TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2000-12 > 0976025567


From: "John Cardinal" <>
Subject: RE: [TMG] New Program: On This Day
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 09:12:47 -0500
In-Reply-To: <NABBJCAMABFAHMIAMDKMAEHPECAA.JCardinal@MediaOne.net>


I got a few responses which lead me to believe that I didn't make myself
clear on my previous post about "On This Day" (OTD).

The first version of the program is available *now*. Download the zip file
from here:

http://sites.netscape.com/johncardinal/TMG/otd1000.zip

Here are some more details--I'll write some HTML help files ASAP.

Once OTD is installed, start it up. The first time you run it, OTD doesn't
know what TMG database you want to use, so it just sits there. Select Open
Database... from the File menu to choose a file. The program will produce a
list of the day's events, sorted from most recent to least recent (Jan 1970
before Jan 1969). If you want to see a different day, you can go back a day
(F3) or forward a day (F4). You can also open a calendar and choose any day
of the year.

If you click on a name, the program opens a window that shows the TMG ID,
birth date, death date and gender for the person, and the same info for the
person's parents.

The second and subsequent times that you start the program, it will produce
a list of events without choosing a database; it uses the same database as
the last one that was opened. You can change databases using the File menu.

TMG has a very flexible date format, including partial dates. The program
ignores dates that include only a year. For dates that have a month segment,
it shows them on the first day of the month. For dates with a month and day
segment, it shows them on that day. OTD ignores the before, after, circa,
say, from..to, and between indicators on the date: it uses the month and day
segments of the date as described above. Some examples:

TMG Date --> Result
-------------------
1970 ---> event is ignored.
after 1970 ---> event is ignored.

Jan 1970 ---> will be shown on January 1.
before Jan 1970 ---> will be shown on January 1.
after Jan 1970 ---> will be shown on January 1.

8 Mar 1958 ---> will be shown on March 8.
before 8 Mar 1958 ---> will be shown on March 8.
after 8 mar 1958 ---> will be shown on March 8.

I plan to add the ability to choose between day, week, and month views, and
to add a print feature. I'd like some feedback first, before I invest any
more time. Areas of interest:

- Is the program something you would use?
- Did it work properly for you?
- Is it easy to use?
- How would you improve it?
- Week and month views--what should they look like?

And, of course, I'm interested in any other comments you have.

John

------------------------------------------------------------------
John Cardinal's "On This Day" was not written by Wholly Genes, Inc.,
the authors and publishers of TMG. The author of this program is
not affiliated with Wholly Genes in any way.

The download link is above. I haven't written the documentation yet,
or made a proper download page. Here are links to two screenshots
which give you an idea of what to expect once you have installed
the program:

http://sites.netscape.com/johncardinal/TMG/otd_shot.gif
http://sites.netscape.com/johncardinal/TMG/otd_shot2.gif

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