PAF 4: Adding, Editing, & Linking Ancestors

This brief lesson was designed to be covered in a single class period, which lasts about 45 minutes.  Therefore, it covers only the most basic elements of Personal Ancestral File (PAF).  To learn advanced elements of PAF, please consult the program's Help files by pressing the F1 key.  

Compatibility: PAF 3 and PAF 4

Although PAF 3 and PAF 4 were made to share the same data files, certain complications arise when using both programs to edit a single data file.  In addition, the programs differ on which individuals they will clear for temple ordinances.  It seems to be a good idea to choose between the two programs, and use the chosen program exclusively.

The Welcome to Personal Ancestral File Screen

If you've just installed PAF 4 and have not yet saved a data file, opening the program brings up the Welcome to Personal Ancestral File screen.  From here, several options are available.  Unfortunately, this screen does not appear after the first file is saved, so instead of teaching you how to start from this screen, I'll show how to access these same options from the opening screen, since you'll usually have to access them from there.  If PAF opens this screen, click Cancel to go to the opening screen.

The Personal Ancestral File Opening Screen

To get started from the opening screen, select one of the five options below:

A.  Creating a New File

1. From the opening screen, click File, then New.
2. Type a name for the new file.  Note:  if this file will be used within PAF 3 as well as PAF 4, it's a good idea to create a file name of 8 characters or less.
3. After naming the file, click Save.
4. At the Prepared By tab of the Preferences screen, add your contact information.   This data can be included in all reports and file exports, so that others can easily see that the data came from you.
5. After typing in the contact information, click OK.

B.  Opening a file

1. If you already have a PAF file and know the drive and directory where it resides, open it using this option.  From the opening screen, click File, then Open.
2. At the Open Family File screen, use the Look In pulldown menu to navigate to the drive and directory where your PAF files are stored. 
3. To open a PAF file, double-click on it.
   • If the selected file is an old-style PAF file, a screen will appear which prompts you to convert it.  See
     "Converting Old-Style PAF Files" below.

C.  Searching for a File

1. If you have a PAF file but do not know where on your hard drive it resides, search for it using this option.  From the opening screen, click File, then Open.
2. At the Open Family File screen, click the Search button.
3. When the search is complete, another Open Family File screen appears.  Select the desired file by double-clicking it.
   • If the selected file is an old-style PAF file, a screen will appear which prompts you to convert it.  See
     "Converting Old-Style PAF Files" below.

D.  Converting Old-Style PAF Files (version 2.x or earlier)

1. If the file you want to open is from PAF version 2.x or earlier, you'll need to convert it to the new file format.  Note that "converting" the old PAF file does not alter it, but merely creates a copy which PAF 4 can use.  From the opening screen, use the Opening a File or Searching for a File directions above to get to the Open File screen, which will list the old-style PAF file you want to convert.
2. Double-click the desired file.
3. From the PAF 2.x File Conversion screen, select the desired conversion options.   Each option is explained below:
   • Wrap Note Lines into Paragraphs:  Early versions of PAF placed hard returns in each individual's Notes fields.  Wrapping these old-style Notes into paragraphs allows them to employ the entire width of the paper when printing.
   • Preserve Old RIN Numbers:  PAF assigns each individual a RIN, or Record Identification Number.  This number helps to navigate from person to person within the program.  Preserving the old RIN numbers allows you to have the same RIN numbers for your people as does the original owner of the "old" PAF file.
   • Convert Old Source Notes into New Source Citation Records:  Old versions of PAF used a single Notes field to cite the sources of all events recorded for an individual's life.  Thus, sources for an individual's Birth, Marriage, Death, and other events were all cited on one Notes screen.  Some users wanted a standard way to cite all these sources, and thus employed the Silicon Valley PAF Users' Group (SVPAFUG) citation format, which placed a source's author, title, publication information, and other elements in a specific order, and separated them with semicolons. 

     PAF 4 allows the sources for each event to be cited separately.  If the compiler of an old-style, notes-based file used the SVPAFUG notes format, and wants each element of each citation imported into the correct PAF 4 fields, he should choose the option to Convert Old Source Notes into New Source Citation Records.  If the original compiler did not use the SVPAFUG citation format, do not select this option.

