Generations Grande Suite Version 6.0 Readme File 7/9/99 *********************************************************************** Thank you for purchasing Generations Grande Suite. About This Document: This file contains last minute information that is not included or has changed in the Generations Grande Suite User Manual after the manual went to print. Generations consists of three programs: CD 1 has EasyTree, EasyChart, MasterCook: Heritage Edition, and Names Glossary. CD 2 is comprised of the Historic Records and SnapShot Express. CD 3 contains the Civil War Muster Rolls. CD 4 contains Social Security Death Index Disk 1 (A-K), and CD 5 contains Social Security Death Index Disk 2 (L-Z). CDs 6-12 contain the Generations World Name Index, fondly referred to as GWNI. CDs 13-15 contain Heritage Quest Census Records. *********************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS II. INSTALLATION III. PRODUCT CHANGES, MANUAL UPDATES IV. GENERAL PRODUCT ISSUES V. CONTACTING SIERRA I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ----------------------- Windows 95/98 Pentium 100 or higher (Preferred Pentium 166 or faster) 16MB RAM (24MB RAM) 2X CD-ROM Drive (24X CD-ROM drive) 20+MB free hard drive space SVGA 640x480@256 colors* (SVGA 800x600@16-bit high color) Printer required (33.6 BPS Modem) 14.4 BPS Modem 32-Bit Internet Service Provider required for Internet options MasterCook: 10+ MB free hard drive space, soundcard with DAC required for QuickTime files and recipe tips. SnapShot: 85+MB free hard drive space. Supports external removable storage devices, all TWAIN complaint input devices, supports file formats, JPG, FPx, PCD, EPS, PSD, BMP II. INSTALLATION ======================= Installation for Windows(r) 95 & 98 with AutoPlay activated: 1. Start your computer system so that Windows(r) 95/98 has launched. 2. Insert your Sierra CD into your CD-ROM drive. 3. If you have AutoPlay activated, just select the install option and follow the on-screen prompts. Installation for Windows(r) 95 & 98 without AutoPlay activated: 1. Start your computer system so that Windows(r) 95/98 has launched. 2. Insert your Sierra CD into your CD-ROM drive. 3. From the START menu, select RUN. 4. In the RUN window, browse to or type D:\SETUP and click OK. This assumes that your CD-ROM drive is D. Please substitute the appropriate drive letter. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to install Generations Family Tree to your hard drive. Systems that have an older version of the file COMCTL32.DLL will receive a warning during installation. Generations requires COMCTL32.DLL version 4.72 or later. If you have Windows 98, Internet Explorer 4.01 (or later), this file will already be on your system. Otherwise, you may need to run the 401COMUPD.EXE program in the Co update directory on the Generations CD#1. Users of Windows NT should not run this update, but should contact Microsoft for an updated NT Service Pack. Symptoms: The black left and right arrows on the buttons in the status bar at the bottom of the EasyTree screen will not display, though the buttons will still function correctly. STARTING Generations: To start Generations under Windows(r) 95/98, insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive, and select the RUN option when AutoRun appears. Without AutoPlay activated, click on the START button and select Programs. Select the SIERRA option, then Generations Grande Suite 6. Click on the Generations Grande Suite 6 icon. III. PRODUCT CHANGES, MANUAL UPDATES ======================= A large number of program changes were made to the product after the User Manual was printed. However, the online help file within the product is very complete and up to date. If you encounter a problem that doesn't seem to match (or be addressed by) the manual, please refer to the online help file for more up-to-date information. Generations can take advantage of a web browser to give you direct access to the Web for such activities as downloading additional data, product information, and on-line shopping. In order to access the Web from within Generations just click on the "Internet Center" button. A number of Genealogies related websites are available. You must have a browser installed and be registered with an Internet Service Provider. You may also reach the Generations dedicated Web site directly at the following address: http://www.sierra.com/sierrahome/familytree/ IV. GENERAL PRODUCT ISSUES ======================= A) EASYTREE B) EASYCHART C) FONT ISSUES D) SNAPSHOT EXPRESS E) HERITAGE QUEST CENSUS CDS F) GENERATIONS GENERAL ISSUES A) EASYTREE Issue: Family file: Rebuilding the index takes time -- especially with large files. Solution: Generations only rebuilds the index if the application doesn't close properly. If you don't want to wait for this, hold down the shift key while opening a file to avoid building an index. Issue: Date feasibility checking doesn't understand a date format of straight numbers -- 010484, for example. Solution: This is one date format that Generations won't be able to read. However, the manual dedicates 10 pages to dates, date formats, and custom dates. Please refer to the manual and or On-line help to make sure you're using the correct date formats. Issue: HTML reports can be quite large Solution: When you transfer any file to HTML format, the size of the HTML file is going to be 1.5 times more then the original file because HTML adds tags