Personal Ancestral File (PAF) - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Re: What is a PAF

FoilandEpee — 2013-04-11 21:36:33Z

The good?
-Free
-Can be run from a thumb/USB drive (great for research on the fly)

The bad?
-It takes a lot of front end work to get the default entries set for what you'd like to know (for me: race, occupation, denomination, etc).
-Unnecessarily complicated to show stepchildren, adopted children, etc.
-Rough/basic publication abilities

Having said that, once you set it up and get past the jacked learning curve, it works fine.

Cliffsnotes:
Do I recommend it? Yep. Would I recommend it if you have extra cash for full bells and whistles? Nope. Will it do what you need it to do? Yep. Easily? Nope.

Re: What is a PAF

kj_norway — 2013-04-08 02:32:50Z

Their are lots of different programs, the software board here lists many of them. Read the boards and look to see what people think of the program they bought. Find out if the program comes in a "free" evaluation version. And try them out. Some programs are geared toward beginners and others are more complicated and used by "more involved" genealogists. Programs will try to lock you into their way of doing things so learn a little about genealogy, by joining an active genealogy group and asking to see the programs they use. Having friends you trust give their opinion is very valuable.

Re: What is a PAF

macleangolz2638 — 2013-04-05 16:28:47Z

do you have any sugguestions?

Re: What is a PAF

AGHatchett3rd — 2013-04-05 07:43:09Z

PAF=Personal Ancestral File=Old, outdated genealogy program that can't handle many of the bells and whistles that a modern genealogy program can.

In short- don't waste your time on it.

What is a PAF

macleangolz2638 — 2013-04-04 02:12:50Z

I'm new. What is a PAF? I have seen it with a few relatives. It seems to be mostly private. Advantages of it or disadvantages? Some one said I should get a family tree maker so I wouldn't lose everything.

Advise?

Re: PAF Companion V5.1.5 Print Preview Error

luke_williams1978 — 2013-03-26 18:15:51Z

I am also receiving an error when trying to print preview or simply print reports in PAF version 5.1.5. The family group sheets print fine. However, when printing a pedigree chart I get an error message stating "Unexpected error in pedigree chart while trying to open Temp file: 10-." Is anyone else having this problem?

Re: Problem opening my PAF files in Windows 8

neilr127 — 2013-01-21 19:45:42Z

Thank you. Ill try that.

Neil

Re: Problem opening my PAF files in Windows 8

bitbucket40 — 2013-01-21 13:39:41Z

21 Jan. 2013

This is just a guess on my part, since I don't have a computer using Win 8, but try starting up PAF and then use the Open command from the File menu drop down to open the PAF file.

What may have happened is that Win 8 doesn't associate .paf files with the PAF program until you use the program to open a .paf file.

After opening a .paf file from within PAF, then perhaps the association will be made and you will be able to open the program by double clicking on the .paf file.

Dave

Problem opening my PAF files in Windows 8

neilr127 — 2013-01-21 05:51:16Z

My new PC is equipped with Windows 8. I transferred my 4 year old PAF files on my flash drive to my Documents Folder AND Dropbox but am unable to open them when I click on them. Is that normal with Windows 8 and is there a solution?

With thanks,

Neil

Some of my PAF is gone!

SBelden — 2013-01-07 01:00:44Z

My computer went down unexpectedly & when I went to boot it back up, I found I had the family list & the pedigree list but no individual list. What has happened! Do I now have to start over or what? Do I have a corrupt file? Do I need new software? I use PAF5 & windows 7.

Re: PAF and MAC compatability

wartellpt — 2012-12-18 15:40:54Z

thanks for the comment. i bit the bullet and bought Reunion for mac only and absolutely LOVE it. their tech support has been great.
only 2 things i don't like. they don't have a hardcopy manual (i hate trying to read a screen and do something and not be able to pencil in notes about what i'm doing) and i have not figured out how to do a descendant's chart like you can on PAF....but on the + side, i did a GEDCOM import - lost nothing and MOST IMPORTANTLY kept the little id numbers assigned to each person by the PAF pgm.

