GenServ - GENINFO Documentation Manual 1 August 1997 The latest version of this file may be obtained anytime by sending any message (even a blank one) to: geninfo@genserv.com. The file here on the web page will always be the latest version of this file. When I change it - I will change the data here. You can always check here to see if you have the latest version. A separate file, genhow2, explains the use of the commands, and will be sent automatically to each new user, or it can be requested by sending any message to: genhow2@genserv.com CONTENTS 1) A short background on GenServ 2) What Should I Include in My Database and Rules ? 3) How Do I Format My Database? 4) How & Where Do I Mail My Database? 5) Accepting data via Email and ftp transmissions. 6) When Will I Receive Access to the GenServ System? 7) What does it cost to get access to GenServ? 8) Need help? Ask one of our volunteers! 9) FINAL REMARKS FROM CLIFF MANIS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) A short background on GenServ The main objective of the GenServ system is to collect genealogical (family history) data and make that data available on-line to other researchers. GenServ is not an index -- it contains 6400+ actual "Family Tree" GEDCOM databases with over 8.6 million individuals from 46+ countries around the world. (as of August 1997). These databases contain basic genealogical information such as names, dates of birth, marriage, etc., details of family relationships, and often the sources of this information together with other descriptive text. An ever-growing number of researchers have contributed information to the GenServ. Each GEDCOM file sent to the GenServ system remains protected once it is loaded on this system. Your data will not be given away as a complete GEDCOM file. We have no rights to it except to allow users of this system to query the database for the information contained in it. We do not edit or delete any information in the GEDCOM file which is received, and do not take any responsibility for the contents or validity of the data. The user retains all rights to his or her GEDCOM file. Please see the GenServ Disclaimer of data page. Anyone who is able to send and receive electronic mail can use the GenServ system. You don't need full Internet connections. You don't even need a fancy computer or a fast modem. When you email your commands, GenServ automatically does all the processing for you, off-line, then sends the response(s) to your email box when it's done. The GenServ system is run entirely by volunteers. The system has a 24 hour Internet connection with a 128k ISDN line to our Internet service provider, then via T1 to around the world. Our operating expenses total hundreds of dollars each month. GenServ was demonstrated at the GENTECH94, GENTECH96 and GENTECH97 conferences in Texas. Several publications have written about the system since it began in 1991, including: * Family Tree Magazine (UK) * Genealogical Computing Magazine * "Genealogy OnLine: Researching Your Roots," By Elizabeth Power Crowe, (Windcrest/McGraw-Hill), ISBN 0-07-014749-3 * ComputerLife Magazine, Dec 1996, Page 144, Article: Find your Roots, By Elizabeth P. Crowe, FOUR Star rating. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The GenServ System home page on the World Wide Web at URL: http://www.genserv.com The GenServ System was the First Genealogical URL listed as on the 1996 Internet World's Fair, in the People's Pavilion in Early Jan 1996. To receive two months of FREE access to the GenServ, you simply need to send a family history database (in the popular GEDCOM format) via postal mail, e-mail or FTP. There is no charge to do this. Access to this service is available ONLY to persons who have submitted a GEDCOM database themselves - the GenServ Project is thus an exercise in cooperative use of modern database and networking technology. GenServ was conceived and is managed by Cliff Manis. It was implemented by Ron McDowell, based on the use of the LifeLines Genealogical Program and Database (version 3.0.2) written by Thomas Trask Wetmore, and incorporating a search program written by John Smith. Jon Rees serves as a point of contact for European users submitting databases. John Chandler has written and modified several of the GenServ reports used on this system. John Harrigan, author of the GenServ Guestbook, also developed several of the Web page search and report request forms. The first version of GenServ was launched in October 1991 utilizing several beta testers who helped with the initial effort to make the system user- friendly, easy to use, and worthwhile to new users as well as professional genealogical researchers. A version with a revised user interface became generally available in January 1994. In May 1996, users gained the ability to request searches and reports directly from the Web site. