RY3 ENHANCEMENTS

 

Items marked with  are recognised as new features for Relatively Yours 3. Items marked with  are considered significantly enhanced or modified as compared with the equivalent feature in Relatively Yours II.

 

 

Area/Function

Changes

Comments

General areas

 

 

 Biographical Event Classes

 

·   This is an exciting new feature to allow the definition of special handling for “biographical event classes”, which are defined as the birth, baptismal, death and burial event types. Now it is possible to have multiple event types classified in each class.  For example, the burial class may include event types to describe traditional burials as well as cremations, with unique narrative handling of each type.

·   The selection of event types within each class is handled automatically by the Edit – Event dialog, when initiated from the Edit- Biographical dialog. Transferring between event types within a class is fully supported. For example, changing a burial to a cremation is fully supported.

·   User defined narrative handling is supported for each event type defined as a member of the biographical classes. Through the definition of a specific verb and noun, these events can enjoy the special narrative handling previously only afforded the standard birth/baptism/death/burial event types.

 

O The verb and noun fields shown on the Edit – Event Types dialog are only enabled when the sequence is set to Birth, Baptismal, Death or Burial values.

 Event Sequencing

 

·   New functionality to expose the background event sequencing used to manage undated events. Events displayed in the Person – Chronology pages are order by the sequence of the event type followed by the event date. This allows for the ordering of events by broad life experience, in addition to dating. Available sequence values are: Pre-birth, post-birth, baptism, life, death, post-death, burial and post-burial.

·   The database update process from RYII to RY3 automatically manages the definition of sequence for existing event types.

 Image Formats

A major revamp of the underlying imaging engine has resulted in many more image formats being directly supported. This enhancement is seamless and is reflected in an improved Open File dialog displayed when selecting multimedia files.

The complete list of formats and file extensions supported in RY3 is as follows:

 

·   TIFF Bitmap (*.tif*.tiff*.fax*.g3n*.g3f)

·   CompuServe Bitmap (*.gif)

·   JPEG Bitmap (*.jpg*.jpeg*.jpe)

·   PaintBrush (*.pcx)

·   Windows Bitmap (*.bmp*.dib*.rle

·   Windows Icon (*.ico)

·   Windows Cursor (*.cur)

·   Portable Network Graphics (*.png)

·   Windows Metafile (*.wmf

·   Enhanced Windows Metafile (*.emf

·   Targa Bitmap (*.tga*.targa*.vda*.icb*.vst*.pix

·   Portable Pixmap, GreyMap, BitMap (*.pxm*.ppm*.pgm*.pbm

·   JPEG2000 (*.jp2)|*.jp2

·   JPEG2000 Code Stream (*.j2k*.jpc*.j2c)

 Main form tool bar

·   Added new buttons: Sensitivity and Tour Guide.

·   Also a new button style of “Selective Text” has been added as a mid-point between the previous large and small sized buttons. This is the new default.

Additional details on these buttons are:

·   Sensitivity – quick access to Preferences – Advanced – Sensitivity. Control

·   Tour Guide button will be enabled when an agent script is available for the in-focus screen element. Tour Guide functionality is controlled via Preferences – Advanced – Tour Guide.

 MRU Folders

 

RY3 now saves the last folders accessed for a variety of elements and attempts to use these as the initial directory on subsequent calls. For example, when selecting an external file reference for a portfolio object, the last accessed folder is saved and used when next opening the form.

 Multimedia Formats

Support for multimedia formats is now directly related to the formats supported by the installed Mediaplayer software. This enhancement is seamless and will be reflected in an improved Open File dialog displayed when selecting multimedia files.

 

A typical list of formats and file extensions supported in RY3 is as follows:

 

·   AIFF Format Sound (*.aif;*.aifc;*.aiff)

·   AU Format Sound (*.au;*.snd)

·   MIDI file (*.mid;*.midi;*.rmi)

·   MP3 Format Sound (*.mp3;*.m3u)

·   Audio file (*.wav)

·   Windows Media audio file (*.wma;*.wax)

·   Windows Media file (*.asf;*.asx;*.wm;*.wmx;*.wmp)

·   Video file (*.avi)

·   Indeo Video File (*.ivf)

·   Movie File (MPEG) (*.mpeg;*.mpg;*.mpe;*.m1v;*.mp2;*.mpv2;*.mp2v;*.mpa)

·   Windows Media audio/video file (*.wmv;*.wvx)

 

O The above list was taken from a typical Windows 2000 system with Windows Media Player 7.0 installed. The actual formats supported are entirely dependent upon the software installed on the individual user computer.

 Sensitivity

 

·   Major new functionality in RY3. Refer to Appendix A for complete implementation details.

