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Forum Newbie
Group: Customers
Last Login: 8/17/2005 10:47:17 PM
GenoPro Version: 1.99
Posts: 3,
Visits: 0
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Hi,
Having tried practically every other piece of software, I keep coming back to GenoPro as my software of choice, and it's probably due to the elegant way it lets you add family members via the Genogram. However, I'm on a Mac, so I currently have to do this via VirtualPC, which isn't ideal. :(
So, being a programmer, I have this big hairy amibition to write a GenoPro-like program for the Mac. This may go nowhere, but I'd like to give it a stab. The shot in the arm for such a development project would be understanding the programming logic behind drawing the Genogram - any chance you could share that info? I'd fully understand if you'd rather not.
Pete
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Legendary Master
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Today @ 10:41:09 AM
GenoPro Version: 2.5.0.2
Posts: 3,638,
Visits: 15,175
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I understand there are a lot of Mac users and the likelihood of native version of GenoPro for Macintosh is slim to none. I would rather add new features to GenoPro and/or translate GenoPro into other languages (French, Spanish, Italian, German, etc) than re-writing GenoPro for the Macintosh. With the software emulators such as VirtualPC (http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/virtualpc/, http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx?pid=virtualpc) it is possible to run GenoPro on a Macintosh anyway.
I am quite open minded, so I will give you a few hints. The drawing of the genealogy tree / genogram does not require much coding. It is all the stuff behind, such as saving & loading the .gno file, undo / redo, copy & paste, that constitutes the bulk of the coding. For instance, the Table Layout is a mini spreadsheet with over 30,000 lines of code. The report generator has more lines of code than this. GenoPro has 220,000 lines of C++ code on 515 files totalizing over 8 MB of source code. This means I typed at least 8 million characters to create 8 MB of source code.
Developing software is a full-time commitment. I have been working full-time on GenoPro for the past 5 years, so you must have a source of fundings, either from your savings, or from someone willing to invest, or from sales of your product (like GenoPro currently does). Without fundings, you will have to do your programming during your spare time. If you already have a full-time job to earn your living, you will have little spare time, and after working a full day, the propensity to relax and enjoy life is usually higher than working another 4 to 5 hours of work on another project. I am writing this so you know a bit what is ahead of you. Good luck.
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Forum Newbie
Group: Customers
Last Login: 8/17/2005 10:47:17 PM
GenoPro Version: 1.99
Posts: 3,
Visits: 0
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My full time job is a freelance developer, so understand what you're saying about the nuts and bolts of the application (opening, saving & spreadsheets within the app). Those parts of the app aren't as big a challenge as understanding your logic for drawing the genogram itself.
I would be quite willing to explore the fesability of creating a Mac version of GenoPro without putting a burden on you or divert you from the core coding of the Windows version. For Mac users, VirtualPC is far from an ideal (or cheap) way of running software. There are geno programs that run natively on Mac, such as Heredis, but those just aren't as good as GenoPro.
Obviously, I also have no intention of copying the idea, look & feel of GenoPro onto the Mac without your blessing. It is, afterall, your baby.
Pete
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Legendary Master
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Today @ 10:41:09 AM
GenoPro Version: 2.5.0.2
Posts: 3,638,
Visits: 15,175
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Obviously, I also have no intention of copying the idea, look & feel of GenoPro onto the Mac without your blessing. It is, afterall, your baby.
Well, you have my blessing. If you do a good job, I will put a link to your site. I am sure there are lots of users who will be happy to find a good genogram software for Macintosh. Your tool will be a great asset for the genealogy community.
A few more tips:
1. Make sure your program can support Unicode text. For details about Unicode, please visit http://www.genopro.com/beta/ in the section "Unicode".
2. I would recommend to have an XML import/export right from day one. My original goal for XML was to have a backup file format so I can upgrade the internal data structure of the .gno document without data loss. It turned out the XML format is used by customers to create third party tools, or integrate GenoPro with their database by storing the XML text directly in an SQL database. Customers who wants to analyze their data will appreciate to have an XML format available to them. You can use the GenoPro XML format if you want. The XML tags are not documented yet, however you are welcome to use the Tag Definitions dialog (Menu -> Tools -> Tag Definitions) to get some basic documentation about each tag.
