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Virginia

Applies to: TMG5

Answer: When you generate a box chart (ancestors, descendant, or hourglass) there is a series of little black dots around the perimeter of each box.

Those dots are "connection ports" and they serve as visual clues, marking the various places on the box to which you can attach custom lines.

You can turn them off while viewing the chart (View > Ports) but that will only affect the current chart. If you want the connection ports to be invisible for every new chart, then change the options within the report definition itself. That is, on the Report Definition Screen, click on the Options button, access the Other tab, and uncheck the box that says "Visible connection ports." Now the connection ports will be invisible on every new chart that is generated with that report definition.

(By turning them off, you simply make the black dots invisible but the connection ports are still there.)

Applies to: All products

Answer: Some other family tree charting programs offer choices of "box styles" that have rounded corners, etc. The Master Genealogist and Family Tree SuperTools accomplish the same thing (and more) with "frames."

A frame is the outer "box". There is an inner box that is always rectangular and contains the data about each person. Outside and around that box can be a frame. It might be a simple line pattern, a colorful design, or an elaborate artistic drawing that is not necessarily rectangular. (When a frame is in use, the border of the inner box is typically made transparent, so that both are not visible at the same time.)

You can design your own frames, so there's no limit to the number of "box" styles from which you can choose. Several dozen frames are provided by default. To see the available frames choose Ancestor Box Chart, Descendant Box Chart, or Hourglass Box Chart from the Reports menu. Then click on Options, go to the Boxes tab, and choose Frame > Other file. Click on the [...] button on the right to see thumbnails of the "Simple Frames." If you chose them during installation, there is also a tab of "Fancy Frames," which are much more elaborate.

By using frames in a box chart, you can dramatically affect its appearance. No more boring rectangular boxes! For many examples of box charts that use frames, see:

You can use the Accent feature on charts to apply different frames for different people based on their flag values.

Related Keywords:

Visual Chartform (VCF), Accent, Chart Options, Ancestor Chart, Descendant Chart, Hourglass Chart

Where to Learn More:

Showing Data -- Visual Chartform (manual/help)

Report Definition Screen for Charts (manual/help)

Applies to: All Products

Answer:

TMG5 & FTST

Choose either Ancestor box chart, Descendant box chart, Ancestor fan chart, or Hourglass chart from the Report menu. From the Report Definition Screen click on the Options button. Examine all tabs and select any options you desire. If you need help with any of the options click on the Help button on the bottom right of the window. After you have made all your selections, then click on OK and you will be returned to the Report Definition Window. From there click on Make Chart and the resulting report will be automatically opened in TMG's charting tool, Visual Chartform.

You can then drag boxes or change the properties of any of the chart components. If you make fine adjustments, you may want to access the View menu and make the grid and/or ruler visible. The same menu includes an option to "Snap to Grid" which may help to align components that you move by dragging.

TMG4

Choose Ancestor wall chart, Ancestor fan chart, or Descendant wall chart from the Report menu. Specify on the Report Definition Screen (General tab) that the output should be directed to screen. Be sure to examine the other options that are available on the various tabs because they can have a dramatic effect on the output. Click on the Generate button and the resulting report will be automatically opened in TMG's charting tool, Visual Chartform.

You can then drag boxes or change the properties of any of the chart components. If you make fine adjustments, you may want to access the View menu and make the grid and/or ruler visible. The same menu includes an option to "Snap to Grid" which may help to align components that you move by dragging.

Note to Silver Edition Users

Only the Descendant chart with a top-down orientation is available.

Applies to: All Products

To save your completed chart in a file, access the File menu and choose "Save." You will be prompted with a "Save As" window, please note a name of the chart will be supplied. If you like you can edit this name. Also you can choose what folder you would like the file saved to.

Applies to: All products under Windows 95/98/ME (only)

Answer: The older operating systems listed above are not capable of handling some really large charts. Generally speaking, the maximum chart size under these operating systems is about 28 feet by 28 feet. A chart that is beyond those limits will open, but the far right or bottom of the chart will show lines flying off in the wrong direction, missing boxes, etc.

The exact maximum size depends on a number of factors, including your system configuration and the contents of the chart itself. At some point, however, the operating system (not the software) may run out of resources before it is able to finish displaying the chart. Note that the amount of memory (RAM) or hard disk space on your system cannot overcome this problem. It is a limitation of the operating system itself.

Technical explanation: Although Windows 95/98/ME are "32-bit" operating systems, they use a 16-bit Graphics Device Interface or GDI, which limits the x and y coordinate system for text and graphics to ±32K. That is, drawing commands can address 32768 x 32768 dots or "logical units." A default installation of Windows 95/98/ME uses "Small Fonts" (under Windows Display Properties) and 96 dpi (dots per inch). That means that the operating system can address a drawing area of 32768 / 96 or 341.333 inches (28.4444 feet) square.

When Windows Display Properties are configured for "Large fonts," it supports 120 dpi and, using the same math as above, the effective maximum chart size is 22.75556 feet in both directions.

Even within the estimated maximum sizes above, the 16-bit GDI of those operating systems may trigger other resource limitations if your chart has an extremely large number of boxes, images, or other "objects."

Solutions:

1. If possible, use Windows NT, 2000, XP or later. These operating systems use a 32-bit GDI and have no practical limitation as to chart size.
    
   
2. Limit the overall size of your chart (smaller boxes or fewer generations, etc). Note that reducing the font size of data has the possible effect of reducing the height of the chart (by reducing word-wrap), but it will not affect the width of the chart because that is controlled by a specific chart configuration option.
    
   
3. Rearrange your chart. A top-to-bottom chart causes boxes in the same generation to be laid side-by-side, so the width (usually the longer edge) of those boxes add up quickly to produce a wide chart. The same chart aligned left-to-right will cause boxes in the same generation to be laid above and below one another, so that their heights (usually the shorter edges) add up to produce the height of the chart. The result is that the same data is displayed in a smaller space and the overall size of the chart is smaller.
    
   
4. Use "Small fonts" under Windows Properties (right-click on the Windows desktop, choose Properties, and select the Settings tab). Note that this is NOT the same thing as specifying smaller fonts for a particular chart.
    
   
5. The corruption that you see on a large chart is not saved within the chart file. Rather, it is a function of how your operating system reads it. You can therefore design and save a chart and (although you can't preview it all) send it to someone using a more modern operating system for printing. For instance, you can send it to Chartform Delivery, Wholly Genes' printing service which runs on operating systems that are not affected by this problem.
   

Other keywords: Visual Chartform