Re: PAF and MAC compatability

south_dean1 — 2012-12-18 07:53:36Z

Whatever you do , don't I repeat don't download and use ifamily for mac - they managed to lose half of my info 5 years ago - and I got abused when I pointed out the problems - - I also would like to use PAF again, but have the same problem
Deena

HELP! Corrupted Paf File

bonscott_2286 — 2012-11-29 21:16:10Z

I don't know if anyone can help me or not. My mom had all of her work saved on a PAF file on a flash drive and then her computer got a virus. Now, it won't open it. First, I get a message that says, "This is not a PAF file." Then I get a message that says, "This file appears to be damaged." Does anyone know how I can correct this? My mom didn't back any of this up, so hours of work could be gone to waste. :( Any help would be appreciated!

Re: Help - Problem exporting GEDCOM file from Ancestry to PAF

headmoore — 2012-11-20 22:19:26Z

I asked for a GEDCOM from a friend's cousin and he sent it to me, but it has the _ged.mht extension and is not a regular GEDCOM file. It's a text file, but not quite the same as a GEDCOM file. I dunno......

Re: PAF 2.1

debzouras — 2012-11-18 14:14:55Z

Fantastic! I didn't realize that 4.0 would read the files. I've downloaded the program and it's working perfectly. I've already viewed about a half dozen old files but haven't found what I'm looking for. Doesn't matter... I'll have a great afternoon viewing the other 2 dozen. THANK YOU!!!

Re: PAF 2.1

debzouras — 2012-11-18 14:08:50Z

Thank you.

Re: PAF 2.1

bitbucket40 — 2012-11-18 12:40:33Z

18 Nov. 2012

PAF 4.0 is still available from FamilySearch. Go here:

https://www.familysearch.org/products

Dave

Re: PAF 2.1

AGHatchett3rd — 2012-11-18 07:08:15Z

You might try this link to see if it leads to more info.

http://www.dearmyrtle.com/04/0804.htm

PAF 2.1

debzouras — 2012-11-18 06:21:19Z

I found some old PAF 2.1 files that I would like to read but am using PAF 5.2. Any suggestions?

Re: Person number one in my .PAF file

Hugh_Tornabene — 2012-11-04 13:32:20Z

Hi Dave,
That was so easy, and it has bugged me so long.
Thanks a lot.
I had been encouraged to ask about it here since I had finally managed to clear up another longstanding annoyance in my PAF system.
Within my master .PAF file was a very large independant network of interconnected records, like a ghost. Almost half the .PAF file.
I got rid of it by exporting to a new .PAF file, after selecting only one person and everyone related to him.
Poof went the ghost and an assorted bunch of single entries.
Thanks again Dave.
Hugh

Re: Person number one in my .PAF file

bitbucket40 — 2012-11-04 11:49:18Z

On the menu bar click on "Tools".
Select "Preferences" at the bottom.
Click on the tab marked "File".
Make your choice in the first box.

All of this is explained in the Help file under "Home Person".

Dave

Person number one in my .PAF file

Hugh_Tornabene — 2012-11-03 16:08:05Z

My .PAF file always opens on the SAME person.
That is fine, however I want it to always open on a different person.
How to arrange that, is what I want to know.
The .PAF always opens on the person listed at the top of my list of persons.
I want it to always open on the second person on this list.
I have no idea how it came to chose the person it chooses.
At one time it chose the person that I still want.
Hugh Tornabene

Creating a report--list of photo file names?

theryans126 — 2012-08-29 18:55:03Z

Does anyone know if it is possible to create a report that would list all the individuals that are in a .paf file along with a list of the file names of the photos linked to each individual? Thanks for any help.
Sandy

Re: BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

bitbucket40 — 2012-08-21 15:45:54Z

21 Aug. 2012

Just a final note on backups and file sizes.

My main .paf file is 3372 KB in size, the gedcom for it is 1927 KB in size, and the backup .zip file is 463 KB in size.

As you can see, the .zip file is a very efficient storage form for the backup.

Dave

Re: BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

cinjomar09 — 2012-08-21 14:09:13Z

Thank-you for the information Dave. It has been helpful.
Cindy Shaw

Re: BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

bitbucket40 — 2012-08-21 11:54:44Z

21 Aug. 2012

My main machine is a Windows XP box and on that one when I double click on a zip file it opens a separate window and displays the contents, which is the .paf file.

Tried the same thing on my Win 7 netbook. It doesn't open a separate window, but replaces the current directory view with the contents of the zip file, which once again is the .paf file.

