Welcome to Genius for Windows. ------------------------------ My basic philosophy has been to make the program 'user friendly' and to use a computer industry word 'intuitive'. I hope I have managed to achieve that aim. In general I have tried to avoid using computer jargon when describing Genius's operation in the manual and the Help screens. Many people can be overwhelmed by terms such as 'field', 'DOS', 'CPU', 'RAM' etc. when in most cases plain English serves the purpose. It is assumed, however, that you have a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Windows. I hope you enjoy using Genius for Windows. Peter Resch What Can Genius for Windows Do? ------------------------------- The main advantage of Genius over other genealogical programs is it's visual display. Four generations of family members are displayed on the Family Tree screen. The display includes Parents,Grandparents, one Partner, up to two Siblings, up to four children and of course the currently selected person. Navigation around the tree is simple; selecting any person displayed on the family tree with the mouse (or using the keyboard) lets you select any person to view or edit their information. Alternatively you can search for and select an individual by Family Name. The maximum number of people that can be stored by the program is 5000. The notes for each person have a limit of 2,000 characters (about 400 words), although this could be further limited by available free hard disk space. The issue of one couple can be up to 34 children and any one person can have up to 20 partners. Genius uses about 500 bytes of disk space per person plus approximately 1 byte per character for each persons notes. (A byte is a series of bits of information used in a computer to store or manipulate data. It is like a letter in a word, a series of letters are combined to make an understandable word.) Genius Can Print: An individually formatted data sheet for each person. A nicely formatted Descendants Chart of up to 8 generations for any person. A Pedigree Chart for any person displaying 4 generations of ancestors. A complete list of all people recorded sorted by Family Name or Person Number. A list of all people recorded with the same Family Name. Terminology ----------- Some of the terminology used in genealogy and Genius may need explanation. Connect .. The idea that all people related to each other are 'connected' in some way, ie. as say a father, mother, sibling(s), child, grandmother, grandfather, 5th cousin 4 times removed etc. is called a 'a connection'. Genius is only concerned with direct relationships, the less direct relationships are sorted out automatically. Disconnect.. To break a connection, for example you may have connected a spouse to the wrong member of a family, so you would 'disconnect' that spouse. Selected Person... The person who's data is currently being worked on is known as the 'Selected Person'. In the Family Tree display she or he is shown in the dark red box. Recommended computer configuration ---------------------------------- 386 or better computer with at least 2 Mb of memory Windows version 3.1 or higher Enough hard disk space to store your files (1 Mb stores about 2000 entries not including any notes) and up to 500Kb for the program. VBRUN300.DLL installed in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM sub directory Files on the unzipped file WINGEN13.ZIP ------------------------------ You should have: ddeml.dl_ file_id.diz geninstl.ex_ genius.ex_ genius.hl_ genius_d.dl_ genius_p.dl_ genius_s.dl_ readme .txt readme.wr_ register.ex_ register.wr_ setup.exe setup.lst vendor.txt ver.dl_ genius.cf_ genius.pe_ genius.ma_ genius.mc_ genius.nt_ whatsnew.wr_ Installation ------------ To Run Genius for Windows you will need VBRUN300.DLL installed in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM sub directory, before installing Genius for Windows. This can be downloaded from Internet or a local BBS. Copy the above unzipped files to a floppy disk and place it in your floppy drive. In Windows Program Manager select 'File' on the Menu bar at the top with your mouse then select 'Run' on the pop down menu and type: a:setup and press [Enter] (You can use upper or lower case, it doesn't matter.) If you have put the distribution disk in drive B: type: b:setup and press [Enter] OR Install Genius directly from the directory that you unzipped WINGEN13.ZIP to. After a few moments of disk drive activity you will be asked where you wish to install Genius on your hard disk. It offers to install Genius on Drive C: in a directory called 'GENIUS'. If you are happy with the suggested directory press 'Enter' or select the 'Continue' button, otherwise type in the name of the directory that you want Genius to be installed to. Genius will then be installed on the specified directory. An extra sub directory will be made called 'FILES' under your GENIUS directory, this is to store the family records that Genius will generate. After a short time, the installation will be complete, and, if there are no existing data files, you will be asked if you wish to install the sample files. Respond either 'Yes' or 'No'. If you respond 'Yes' a set of sample family files will be copied to the 'FILES' sub directory, if you respond 'No' the installation is complete and you will be returned to Windows Program Manager. If the installation program finds an existing set if Genius Family files it will check and update these files. After installation you should have the following files in your Genius directory: (or the sub directory you installed Genius to) genius.exe genius.hlp readme.wri register.exe register.wri whatsnew.wri and, if you installed the sample family files you should have the following files in the 'FILES' sub directory under the Genius directory: (or under the directory you installed Genius to) genius.cfg genius.per genius.mar genius.mce genius.nts NOTE: If you installed the sample files you will have to delete them before you start your own family database. To do this, exit from Genius, run File Manager, find the sub directory 