Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is GenJ all about?
  2. Is there a discussion forum devoted to GenJ ?
  3. What does Gedcom mean ?
  4. How do I get pictures to show up in Tree View?
  5. Can I change the language that GenJ speaks?
  6. Can I make a centimeter look like one on my screen?
  7. Can I change the look of GenJ?
  8. Associating existing records?
  9. Why do images get rendered at different size?
  10. How can I capture information about adoptions?
  11. How can I get in touch with GenJ users or developers? Where can I get further information about GenJ?
 

Click on the letter "Q" in front of a question to jump back to the question index.

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Q What is GenJ all about?
A GenealogyJ (in short GenJ) is a viewer and editor for genealogical data stored in Gedcom format.

Q Is there a discussion forum devoted to GenJ ?
A Yes, in the GenJ Forum

Q What does Gedcom stand for?
AThis document has more information about Gedcom.

Q How do I get pictures to show up in Tree View?
A To show a picture for every person in the main Tree view add a multimedia property (OBJE) to your individuals. Simply bring up an indivdual in Edit View, choose the topmost property INDI, click on '+' and choose OBJE to be added. Point the sub-property FILE to a file in your computer's file-system (button '>>') and the images will be picked up by Tree View (it's looking for INDI:OBJE:FILE automatically).

Q Can I change the language that GenJ speaks?
A You can download an appropriate language pack (genj_ll-x.y.zip) for GenJ (e.g. genj_fr-2.0.zip) from the project's homepage GenJ will try to use the language of your operating system automatically. To explicitly switch to a language (the language pack has to been installed manually) choose menu-item Help|About and flip to the Look&Feel-Tab. Then select the language of choice.

Q Can I make a centimeter look like one on my screen?
A GenJ uses real-world metrics for various components (e.g. in Tree View). To make lengths of lines and sizes of boxes appear correctly on your screen you'll have to tell GenJ about your display's resolution (which is reported by the operating system but normally doesn't match system's monitor). To explicitly adjust the resolution choose menu-item Help|About and flip to the Look&Feel-Tab. Then use a ruler to match the shown rulers on your screen.

Q Can I change the look of GenJ?
A GenJ uses the Swing Toolkit for presenting information to the user. This is system dependant by default. GenJ allows to change the current Look&Feel as well. You can download the Look&Feel pack (genj_lnf-x.y.zip) from the project's homepage. After restarting GenJ you can change the Look&Feel in GenJ's list of Options.

Q I have an existing person and I want to make it a child of another existing person. The only available option I can see is to add a *new* child/parent to an existing record, but there doesn't seem to be an option to add an *existing* person as a child/parent. How do I do this?
A You can go to the 'existing' parent (or the parental family for the 'existing' child). Then choose "Add Child" from context menu and in the following dialog choose the person of your choice from the drop-down box at the top.
This way no new person will be created as a child but a relationship to the 'existing' one is built.

QWhy do images get rendered at different size?
A The blueprints do play a role in the outcome of rendering. Depending on how much has to be shown in a box the space for an image can be limited because it will be shrunk to make space for text. If there's enough space then the image uses as much space as possibly to fit it's real dimensions (determined by size *and* resolution). That's why they can look different.

QHow can I capture information about adoptions?
A Add an ADOPtion event to an individual in Edit View and then add a reference to the Family that adopted the individual (through the context-menu of the ADOPtion event).

Q How can I get in touch with GenJ users or developers? Where can I get further information about GenJ?
A Visit the GenJ homepage, the GenJ project site, or the IRC channel #genj at irc.freenode.net.