4. After selecting the desired options from the PAF 2.x File Conversion screen, click Continue. 
5. At the Save As screen, type in a file name.  Note that if the file is going to be used with PAF 3 as well as PAF 4, it is a good idea to create a file name of eight characters or less.
6. After naming the file, click Save.

E.  Importing a File

1. If you have a relative's file on disk and would like to import it, insert the disk in the floppy drive and proceed to the lesson entitled "PAF 4: GEDCOMs."

Setting Preferences

Although there are many preference options available for PAF 4, only the most vital ones are treated here.

• LDS Settings:  To have PAF display and print LDS temple ordinance information, click the General tab on the Preferences screen, and then click Use LDS Data and Print LDS Data on Reports.
• Compiler Information:  Ever find a piece of genealogical data without knowing who the author is?  It is smart to include the compiler's contact information in all reports and exported files PAF creates.  To access the screen where compiler contact information can be added, click the Prepared By tab on the Preferences screen.
• Default Directory:  The default directory, or folder, is a subdivision of the computer's hard drive in which PAF stores its data files.  To access this setting, click the Folders tab on the Preferences screen.  In the PAF Files field, type the drive and directory where you want PAF to store your data files.   (Example:  C:\program files\FamilySearch\paf4\data).
• Date Display Styles:  When viewing a date, days and months are often confused.   To ensure that dates are displayed the way you like them, click the Formats tab on the Preferences screen, and set the Date Display Styles.  The results of any changes you make will be reflected in an example which appears below the settings.
• Home Person:  The Home Person is the individual who appears when the PAF file is first opened.  You can designate any individual in your file as the Home Person.   To switch the Home Person....
  • Click Tools, then Preferences.
  • Click the File tab.
  • Under RIN of Home Person on File Open, click Search.
  • At the Find Individual screen, click Individual List.
  • From the Find Individual screen, double-click the desired individual.
• RIN Numbers: Assigning each individual his own record identification number (RIN) aids in navigating the database.  To have PAF attach RIN numbers to individuals, access the General tab on the Preferences screen, and click RIN under Append to Names.

Adding Individuals

Keystrokes

Since the average user adds thousands of people to his database, it seems wise to learn the keystrokes which make this process faster.  Here are the keystrokes for adding individuals:

Unfortunately, the Alt keystrokes, although more intuitive, require an extra keystroke.  Hopefully, future PAF updates will allow the keystrokes to be Ctrl + I for Individual, Ctrl + S for Spouse, and so on.

Adding Names

1. To add an individual, press Alt + A, then I.
2. From the Add Individual screen, type in the Given Name or first name, and press the Tab key to move to the next field.  If you need to enter foreign characters not found on your keyboard, click the Options button, and select Character Map.
3. From the Add Individual screen, type in the Surname (last name), and press Tab.
4. At the Title (prefix) field, press F1 to open the Help screen.
5. At the Help screen, click on Identifying Fields in the Add Individual Screen.
6. At the resulting Help screen, read about the Title prefixes and suffixes.  Note that any time you're wondering what to type into a PAF field, you can press F1 and get context-sensitive help.
7. Exit the Help screen by pressing the Esc key.

Adding Events: Date and Place Format

Now that the individual's name has been added, it is time to add his first life event -- his birth.  Each event has a date and a place.  Typing dates and places in the correct format makes research easier, so here's a brief explanation: 

• Dates are typed in day, month, year format.  Example: 11 Mar 1915.   Three letters should be used for the month, and four numerals for the year.   For instructions on how to record calculated or estimated dates, date ranges, or "before" or "after" dates, see the Help file.
• Places are typed by smallest to largest jurisdiction, with a space and a comma separating each jurisdiction.  For U.S. localities, the jurisdictions are often town, county, state, and nation.  Example:  Chicago, Cook, Illinois, U.S.A.  However, some areas use other jurisdictions, replacing counties with parishes, etc.

