* Family Historian V6.2 undocumented features

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tatewise
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Family Historian V6.2 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Calico Pie are being a bit secretive about what this version fixes. In Latest Free Update they say:
The upgrade provides various improvements to mapping, PDF creation, and picture-handling. It fixes a number of bugs. There is also an alternative mechanism for opening the Accent popup window which can be chosen in Preferences (General tab).
Apart from the Accent popup feature, is anyone aware of what improvements and bug fixes have been implemented?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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RogerF
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Re: Family Historian V6.2 undocumented features

Post by RogerF »

I'm using it and, no, I've not seen anything new.
Roger Firth, using FH to research the FIRTHs of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the residents of the market town where I live.
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LornaCraig
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Re: Family Historian V6.2 undocumented features

Post by LornaCraig »

I have just tested half a dozen minor bugs/issues that I have reported in the past, and none have been fixed in 6.2.3.
Lorna
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BillH
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3 undocumented features

Post by BillH »

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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

Hi Forum

Applying an upgrade is new to me (I came in at 6.2.2) - I have made various FH customisations. I have used the Plug-In to back these up.

Question - will these customisations be removed during the upgrade and therefore I will need to do a restore of the customisations afterwards?
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LornaCraig
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3 undocumented features

Post by LornaCraig »

Just install the upgrade over your existing 6.2.2 and it will retain all your customisations. The plugin is for use when installing from scratch on a new machine.
Lorna
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

Thank you Lorna
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

Hi Forum

Now running with FH 6.2.3. I also reported a bug last August whereby Individuals with no declared Sex show up as Great Uncle, or generations thereof. Great Great Uncle, etc.

This is not fixed either... :roll:
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

I see 6.2.4 has arrived, but still sparse info on what was fixed
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Yes, it says exactly the same as for V6.2.3.
It also mistakenly attributes improvements to V6.2.2 that were actually added in V6.2.1.

I recently reported this disappointing state of affairs to Calico Pie and they have clearly taken no notice! :(
Would anyone else care to follow suit until they do better?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

Hi Mike i wil get on to them today. It's a poor situation indeed.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by jsphillips »

Just upgraded and looked for specifics....none
Has Jane any comments
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

I have today sent Calico Pie a rather 'stinging' customer dissatisfaction email.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by Jane »

Working in the Software industry myself, I can see this argument from both sides, I suspect as always carrots work better than sticks and sending complaining emails that every bug and change people have requested has not been done (in my own business we have hundreds of programs, and huge numbers of requested changes, but in our case customers pay £600 a day to get them done).

When 6.1 was released there were many people complaining that not every reported problem had been done. This may have made Simon and Calico feel that what ever they do it is simply going to result in complaints, so have cut down the information provided.

Family Historian is the most stable and reliable program I have ever used. It's not perfect, but I have always found Calico very responsive on Serious bugs, by which I mean ones which crash the program or damage data.

I will try and persuade Simon to post a little more detail, but it would be easier if everyone tries not bombard him with negative responses. We all have things which we have reported and things which we feel need changing, some are bugs and some are items which could well contradict other users requests.

With regard to the 6.2.4 release I understand this fixed a rare problem related to embedded OLE objects in gedcom files, which stopped the file loading 6.2.3.
Jane
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David Potter
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by David Potter »

Hi Jane

I see your point too. And perhaps the term 'stinging' was a tad melodramatic. Perhaps a term 'balanced but frank' would be more appropriate as a message of disappointment based on my experience to date. Given that the two 'minor' bugs I reported last August probably need 30 minutes of coding and some testing.

At the end of the day if you don't tell them; how will they know how you feel.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Jane, I hope you can persuade Simon to post a little more detail.
I am not sure what 'carrots' we can offer to improve the What's New details.

Nothing in this thread suggests anyone is complaining that every bug and change people have requested has not been done.
They are complaining about the lack of detail on what has been fixed to avoid wasting time checking their known bugs.
I don't see how hiding those details prevents people complaining that not every reported problem had been done.

More disappointing is the description mistakenly attributes improvements to the wrong versions.
I suspect this is partly a side effect of not maintaining in What’s New In Version 6 a Minor Release Enhancements section similar to what we had come to expect in What’s New In Version 5.
I try and record in how_to:about:version_6.x.y|> Family Historian Version 6.2.x the features added to each version, and that shows that improvements were added to earlier versions than stated in Latest Free Update.

