SUKU - a program for managing genealogy data (v0.99.4 2/2017) SUKU is a simple program to manage genealogy data. NOTE. Everybody uses this program at his/her own risk. The program has not been tested for all kind of exceptional situations. and so e.g. formally wrong data can cause the program to behave unexpectedly. It is wise to backup the person data regularly. Person data Each person's data is saved in its own text file. The name of the file has format 'Xxxx Yyyy.suku' where Xxxx is person's last name and Yyyy is persons's first name. No other files with extension .suku shall not be saved in the same folder where the persons' data exist. Person's data file can be done with a simple text editor e.g. Notepad or Wordpad, or using the SUKU-program itself and its ADD-function. If a text editor is used it is wise to avoid all formating features, just plain text. Possible problems with scandic letters can be avoided by using the ADD-function of the SUKU-program. Person's data in the text file must be in format KEYWORD=value. The KEYWORDS are following: LNAME - last name FNIMI - first name ONAME - other name/other (first)names, or nick name or birth name SEX - sex (M-male, F-female) BDATE - date of birth BPLACE - place of birth DDATE - date of death DPLACE - place of death FATHER - father's name (in format 'Last_name First_name') MOTHER - mother's name (in format 'Last_name First_name') PARTNER - partner's name (in format 'Last_name First_name') PICTURE - name of the picture file (jpg-file), just file, not path FILE - a path to an extra file containing more info about the person; it is recommended that the name of the file is the same as the person's name; the file is opened in a program depending of its extension There can be only one KEYWORD at each row/record. The oder of the rows/records is free, but it is recommended to use the above order. There can be multiple PARTNER-records (max 9). If any other KEYWORD is repeated in several rows/records only the last one is notified. NOTE. The picture should be near the ratio 1:1 (width:height), other wise it can distort. An example of the data of person 'Virtanen Pekka' (in the file 'Virtanen Pekka.suku'): LNAME=Virtanen FNAME=Pekka SEX=M ONAME=Kelpo Armas BDATE=1.2.1934 BPLACE=Helsinki FATHER=Virtanen Matti MOTHER=Lahtinen Eeva PARTNER=Saarinen Irmeli (19xx-) PARTNER=Huihai Himatsu (19yy-19xx) PICTURE=Virtanen Pekka.jpg FILE=Virtanen Pekka.doc LNAME and FNAME are the only mandatory data. If the person is alive DDATE and DPLACE do not exist. Also if the person has never married there is no PARTNER-data. SEX is M (male) or F (female). Other data have no formal requirements. For women it is suggested to use their maiden name. If explanations are needed they can be put to the OTHER-fields or to the ONAME-field (other name). After the partner's name it is possible to add further specifications, e.g. dates like 'Sulonen Ensilempi (y. 1923-1924)'. This data in the parenthesis is only shown with the partner's name but it is not used for any purpose. How the program works When the program starts its basic window with its fields are shown. Only buttons 'Start' and 'Add person' and the folders for data and pictures are available. To the data and picture folder fields it is possible to write the corresponding folder paths, where the program finds the .suku-files and possible picture files. The default (if the field is empty) for both folders is the current working folder, i.e. the folder where the program itself exists. When the 'Start' -button is push the program reads person data e.g. all the files with .suku extension from the defined folder, and makes from them the 'Persons' -list. In the top of the list the number of persons is shown. If the 'Add person' -button is push a new person can be added. More about that later in this guide. After the 'Start' -button is push the program is in browsing mode, where only the person's data can be seen; in this mode it is not possible to modify them or add or delelte a person. In the 'Persons' -list the persons are in alphabetic order. The user can select a person by clicking his/her name in the list. The program shows the person's data in the other fields. As a default the data of the first person in the list are shown. Next to the fields 'Father' and 'Mother' there is '=>' -button. Using it the next person whose data are shown is the corresponding person. From the lists 'Partners', 'Children' and 'Sisters' the next person to be considered can be selected by clicking the person's name and then pushing the '=>' -button next to the list. The 'Children'-list is made from the persons whose father or mother is the same person as the one currently selected. The 'Sisters'-list is made from the persons whose father or mother is the same as the one of the selected person. With button 'Modify data' the user goes to the modify mode, where it is possible to modify all other data of the selected person except his/her name. Using button 'Ready' the new data are updated. Using button 'Back' the user goes back to the browsing mode. Only one person's data can be modified at one time, so it is not allowed to select a new person from the persons list in the modify-mode. With button 'Add person' a new person can be added. The name of the new person must be different than the name of any already existing person. Default values in the fields for the new person are the data of the previously selected person. When the new data are ok they are saved using the 'Ready' -button. Back to the browsing mode is gone with the 'Back' -button. New persons can be added more than one without leaving the adding mode between them. NOTE. The program must be restarted before new person is shown in the 'Persons' -list. Using button 'Del person' it is possible to delete a person (all his/her data). The previously selected person is deleted. NOTE. The deletion is shown in the 'Persons' -list just after the program is restarted. In states 'Modify' and 'Add' the button 'Clear' can be used to clear all fields. However, in the state 'Modify' fields 'Name' and 'Sex' are not cleared. It is possible to exit from the modify and add modes without saving the modifications by pushing the 'Back' -button (without pushing the 'Ready' -button). The 'Help' -button gives advices for different situations. In a case of an error the program tries to give informative error notices. Using button 'Show tree' a simple tree of the relatives of the selected person is shown. With button 'Show family' the list of nearest relatives is shown. With the language selection the wanted language for key words, titles, helps and warning/error messages can be chosen (Suomi, Svenska, English). Pushing button 'Save all' all persons and their data are saved using the key words of the chosen language. With this it is possible to change the language used for key words. Note. If You want to have the persons' data also with previous key words, You must first save the data files into different place (folder) before using the 'Save all' button. The program is ended (like any other Window program) from the upper right corner. In the same folder with the program a parameter file 'Suku.data' can be saved. In that file some general parameters for the program can be set. If the file 'Suku.data' does not exist, the default values for those parameters are used. Following parameters can be set in 'Suku.data' -file( each one on its own row): SUOMI -> texts and error mesages in Finish (default) ENGLISH -> texts and error mesages in English SVENSKA -> texts and error mesages in Swedish DATA=xxxx -> folder for .suku -files (default current working folder) IMAGES=xxxx -> folder for picture files (default current working folder) DIMAGE=xxxx -> name of the default image in the IMAGES-folder (this image is shown if a person has not own image) FILES=xxxx -> folder for persons' text files (default current working folder) Possible developments: - maybe it coud be shown somehow if a child has both father and mother same persons than his/her sisters have, and if not which one is the same; not urgent ... - the persons are now in alphabetic order; the order could be based on some other criteria, e.g. date of birth; not urgent ... - Swedish is still missing ...