and markup frames to the text. You should be aware of this before posting to the web if you have space limitations on your web site. Issue: Copied document is truncated after 60 characters in the Memo field. Solution: You can type in more than 60 characters into the memo field. You can also cut and paste, but you must do so line-by-line. If you try to cut and paste a full multi-line text, it will be truncated after 60 characters. Issue: The More Information section of the Revolutionary War records is incomplete. It only gives a number and not a name of the Microfilm Set. Solution: We're sorry that this information wasn't included. The name of the set is "Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," from the National Archives. The first number in the More Information area refers to the roll number and the second number refers to the series number. For example (courtesy of Mike Hobart), if you search for Hoar, first name John, a quick check of the output will show a typical entry as "Hoar, John, Lieutenant, 42, 246." The meaning of this will be roll 42 of National Archives microfilm series M246, "Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," National Archives record group RG 93 (138 rolls). B) EASYCHART Issue: Manual states a Chart can be saved as a WMF file. There is no option to save as WMF. Solution: Instead of an option to save as a WMF (Windows MetaFile), Generations 6.0 offers choices to save as a BMP or EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) file. Either graphic type can be used in place of WMF in most graphic and word processing software. Issue: Chart prints as blocks of black, or an entire page of black. Solution: Change the settings of the printer to Vector instead of Raster graphics. For more information on making changes to your printer settings, check your documentation or help files. Issue: The boxes in EasyChart only display one line of text after editing the text. Solution: If you edit the text in a 'Person Box' in EasyChart, do not use two carriage returns to create a blank line. Any line after the second carriage return is disregarded, but can still be seen when editing the box. Issue: The boxes in EasyChart are very long and thin after editing the text. Solution: If you fill the 'Person Box' with text without hitting Enter and registering a carriage return the Box becomes one long sentence. After specific information such as a Name, Date, or Location, use the Enter key to start a new line of text. Issue: When choosing to Tile multiple charts, some redraw with oversized, garbled text. Solution: Click on the chart(s) with the garbled text to select it. This will cause the chart to redraw correctly. Issue: Copy/Paste or saving a chart as a graphic causes text in boxes to overflow the boundaries of the box. Solution: This occurs when using small sized fonts. Change the Font size of the Chart text to 12pt or larger, and then save as a graphic or copy and paste. C) FONT ISSUES Issue: In EasyChart, fonts over 36 characters get clipped in timeline charts. Solution: There are some font styles that don't size well in timeline charts. If you are encountering this problem, simply try a different font style. This should resolve your problem. Issue: Changing the font in "EasyChart" changes the format of the tree and boxes. Solution: EasyChart needs to make adjustments to accommodate larger point size fonts as well as styles. Experiment with larger font styles and sizes prior to making major changes to your layout. Issue: You can make the text too large for the boxes, which in some cases will print outside of the text box borders or print off the edge of the chart. Solution: We've tried to accommodate as many sizes as possible. The more information you enlarge, most likely you won't see everything displayed. Try enlarging the chart by right clicking on the small black box and dragging the chart either left to right or top to bottom. The black box can easily be found at the bottom of the chart. Change the view to 10:1. Issue: In EasyTree, data gets cutoff if Windows is set to use Large Fonts Solution: Although we've worked hard to support large fonts in many fields, there may be some places where text appears to be cutoff. The information is still there. Switching to small fonts will correct this problem. Otherwise click on More Info to bring up a dialog screen with entire information or you many need to resize the boxes or scroll back and forth within the text box, title box or field itself. Issue: Type 1 (Adobe) PostScript fonts are not showing up in my list of display fonts to choose from; only TrueType (TT) fonts are. Solution: Generations doesn't support Type 1 Adobe PostScript fonts. D) SNAPSHOT EXPRESS For last minute information about SnapShot Express for Generations, please read the README.txt file under the Sierra\SnapShot menu. E) HERITAGE QUEST CENSUS CDS Generations Grande Suite 6.0 includes three CD-ROMs of Census Records from Heritage Quest. To access the census CD-ROMs included in Generations, click on the Census Records icon located on the Research Center Launch screen. If you have not installed the Digital Microfilm viewer, you will be prompted to do so. Once the viewer has been installed you will be able to launch the program directly from the Research Center. You can also install the Digital Microfilm viewer directly from the Family Quest Archive CDs. To do this, insert a Family Quest Archive: Digital