When I double click on the .paf file inside the zip file, Win 7 gives me the same error message that you received.

But because the .paf file in the zip file is the last backup of your regular .paf file, there's no reason to open it; in fact, you wouldn't want to open it because PAF will then revert to the backup version of the file, and you'll lose your most recent changes. The net effect would be the same as going to the File menu within PAF and clicking on the Restore option.

The backup .paf file in the zip file is your fall-back in case you have a major problem with your main .paf file, such as a match and merge gone horribly wrong, or a gedcom import that had problems. Yes, you could start over from a gedcom file that you created, but unless you create the gedcom on a regular basis, it could well be more out of date than PAF's backup files.

I would not recommend deleting the zip file backups.

Dave

Re: BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

cinjomar09 — 2012-08-21 03:01:49Z

Thank-you Dave for getting back to me. I actually have WINDOWS 7. I have gone to PAF>BACK-UP, it makes a zip file, I double click on it and I get the error box saying,

"Windows can't open this file: FILE: SHAWS 8-1012.paf
To open this file, Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select from a list of programs that are installed on your computer. What do you want to do? NOW WHAT DO i DO?

Re: BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

bitbucket40 — 2012-08-20 11:50:28Z

20 Aug. 2012

Starting with Windows XP you can open zip files by double clicking on them. What you find inside is a copy of your PAF database, which is a specially formatted file and essentially unreadable except in PAF itself (there are text lines in the file that are readable).

The advantage of the backup file is that it can be read directly into PAF without going through the import and conversion step necessary for a gedcom.

Unless you are sending the gedcom to someone else to import into their genealogy program (the reason that the gedcom format was developed) or are using it as the input for some other program, there's no need to export your PAF into a gedcom, except perhaps as a safety precaution.

If you are comfortable using the command line, you can go to the folder where your PAF files are stored and use the command:

erase *.zip

to delete all the backup files (they will not be put into the Recycle Bin, just deleted). But PAF will continue to prompt you to backup your file.

Dave

BACKING UP FILES vs GEDCOMS

deermeadow90 — 2012-08-20 03:02:03Z

I have Windows & and PAF 5.2

1st problem: When I do a "back-up" of my file it creates a "zip file". Aren't the "zip files" obsolete? I then can't open them.

2nd problem: When I export to make a "GEDCOM", it doubled my database. How do I delete the duplicates at once instead of one by one?

Re: PAF and no more updates

bitbucket40 — 2012-07-01 11:02:02Z

23 Feb. 2010

The way that I understand it, PAF will no longer be updated, but it will remain available in the LDS web site for downloading.

There are big changes going on with the LDS web site and the Family History Library, along with the way that LDS members do Temple work, and all of that requires a more powerful and closely integrated genealogy program. Eventually all of the microfilms will be available in digital form on-line, and Temple work will be handled the same way.

Ancestral Quest appears to be one of the ways that the focus will shift. PAF is itself a modified form of an older version of Ancestral Quest, and the latest version of Ancestral Quest is designed to work with the PAF file format and to integrate with the new LDS web site. Other genealogy programs are also either currently compatible with the new web site or soon will be certified. You can check on the LDS web site as to the status of other genealogy programs.

For most people, PAF will continue to be a viable genealogy program to use.

Dave

Re: HELP !!! my PAF 5.2 NOTES are DISAPPEARING !!!!!

garth_woodward — 2012-06-29 20:37:17Z

Yes, I also seem to recall that when merging people, there was some setting or question or something, asking if you wanted to merge the Notes or not. I have not had a problem myself with notes disappearing, since I almost never have to merge people.

Re: PAF and no more updates

garth_woodward — 2012-06-29 20:30:20Z

its actually LDS, not LSD. I always get a chuckle when that mistake comes up :)

Re: Did PAF include a sample project/GEDCOM file when originally installed?

kj_norway — 2012-06-03 20:05:15Z

Andy,

IIRC... You can easily install it to a thumb drive or floppy. It does not need the windows registry like other programs.

Re: Did PAF include a sample project/GEDCOM file when originally installed?

AGHatchett3rd — 2012-05-31 12:07:42Z

Thanks Dave,

I might do that, although I'm reluctant to install the whole program when all I really need is the file.

