Introduction
GWintree provides facilities for managing genealogical information in the standard GEDCOM format, allowing you to record, view and edit data, to merge data from different sources, and to create family trees and other charts and reports in a variety of formats.
Information handling conforms to the GEDCOM 5.5 specification, and most of the features of this specification are supported. Moreover, information is displayed in a manner which reflects the structure of the underlying GEDCOM document.
Information about an individual can be recorded without the need to identify any relationship between this individual and others. Relationships are established subsequently by grouping the individuals into families. Sources also are entered as separate records, which may then be linked to one or more individuals or families.
Images and other multimedia objects are supported, linked to individuals and families, and images can be scanned directly into the program. In conformance with the GEDCOM standard, multimedia files are not incorporated into the GEDCOM file, but only referenced within it: for convenience they should all be kept in the same folder; and when the GEDCOM file is copied, the multimedia files must be copied with it, separately. Images can also be inserted into family trees.
Sample files
Some examples of the charts GWintree can produce, in different formats, are supplied with the program. These files cannot be opened in GWintree. It will usually be possible to open them by double-clicking on the filename in Nautilus. The samples include a sample image file of a boxchart, boxchart.png: you can view this file with your web browser.
A sample GEDCOM file is also supplied. To open this file, from the GWintree program menu choose File, then Open: the program will read from the file, and a message will appear on the status bar specifying how many individuals have been listed. From the File menu, click View to view the data in the file. Select an individual from the list on the right-hand side to view data for that individual.
To produce a family tree from this file, first select the individual who is to appear at the base of the chart: type "we" in the 'Search' field on the right-hand side, and select Alice Jane Wesley from the list. Then, from the Charts menu, choose Full Chart, then Boxchart. If the Full Chart Options dialog box is displayed, click OK.
The Full Chart dialog box is then displayed. Press Run, and when the Print Preview button is enabled, press to display the chart, which shows 1048 individuals. A new menu appears, with zoom facilities; choosing CANCEL from this menu restores the main menu.
Working with your own data
If you have a gedcom file
Choose Open from the File menu, to open the standard Windows dialog, select a file, and load the data from the file.
You can also load the file by double-clicking on the filename in Nautilus, if the GWintree icon is shown next to it.
From the File menu, click View to view the data in the file. Select an individual from the list on the right-hand side to view data for that individual. To display a chart from the file, make a choice from the Charts menu.
Note: your gedcom file may contain errors which could prevent GWintree from producing a chart. GWintree can fix some errors - see Howto: fix errors in a gedcom file.
If you have data in a genealogy database program
Almost all genealogy programs will allow you to export your data in the form of a gedcom file. Consult your program's documentation to find out how to do this. Data might be exported in any of several character sets or encodings. GWintree supports ANSEL, ASCII, UTF-8 and UNICODE (UTF-16), in conformance with the GEDCOM standard, and also ANSI.
If you have data in a relational database program such as Microsoft Access
A free program is available from the GWintree web page which will produce a gedcom file from data in the form of delimited text files. This approach is not recommended for beginners.
If you have no available data
Choose New from the File menu. This will place you in Edit mode, enabling you to start recording information about your family history, and save it to a gedcom file.
When you have finished entering data, choose Close from the File menu, or from the toolbar. If you have not already saved your data, you will be prompted to do so now.
You can then produce a chart by making a choice from the Charts menu.