Other "Standard" Events

The other standard events listed on the screen are added in the same format described above.  Here are some special tips for events whose data entry confuse some users:

• Christening:  In some countries, birth events for children were not recorded, but christenings, or baptisms, were.  Since christening often took place near the time of birth, it is a good "substitute" for a birth record in such localities.
• Burial:  Although recording the cemetery of an individual's burial is very important, the cemetery name should not be typed in the Place field.  It should be placed in the Source Citation Detail Comments or Source Citation Detail Actual Text field instead.  Please refer to the lesson on PAF 4: Sources.

Non-Standard Events

One of PAF 4's major improvements is that it can record events other than the standard ones found on the Edit Individual screen, and can attach sources directly to these events.  One of the programmers' major blunders was failing to provide a way for such events to be sorted chronologically.  An excruciatingly complex and time-consuming workaround for this problem will appear later on this Website.

To cite non-standard events, do the following:

1. From the Edit Individual screen, click the Options button.
2. Click New Event/Attribute.
3. At the Select Event screen, double-click the desired event. 
   • If the desired event is not listed, click the New button to create a custom event.
     • It is probably smart to avoid adding custom events which are not absolutely necessary.   Because of weaknesses in the GEDCOM standard, most programs which support custom events do not export them very clearly to other programs.  Thus, custom events which look good on your file may not be clear when you GEDCOM them to a relative. 
     • Unfortunately, there seems to be no Help file for creating custom events.  Since I have not yet fully experimented with them, they will not be covered here.
4. At the Edit Individual screen, fill in the date and place of the event normally, and indicate whether or not the event is confidential.
   • Note: Some PAF 4 custom events support start and end dates.  During exports, many other programs choke on the end dates.  It may therefore be wise to use only a single date when citing events.

Linking Individuals

To link two individuals is to establish a familial tie between them.  For instance, if a father and daughter are already added to the database and you want to establish their relationship, you can link them following these steps:

1. From the Family View, highlight the father.
2. On the toolbar, click Add, then Child.
3. At the Add or Select Individual screen, click Select Existing Individual.
4. At the Find Child For... screen, click Individual List.
5. At the second Find Child screen, double-click the child.

Deleting & Unlinking Individuals

To delete an individual is to erase him from the database.  To unlink him is to remove his familial tie with another individual.  To delete or unlink an individual from the Family View, click Edit on the toolbar, then click Delete or Unlink.   Another screen will appear, asking you to confirm your choice to delete or unlink the individual.  Click OK to complete the process.

Editing Marriages

After adding a spouse to an individual, it is necessary to add information about the marriage.

1. From the Family View, double click on the marriage. 
2. From the Marriage screen, edit dates and places just as in the Edit Individual screen.

Navigation

Once a few individuals have been added, navigation becomes important.  The various navigation methods are detailed below:

1. The Family and Pedigree Views
   • The Family View shows an individual, his spouse, his parents, and children, while the Pedigree View shows his direct ancestors.
   • To switch from one view to another, press Alt + V, and select the desired view.
   • The mouse and the arrow keys can be used to move from person to person.
2. The Individual List
   • The Individual List contains all individuals, sorted alphabetically or by RIN.
   • To access the Individual list, press Ctrl + F (F is for "find").
   • Type in the name or RIN of the desired individual.  When he is highlighted, press Enter.
3. RIN or MRIN Search
   • If you know the RIN or Marriage RIN (MRIN) number of the desired individual, press Ctrl + R to do a RIN or MRIN search.
   • Type the RIN or MRIN.  When the proper one is highlighted on the index, press Enter.
4. Descendancy List
   • If the individual you would like to navigate to is a descendant of the individual highlighted on the screen, press Ctrl + D to find him.
5. Advanced Find/Focus
   • In addition to finding individuals meeting certain parameters, this feature may also be used to gather lists of individuals, like ancestors or descendants of an individual, everyone born in a given state, or all individuals of a given surname.
   • To use this feature, press Ctrl + F to bring up the Find Individual screen, and then click on Advanced.
   • This feature is complex enough for its own lesson, so it will not be treated here.   In the meantime, the Help files give good advice on how to use the filters.
6. The Home Person
   • The Home Person is the individual who appears when the PAF file opens.  From anywhere in the file, you can navigate to the Home Person by pressing Ctrl + Home.   To switch the Home Person, follow the instructions under the Preferences section above.