It is helpful you have discovered the 6.2.4 release has fixed a rare problem related to embedded OLE objects in Gedcom files, as that is not mentioned in Latest Free Update. Mind you, it is not clear to me how OLE (Object, Linking, and Embedding) objects can be embedded in Gedcom files.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Jane
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by Jane »

Mind you, it is not clear to me how OLE (Object, Linking, and Embedding) objects can be embedded in Gedcom files.
on the menu Add>OLE Object

Why you would want to is a different problem, but I suspect it's just because FH needs to handle the option as it's supported in Gedcom
Jane
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by LornaCraig »

David Potter wrote:the two 'minor' bugs I reported last August probably need 30 minutes of coding and some testing.
One of the bugs I have reported would take two seconds to fix and two seconds to test. I know, because it's a bug in a standard query and I fixed it by copying it as a custom query and amending it. However it is also 'minor' in the sense that it is never going to cause real problems and in most scenarios it doesn't even affect the result set produced by the query.

There are other issues that are a bit more of a problem but would take longer to fix. Nobody expects instant fixes to everything they report, but I have come to accept (reluctantly) that if something has not been fixed after a few years it probably never will be.

When a problem is reported Calico reply saying they have logged it, and give a reference number. It would be helpful to know whether items stay in the 'to do' log indefinitely, or whether some have been moved to a 'no action intended' list.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Jane, I presume OLE Objects are 'embedded' in Gedcom files only when Multimedia Gedcom Embedding mode is enabled, which would be very rare indeed.

I am sure Calico Pie could invest their time better on other issues that also infringe the Gedcom specification.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by Jane »

Actually no as OLE objects are not files I believe they are embedded when used. I suspect Calico must have had a report of the problem from at least one user.
Jane
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Now I really am confused.
I used Add > OLE Object and all that appears to happen is a standard Media record is created with Format: ole and a normal File Link: to such as a Word or Excel document file.
In other words, it is just like any other Media except that FH (sometimes) displays (part of) the OLE linked file where it would normally display an image file in Media dialogues. However, that does not extend to the OLE being displayed in the Focus Window or Diagrams and Reports.
As far as I can tell, nothing gets 'embedded' in the Gedcom file, and nothing in the Gedcom specification suggests that it should be treated any differently than any other Media type.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by E Wilcock »

Being entirely self centred, I assumed that the upgrade was Calico Pie keeping their promise to me (and to others) to sort out the foreign accent problem as quickly as they could and without waiting for the next version of fh. After all I had adopted fh on the understanding that it would handle foreign alphabets, and replaced my old xp lap top in order to run it. So it was a bit of a shock to find the held key method didnt work.

I've been happy with the work round and delighted they did it so soon. I am sorry that the regular users feel they lost out or must wait - But after another heavy day of data entry today - All very stable (as Jane says) and very clear and complete with the correct accents - I have what I hoped for.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

We don't feel we have lost out or must wait.
We simply don't know, because we have no real idea what else has been fixed.
That Accent feature is the only one described in any detail, and came in V6.2.3 so what is in V6.2.4?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by E Wilcock »

I grovel - apologies Mike. I see I am using 6.2.3.

So I should not have posted. I guess that from the start of fh there were things about Calico Pie, the info and the Help reliance on Jane (I went to a lecture by Jane) , yourself and the FHUG that werent entirely clear. And very defensive when it came to questions. So I opted for TMG.

I am not one who hangs on every update and have been so busy with data entry, I missed the point about 6.2.4 or possibly thought I didnt need it - that it was only for users who (because of the accent problem) had not been given early access to 6.2.3?

Now I have arrived in your territory. It surprised me to have the Experts on fh raise these uncertainties about the upgrade. But I came to fh with my eyes open and I should have backed you. You are making a valid point. What is more this thread allows for public discussion - showing it is not high treason for fh users to voice concerns about the software.
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Re: Family Historian V6.2.3/4 undocumented features

Post by tatewise »

Apology accepted. :D

Regarding Lorna's earlier point, I too wonder if some reported issues have been moved to a 'no action intended' list.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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