Microfilm CD-ROM and follow the on screen instructions. If you do not have Windows AutoPlay activated, insert the CD, select Run from the Start button and type D:\Setup. This assumes your CD-ROM is designated as drive D. Substitute the drive letter as needed. More information about installation and use of the digital census records is available on the Family Quest Archive CDs. F) GENERATIONS GENERAL ISSUES Issue: The Windows Task Bar hides the bottom of the Launch screen, Research Center, and Internet Center. Solution: If the Windows Task Bar is set to Always on Top, and the display settings are at 640x480, part of the Generations launch screens may be hidden. To hide the Windows Task Bar, right click on it and choose Properties. Check the Auto Hide option in the Task Bar Properties. Issue: The Launch screen, Research Center, and Internet Center colors do not display well in 256 colors. Solution: Though EasyTree and EasyChart have no visible differences when run in 256 colors, the Launch Screens display best in 16-bit colors. The screens are still usable in 256 color mode, as is the rest of the Generations program. For best results, change your display to 16-bit color in the Windows Display Properties. Issue: Generations Social Security Index does not accept surnames longer than 12 characters, first names longer than 10 characters, or middle names. Solution: The information in the Social Security Indes is from the database of the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration does not collect middle names, so there is no option to search with a middle name. V.CONTACTING SIERRA ======================= A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales B) Technical Support C) Legal Information A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales ---------------------------------- United States U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 International Sales: (425) 746-5771 Hours: Monday-Saturday 7AM to 11 PM CST, Sundays 8 AM to 9PM CST FAX: (402) 393-3224 Sierra Direct 7100 W. Center Rd STE 301 Omaha, NE 68106 United Kingdom Havas Interactive Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are £6.00, or £7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns." 2 Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0BS United Kingdom France Havas Interactive Téléphone: 01-46-01-46-50 Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h Vendredi de 10h à 18h Fax: 01-46-30-00-65 Parc Tertiaire de Meudon Immeuble "Le Newton" 25 rue Jeanne Braconnier 92366 Meudon La Forêt Cedex France Germany Havas Interactive Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40 Montag bis Freitag von 9h - 19Uhr Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35 Robert-Bosh-Str. 32 D-63303 Dreieich Germany On-Line Sales CompuServe United Kingdom: GO UKSIERRA CompuServe France: GO FRSIERRA CompuServe Germany: GO DESIERRA Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk Internet France: http://www.sierra.fr Internet Germany: http://www.sierra.de Disk and or Manual Replacement: Product Returns: Sierra On-Line Returns 4100 West 190th Street Torrance, CA 90504 Sierra On-Line Fulfillment 4100 West 190th Street Torrance, CA 90504 NOTE: To replace your disk(s) please send only Disk #1 (or the CD) and copy of your dated Receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10 handling fee along with Disk / CD #1. For Documentation, please include a $ 5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of disk #1. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards. * Returns to this address valid in North America only. B) TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------------------------- North America Sierra On-Line offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (425) 644-4343, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site. Sierra On-Line Technical Support P.O. Box 85006 Bellevue, WA 98015-8506 Main: (425) 644-4343 Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. PST Fax: (425) 644-7697 http://www.sierra.com support@sierra.com United Kingdom Havas Interactive offers a 24-hour Automated Technical Support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (0118) 920-9111, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Internet or CompuServe sites. Havas Interactive 2 Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0BS United Kingdom Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 http://www.sierra-online.co.uk France Havas Interactive Parc Tertiaire de Meudon Immeuble "Le Newton" 25 rue Jeanne Braconnier 92366 Meudon La Forêt Cedex France Téléphone: 01-46-01-46-50 Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h Vendredi de 10h à 18h Fax: 01-46-30-00-65 http://www.sierra.fr Germany Havas Interactive Robert-Bosh-Str. 32 D-63303 Dreieich Deutschland Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40 Montag bis Freitag von 9 - 19Uhr Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35 Mailbox: (0) 6103-99-40-35 http://www.sierra.de Spain Havas Interactive Avenida de Burgos 9 1º-OF2 28036 Madrid Spain Teléfono: (01) 383-2623 Lunes a Viernes de 9h30 a 14h y de 15h a 18h30 Fax: (01) 381-2437 Italy Contattare il vostro distribotore. C) Sierra Warranty & Legal Information -------------------------------------- Please read the EULA.txt file on the root directory of the CD for more information about the Sierra Warranty & Legal Information. Copyright(c) 1999 Sierra On-Line, Inc.