Louis Kessler’s Behold Blog     The Behold User Forum

Arnold, In the earlier days, GEDCOM's sources weren't as well developed. I happen to have a small booklet called "PAF Documentation Guidelines, 1995 Edition", produced by the Silicon Valley PAF Users Group. They didn't think PAF's ability to document sources was good enough. They went a step further and ...

Enno, I am fine with any simple method as you suggest, but we don't want a standard that is a huge elaborate complicated mess. The point is that GEDCOM may not be the best, but it is able to handle sources despite the statements of many people that it cannot. Louis

Very interesting observations, Enno. I don't share your negativism though. I think it is still early in the life of these APIs and they will evolve, maybe even into something quite different that we might not be able to foresee until it happens. Louis

Enno, I don't have much experience with the APIs out there yet. But I am seeing that more and more of the online genealogy repositories and online family tree collections are making evidence through sources and documents more important parts of their systems. That has to mean that they will at some time in ...

Arb: Now I know you. You're Amos Bannister. I've been following your Geneatools blog as well as your Tracing the Footsteps of Amos blog for some time now. I may even have added a comment on your blog at some time to encourage you. You have interesting ideas. Don't get discouraged. Keep forging ...

Thanks, James. Arb: I am VERY curious about "the genealogical tools" you mention that you are writing. Can you shed more light on them? Regarding FHISO, you make very valid points. Telling me won't help them, though. Louis

Arb, Unfortunately, the initial APIs must be created first by each developer to put in context the range of what's required. Only then can the different APIs be analyzed and some standardization can be agreed on. And it usually takes a bit of chaos before there becomes a widespread realization that a ...

Thanks, Deckie. I appreciate those nice words. And as far as informing goes, I do hope to restart my newsletter to those who've opted in once this current version comes out. The last Behold News newsletter I sent out was in January 2012. Louis

Thanks Deck. I'll still be checking my email and following the genealogy social sites and tweeting occasionally. Then I can finish 1.1 when I get back. Yes, I think being able to compare sources between people will be a real help in seeing inconsistencies and finding information that was missed. Louis

Bart, You can add your "Conclusion Session" as notes on the events or people that they pertain to. Your Source Session (finding, tracking, citing, filing sources) information should all be stored with the source that they deal with. Does your current genealogy editing program allows you to enter ...