 Tour Agent

 

·   Uses the Microsoft Agent technology to present an overview of major functions in a descriptive and informative manner.

·   Effective with beta release RC3, selected agent scripts have been included in the ry3res.dll file. Look for the Tour button () in the left hand corner of dialogs.

Database Structure

A number of internal database structure changes have been made in order to support the new features of RY3.

Appendix B of this document contains a detailed description of each database level change.

Grids

·   Reimplementation of grid painting

·   New Info button in top left to display a count of records in the grid. O This may be slow on very large datasets.

Details on other new options described in Tools - Preferences – Appearance - Grids

Main form status bar

New status panels have been added to the status bar at the bottom of the main form. These panels from right-to-left are: Progress Bar; Database Name; Sensitivity Filter Indicator; Generation Filter Indicator; Status Text (no change from RYII)

Additional details on these panels are:

·   Progress Bar (no change from RYII);

·   Database Name (last node of data directory);

·   Sensitivity Indicator (visible indicator that sensitivity options have been enabled and displayed data may be affected – no displayed if no sensitivity options enabled);

·   Generation Count (visible indicator that data is being filtered by generation; only visible when Group folder being displayed and generation limit in effect).

·   Status Text (no change from RYII)

 

O The Sensitivity panel can be dbl-clicked to quickly access/change Sensitivity settings.

Narrative Panels

·   New Include value to show event participants where appropriate.

·   By default, dates are now hyperlinked

·   Support for biographical event classes

 

Registration

Same process, although new registration codes are required for RY3.

New registration details will be provided as part of upgrade.

Relationship Types

Added supported for same-sex relationship

 

Start-up Dialog

Removed “Migrate Database” option

As the current user base is less likely to have used RY-DOS, this function has been removed from prominence on the start-up dialog. It still remains as a menu item File – Database Tools – Migrate.

File Menu

 

 

File – Open

Nil

 

File – Close

Nil

 

File – Database Tools – New

Nil

 

File – Database Tools – Migrate

As above

 

File – Database Tools – Import

·   Significant changes to Gedcom import to handle new RY3 features and fix some older bugs.

Import still a work in progress – need to confirm that RYII created files can be loaded into RY3.

File – Database Tools – Verify

·   Same basic operation, with numerous changes to support new RY3 features.

·   Fixed name verify option to “kill” off people over 110 years of age.

·   Add new name verify option to “kill” off ancestors of people over 110 years of age.

·   Extent of verification is as good as RYII, no better/no worse. Always room for adding further verification of data values and relationships.

 

O The improved name verify options to mark identified individuals as deceased, have been specifically added/improved to provide better support for the Sensitivity – Hide Living People setting.

 File – Database Tools – Maintain

·   Uses new Folder Browse dialog to select directory when no database open.

·   Changed selectable items to a list rather than individual checkboxes.

·   Add ability to compact/reindex data and/or shared files – previously it was possible to only do both which was often very time consuming.

 

File – Database Tools – Purge Temporary Files

 

 

File – Database Tools – Format Event Places

Nil

 

File – Database Tools – Evaluate Names for Case Sensitivity

Nil

 

File – Database Tools – Backup

Changes to support new/removed data tables

 

File – Database Tools - Restore

Nil

O An RYII backup can be restored directly in RY3. The restore process simply loads back in all the available files and when RY3 subsequently opens this database it recognises the down-level and initiates the automatic update process.  Despite this compatibility it is very desirable for a backup to be performed before and after any update (involving a database change).

File – Database Tools – Properties

Changes to support new/removed data tables

 

File – Save As

New file formats added: PDF, SYLK and XLS.

Availability of a particular format is report dependent. For example, typically only grid style reports provide the SYLK and XLS formats.

File – Page Setup

Nil

 

File – Print Preview

Nil

 

File – Print

Nil

 

File – Exit

Nil

 

Edit Menu

No changes to any item in this menu group

 

 

 

 

View Menu

No changes to any item in this menu group

 

 

 

 

Group Menu

Renamed from the previous Family menu group to accommodate expanded capability of descendant, pedigree and build groups.

 

Group – Open

·   New group open dialog providing ability to open the three types of groups – descendants, pedigree and build groups.

·   Group sorting improved now using heading and Sort-Key define the order. The Sort-Key can be modified from the Group – Properties dialog.

·   “New Group” button provided on dialog to allow direct creation of a new group.

The descendant and build group types are selected directly from the list. When the pedigree list item is selected the name edit box at the bottom of the dialog is enabled for entry of the person whose pedigree group is to be opened.

