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Virginia Blakelock

Ancestor Box & Compressed Pedigree woes

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The project I am having trouble with is big -- 1 GB. I need a report that shows my direct line for two 2nd great-grandparents. The Ancestor Box report gets as far as opening the Visual ChartForm, but then I get the error message: VCF has stopped working and the only choice is to close the program. I did set it to Save to:, not View in VCF.

 

When I run the Compressed Pedigree, it calculates the number of people, generates the text, but then the blue circle is there for at least 2.5 hours. I gave up then. One of the CPed reports says it's calculated 5286 grandparents, 27 generations, the other is 6207 & 25.

 

I have feeling you're going to tell me the reports are just too big. I suppose I need a mainframe to produce these reports, not a PC. I thought I'd ask the question just in case there's something else I can do. We've got a family reunion in July and we'd really like to show what we've got.

 

Kim & Kelly Derrick

 

Kim -

 

I would try the option to view the Ancestor box chart in VCF, and then save it from there. See if that works.

 

I don't know what the size limit is for the compressed pedigree report - but could you break it down into smaller family units? You may want to do the same with the VCF chart - so you don't end up with a chart too large to display. If you go to the Visual Chartform forum you will see some examples of compressed wall charts, particularly those posted by Robin.

 

http://www.whollygenes.com/forums201/index.php?showforum=18,

 

Virginia

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Kim,

 

There are several possible constraints that you might be running into:

1) VCF is a 32 bit application, so it can only address less memory than a 64b application could.

2) If you are including images, thenand there are many this could use a lot of memory.

3) My "back of the envelope" approximation of your chart is as follows - assuming that not many sequences go past say 12 generations. Let us assume that the chart was FULLY populated back 12 generations, (ie 4096 ancestors at this generation and 8192 acestors in overall chart). Now at 2 inches per person box, 4096 * 2 this leads to a chart would be 862 feet across. (Hope you have some where to display it.) I have got VCF to show a 300ft wide chart on a XP box with 500Mb menory.

4) Another reason that VCF could fail is if somehow there is an error in the ancestry where a person is incorrectly linked, typically an ancestor's parent is linked to a later descendant as their parent.

 

Try your Ancestor Box Chart with fewer genertations (say 6 for a start), Note the chart size (Tools > Diagram > Diagram Measurements) for undertanding of the size increases.

Repeat making the chart, increasing the number of generations in the chart until it fails.

 

When you have some more infomation please post it on the Forum.

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I need Ancestral box charts & Compress Pedigree that are in the region of 25 to 27 generations. I was able to generate them by choosing View (rather than save to file), as Virginia suggested. Then I saved the VCF from there. The first one is roughly 5ft x 90ft. I tried visual first several years ago with a lower version of TMG (obviously) and, of course, a computer that was capable of far less. I had better luck then by generating a saved file and then looking at it. I should have tried the visual first before posting. I was able to generate a visual Compressed Pedigree, but I can't save it.

Many thanks to Virginia & Robin!!!

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Ooops. I asked for 27 generations because the Compressed Pedigree file said there were 27 generations. It just occurred to me that I know I was farther back than that in at least one place (back to 63rd ggf). I ran and Relationship Calculation between the 2nd ggf and the 63rd and there is a direct line, so I guess I need to generate an much bigger report than I thought. I need a school gymnasium to display it!

Still, thanks to Virginia & Robin!!!

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Kim D,

 

If you want to print a chart of that size, there are 2 contraints to be aware of.

1) For output over a specific size (can be as little 200") you will need to find a print shop who has the right software to go further.

2) Typically, the roll length available on most printers for 80gsm paper is about 30m (115ft), but the roll length decreases as you go to thicker paper.

 

I would recommend thicker paper for a large chart as this paper tends to tear easily.

 

RobinL

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