GEDLAB is a IBM-PC shareware program containing a collection of commands for manipulating GEDCOM files. All the questions asked by GEDLAB can be answered with a '?' to receive a further explanation of the question. GEDLAB asks for the path names of two GEDCOM files to be used by the comparison commands (see below). The first file will be the newest file and most likely it will be the largest also. If you are not going to do a comparison these paths can be identical (hit enter to the 2nd path name question). It is not necessary to enter the file's .GED extension. Command format: [n]C[xxx] Only the 's' command is case sensitive ========================== n - an optional field of either a 1 or a 2 that specifies which GED file to use. The default is '1' (the first pathname entered) if the file number is not specified in the command. C - the command to execute xxx - An individual or family's identification number ============================================================================ Hitting the ESC key while a command is executing will terminate the command. ============================================================================ C - Compare two .GED files Often you receive a GED from someone and you load it on your database. After a few months of manipulating your database the person sends you an updated version of the GED. Identifying new information in the GED and getting it merged on your system is extremely difficult. This problem is compounded by the fact that the identification numbers in the received GED do not match the numbers assigned by your database when the old GED was applied. This command compares the two .GED files. The mismatches are listed in file GDL.MM. The new people and families are written to file GDL.GED which can be loaded to your database. The links 'New Individual->Old Family' and 'New Family->Old Individual' are not written in the GDL.GED. This makes the new information totally separate from the old data in the database. These links between the old and new data are listed in the GDL.MM file and must be entered by hand. Possible differences between files include: 1. New spelling or capitalization of the name. 2. Person in the oldest file is deleted in the new file 3. The person in oldest file is replaced by someone new. 4. An empty slot in the old file now is occupied 5. All the reference numbers have changed. My usual procedure is to bring up Brother's Keeper and GEDLAB from the 6.0 DOS shell in a task swapping environment. DOSSHELL Set View = Program/File Lists Set Options = Enable Task Swapper Click on GEDLAB Shift - Enter (moves GEDLAB to list) Click on BK5.BAT Enter (starts Brother's Keeper) . . . Alt - Tab (switch from one to the other) I apply the new GDL.GED to BK and start adding the changes in the GDL.MM file. Whenever there is a question of which person in my database is the person in the MM file, I 'ALT-TAB' to GEDLAB and display the individual using the 'Ixxx' command. The display is enough to identify the person and indicate how they fit in the scheme of things even though the numbers are different. Sometimes two people will maintain two copies of the same database. To keep these databases in synch, use a Master-Slave arrangement. When the Master is completely up-to-date, PKZIP the data to REPLACE the Slave's files; this insures that the Slave has all the changes applied previously by the Master. Create a reference GEDCOM file of the Master. When the Slave delivers a future GED file you can compare it to the reference and apply the changes to the Master. Another ZIP and creation of a reference GEDCOM will set you up for the next delivery. nIxxx - Display an individual's 'Child of' & 'Spouse of' families e.g. 2i876 nFxxx - Display a family e.g. f76 These two commands clear the screen and display the individuals in a family. These commands are very useful when trying to decide if the GED's individual matches your database's individual. To stop the clearing of the screen end the number with an asterisk. e.g. i23* nL - List names, notes, sources or reference numbers to file GDL.LST R - Compare .GED files by reference number Occasionally you will be running two databases the smaller of which is a subset of the larger. Problems can arise where an item was updated in one database and not in the other. After creating two GEDCOM files of the databases use this command to read the smaller file (entered as the 'oldest') and locate the entries in the 'newest' by their reference numbers and compare them. Mismatches will be listed on the screen and in file GDL.MM. Needless to say, if there are no reference numbers in your database the command can not function. NOTE: The I-numbers, the F-numbers and families are not compared. These will definitely be different between the files. It will, however, check that the individual is a member of the same number of families. nSxxx - Search for a string & display the raw GED record e.g. 2sWoburn Enter any string of characters and the program will display the first record containing that case sensitive string. It will then ask if you would like to see the next record containing the string, display the next record in the file or start a new search from the top of the file. Lines exceeding 80 characters in length are truncated when they are displayed. nT - Translate file to GDL.GED Copies a file making any changes needed to conform to the destination database type. PAF - Source and Occupation lines converted to note lines BK5 - Source and occupation lines removed from notes - Title lines all end in a period. Currently translations only occur for PAF and Brother's Keeper. While it is copying the REFN numbers can be changed or deleted. nV - Verify the GEDCOM file 1. Verifies that the Birth, Death and Marriage years are numeric and reasonable. 2. It checks that husbands are male and wifes are female. 3. Checks that the initial characters on the line are 0, 1, 2 or 3 4. Checks the GED for free floating branches that are not connected to the main tree. It is, of course, possible to track two different families in one database. This may be what you desire but it is usually an error. Since the program has to read the GED file completely several times this command takes a while to finish. Errors are displayed on the screen and logged into file GDL.ERR. This command can only execute with less than 16000 individuals. ! - Toggle the 'Don't read NOTE lines' flag. The notes in a GED can be of any size but GEDLAB currently can only support entries up to 350 lines long. Toggling this flag ON will cause GEDLAB to not read these lines into memory. It has been of use in the past. ADDITIONAL PROGRAM: =================== SMURF - This is a file printer for continuous paper printers that has a couple useful options; foremost of which is the ability to print double column compressed. At 'Position Paper' time enter a '?' for a list of options available. Example of GEDCOM entries: =================================================================== 0 @I6@ INDI 0 @F2@ FAM 1 NAME Elizabeth /Wyman/ 1 HUSB @I4@ 1 SEX F 1 WIFE @I1@ 1 BIRT 1 CHIL @I6@ 2 DATE 26 MAY 1626 1 CHIL @I5@ 2 PLAC West Mill,,Hertsfordshire,England 1 CHIL @I4222@ 1 REFN W1A0A9 1 MARR 1 NOTE !BIRTH:IGI;MA,46,696 2 DATE 1 MAY 1617 1 FAMS @F916@ 2 PLAC Woburn, MA 1 FAMC @F2@ Example of GDL.MM entries: ========================== These are smushed down GED entries to save paper when printing the GDL.MM I84 Samuel /Wyman/ SEX M (First 6 - last 13) BIRT 18 MAR 1700 Woburn,Middlesex,MA ^ ^ DEAT 23 DEC 1767 Woburn,Middlesex,MA | | REFN W0A123 | | NOTE !BIRTH:IGI;MA;46,696 First difference was | | FAMS F451 detected on line ----- | FAMC F3456 <<============ NEW FAMILY | | | F451 HUSB I84 WIFE I581 Last difference was | CHIL I1102 detected on line ---- CHIL I748 CHIL I6666 <<============ NEW INDIVIDUAL MARR 22 MAY 1739 Woburn,Middlesex,MA Difficulties, suggestions, requests for special functions, inordinant praise and the $20.00 registration fee should be submitted to: Richard Hughes 5273 Albright Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23464 804-479-3278 (Home) 804-523-8191 (Work) Compuserve 70461,3272