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Archiver > ROOTS > 1989-06 > 0612730535


From: Alf Christophersen 02 45 41 97 <>
Subject: Letter from Soc.Roots on UseNet NetNews (4)
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 14:55:35 EDT


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Path: ndsuvm1!cunyvm!nyser!njin!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnewsc!psfal
es
From: (Peter Fales)
Newsgroups: soc.roots
Subject: Re: From Roots-L: Two questions
Message-ID: <>
Date: 31 May 89 22:54:56 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
References: <>
Lines: 80

In article <>, (Alf Christophersen 02 45 41
97) writes:
>
> Q. 1. Anyone out there knowing FHS, Family History System? What makes it
> different from PAF and what do you believe is "the best"? If anyone likes,
> it would be nice to have a review of it.

Well, I own and have used both PAF and FHS (I assume you are talking about
the FHS from Philip E. Brown of Panama City, FL). This can't be
considered a totally unbiased review, because while I have used FHS
extensively, my experience with PAF consists mostly of "trying it
out." However, I like FHS much better. The reason I haven't used
PAF much is because every time I start (with the possible intention
of converting) I get frustrated by how much easier FHS is to use.

One of the best features of FHS is its price. It is shareware,
and registration is comparable in price to PAF (I am not sure
exactly what it costs now, I think around $45.00), but in my
opinion is easier to use.

In many ways the two packages are similar in that they store similar
types of information in a "lineage-linked" data base format. The main
difference I have noticed is that FHS seems to make better use of the
screen displays and function keys, and results in much less typing. For
example in PAF you have to answer a series of questions like "do you
know the RIN, or do you want to search by name?" In FHS, you simply
type in a number and hit F3 to bring up that record, or hit F4 to
enter the parameters for a search.

FHS also divides the screen up into three or four windows allowing you,
in many cases, to see information about several individuals at a time.
For example, you can ask to see all of an individuals children and
their names will be listed in the bottom half of the screen. Then
one by one you can bring the detailed information up at the top of
the screen until you find the one you are looking for.

Similarly, you can have individual information in one corner with
their marriage information in another.

The most recent release (September 88) added a nice set of feature
for report generation. You can create a list of individuals
based on a series of selection criteria such as dates, sex,
if they have spouses, or children, etc. Then this list can
be used for generating reports such as family group sheets. For
example, I could generate family group sheets for all my direct
ancestors born after 1800. This same facility can be used for
exporting data - e.g. If I wanted to send data to someone only
working on my father's side of the family, I could create a selection
list containing all my father's ancestors and their descendants.
This data can then be exported using GEDCOM either to PAF, or
to another FHS user.

Two limitations immediately come to mind that may be important
to some people. FHS only allows for a maximum of 9999 people in
the database (a long way from being a problem for me!). Also, there
is no support (other than comments) for LDS ordinances.

This is by no means a complete list of FHS features, just my
"top of the head" comments about things that I thought were particularly
nice. If anyone has specific questions, I would be glad to try
and answer them.

FHS comes in two versions, a shareware version, and an extended
version available only to registered users. I have seen the
shareware version on BBS systems and also from shareware distribution
houses. The shareware version is fully functional but does not provide
some of the more useful utilities such as the report generation I
mentioned.

The author's address is

Phillip E. Brown
834 Bahama Dr.
Tallahassee, FL 32301

--
Peter Fales AT&T, Room 5B-420
2000 N. Naperville Rd.
UUCP: ...att!ihlpb!psfales Naperville, IL 60566
Domain: work: (312) 979-8031

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