Luc Comeau, author of GENViewer, has since been updating the program and adding extra functionality. He is just releasing version 1.08 now. While the extra ".08" on the version number sounds like a minor update, I found quite a few new additions when I took the program for a spin this week.

In the original newsletter article about GENViewer, I wrote:

Do you have "islands" in your genealogy database? That is, a person or groups of persons that are not connected by blood or marriage to other people in the same database? If so, does your present genealogy program allow you to quickly find the individuals who are marooned on these "islands?"

Perhaps someone has sent you GEDCOM files. Or you have downloaded lots of GEDCOM files from the Internet. How do you quickly and easily find the individuals of interest in those files? Loading each and every GEDCOM file individually into your favorite genealogy program may be time-consuming. And then, how do you quickly find "all the males named Smith who were born in England between 1800 and 1900?" The powerful genealogy programs can do this easily, but the simpler ones do not.

GENViewer is a read-only program; it does not allow you to enter any data. You use your primary genealogy program for data entry and then use GENVIEWER to read and manipulate the information in your database. I also find it very useful to view those GEDCOM files that I download from online sites or that I receive in e-mail. I can quickly look at a GEDCOM file and sort the information as I like without having to load the GEDCOM into my regular genealogy program.

Later in the first GENViewer article I wrote:

I used GENViewer for a while and found that it is great for finding "islands" and for selecting all individuals that meet certain criteria. It also can perform the following functions:

• GENViewer gives an almost instant list of individuals contained within a GEDCOM file or PAF database. You can quickly see "who’s here." This feature is great for examining new GEDCOM files of questionable origin and accuracy downloaded from the Internet. I also used it to look at some GEDCOM files stored on my hard drive for a long time where I had forgotten why I had kept them.
• GENViewer will find information errors in your database, for example, a mother giving birth at age four. GENViewer allows you to visually highlight these individuals in seconds.
• GENViewer allows you to highlight individuals that are still missing information. For example, you can highlight all ancestors that are missing a birth date.
• You can highlight all the individuals in a file who are related to a particular person. I used this to find those individuals who were direct relatives of mine.
• LDS members will appreciate GENViewer’s capability to highlight individuals that are missing LDS ordinates as well as who is temple-ready. Remember that GENViewer can also do this while directly reading PAF 3 or PAF 4 files.

Version 1.08 still does all those functions well. It might be called a "file viewer on steroids." However, many additions to the above list have been added since the release of version 1.0, including the ability to directly read database files from Legacy 3.0, Family Tree Maker, Personal Ancestral File versions 3, 4 and 5 as well as from The Master Genealogist version 4.x database files. With most of these databases, GENViewer can now show information in that program’s database that might not exist in GEDCOM files, such as various tags that are specific to one program. Of course, GENViewer can still read GEDCOM files, so you can use version 1.08 even if you don’t have one of the programs listed.

Other new features added since the release of version 1.0 include:

• GENViewer can now generate reports in PDF, HTML, RTF, BMP, JPEG, and EMF formats
• GENViewer can now automatically search the Internet for information about any individual in the database. The user has several options as to whether or not to include middle names in the search and also whether to look for specific years or within ranges of years. GENViewer will then search for matches on FamilySearch.org (the Mormon’s online databases), Ancestry.com, GenSeeker, RootsWeb as well as on Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, Northern Lights, HotBot, Lycos, Excite, and Dejanews.
• GENViewer has the ability to create a self-viewing executable from a GEDCOM file. This means that GENViewer and the GEDCOM file are combined together into one executable. When run, this new executable will load GENViewer and display that GEDCOM file without GENViewer being installed on the computer. The self-viewing GEDCOM file can be placed on a Web site or emailed to others for review of your genealogy information.

GENViewer remains a very powerful utility for use with any other Windows genealogy program. The full version is available for $19.95 (U.S. funds). However, author Luc Comeau has also created a free "GENViewer Lite" version. This free version has most of the features of the $19.95 program with the following exceptions:

• Will not print
• Cannot create self-viewing GEDCOM files
• Does not highlight in color
• Does not search for "islands" in the database
• Does not have as many "views" of the database as the commercial version

The free GENViewer Lite program is not a "trial" version; you can use it over and over as long as you like. Even if you are interested in the full commercial version of GENViewer, I would suggest that you first download the free Lite version online and use that for a bit. You may find that the Lite version fits your needs perfectly. If not, you can always upgrade to the full version at any time.

MudCreek Software also has produced a special free version of GENViewer to be used when creating your own genealogy CD-ROM disks. This version is perfect for individuals that want to create family genealogy CDs and need a way to allow others to view their family information. Also, this version can be used by genealogy societies that want to publish genealogy information for society members. I expect to write more about the free CD-ROM generation program in a later newsletter.

For more information about GENViewer, to download the free GENViewer Lite program or to purchase and download the commercial version of GENViewer, go to: www.mudcreek.ca

Note: I received a very early copy of GENViewer version 1.08 for writing this review. At the time these words are being written, the Mudcreek Software Web site has no mention of version 1.08; all the information there refers to version 1.07. I expect this to change soon. In the meantime, feel free to download and purchase version 1.07 as upgrades are free. Anyone who purchases version 1.07 can obtain version 1.08 as soon as it becomes available at no additional charge. Besides, version 1.07 has most of the functionality listed above.

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