Personal Ancestral File

Personal Ancestral File ( German: Personal Ancestry File ) or PAF is a free genealogy software, by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints ( " Mormons " ) was offered.

Personal Ancestral File allows users to name, birth, death and other data, citations and source information in a private database to enter, to sort and searchable using genealogical data. With this software, forms and pedigrees can be printed and the data to be exchanged with other genealogists in GEDCOM format. PAF can connect each individual record with images and other media data and is Unicode compliant. The program has, among other things, a kinship, a date and a Soundexrechner.

After the software was not updated for several years, was announced in June 2013, the setting of the project.

PAF and Ancestral Quest

Several versions of Personal Ancestral File (PAF ) for Windows have been released by FamilySearch. The version 5.2.18.0 started with an adaptation of Ancestral Quest of the software manufacturer Incline software written by Gaylon Findlay. Findlay has been involved in updates to the current version. Ancestral Quest has been developed separately from PAF, although it includes basics, such as the appearance and data structure thereof. Findlay is further also involved in the development of PAF data structure and has released with version 12.1 of Ancestral Quest, a number of adjustments that allow the user to include information in the PAF file from the online database of the new FamilySearch be provided.

Ancestral File Number

An Ancestral File Number ( AFN ) ( German: Ancestry file number) was originally supposed to be a unique and distinctive marking of a data set in the ancestral file format for each person, but the number is not always clear, because many people have been allocated multiple AFNS over the years. AFNS be by the LDS church ( Latter-Day Saints, German: Latter-day Saints ) is used as an index tool in opening up its databases. AFNS consist of four uppercase letters or digits, a dash, and then two or three more uppercase letters or digits. An AFN does not contain vowels (A, E, I, O, U or Y). An example is 1BS3 - 9X1. AFNS can be searched online at the genealogy site of FamilySearch.

FamilySearch continues its support for AFNS in its new database, called New Family Search, continued. Although the AFN ( German: Person marking) by the so-called "Person Identifier" is replaced, can continue a search for a person using a AFN done. New people will be assigned no more AFN, although each person is a " person identifier" is assigned. The AFN is not displayed when you look at a person in the new database, and New FamilySearch will maintain the existing Ancestry database does not separate from that of New FamilySearch. If the change from FamilySearch to New FamilySearch is fully completed, Tree database of information will have been united by several other databases, change much of the information.

Manufacturer of third-party software develop programs that allow users to synchronize their databases with the New FamilySearch based on the " person identifier". However, it is unclear what role (if any) AFNS play in the synchronization. The list of programs is confirmed by those that they work with New FamilySearch, you can already find at FamilySearch.

Revision history

The history of the development of Personal Ancestral File (PAF ) ran parallel with the development of GEDCOM (English GEnealogical Data COMmunication ), the de - facto standard for exchanging genealogy data between different computer programs for the ancestors and family research.

Here is a selection from the historical development:

  • PAF 1.0 (DOS) completed in April 1984. Posted in BASIC and still no support for GEDCOM.
  • PAF 2.0 (DOS, Apple II, CP / M) completed in April 1986. Supported an early version of GEDCOM 2.0. Written in C.
  • PAF 2.1 (DOS, Apple PRO- DOS, Macintosh ) completed in 1987. Supported an early version of GEDCOM 4.0.
  • PAF 2.2 (DOS, Apple PRO- DOS, Macintosh ) completed in 1989. Supported an early version of GEDCOM 4.0.
  • PAF 2.3 (DOS, Macintosh), completed in 1994, the Macintosh version was called PAF. Family Records and MacPAF. Supported an early version of GEDCOM 4.0.
  • PAF 2:31 (DOS, Macintosh) completed on 30 September 1994. This was the final issue of the Macintosh version and worked on the " Mac OS Classic " OS 8.5 to OS 9.2.2. Supported an early version of GEDCOM 4.0.
  • PAF 3.0M (DOS) completed in May 1997. Supports GEDCOM 5.5.
  • PAF 4.0 ( Win9x/NT ) completed on February 2, 2000. Freeware. Supports GEDCOM 5.5. PAF 4.0 based on Ancestral Quest.
  • PAF 5.0 ( Win9x/NT ) completed in November 2000. Freeware. Supports GEDCOM 5.5. It is the first version of PAF that supports Unicode and thus allows multiple language versions. Also included was an only suitable for reading Palm OS application that lets you show PAF data, but could not edit as a stand- alone program.
  • PAF 5.1 ( Win9x/NT ) completed in 2001. Freeware. Supports GEDCOM 5.5. Supports multiple languages.
  • PAF 5.2 ( Win9x/NT ) completed on 23 July 2002. Freeware. Supports GEDCOM 5.5. Supports multiple languages.

Languages

  • PAF 4.x supports English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French.
  • PAF 5.x supports English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean and Swedish.
Database index De facto standard Standalone software
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