Need desperate help

[Moira Cleary]

My father who died in 1999 worked for over 20 years on a MAC collecting and organizing family history.

Most of our family uses PC.. So after getting all this data I have been attempting to transfer all the files to a PC environment so that everyone can share.

The big problem is that he must have created 40 or 50 charts and I cannot open them..at all.. not even on his old MAC

Finally, someone on-line suggested I go to this site.. Wow.. this might be where he created these great charts.

I need to open them.. I need to update them.. I need help

I am attaching 2 files that appear in 2 formats on the disks. If anyone can open these.. please tell me how.. also if they can be opened then I will happily purchase the program - which no longer seems to be on my father's old computer..but stuffit is...

Also is there anyway to convert these great charts to a PC environment...

Whoops - there is no way to attach from this form.. email me at moirac@abraxasgroup.net and I'll send the charts along to see if this works.. thanks...

thanks - Moira

[Terry Medlar]

Try sending one of the charts to help@leisterpro.com. Include the version of Reunion on which it was created.

[SGilbert]

On his old Mac, click once to highlight the chart (do not open it) and then push command (open Apple) and "i". This will bring up a dialog telling you what program created it (among other info). Please tell us what it says.

Also:
If anything can open it, GraphicConverter (for Mac) will.

Go to Versiontracker.com or MacUpdate.com to find it.

[Moira Cleary]

Thank you for your help..

The older computer these were created on no longer exists.. In the year 2000 after my father died, my stepmom got a new MAC and transfered most of the files but for some reason did not transfer the program he used.

I am going to try the suggestions but the one about clicking on the file...I tried that...no go...

I emailed these to that guy in tech support..no go...he didn't really get them open..

There are about 50 charts..

I was thinking of trying the demo found on this website to see if it creates the same kind of chart... these are fairly complex charts giving let's say a Mother and Father.. then all the children...then their spouses and all the children again...

Most other programs do not create a chart like this...or I would just remake them all...so I am still trying to find the elephant in the ice field...

Any other suggestions - just keep them coming...I'll keep trying...

[Moira Cleary]

On his old Mac, click once to highlight the chart (do not open it) and then push command (open Apple) and "i". This will bring up a dialog telling you what program created it (among other info). Please tell us what it says.

Also:
If anything can open it, GraphicConverter (for Mac) will.

Go to Versiontracker.com or MacUpdate.com to find it.

I am going back over to my stepmom's and try this... Unfortunately the (open Apple and "i") thing did not work....
the program is long gone....from the computer..

but I will try graphic converter and/versiontracker

I have transfered the files to a CD - can I try this on my PC - ummmm

Moira

[joeswann]

As far as trying the files on your PC, Reunion quit working with Windows a long time ago. It has been a Mac only application since about version 5.

What SGilbert is trying to tell you is to open the "Get Info" window for the file. This is pretty much the same as right-clicking an icon in Windows and choosing Properties from the context menu. The Get Info window should tell you what app will open that file, even if the app is no longer there.

By the way, you can hold down the control key while clicking on a Mac. This is equivalent to right-clicking on Windows. Knowing this may help you be more comfortable as you look around on the Mac if you aren't familiar with the environment.

By the way, GraphicConverter will open a lot of things, but I've never known it to open a chart file. If your dad converted that chart to an image you'll be in business with GC. If not, you'll need Reunion.

[Moira Cleary]

Thank you for all your advise and help... the computer is over at my stepmom's apartment and I have taken extensive notes to try a number of things..for the next time I go over there - probably in a day or so...

A few people have contacted me and I have sent them a few of the files .. to just try and open them...that might work....

Finally I might have to recreate these files. If they were created with Reunion .. then this is the best chart file program I have ever seen...and unfortunately I will probably need to look for an equivalent program in PC land...but that is for a day in the future.

Again thanks for all your help.. I am crossing my fingers that the few reunion members that contacted me will be able to open these and tell us how they were created...

Moira Cleary

[Frank Mitchell]

Thank you for all your advise and help... the computer is over at my stepmom's apartment and I have taken extensive notes to try a number of things..for the next time I go over there - probably in a day or so...
Something else you could try -

From your Mom's Mac, download the free MuchoFileInfo utility from...

<http://www.muchosoft.com/fileinfo.htm>

...and install it into her Utilities folder

Open the application and drag one of your chart files into the Name field.

This will then tell you the Creator and Type codes of the file. Let us know what they are and someone here will probably be able to tell you what it is and what you need to open it

Good luck,
Frank

[Al Poulin]

Just a few thoughts. Moira indicated that her father had worked over 20 years on a Mac. This suggests using something in the Apple computer family as far back as the late '70s. Macintosh history goes back to 1984.
http://lowendmac.com/history/index.shtml
Before that, there was the Apple II.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer#1976_to_1980:_The_early_years
The Leisterpro web site shows Reunion 4 in or before 1997. When did Reunion first hit the street?
http://www.leisterpro.com/doc/olderversions/olderversions.php

Perhaps it may help to think of what applications packages were available for these early machines that could produce graphics and charts.