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) What Should I Include in My Database and Rules? You should supply a complete database containing all the genealogical data you have accumulated, and to include any "Notes" and "Sources" fields. The database should represent research done by yourself or your contacts. The data and documents on this system are the responsibility of individual authors of the GEDCOM files. The GEDCOM files here are not policed for content by the operators of the GenServ system. The data on this system does not belong to GenServ -- it does belong to the author of the GEDCOM file. It is the responsibility of individual data providers to comply with all applicable laws and standards of what should or should not be published in their own GEDCOM files. We do not edit them or take any responsibility in any way for their contents. Please contact the owner of the GEDCOM file if you have a problem or question about the data on this system. The best place to get the address of the owner is to request an Vitals report. You can provide several GEDCOM databases to GenServ, including submissions on behalf of other genealogists who do not themselves have the necessary computer and networking facilities. However, only persons who have themselves submitted one or more GEDCOM databases will receive access codes. Updates to your files may be sent every six months. Files sent sooner than that will be ignored. We are not trying to be difficult. This is the reason why we insist on this rule. An update must be processed just like a new file - except... instead of just assigning a database name and creating the INFO file (an automatic or almost automatic procedure depending on how well the new USER will follow directions), we must hunt for the old USER info file and send that again. The GenServ computer is becoming more and more automated but for a computer to be automated, everything must be consistent and it cannot have too many choices. Also, there are no paid workers at GenServ. We all have our day-jobs and then work at GenServ during our "off" hours. You are hearing no complaints here as we all love this but there are only 24 hours in a day so please understand this. There are reasons that an update in less than six months could be desired or even necessary. There are always exceptions to a rule. But, write to us first and ask. Some of the valid reasons are: * 1) Addition of 400 or more individuals into your file since you last update or sending us a datafile. * 2) Discovery of a MAJOR error (wrong parents/children in a main line) * 3) Complaints from a relative because you included their personal info in your file. No. 3 is by far the most important issue and could be avoided if you will use GOOD SENSE in preparing your file. We do not check the databases to determine if there is private data included. That is your job. But sometimes it is necessary for us to open a GEDCOM file to examine the contents because something is not processing correctly. Read the GenServ DISCLAIMER page on my www Homepage. I have discovered Social Security numbers for LIVING people in those files. This is outrageous!!! Even though the membership of this database is limited, it is limited only to those who have submitted a file. There is no requirement for honesty. I wish that there were a way to do that, but there is not. Please do not include information in your files that could hurt another family member. Any private information - date of birth, SSN, address, etc. - could cause them problems. Remember that you are placing data on the Internet. The Internet is world-wide and there are criminals everywhere just as there are GOOD people everywhere. Always export a GEDCOM file with abbreviated tags. Our programs will not accept the long tags and the file must be converted before we can use it. Depending on the volume waiting to be processed we will put it on the bottom of the list and convert it when we get to it or we will return it to you to fix. I have found it most often in files exported from Family Tree Maker. Other programs do not always have the option to abbreviate the tags. Do not send the data files from your genealogy program as a GEDCOM file. Again, Family Maker is the most frequently sent data file. This is because Family Tree Maker has a very easy option for sending files to another person. However, the file that it will send is the data file. Carefully read the options under FILE and when you choose Export/Copy Family Data, be sure to change the file type to GEDCOM. Our action for the FTM data files is the same as the one for any file which must be handled outside of our "normal" path. That is: to the back of the line or returned. If you are sending a file via email from CompuServe, you must not zip the file and you must send it as a TEXT attachment. A binary file will not encode properly and we will receive nothing but a garbled mass of code. Some new people who think they can just send me a check and get access have been doing that lately. I do not give access to this system to anyone without them first sending us a LOADABLE GEDCOM file. Please do not send me just a check, as I will send you and email message and shred the check. We do need you data and it is a requirement for access. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) How Do I Format My Database? GEDCOM stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunications, and is the industry standard for sharing databases between different computers and programs. Any good genealogy computer program can produce GEDCOM files automatically. Please request the file "GEDCOM" by sending any message to: gedcom@genserv.com, which explains more about what a GEDCOM file is hand how to export GEDCOM files from several common programs. The files must be in standard GEDCOM format. You should check, before sending your file to GenServ, that your GEDCOM database can be successfully imported by one of the following programs without errors: * GIM - (Genealogical Information Manager) Ver 2 or later Family Origins 5.0 by Parsons Technology Brothers Keeper, any version 1992 or later LifeLines, the UNIX Genealogical Program PAF (LDS) Ver 2.1 or later Remember, if your GEDCOM database cannot be loaded properly into the GenServ, you will not be given access to the system. No attempt will be made to edit a database in order to get it to load. We will notify, if you put an email address with the GEDCOM file. If your database can be imported into one of these four programs, but you get error messages when you do so, you should export the database and send the exported version, not the original GEDCOM, to GenServ. You can download most of the above programs by using "ftp" (File Transfer Protocol) from ftp.cac.psu.edu/pub/genealogy ( 128.118.2.23 ). If you can use the Web but not ftp, you may download the latest GIM Genealogical Program from this URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~dblaine/gimhome.html You can usually find Brother's Keeper, GIM and others at http://www.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/genealgy.html or other SimTel mirror sites. If you don't have access to ftp or the Web, these programs are available by direct-dialing to many local bulletin board systems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) How & Where Do I Mail My Database? The file may also be sent by postal mail on a 3.5 (in a diskette mailer) as either an ASCII file or compressed with PKZIP, in MSDOS format. Apple Macintosh users should use a utility to produce MSDOS-compatible floppy disks or send the data to us via email. Please test read the diskette on a DOS system before mailing it. Diskettes will not be returned to the sender. Please include in the diskette mailer a piece of paper on which you have "TYPED" your: Name, EMAIL ADDRESS, street address, city, state, zip, country, and your telephone number (opt). To play it safe, you should also put your email address and return address on the diskette label itself. Also, on the day you mail your diskette, you need to send an email message to the person you mailed it to (Cliff Manis or Jon Rees), to confirm your email address is valid. When you send Cliff a message saying you have put your diskette in the mail, he will reply to your message personally to confirm that he received it. Your email address will also be used to notify you that your database has been loaded and tested, or that the database you have submitted cannot be loaded. Whenever you request reports from GenServ in the future, they will be sent to the email address on file. If your database contains over 30,000 surnames, please contact Cliff Manis for special instructions for sending it to the GenServ system. The system already has a few databases containing over 50,000 names each. Your database will never be too large for us to load. Those living in Europe should send their database to Jon Rees in England (see address below). All others should send it to Cliff Manis (who is currently living in Seoul, Korea). You may send your annual $12 (US) subscription in the same diskette mailer. (see SPECIAL below) NEW USER SPECIAL: If you send your annual subscription in the same envelope as the GEDCOM date diskette via postal mail you will receive 15 (fifteen) months of GenServ access after datafile is accepted. Cliff's U.S. postal address will be valid through june 1998. A letter to him requires the same postage as any letter to the United States; it is a USA address. Cliff Manis (For those living in the U.S.) HHC, 18th MEDCOM P. O. Box 579 APO AP 96205 USA Email address for Cliff Manis: ADMIN@genserv.com Jon Rees (For those living in Europe only) Church Cottage, Ringsfield, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 8JU UK Email address for Jon Rees: Jon Rees J.M.Rees@cefas.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Accepting data via Email and FTP transmissions. The GenServ System is accepting GEDCOM files via Email or FTP if you request and follow the instructions in one of the following files. Just send any email message to the addresses below for info mail on that subject. Please DO NOT send us any GEDCOM data without reading these files. For information on how to send your GEDCOM file via Email, send any message to: GenEM@GenServ.COM For information on how to upload your GEDCOM via FTP, send any message to: GenFTP@GenServ.