PAF's future

[BradJackman-p40]

For many years, most of us have considered PAF dead. While support still exists, improvements, fixes, and new releases haven't come for over 5 years. As the Ancestry Insider blog reported the death of PAF, Gordon Clarke responded "I kind of see new life as being breathed into PAF. I don’t think PAF is dying, I think it is getting a second life."

This is likely referring to the steps being taken by Ancestral Quest and Ohana Software to build add-ons that iterface with the NFS.

Several questions remain:
1 - Will FamilySearch release it's own update of PAF software, allowing for greater compatability with NFS?
2 - Will FamilySearch update PAF with the new temple codes?
3 - As the NFS is now recording initiatoy and confirmation dates, will fields for recording this information be added to PAF?
4 - Will these 3rd party interfaces work directly with the PAF program, or will they just manipulate the PAF database file, as does PAF Insigt.
5 - Is there any option or discussion for PAF source code to be released, and let PAF's second life be open-source?

The standard response from FamilySearch is "3rd party software is doing a good job, use that instead if you dont' like PAF". However, I think most genealogists will agree that PAF still holds a major position in the field, and it's ease of use, simple GUI, and huge user base make it a force to be reckoned with, not some little freeware experiment to be swept under the rug.

While huge resources are being poured into NFS, FamilySearch's best product ever, PAF, is being ignored.

We're anxious for new life to be infused into PAF, and hope it isn't lost in the shadow of NFS.

[garysturn]

For many years, most of us have considered PAF dead. While support still exists, improvements, fixes, and new releases haven't come for over 5 years. As the Ancestry Insider blog reported the death of PAF, Gordon Clarke responded "I kind of see new life as being breathed into PAF. I don’t think PAF is dying, I think it is getting a second life."

This is likely referring to the steps being taken by Ancestral Quest and Ohana Software to build add-ons that iterface with the NFS.

Several questions remain:
1 - Will FamilySearch release it's own update of PAF software, allowing for greater compatability with NFS?
2 - Will FamilySearch update PAF with the new temple codes?
3 - As the NFS is now recording initiatoy and confirmation dates, will fields for recording this information be added to PAF?
4 - Will these 3rd party interfaces work directly with the PAF program, or will they just manipulate the PAF database file, as does PAF Insigt.
5 - Is there any option or discussion for PAF source code to be released, and let PAF's second life be open-source?

The standard response from FamilySearch is "3rd party software is doing a good job, use that instead if you dont' like PAF". However, I think most genealogists will agree that PAF still holds a major position in the field, and it's ease of use, simple GUI, and huge user base make it a force to be reckoned with, not some little freeware experiment to be swept under the rug.

While huge resources are being poured into NFS, FamilySearch's best product ever, PAF, is being ignored.

We're anxious for new life to be infused into PAF, and hope it isn't lost in the shadow of NFS.

Check this out: BYU Developers Conference Seminar on PAF

[ElsaBorzoi-p40]

Nice link, Gary; thanks!



Els

[kennethjorgensen]

Check this out: BYU Developers Conference Seminar on PAF

Yes, very good link Gary.

[GastaoGal-p40]

Dear Gary
I use in my computer the windows vista home premium and I allready have a problem. To change rin to Alphabetical. What can I do. Gatao Gal

[faazshift]

I think that if PAF became an open-source project, it would be a significant step forward. It is largely used throughout the church and depended upon by many. If it became open-source, it would advance into a much better tool and it could even become cross-platform compatible (since I use linux, it would be nice not to have to depend on wine), which would largely increase its user base.

[marianomarini]

Most of all can be translated in several languages.
I made an Italian translation (but there are many message that I cant translate without code), sent to developper, receiving the authorisation to share with the italian members, and then ... nothing else.

[MorettiDP]

See that interesting e-mail sent today to the developers at DevNet:

Software Developers,

There was a guide handed at each session of the annual FamilySearch Business Meeting. I was directed “to share the information in this document, but do not distribute the document itself”.

Concerning NewFamilySearch, the first page of the guide said:

“new.familysearch.org will not replace FamilySearch.org. Eventually, it will be added to FamilySearch.org”

“Many genealogy desktop programs are now compatible and linked with NewFamilySearch. The certified programs allow patrons to save and reconcile their work both online and offline. A current list of certified applications can be found at new.familysearch.org (click on More Great Products)”

“PAF users will need to use an approved add-on application to export their PAF database to NewFamilySearch. To continue to use PAF, users will need a third-party application to reconcile their NewFamilySearch database with their PAF database”

This is all positive for the software developer community.

Best regards,

Gordon Clarke

[law1k-p40]

“new.familysearch.org will not replace FamilySearch.org. Eventually, it will be added to FamilySearch.org”

This is good news if this is true due to I sometimes use the original IGI,PAF records to confirm information in NFS.

[Thomas_Lerman]

I completely agree that putting PAF as open source would be a huge step forward. I would want to be the first in line to work on that. I have found many bugs that I would love to fix. I have written software to add some functionality and take care of some of these bugs. I keep toying around with the idea of writing a PAF replacement from scratch too . . . keeping in mind the translation and cross-platform issues. I find it interesting the various things I hear concerning PAF from reputable sources (nothing consistent though).