Finally and possibly relevant: How far back in Apple history do Creator and Type codes in files go? Could Moira's charts predate these codes? Or could the codes have been damaged during the transfer from her father's Mac to her step-mother's machine in year 2000? And in 2000, OS 9 was new. Could OS 9 have been unable to run an old application, or even allow transferring it from the older Mac?



Finally I might have to recreate these files.

Moira Cleary

Moira: This suggests that you may have paper copies of the charts. If so, is there anything about the paper, their placement in file folders, and notes left by your father, that may help put a date on the digital versions. Are there any floppy disks, type or density such as 400k? Even disks that were really 5 1/4 inch "floppy?"

By the way, in looking at your step-mother's Mac, when viewing the charts in List View, do you see dates, maybe Creation Dates prior to 2000, in a column?

[ByronSpoon]

...This suggests that you may have paper copies of the charts. If so, is there anything about the paper, their placement in file folders, and notes left by your father, that may help put a date on the digital versions. ...Perhaps a clue to the age of the charts can be gleamed from the people shown on the charts. What is the birth date of the youngest person shown on the chart? And can you think of a family member born later that does not appear on the charts. From this information you might be able to infer an approximate year when the data was last updated.

[Frank Mitchell]

The Leisterpro web site shows Reunion 4 in or before 1997. When did Reunion first hit the street?
1988 - I think. But Moira did mention that her father had an "old Mac".

Perhaps it may help to think of what applications packages were available for these early machines that could produce graphics and charts.
Early versions of Reunion created charts in a separate program called Superchart. I *think* it was merged into Reunion with version 5.

But we don't yet know that Moira's father used Reunion. The creator and type codes for his charts should answer this.

[Tom Robinson]

Finally and possibly relevant: How far back in Apple history do Creator and Type codes in files go?
Since day 1 of the Mac.

If so, is there anything about the paper, their placement in file folders, and notes left by your father, that may help put a date on the digital versions.
How about doing a Get Info in the Finder and looking at the file creation and modification dates ;)

[vsalupo]

The big problem is that he must have created 40 or 50 charts and I cannot open them..at all.. not even on his old MAC

...

I am attaching 2 files that appear in 2 formats on the disks. If anyone can open these.. please tell me how.. also if they can be opened then I will happily purchase the program - which no longer seems to be on my father's old computer..but stuffit is...

...

thanks - Moira

Moira, many programs place an ascii text header on the binary files they create. If you open the files with a text editor like the free TextWrangler you may see the name of the application that created the file at the top or bottom of the file. MacOS X doesn't have a true text editor readily available to users in the 'Applications' folder.

Feel free to send one of the files to me at v.salupo@comcast.net. I will take a look and see if they look familiar. I have been using Macs since 1985 and may recognize the file type & creator.

If you know how to discover the file type and creator there are many old Mac websites that can tell you what application created the files.

[Troy]

Moira---

Hopefully, a solution can be found and if you would be so kind as to let us all know what it is; as I for one am curious and would like to know the outcome.

Thanks.

Troy---

[Al Poulin]

The ReunionTalk Digest - Friday, August 1, 2008 does not include the latest messages from Troy, vsalupo, and Tom Robinson. Hopefully, they will appear in next Monday's digest of August 4.

[Troy]

For those that are interested, I contacted Moira off-line and she still has not solved the chart file problem.

She did not get any successful feedback from those trying to help her and is trying to re-create the charts using Excel which is "very labor intensive" for her.

Troy---

[Bob White]

..........Feel free to send one of the files to me at v.salupo@comcast.net. I will take a look and see if they look familiar. I have been using Macs since 1985 and may recognize the file type & creator.......
Same offer from me with Macs since 85 and various genealogy software since around the same time. sactobob at me.com.

[Troy]

An update for those that are interested.

Moira sent me a sample "re-creation" of one of her charts she created in excel, but did not send me her original file.

After doing some research, it looks like (to me, anyway) that her Dad probably used an old version of the Heredis software to create the charts originally, using a particular set of the software's available chart options.

I sent an e-mail to Moira with this information, but have not gotten a reply from her as of this time.

Troy---

[Moira Cleary]

I want to thank all the posters here for helping me.
Greg Witmer, Timothy Lundin, David Forester, Troy Allen and others.

I still have not been able to open these chart files...but I am going to unplug and bring her computer to my house (where the internet connection is better), attempt to download this latest program advise and see if I can find out how he made these...

I do have a time frame...He died in the fall of 1999 but was still working on the charts in January 1999 and at that time he was also using Clarisworks for his word program..so that is the time frame we are talking about.\

The charts are unique because they give a full family instead of just direct line info. I have figured out how to remake one in excel and now will have to learn how to make a template..and then perhaps I can fly..

If I could figure out how to post the excel file that I recreated here then I could show you what they looked like...

but again - I'll check in from time to time and thank you very much for all your advise and help...

Moira Cleary
661-299-5184