'FILES' under the directory you installed Genius to (normally C:\GENIUS) and delete the files listed above from the sub directory 'FILES'. Setting the International Short Date Format ------------------------------------------- Genius needs this to be set correctly so it will accept date entry in the format you prefer. In most cases this will be already set, but if you have trouble entering dates, it could be that the Windows International Short Date Format is incorrectly set for your country's particular date format. To set or check the International Short Date Format: Exit from Genius if it is running. In the Main Group of Windows Program Manager: Run the 'Control Panel' application. Select the 'International' icon. In the Date Format box select the 'Change...' button. The International Short Date Format dialog box appears. Make sure that the Short Date Format... Order is set to the date format that you use, either MDY or DMY (Month Day Year or Day Month Year). Select the 'OK' button. Select the 'OK' button on the 'International' dialog box. WIN.INI will now be updated and Genius will run correctly. Note: Genius will not accept the format YMD. Using Genius for Windows ------------------------ Genius has been designed to gently steer you through the complexities of entering, viewing and printing data. When you start Genius for the first time you will see a blank Family Tree with an empty dark red 'Selected Person' box. Select 'Add Person' with the mouse and a form will appear titled 'Add the First Person'. Enter all the information you know about the person you wish to start with on this form, pressing 'Tab' to move between the input entry boxes. (If the family tree is your own you could start with yourself). Select 'OK', you will be returned to the Family Tree. You can the Add Parents, Siblings, Children and Partners in any order. To view or edit any person on the screen, click on their box to make him or her the Selected Person, then click on the Selected Person box (or press [Enter] )to display the Edit Form. You can then edit or view that persons information. For more information about using Genius for Windows, extensive Help is available by pressing the [F1] key or clicking on the 'Help' button. Uninstalling Genius for Windows ------------------------------- If you decide that Genius for Windows is not for you, remove all the files in the Genius (or whatever you called it) directory and it's associated \FILES sub directory. In the WINDOWS or WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories, delete the files: genius_d.dll genius_p.dll genius_s.dll geninstl.exe GENIUS for Windows is NOT FREE. ------------------------------- You MUST REGISTER after the 60-day evaluation time period. GENIUS for Windows is a Shareware product. It is distributed through public access channels so that prospective buyers can have the opportunity to evaluate the product before making a decision to buy. If you decide to use this software, then you are under both legal and moral obligation to register it with the author. If, after evaluating this software, you decide not to use it you are under no further obligation. GENIUS for Windows is fully protected by State, Commonwealth and International copyright laws. To continue to use GENIUS for Windows after the 60-day evaluation time period you must register it. This program may be freely copied and distributed, as long as the following conditions are met: (1) No fee is charged other than a normal time usage fee required by some Bulletin Board Services, or a small disk duplication fee not to exceed $10. (2) The program and it's associated installation, help and documentation files are distributed in their original, unmodified form. This program may not be bundled with, or transferred as part of any package which is sold or for which any licensing fee is charged. Peter Resch Registering Genius for Windows only costs $55 in Australian dollars. -------------------------------------------------------------------- For that you will get: The latest version or upgrade of Genius for Windows when it becomes available. The right to use your registered copy of Genius for Windows on your computer. Telephone support if you have any problems. A proper instruction manual. Direct access to the program (the registration notices wont appear). The message "Genius for Windows (Unregistered Copy)" wont appear on printouts. A warm feeling knowing you have done the right thing. Once you have registered (even if the 60 days have expired) you will be able to continue from where you left off. Your data remains intact. To Register: ------------ Print out the registration form, either by printing REGISTER.WRI or by selecting 'Print Registration Form' in the Registration window, fill it in and post it enclosing your cheque (in Australia only), an international money order, bank cheque or other method of payment to: Peter Resch PO. Box 1029 Maryborough Qld. 4650 AUSTRALIA No Credit Cards at this stage. International Money Transfer: add AU$10 to cover Australian bank charges Telephone +61 71 233 399 (international), or in Australia (071) 233 399 between 7 am and 5 pm Australian EST, Monday to Saturday. (That's 2100 to 0700 Universal Time (GMT), (-10 hrs); 4pm to 2am East Coast USA (-15 hrs); 1pm to 11pm Pacific Coast USA (-18 hrs). A slimmer, trimmer, faster, Genius for Windows Version 2 is on the drawing board, so I would appreciate any opinions, requirements and suggestions that I can incorporate in the next version. You can Email me on Internet: presch@starvision.brisnet.org.au DISCLAIMER ---------- Every possible effort has been made to ensure that Genius for Windows will run correctly, but there is no guarantee that the program will run and I will accept no responsibility for any errors in the software, or for any consequences of any users' actions taken or not taken as a result of using this software. Users are strongly advised to make appropriate backups of their software before installing or running Genius for Windows. Peter Resch 10 Feb 1995 Windows is the trademark of Microsoft Corporation