Group – Pages

New pages added as follows:

·   Ancestors (for pedigree groups only)

·   Maintain (for build groups only)

·   Places (for all groups)

·   User Defined (for all groups)

 

Members page moved to the second page position, leaving the first page position to the variable pages – descendants, ancestors or build.

 

The display of sensitive data can be controlled via the appropriate Sensitive settings.

Additional details on new pages:

·   Ancestors (for pedigree groups only and equivalent to the Person – Ancestors page)

·   Maintain (for build groups only to allow the movement of individuals into/out of the group; not affected by sensitivity and cannot be printed)

·   Places (for all groups; event places grouped based on occurrence; similar to given/surnames/jobs with a master-detail display)

·   User Defined (for all groups; shows usage of user defined data)

Group – Pages – Descendants

·   Options – Includes - new checkbox “apply to all family pages” can be checked to force the generation limit to be applied to all group pages and subsequent reports.

·   Report Layout - new options to “show generation numbers” and “hide cousins”

When the Generation Limit is set and applied to all pages, the status bar will show an indicator that this filter is in effect.

 Group – Pages – Ancestors

Options – Includes

·   New checkbox “apply to all family pages” can be checked to force the generation limit to be applied to all group pages and subsequent reports.

 

 Group – Pages – Maintain

 

New page for the purposes of managing the members in a build group. It has no print/save-as functions as these facilities would be served via the regular pages.

 

O The addition of a person to the group is only dynamic as far as names/aliases are concerned. Changes to relationships, offspring, etc are not automatically maintained.

Group – Pages - Members

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details.

Group – Pages – Address Book

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Implemented standard toolbar for surname filtering

 

Group – Pages – Mailing Lists

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Implemented standard toolbar for list filtering

 

Group – Pages – Given Names

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details.

Group – Pages – Surnames

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details.

 Group – Pages – Anniversaries

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Implemented standard toolbar for date filtering

·   Added age of person at time of event to description text

·   Add new graphs page, to show day of week and month of year distributions

 

Group – Pages – Chronology

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

·   Added age of person at time of event to description text

·   Revamped default map display settings

·   Now able to include map in reports

·   Include participant details in reports

·   Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details.

·   Inclusion of maps in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Appearance – Maps for details.

 Group – Pages – Places

New Feature

 

Group – Pages – Portfolio

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Major changes to support relocation of multimedia participant details into event participant structure

·   Implemented new multimedia processing engine

·   Implemented enhanced gallery and detail views

·   Implemented track bar for multimedia objects which play (e.g. movies, etc)

·   Add 2 new report styles – single object per page; and single object report

·   Add option to “include only objects owned by group members” when generating multi-object reports

Refer to general section above for changes introduced by new multimedia processing engine

Group – Pages - Notable

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

 

Group – Pages - Occupations

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Major changes to support relocation of preferred occupation from event to NameA record (reserved user defined field)

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details

Group – Pages – Compatibility

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Changes to support new same-sex relationship type

·   New option to “include current relationships and calculate length as of today”

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

·   Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details

 

O Inclusion of “current” relationships may highlight a situation where people from earlier times were not specifically identified as deceased, leading to extraordinary and incorrect relationships lengths being calculated

Group – Pages – Fertility

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Changes to support new same-sex relationship type

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

·   Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details

Group – Pages - Longevity

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   New option to “include living people and calculate age as of today”

·   Revamped default chart display settings

·   Now able to include graphs in reports

·   Inclusion of graphs in reports is controlled globally; refer Tools – Preferences – Advanced – Graphs for details

 

O Inclusion of “living people” may highlight a situation where people from earlier times were not specifically identified as deceased, leading to extraordinary and incorrect lengths being calculated

Group – Pages – Research Log

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

·   Row size reduce to standard height

 

Group – Pages – External References

·   Major changes to support new group types and sensitivity and generation filtering

 

 Group – Pages – User Defined

 

Note, the display and report as currently implemented rely somewhat on the assumption users only use a few user-defined fields. If a user used near the maximum number of 10, the available screen/page width would be challenged. In this instance a alternate layout may be required.

Group – New

·   Entirely new dialog enabling the creation of descendent and build groups

·   Support for specifying the Sort-Key

·   Apart from the new dialog, the generation process remains the same

·   Pedigree groups are not represented on the New Group dialog as they are created/destroyed on an as needed basis by the application.

Group – Delete

·   Recognition of new group types

Only applicable to descendant and build groups

Group - Rebuild

·   Recognition of new group types

Only applicable to descendant and pedigree groups

Group – Replace Patriarch

·   Recognition of new group types

Only applicable to descendant groups

Group – Address Labels Wizard

Nil

 

Group – Circulars and Letters Wizard

Nil