Version 4 Upgrade

arshawbrown · Post by **arshawbrown** » 04 Mar 2009 15:39

Thanks - I've just ordered the full version.

goodwin2 · Post by **goodwin2** » 05 Mar 2009 00:47

I have FH v. 3.1 and am eagerly awaiting v. 4. Does anyone know if [a] the queries that I have downloaded will be included in v. 4 or if not, whether they will automatically be pulled into v.4?

My instinct is to get the full version 4. Sometimes over writes can do strange things to some files.

Any advice here?

goodwin2 · Post by **goodwin2** » 05 Mar 2009 04:33

Just another couple of questions:

Does anyone know if in v.4 there will be a way to input dates AND have them displayed in US format, i.e. month/day/year. Had this question re v.3.1 and the answer there is NO- it converts the month/day/year to day/month/year when pulling in a gedcom from another program. But one CANNOT put dates in FH in the US format.
Strangely, the UPDATED column does have the US format. ?????

As stated elsewhere, us genealogy nuts have to be grateful for all of the information gathered and made available by the efforts of the LDS church, but why is it that all genealogy software programs have sections that only those who are 'sealing' our ancestors to their church would really need? Would be nice to have an option to delete that from the program.

CliveSpratt · Post by **CliveSpratt** » 05 Mar 2009 19:51

Nick,

You say you like to have a clear out and build afresh now and again - why not use something like 'Eusing Free Registry Cleaner' which is Freeware. Works wonders for me,

Clive

Post by **NickWalker** » 05 Mar 2009 21:47

Hi Clive

I do like to clear out and start again' occasionally as I mentioned in an earlier thread just because there's nothing that beats it for clearing out old files, installs you never use, etc. but I only usually do this when either installing a new operating system or upgrading my motherboard/processor, etc. which I tend to do every 2 or 3 years. The last one was rather forced on me when the hard disk failed. I agree that Registry cleaners can help but nothing like as effectively as a full reinstall.

davidm_uk · Post by **davidm_uk** » 06 Mar 2009 11:41

...and the professionals in the Microsoft newsgroups/forums are almost unanimous in advising against the use of registry cleaners unless you really understand the registry and run them in manual mode to check every change being made! They also say that there is only a very small potential performance benefit obtained by it.

Before I stopped using them, I more than once had to do a system restore because the registry cleaner had messed up!

Reinstalling everything, from the OS and upwards, is a different matter of course. That really can improve performance and reliability - it just takes forever (and of course you have to install all those old versions of FH again. I now have two original 2.4 disks, having mislaid one, purchased a replacement, then found the first one where I had so carefully stored it!).

David.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 06 Mar 2009 16:41

goodwin2 said:
be a way to input dates AND have them displayed in US format, i.e. month/day/year. Had this question re v.3.1 and the answer there is NO-

Looking back I can't find the No answer, have you tried the following

You should be able to enter dates in the format mm/dd/yyyy if you go to regional and language settings in the Control Panel and click the 'Customize Regional Options' and set the Short Date format to MM/dd/yyyy. Very importantly, you have to either do this when FH isn't running, or restart FH after doing it. Then you should find that if you enter (say) 12/3/1968 this is accepted as 3rd December 1968.

If you use the ABBREV3 date qualifier, the date will also be displayed in that format (i.e. 12/3/1968).

gerrynuk · Post by **gerrynuk** » 11 Mar 2009 20:08

Re the recent announcement about the release date for Version 4, it would be better to wait a few weeks so that any bugs can be ironed out rather than rush the release.

Having said that, it would be great if I could get it for my birthday at the end of April!!!

Keep up the good work, Simon.

Gerry

RalfofAmber · Post by **RalfofAmber** » 12 Mar 2009 09:08

I'm waiting for it to be shown on Amazon so I can order it through Jane's link - if a lot of us did that it would help with the hosting costs no end!

goodwin2 · Post by **goodwin2** » 13 Mar 2009 07:57

From my question regarding US date format for FH, Jane suggested:

You should be able to enter dates in the format mm/dd/yyyy if you go to regional and language settings in the Control Panel and click the 'Customize Regional Options' and set the Short Date format to MM/dd/yyyy. Very importantly, you have to either do this when FH isn't running, or restart FH after doing it. Then you should find that if you enter (say) 12/3/1968 this is accepted as 3rd December 1968.

If you use the ABBREV3 date qualifier, the date will also be displayed in that format (i.e. 12/3/1968).

Since I am in the US, my computer is set for date format of mm/dd/yyyy. I have checked that to be the case in control panel, restarted the computer and restarted FH. And, FH preferences have English - United States designated.

