Throwback Thursdays: PAF 1.0 in 1986

For today’s throwback, we are going back to 1986, and taking a look at a review for Personal Ancestral File 1.0 in a newsletter for the DECUS US Chapters SIG for the US, specifically the March 1986 edition, Volume 1, Number 7. I’d link to it on Archive.org, but the Internet Archive has been down all day (else this would have been posted earlier), so here’s an alternate link at bitsavers.org: (go easy on them, they don’t have the bandwidth that the IA has, and this newsletter was cut off on the side).

https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/decus/DECUS_SIG_Newsletters/DECUS_US_Chapters_SIG_Newsletters_V01_N07_Mar1986.pdf

DECUS was the “Digital Equipment Computer Users’ Society”, an independent users group for those using computers from DEC, and obviously the US Chapters SIG was the Special Interest Group(s) for the US. The group is still around, and even updated their site less than a month ago (https://eisner.decus.org).

In a nutshell, these kinds of Xeroxed newsletters were an important way for a lot of genealogists in the 80s and into the 1990s to hear about and read about genealogy software. Yes, Genealogical Computing, the magazine existed (it had been going strong for nearly 5 years at this point) and it always had reviews, but I’m not sure what it’s distribution numbers were – it’s been hard for me to find copies over the years from the early 80s, so I have a feeling it’s early print runs were small.

So Personal Ancestral File 1.0 had been released three years prior to when the review was written, and PAF 1.0 had no standardized way to exchange data with non-PAF users. GEDCOM 1.0 was proposed after PAF 1.0 was released, and GEDCOM 2.0 was released about 3-4 months before.

Note: If you have a copy of PAF 1.0 (or 2.0) I would love to see it/try it out.

Now why would somebody be using PAF 1.0 in 1986 when the much-improved 2.0 was being released later in the year (at least I believe it was released after March – if you have direct knowledge of PAF 1.0 and 2.0, please contact me). Well, from what I’ve read, and this review backs it up, PAF 1.0 was written in BASIC, and the person writing this review was using a DEC Rainbow 100 microcomputer (as a personal computer).

What is a DEC Rainbow 100 and why have you never heard of it? It was a computer by the afore-mentioned Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) that was released in 1982 and it ultimately failed to compete with IBM PCs and IBM clones, but it was unique. It came with two CPUs (not many dual-CPU boxes back then) – an 8088 Intel CPU (a whopping 4.81 MHz), and a Zilog Z80 (software-compatible, but better performance). It did so because DEC released this as both a stand-alone computer, and also as a terminal to interact with DEC’s VAX mainframes in VT-100 mode, and could run 8-bit CP/M (Zilog) and 16-bit CP/M-86 or MS-DOS (Intel). The review of PAF 1.0 mentions that several people (programmers) were licensed to create versions to run on this computer. I’m guessing they created versions for CP/M-86 (a rival operating system to Microsoft’s MS-DOS) or maybe even for the lesser 8-bit CP/M (doubtful, it’s memory constraints would have made a user of PAF miserable).

Speaking of memory, one interesting thing about the DEC Rainbow 100s is that unlike IBM PCs/clones, the Rainbows were not limited to 640 KB of RAM (memory), and actually had a limit of over 800 KB. That could mean they were able to run PAF faster (load more into memory and not have to check floppies as often), or at least have more records in memory.

So how (and why) did somebody create a version of PAF for these computers? Because PAF 1.0 would not have run on CP/M natively – there was only an MS-DOS version available in 1983. BUT PAF 1.0 was written in BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) and it’s a high-level language (while also being easy to read/write in) so if you had the BASIC code for the MS-DOS version, and you had a license, you could make some changes and get it up and running on other platforms at the time (but you had to be familiar with not only BASIC, but the OS and the hardware). The reviewer mentions some bugs in the port of PAF to the DEC, so my guess is that it was for CP/M-86.

