Computer Genealogy Specialists

What Can Personal Ancestral File 4 and 5 Do for Me

(Article 28)

As you are considering whether to continue to use PAF 4 or start using PAF 5, know that the two products are nearly identical except that PAF 5 can handle Asian languages, Russian and Hebrew, whereas PAF 4 can handle all the Romanized - European languages including the accent marks on characters. PAF 4 opens faster. PAF 5 compresses backups (.zip files) to about 60% of the backups (.bak files) of PAF 4. So they take up less space on a diskette. If you are using Gedcom files (only necessary if you PAF file is very large) to update your ordinance information (Update My Records feature in TempleReady for Windows), PAF 5 has a Universal Record ID feature that makes match-merges more automatic. Otherwise, TempleReady for Windows can directly update the PAF database (.PAF file) of either PAF 4 or PAF 5. Regardless of your choice (since both will do the job just fine), remember to work with the latest version of the program; either PAF version 4.0.4.18 or PAF version 5.2.18 or higher. Earlier version contained program bugs fixed in the later versions. With these thoughts in mind, consider the following PAF features.

1. Personal Ancestral File is a tool to help you record, manage, and share your genealogical information. With this program, you can create and store family information about thousands of people.

2. Type Each Person's Information Only Once. You have to type the basic information about a person only once on the Individual Record screen. It is like filling out a form. Each person will be stored, linked, and displayed in the relationships you request. For example, an individual can be seen in one or more families as a child with siblings or as a parent with a spouse.

(New with PAF 4) You can conveniently add diacritics (accent marks like José Ôsted) to names and places. (New with PAF 5) You can add characters in languages that do not use the Roman alphabet, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian (Cyrillic), and Hebrew.

3. Customized Events. (New with PAF 4) Personal Ancestral File 4 allows you to define your own events on individual records. For example, you can add confirmations, bar mitzvahs, engagements, emigration dates, marriage banns, censuses, and so forth. You can select from a predefined list of events or add new ones to the list.

4. Multimedia. (New with PAF 4) You can now add digitized pictures, video clips, and sound files to individual records and source citations. You can include the pictures on reports and create interactive scrapbooks and slide shows.

5. Link People to Families, and Link Families Together. Once an individual's information is typed into Personal Ancestral File, he or she can be linked into families as a spouse, child, parent, or sibling. Personal Ancestral File displays these linked people, and you can quickly and easily move back and forth between people.

6. Print Pedigrees, Family Groups, and Lists. Using Personal Ancestral File, you can print many different charts and forms from the information you type. For example, you can print blank or filled-in pedigree charts, family group records, individual records, alphabetical lists of ancestors, and lists of persons whose temple work has not been completed.

(New with PAF 4) Personal Ancestral File 4 prints several new types of reports, including modified register books in descendancy order, ahnentafel books in ancestor order, and scrapbooks that show pictures. You can also create slide shows that display the sounds, videos, and pictures you have collected.

7. Use Notes to Add Interest and Value. You can keep track of important and interesting historical information for each individual and marriage by using the Notes feature. You can record occupations, education, and other bits of information that will help create a better "picture" of the individual.

(New with PAF 4) You can now type a tilde (~) as the first character of a note to keep it confidential. You can then choose whether to print these notes on reports and include them when you export information from your file.

8. Use Sources to Track Your Research. The source feature allows you to keep track of your information sources for each event as well as individual information. You can record details about the author, publisher, book, page, and place where you found the information.

(New with PAF 4) You can add scanned images of the sources you use.

9. Search for, Find, and Correct Information. Once you have names in your file, you can easily search for and find specific individuals. You can then look at or correct their information. When you change information about a person once, it is changed every time the person is displayed again in your database. This saves time and effort.

10. View Your Family Information in Different Ways. You can see your family information in two main views: (1) The Family View shows an individual, his or her spouse and children, and parents. In Personal Ancestral File 3.0, this view was called the Small Pedigree. (2) The Pedigree View shows an individual and his or her direct-line ancestors (parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents, and so forth). In Personal Ancestral File 3.0, this view was called the Large Pedigree. You can perform most of the same tasks in the Pedigree View as you can the Family View.

You can also view lists of individuals sorted alphabetically by name or numerically by Record Identification Number (RIN), lists of an individual's descendants, and lists of married couples.

11. Match and Merge Duplicate Entries. As your database grows, you will probably collect duplicate records, particularly if you load information obtained from another person or from electronic databases such as FamilySearch®. Using the Match/Merge feature, you can find duplicate records and merge them into a single record. You can also merge duplicate sources.

(New with PAF 4) You can match/merge specifically on records with identical AFNs.

(New with PAF 5) You can match/merge specifically on records with matching Universal IDs. This allows you to send a GEDCOM file to someone who used PAF 5, and when they send all or part of it back with corrections, the U-IDs your PAF 5 program assigned to each on of the individuals will be in the return GEDCOM file. Match/merge using the U-IDs and you are assured that the individuals are the same. This is a great aid for extended families or groups who coordinate their pedigrees.

12. Perform Focused Searches. You can conduct special searches of your database to focus on records with specific types of information. You can design and print reports that contain the information you want from the records you focused on. For example, you can have Personal Ancestral File provide a list of Smiths who lived in California between the years 1850 and 1950 by focusing on surname, birth year range, and place of birth.

13. Share Your Information. You can import information into your file or export your information for others to use in their databases. Sharing information is a productive way to obtain more research and ensure that others can use your research. You can also contribute family information the Pedigree Resource File so that other people can see and use your family genealogy. Using Personal Ancestral File, you can prepare and submit names to TempleReadyTM for temple ordinance work.

(New with PAF 4) Submit your pedigree to the Pedigree Resource File, a computer file that contains names; family relationships; and birth, marriage, and death information for millions of people. The information in this file will appear as it was originally submitted and will not be merged with information submitted by others.

(New with PAF 5) Take your pedigree to a Family History Center and ask PAF 5 to check for completed ordinances in the Windows-based TempleReady using the updated (2001) Ordinance Index. When you find a match, your PAF-5 database is automatically updated with the ordinance date and temple.

14. Publish Information for the World Wide Web. (New with PAF 4) You can now easily publish your genealogy on the World Wide Web. Personal Ancestral File 4 allows you to choose the people and information you would like to include and then creates the web pages for you.

For a printer friendly version of this document complete with illustrations contact CGS by email and request this document by number and title. It will be returned to you by email as soon as possible.

28 What Can Personal Ancestral File 4 and 5 Do for Me?