03/05/2019 - Multiple Changes

This update corrects several errors and re-enables one feature.

Integer "Overflow" Errors: I recently ran into several errors involving large numbers (mostly counters but also the maximum number of records in the .OTH dataset of miscellaneous information). The software was limiting these numbers to a maximum of about 32,000. The errors started showing up when I was importing a GEDCOM file for the English Royal family that had over 20,000 individual names and over 33,000 .OTH records (birth/death places, marriage records and notes). By the time I had finished correcting the errors that I encountered, the software should now be able to handle over 64,000 records in the .OTH dataset and the counters should be able to handle millions of whatever they were counting (e.g. lines of reports).

Workfile "Statistic" Errors: Among the errors mentioned above were some that involved the creation of Relationship Work files (Ancestor,Descendant & Relative). To correct these I had to modify the format of the Work files some (to hold larger counter fields) so old work files may get the message "..is not a valid work file" when one is encountered. But these are easily and frequently recreated all the time so this should not be a concern. One positive that comes from this is that the "statistics" shown for a work file (# ancestors, descendants, etc.) should be correct now...they hadn't been before.

Fixed Format Relationship Reports showing ID#s: One rather embarrassing error involved the printing of "Fixed Format" (that is, columnar) style ancestor,descendant or relative reports that included the printing of record ID's (for Father, Mother, or Spouse). These were all showing the same record ID (that of the relative on the line). It has been corrected now but has apparently been like that for a long time. It is not a report style and option that I use very often.

"Overflow" Error when Creating a very large "MailMerge" (CSV) file: This is another error of the type mentioned in the first paragraph above. It is again an option that I don't use a lot, and never with the size file that resulted from importing the Royal Family GEDCOM file. There still may be some areas that might experience the same problem when working with very large family files. I will keep looking and will correct any I find.

RE-Enabled the "Save Options" Button: The DOS version of FHS incorporated many customization features, most of which have not (yet) been incorporated into FHSWIN. One feature that was carried over was the Report Definition File (FHSRPTS.RDF) which contains all of the Headlines, Footlines, labels and options for all of the reports. Of course FHSWIN does allow you to make changes to these options but there was an unresolved problem with saving those changes into the RDF file...so I had just "disabled" the "Save Options" button. Any changes made would be retained for the duration of the working session but would be lost when the program was terminated. I finally found the (2 line) correction to the problem and so have re-enabled the "Save Options" button for report and utility functions. I know I will appreciate having it back.