scholte 31-15-624590 500/14.NBBA Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands Hans van Melis 31-40-481792 292/867.NCAA Roots(B), Antwerp, Belgium Harry Goegebeur 32-3-2268648 2405/24.NEAA Comp-Gen.Box, Darmstadt, Germany Dieter Zwinger 496151424941 7104/7.RSAA Diakonos, Herold, South Africa Deon Strydom 27-441-81652