If I enter a date with 12/3/2008, FH will desplay 3 Dec 2008. Where do I find the option 'ABBREV3 date qualifier'? so that the date would be displayed as 12/3/2008? I must be missing something here. And, it is my normal practice to enter dates 'Dec 3, 2008 rather than all digits.

Again, it is strange that the 'updated' column displays today's date in US format.

Any further suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks.

JonAxtell · Post by **JonAxtell** » 13 Mar 2009 08:49

goodwin2 said:If I enter a date with 12/3/2008, FH will desplay 3 Dec 2008. Where do I find the option 'ABBREV3 date qualifier'? so that the date would be displayed as 12/3/2008? I must be missing something here. And, it is my normal practice to enter dates 'Dec 3, 2008 rather than all digits.

Again, it is strange that the 'updated' column displays today's date in US format.

Right click on a column heading in the record window and select 'Configure columns'. Click on a date column in the right hand pane and click the edit button. In the expression field for the column you will see something like 'INDI.BIRT.DATE'. Just append ':ABBREV3' and your dates will appear in the numeric format.

As for entering dates in a textual manner, no joy on that issue. It's just not possible.

Why the updated column is different is because even though to you as a user it's just a date, the program is picking it up from Windows and so it is processing it differently. Other dates are entered manually and FH is examining the date and decoding it. This is why textual entry in the US format is not possible as FH has not been written to handle US (or international) stuff as it has been written by a UK programmer which explains the bias.

goodwin2 · Post by **goodwin2** » 13 Mar 2009 22:24

Thanks Jon for the reply. That works to change the date format.

While I have owned FH for almost two years, I haven't used it as the primary software program for my genealogy research as I do not find the initial data entry to be as easy as Family Treemaker which I have used for several years. I do use it for the query features - Family Treemaker is almost nil in that regard. I believe someone else has indicated that they hope v4 of FH will be easier in the data entry area. It's possible that my failure to convert is just 'can't seem to get into new habits' - old age, you know.
Still looking forward to the v4 upcoming - have preordered the full version.

rclrocco · Post by **rclrocco** » 13 Mar 2009 22:42

Interesting reply from goodwin; I too use another program for data entry because I know it well and have been loyal to it since the early 1990s (PediTree - the windows version of Pedigree, British and nearly twenty years old now) as I'm still a newcomer and feeling my way with Family Historian.
Where FH is way ahead of all other progs is with its editable diagrams. I find it difficult to do any family history work without having a family tree in front of me; being able to edit and instantly see the change is a huge plus.

My hope for Version 4 when it arrives is that it features some kind of three generation display as you're entering data. If that happens, I think I would be a complete convert!!

JonAxtell · Post by **JonAxtell** » 14 Mar 2009 16:25

rclrocco said:My hope for Version 4 when it arrives is that it features some kind of three generation display as you're entering data. If that happens, I think I would be a complete convert!!

It seems that V4 will have such a feature.

From the press release for V4 (http://www.family-historian.co.uk/press_release.pdf)

A new hub component window called the Focus Window, with views for spouses &
children, parents & siblings, ancestors and descendants. It is designed to make adding
relatives and moving around a family tree, completely intuitive and easy.

Geoffw · Post by **Geoffw** » 15 Mar 2009 15:01

My Birthday is 7he 28th April.

I know what I'd like to get!!!!!!

................. V4.0 [smile]

aragorn · Post by **aragorn** » 27 Mar 2009 10:01

As there has been a delay in the V4 release I had a bit of a think and have now decided to order the full version.I had already pre-ordered the upgrade so have now changed the order.I already have my original disc plus the V3 upgrade disc and so instead of a third disc I thought I would go the whole hog and have one disc only and it only cost £13.05 extra,well worth it in my opinion![grin]

aragorn · Post by **aragorn** » 27 Mar 2009 10:05

Are there any screenshots of V4 anywhere?[rolleyes]

JonAxtell · Post by **JonAxtell** » 27 Mar 2009 10:13

I'm sure it was mentioned somewhere that attendants to a recent family history show (WDYTYA) saw some screenshots displayed by a retailer (not Calico Pie themselves). I don't know why we haven't been allowed to see any yet.

LeslieJCrouchman1 · Post by **LeslieJCrouchman1** » 28 Mar 2009 15:46

The reseller at the WDYTYA show was MyHistory.com. They had an early edition of version 4 as they have been conducting some of the product testing.
Some years ago I purchased Family Historian from them so this is where I've ordered the upgrade from.

Family Historian User Group