Re: Did PAF include a sample project/GEDCOM file when originally installed?

bitbucket40 — 2012-05-31 11:54:01Z

31 May 2012

I really don't remember whether PAF includes a sample file, but because it's a free download, the easiest thing to do would be to install it and see what's included.

https://www.familysearch.org/products

Dave

Did PAF include a sample project/GEDCOM file when originally installed?

AGHatchett3rd — 2012-05-27 00:39:14Z

Did PAF include a sample project/GEDCOM file when originally installed?

If so, where can I get a copy of that file?

Any help appreciated

Andy Hatchett
www.fhiso.org

Re: Converting Roots3 files to GEDCOM

MaxwellFry — 2012-02-11 02:07:01Z

Hello Laurie This has nothing to do with your fies my name is Max Fry son of Barney Fry i was just trying to get in touch with you my email is frymx@yahoo.com.au Max Fry

Re: Looking for PAF 2 for CP/M

calvinculver — 2012-01-21 02:01:57Z

To date I haven't found any FHCs that even know what CP/M is, let alone that there was a CP/M version of PAF.

Yes, you can up-convert the data by hopscotching up the PAF version chain -- 2.1 for DOS imports the 2.0 for CP/M data files, then 4.0 reads 2.1's, etc. But I don't have a CP/M utility that will write to a DOS-format floppy disk -- only read -- so I can get stuff into the machine, but not out.

The exception is text files, which I can upload via a terminal program over modem or serial cable. I tried UUENCODE-ing the data file, but PAF 4 choked on the UUDECODEd result.

IIRC PAF 2 could export to GEDCOM, so that's what I want to try next.

Thanks for your reply,

Nathanael

Re: Looking for PAF 2 for CP/M

bitbucket40 — 2012-01-20 12:14:04Z

20 Jan. 2012

Family History Centers will often have the older versions of PAF for DOS, but the version for CP/M is going to be a tough one.

Any idea as to whether the data files might be readable by the DOS version? If they're binary, it probably won't work, but if by some chance they're ASCI, it seems it might work.

Dave

Looking for PAF 2 for CP/M

calvinculver — 2012-01-16 12:28:27Z

Yes, for CP/M.

I started doing computer-based genealogy back in '86 using PAF 2.0 on my CP/M computer. I still have the computer, and am trying to install PAF again to access some old data files.

Unfortunately, two of the installation disks have gone bad.

Does anyone have a copy of the CP/M version of PAF they could send me, or know where I might find it?

--Nathanael

Re: Convert MAC paf files to gedcom

Schopieray92 — 2012-01-01 23:29:44Z

Thank you for your kind offer. After I wrote before, I managed to get into my old PC, (even though all sorts of error messages popped up) and was able to convert the old files into gedcom in my FTM 2008, then save them to a flash drive. I wasn't sure it would work because that old computer freezes, etc. so I was relieved I was able to do it. Again, thank you! I am now up and running with my new FTM for Mac and all seems to be running fine.
Julie S.

Re: Preview Problem in PAF Companion 5.5.1/Windows 7

geeceem49 — 2011-12-29 18:46:35Z

Aha! It appears that the familysearch.com website has at least one link to an outdated version of PAF Companion, insofar as said link points to Version 5.5B.

A more recent release--one that has solved the problem I reported above--is PAF Companion Version 5.7, which is available at the progenygenealogy.com website.

So if you are having previewing or printing problems on Windows 7 (x64) as I was having, make sure to try Version 5.7 to see if it works better.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Preview Problem in PAF Companion 5.5.1/Windows 7

geeceem49 — 2011-12-28 18:30:10Z

I've moved up to Windows 7, but my file that works perfectly in XP SP3/Adobe X no longer works properly in Windows 7/Adobe X. When I click on "Preview", Adobe X launches but the system returns this message: "There was an error opening this document. This file is already open or in use by another application." There is no other app running and I took considerable pains to make sure that all files were closed before exiting the program. Any ideas?

Edit to add the things I've tried that haven't made any difference: (a) Uninstall and reinstall PAF Companion; (b) delete .paf file from flashdrive and resave from XP where it still works.

Re: Convert MAC paf files to gedcom

djbethers1 — 2011-12-18 19:45:43Z

If you will email me the PAF file, I will convert it to a GEDCOM and email it back to you. Email me at yahoo.com; my address is djbethers.