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) When Will I Receive Access to the GenServ System? Major improvements have been made in processing GenServ data. But it still usually takes about 6-10 days for a diskette to reach Cliff via postal mail. Remember, though he has a U.S. military address, he lives in Korea. Once he receives a loadable diskette he will try to check and process it as quickly as possible so it can be loaded onto the GenServ system. Please allow 30 days from the time you mail your diskette until you can expect to receive your access code. If you have not received an access code within 35 days, please send an email message to Cliff at ADMIN@genserv.com. This message should contain your name, address, when you sent the disk, and as many details as possible to help identify your GEDCOM data. When your file is successfully loaded, the system sends a message to Cliff. Then Ron manually sends your "User Name", "Access Code", "Email Address" and the file name that GenServ associates with each database you have submitted. It is very important that you notify Cliff Manis of any changes to your email address by sending a message to: ADMIN@genserv.com . If you want to replace an existing GEDCOM database with an updated one, you many do that every six months. IMPORTANT: Label the diskette with the file name that the new database is replacing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) What does it cost to get access to GenServ Unlike most developing ventures in the data gathering and researching industry, for four years we refrained from charging a fee to our users. That was intentional and very meaningful when the GenServ project was small. All expenses were borne by Cliff Manis and Ron McDowell. Now, as with most successful endeavors, our project has grown and is continuing to grow. GenServ's Internet and telephone services, including a super-fast 128k ISDN line, now costs several hundred dollars a month. During the last 5 years we have spent over $20,000 (US) for equipment, maintenance and other startup costs. With three recommended annual subscription levels, we believe anyone can have the opportunity to participate and use the GenServ system. Of course we will appreciate any additional amount you may wish to wish to send. $ 12 Regular Sponsor: This level of membership ($1 a month) allows users to make a maximum of 12 requests (commands) per hour. With this NEW GenServ you may only send one request per email message to the server. You may send up to 12 requests each hour. Requests for information files, using the SEND command, are not counted in this limit. (UKL 8) $ 6 Over 60 and Students: This level includes those users over 60 years old, as well as students attending any school to join at a CUT RATE. It also allows users to send up to 12 commands each hour. (UKL 4) $ 35 + Prime Sponsor: This level allows individuals who have subscribed at a higher level per person to submit up to 50 requests per hour to the GenServ system -- a possible 1200 per day. (UKL 20 +) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to GenServ, you may send your check or money order, payable to GenServ, to: Cliff Manis Attn: GenServ System P. O. Box 33937 San Antonio, Texas 78265-3937 Note: Do not send your GEDCOM databases to this San Antonio address. It will be a long time until I receive it in Korea if you do. Nuff Said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Users living in Europe should send their subscription money to Jon Rees. Please write your GenServ access number, if you have one, on the check. (For those living in Europe only) Jon Rees Church Cottage, Ringsfield, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 8JU UK Email address for Jon Rees: Jon Rees J.M.Rees@cefas.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Need help? Ask one of our volunteers! Customer Support for New Users: * Lane Cornell - EJCornell@ilnk.com * Terry Smith - TSMITH@Concentric.net Receiving and processing GEDCOM files via Email: * Nancy Strawder Bruce - nbruce1@ldl.net Loading European datafiles: * Jon Rees J.M.Rees@cefas.co.uk Customer Support and Owner: * Cliff Manis ADMIN@genserv.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) FINAL REMARKS From Cliff Manis We, the GenServ workers, are working aggressively to insure stability and longevity of the GenServ operation. All efforts are devoted to preserving a reliable and efficient system for the current operation and future genealogists to use as an aid to their family research. Ron and Cliff and others continue to devote thousands of hours -- 30-60 hours a week -- to make this system what it is today. Each of the thousands of GEDCOM datafiles on the system was individually logged and tested by Cliff Manis, Nancy Bruce or Jon Rees. Many others not mentioned here have spent untold hours in helping to make this system a better place for the Subscribers of it to do their research. You are invited to make suggestions to improve the GenServ system and its documentation. We read all of them. Such suggestions should be sent DIRECT to Cliff Manis, ADMIN@genserv.com with Subject: GenServ - SUGGESTION TO MAKE IT BETTER. Cliff Manis ADMIN@genserv.com HHC, 18th MEDCOM PO Box 579 APO AP 96205 USA Send any message to the addresses below to request these files: geninfo@GenServ.com - Latest info about GenServ genhow2@GenServ.com - How to format requests genrpts@GenServ.com - Sample reports gedmake@GenServ.com - GEDCOM file? How to make? genem@GenServ.com - How to send a GEDCOM email genftp@GenServ.com - How to send a GEDCOM ftp genpostal@GenServ.com - How to send a GEDCOM postal mail disclaimer@GenServ.com - GenServ Disclaimer The GenServ System home page on the World Wide Web at URL: http://www.genserv.com