To me, as somebody interested in the history of genealogy software, this is interesting as it’s a port of PAF 1.0 that I’ve never heard of. PAF 2.0 was written in C, which boosted performance a great deal over the 1.0 BASIC version (and made file i/o easier, which made file sharing easier) and while PAF 1.0 was planned for Apple II and TRS-80 computers in addition to IBM PC/MS-DOS systems, I don’t believe those ports ever happened. With PAF 2.0, it was ported to Apple II and CP/M – ironically the author of the review could probably order it without needing it modified by a programmer.

Just imagine here in 2024 if you had the source code to a popular genealogy program….okay, that’s a bad example because there’s Gramps (link) and other open-source genealogy programs that allow you to download, access and modify the code to suite your needs for any platform that might be able to handle it. But in the 80s, you had a few ways of getting genealogy software – getting the right version on floppy for the right hardware/OS, getting a copy of a genealogy program’s source code written in BASIC or C and then porting it (or paying somebody to), or typing it in from a magazine. At this point in the 80s, they would not have been typing in such a complex program from a magazine, but in 1979-1981, there were simple genealogy programs published in magazines.

On a side note, I actually have a physical copy of the “Computer Genealogy” book mentioned below, and it’s a fascinating glimpse into the use of person computers and genealogy in the early years.

On to the review:

PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE

by Arthur McClinton, Sr.

Maurertown, VA

The person doing family research as well as the professional genealogist find research familial antecedents to be interesting and fun. However, the paper work becomes tedious and time consuming. Compiling and sorting data, creating graphics, and word processing overshadow the fun of detective work. The computer has provided drastic changes in our record keeping and access methods in many areas, including genealogy, with the result that recordkeeping tasks are much easier.

There are a number of genealogy programs available to personal computer owners. This article presents a brief review of one popular program, The Personal Ancestral File, V. 1.0, which is published by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. As with many programs, it is meant for the IBM PC, but the Mormon Church has licensed several individuals to create versions which run on the Rainbow.

The version that I have been using to file and access our family data was modified by Peter Hughes of Salt Lake City. As Mr. Hughes stated, it does have a few bugs which he is working to removeHe has promised to provide me with a revised copy when the work is completed.

The original program was written to satisfy the needs of Mormon church members, but the program is not limited to that market.

Personal Ancestral File is a lineage-linked genealogical program which requires 256K in the Rainbow. It provides the capability to record genealogical data for each ancestor including vital statistics, historical information, and source notes. It will group families to link related individuals together.

The system helps in the search of pedigree lines and displays or prints lists of information–such as individual names in alphabetic order in the order of system assigned record numbers.

The software package also contains a separate program called a data sort utility which assists in managing research notes. With this program one can document the source used, listing where it was found, its contents, and so on. It can search, sort, and print the information by event, place, date, name of person, or relationship to others.

Data is stored on diskettes, thus permitting an unlimited number of names (with data) to be entered in the files. The lineage-linked data and data sort utility research data are stored on separate diskettes.

The documentation on Personal Ancestral Files is one of, if not the best, I have used. It is clear, concise, complete, and supported with an excellent inndex. the author obviously was highly motivated to have well informed readers.

I talked to Peter Hughes in the latter part of December concerning the status of his work and about the procedure to follow to obtain a copy of his program. He supplies the program to anyone who requests it, but you must send two Rainbow diskettes, plus shipping and handling costs. He didn’t make a suggestion about how much they were, so let your conscience be your guide. It cost him $2.50 to send the diskettes to me by UPS His address. is:

Peter Hughes
Salt Lake City, UT 84118

(801) XXX-XXXXX

(GenealogySoftware.net note: I omitted the address as well as the one below)

Since he does not provide documentation, he requests that you order the Personal Ancestral software from:

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints Salt Lake Distribution Center
Salt Lake City, UT 84104

Send $35, which includes the postage and handling charges. This provides you with documentation for the package, and six IBM PC diskettes.

Although our use of Personal Ancestral File has not been exhaustive, it has been adequate to show the value of the program. It promises a lot of capability for genealogy. For more information on this book, and other genealogy programs, you may want to read the book, Computer Genealogy, by Paul A. Andereck and Richard A. Pence.