Re: Convert MAC paf files to gedcom

Schopieray92 — 2011-12-18 15:56:41Z

Hello! I purchased a Mac computer after years with a PC. I had FTM2008 installed on my PC before it died. Fortunately, I saved my family tree files onto an external memory, but now that I have the Mac, I am unable to use the files because they were saved as paf files. I just purchased FTM for Mac v2, and see that it will not import anything but a gedcom file. Also, I had terrible issues with the program, as it froze up my computer and even caused problems with the internet! I have uninstalled it and am very disappointed. I want to find a program, perhaps Reunion, but I think I still need gedcom files. Would you be willing to try converting one of my several paf files to gedcom, then if it works, might I ask you to do the others? I have about 6 different files, as I have done my own, my husband, and several friends' family trees!
Thank you for any help you might be willing to offer! I'd hate to lose/not be able to use all the data I've accumulated over 15 years of research.

Julie S.

Re: Uploading PAF gedcom to ancestry.com

bitbucket40 — 2011-11-20 20:46:53Z

20 Nov. 2011

Your uploading problem is more with dealing with Ancestry than it is with PAF, so you need to post to the Ancestry forum that deals with Member Trees:

http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.ancestry.membertree.member...

As far as dates for living people, when you export the gedcom, un-check the box "Full information on living" when generating the gedcom. If I remember the criterion correctly, you're considered to be living if you have no death date and you're less than ninety-five years old.

Uploading PAF gedcom to ancestry.com

Karla1950 — 2011-11-18 15:03:35Z

I have two problems. Is there any way to upload the gedcom file without having to delete the current ancestry.com file? Deleting destroys all photos and I do NOT want to upload photos AGAIN. Second problem, two of my family trees show dates of my living family and two of my trees do not. Is that my error when configuring the gedcom file? I tried to make a calendar today and realized the birthdates of living are not in my ancestry.com family tree file. I'm getting frustrated :-(

Re: Printing EVERYONE

silverfox3280 — 2011-11-16 23:48:35Z

There are (at least) three reports in FTM2012 that will print everyone in your file (there may be more).

Publish > Person Reports > Custom Report. "Include ALL Individuals". Will give you a row and column report. You can sort by date of birth, alpha by last name, or whatever and you can include columns for different fields.

Publish > Charts > Extended Family Chart > Select ALL individuals in your file. This report will give a series of descendant trees - individuals in boxes tied to their spouse and children. Each spouse in that tree with other relatives (ie parents-siblings) will print in a separate descending report, and on and on it will go. When ALL individuals are selected, it will include everyone in your file.

Publish > Person Reports > Index Report. Include ALL individuals.

Re: Help - Problem exporting GEDCOM file from Ancestry to PAF

bitbucket40 — 2011-11-03 12:03:40Z

3 Nov. 2011

I've never tried to download a gedcom from Ancestry and then load it into PAF, but from what you've described, it sounds like the file format that you're seeing is correct. A gedcom is a text file and can be viewed and edited in programs such as MS Notepad or Wordpad.

So try this: same using the .txt option to save the file and then look at it in a text editing program such as Notepad. If the formatting and structure of the file seems to be correct, then change the .txt extension to .ged, i.e. my_gedcom.txt to my_gedcom.ged With the extension changed, try importing the file.

Saving your gedcom in either of the two other forms that you mentioned in your post will give you a file that is unusable. But starting with a text file should work.

Dave

Help - Problem exporting GEDCOM file from Ancestry to PAF

clintmann1 — 2011-11-03 08:11:55Z

Two months ago I imported a GEDCOM file from PAF to ancestry.co.uk with no problem. I now want to export my much updated file from ancestry back into PAF. After going via "Tree Settings" and clicking on "Download your GEDCOM file" I quickly received a file on my screen with the data and coded features visible. Using "Save as" to load this onto my computer, I noticed that the filename ended with _ged (and not .ged). I was given the options of saving the file as .htm or .mht or .txt
After saving in each of these formats I tried to upload them into PAF but the format was not recognised. I also tried adding .paf or .ged onto the end of the files but still the format was not recognised.

Can anyone advise me as to how I can export a file from ancestry back into PAF?

Thanks,

Clint Mann