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Famous Writer
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/10/2007 9:55:16 PM
Posts: 236,
Visits: 426
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i hate to keep bring this up
but a pc that is capable of running genopro is not very expensive ( infact you can probably find one in a dumpster that will run it)
i think that it would be much much cheaper to do that rather than spend time developing a mac client or even buying virtual pc for mac
( this of course excludes the novlety of makeing your very own genopro for mac but im just useing the time cost money equation.
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Forum Newbie
Group: Customers
Last Login: 8/17/2005 10:47:17 PM
GenoPro Version: 1.99
Posts: 3,
Visits: 0
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2. I would recommend to have an XML import/export right from day one. My original goal for XML was to have a backup file format so I can upgrade the internal data structure of the .gno document without data loss. It turned out the XML format is used by customers to create third party tools, or integrate GenoPro with their database by storing the XML text directly in an SQL database. Customers who wants to analyze their data will appreciate to have an XML format available to them. You can use the GenoPro XML format if you want. The XML tags are not documented yet, however you are welcome to use the Tag Definitions dialog (Menu -> Tools -> Tag Definitions) to get some basic documentation about each tag.
Thanks for that tip; As it happens, the application I'm currently in the middle of uses XML, so I have a lot of that stuff buzzing around in my head. It would make sense to follow your tag schema, and therefore make the files compatible. I'll take a look through the tag definitions dialog as you suggest.
i hate to keep bring this up
but a pc that is capable of running genopro is not very expensive ( infact you can probably find one in a dumpster that will run it)
i think that it would be much much cheaper to do that rather than spend time developing a mac client or even buying virtual pc for mac
( this of course excludes the novlety of makeing your very own genopro for mac but im just useing the time cost money equation.
I think you might be missing my point. I already have Virtual PC, and in fact I also have 7 Windows-based PCs too. Embarking on this project isn't about just developing GenoPro Mac so I can avoid buying a PC box. The reason this project sparks my interest is because I think GenoPro is the best program in its genre, and given I have some talent in developing Mac applications, I'd like to give it a shot.
To address your specific point regarding the cheapness of a PC that can run GenoPro; sure, you can get a cheap box, but I doubt that would appeal to the majority of Mac users who have bought an iMac because of its style. They're hardly likely to want to put an old dumpster-worthy PC next to it to run a single app :wink:
Pete
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Legendary Master
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Today @ 10:41:09 AM
GenoPro Version: 2.5.0.2
Posts: 3,638,
Visits: 15,175
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I can understand both points. Myself, I will stick to the Windows platform and add features to GenoPro. If someone wants to create a genealogy software for Mac, Linux or any other platform, they are welcome to do so. The web is a free market, so everyone has an equal chance.
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/17/2005 10:50:55 PM
GenoPro Version: 1.99c
Posts: 1,
Visits: 0
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| I'm not going to pretend to be in the same league as you gents. I'm not even a novice in comparison. I downloaded the free version some time ago and really got into building my tree. Since I host my family's website, I thought it would be neat to add Genopro as a link. Following the instructions, I built a site just to display the tree and that seems to work fine. However, when I click on the tree icon to display the genogram, all I get is Unicode. could one of you gents take a look at this link and point me in the right direction to fix this? Your help would be greatly appreciated. http://caleb1517.tripod.com/Fowlkes_Epps_Stanley/index.html
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Legendary Master
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Today @ 10:41:09 AM
GenoPro Version: 2.5.0.2
Posts: 3,638,
Visits: 15,175
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Famous Writer
 
Group: Customers
Last Login: 11/12/2009 5:34:49 PM
GenoPro Version: 2.0.1.4
Posts: 440,
Visits: 3,437
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pixuk (8/18/2005)
2. I think you might be missing my point. I already have Virtual PC, and in fact I also have 7 Windows-based PCs too. Embarking on this project isn't about just developing GenoPro Mac so I can avoid buying a PC box. The reason this project sparks my interest is because I think GenoPro is the best program in its genre, and given I have some talent in developing Mac applications, I'd like to give it a shot.
To address your specific point regarding the cheapness of a PC that can run GenoPro; sure, you can get a cheap box, but I doubt that would appeal to the majority of Mac users who have bought an iMac because of its style. They're hardly likely to want to put an old dumpster-worthy PC next to it to run a single app ;) I have a distant relative who has bought GenoPro and tried Virtual PC as he has a Mac but had no success (he is retired and started computers late in life) So your project would be of great interest to him. Do you have any time scale on this project? 
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