Pedigree Software Review

Part 2

by Karen Lawrence and Gary Schleicher

Reprinted with permission, Cat Fanciers' Almanac, December 1996

Jump to summary of all programs reviewed

Okay, now that we have you thoroughly saturated with choices, let's move on to the more feature laden (or is that feature rich ) packages. The reviews this month will highlight packages that address more than just pedigrees. Some of you may want to fully automate your recordkeeping, others may want to track show information such as wins and/or points. Depending upon your needs, you may want to invest in a full blown cattery management package.

If not, some of the vendors reviewed have modules that you can buy seperately from the pedigree package. A very important question to ask when taking the modular approach : "How tightly integrated is the module with the pedigree database?" In other words, do you have to re-enter data or does the package pull the data from the pedigree files? An example of this would be owning two modules: the pedigree module and a show entry module. Your goal is to print out show entry forms. Do you have to enter the cat or breeder information in the show module? If so, this will cause a lot of re-keying time for you.

Remember, pedigree packages should be treated as you would a package from Microsoft or any other large company. They should not be copied and freely distributed. This is a blatant violation of copyright law, in other words, stealing. If after receiving the software and reading the license, you have any doubts that you can abide by the license, return the software immediately before opening the disk package. Once opened, you may not be able to get a refund.

Which package is right for your cattery depends on how you answered the questions from last month's article. We can't emphasize strongly enough that you , the breeder, are responsible for doing your homework prior to purchasing a program. This is the best way to ensure a happy experience when purchasing and using the software.

CatTrax

The user interface (screens) tends to be confusing at first due to the high number of "menu buttons" presented at one time. After the initial setup, you will settle on a very few options to get down to business. Pedigree entry is very easy once you enter a "boilerplate" record. You can also speed entry of entire litters with a duplicate function. One function in the interface that does not work correctly is the lookup box function used to view cat's names and make choices. When the box is initially displayed, the cursor is not in the entry field which forces the user (breeder) to position the mouse on this field and click. While this seems inconsequential, it can be annoying when entering a large number of pedigrees and having to stop for this multiple times on each one.

Many reports are available including the ability to print pre-filled show entry forms in multiple associations (for those who show in more than one). The CFA entry form is a time saver, especially when you are entering more than one show at a time. Other reports include ancestors, siblings, children from a specified cat, sales and breeding agreements.

One of the key features to CATTRAX is the ease in which pedigrees can be customized. Several user defined fields can be utilized to track information useful to the individual breeder. Pedigrees can be produced for up to six (6) generations although space is tight on a five generation pedigree printed in landscape mode when you have cats that have long names and multiple titles (such as GRC, NW…..DM). Graphic borders can be printed to enhance the appearance of the pedigree if you feel so inclined. The user (breeder) can also define what information is printed for each generation of the pedigree. For example, you may want the birthdate printed on the most recent generation, but not on subsequent generations.

Data import/export to and from other programs is fairly extensive (including most programs mentioned in the reviews) and easily done. Pedigree data is valuable to all breeders and should belong to those who do the work and shared with others. After all, knowledge is power and the more knowledge breeders have, the more future generations of cats and fanciers will benefit. Product support is outstanding. The developer, Robert Smith (aka "Smitty"), is available at hours which most software companies are closed including weekends and will go to great lengths to ensure a positive experience with the product.

If you are looking for a basic pedigree entry package only, In-Touch offers SPEEDY PEDIGREE. It's an alternative program for those interested in printing pedigrees only, rather than keeping full cattery records. We haven't seen it in action, so can't offer an opinion on it or compare it to CATTRAX. Another product of interest from In-Touch is a show points tracking package called POINTTRAX. This can be useful if you are campaigning a cat or showing several cats simultaneously. A welcome addition would be to allow a user to send the points totals for a cat back to the CATTRAX record if the user has CATTRAX.

As we are all aware, technology is racing ahead at a tremendous pace. This accelerated pace is difficult, if not almost impossible for software developers to keep pace with. That said, CATTRAX is a little on the dated side and could use an update to both interface and database technologies, but still remains one of the premier pedigree systems available. A new, updated version has been promised, but as of yet is not available.

CompuPed

Installation is relatively simple, with just a bit of computer knowledge required to get the program up and running. The installation program is on the distribution disk that you receive after ordering the program. Also on this disk is a small program that moves a file onto your hard drive to check for authenticity of your program, which also allows the program to run without a "key-disk".

Once installed, you will find that the user interface is quite straight forward and easy to use. Help is also available by pressing the F1 key at any point of the program. With this program, it is possible to work with more than one breed file, as well as different type of animals, like dogs for example. There is a maximum of 65,000 files, which should not hinder the average user. COMPUPED supports most printers and also allows customization of printer control codes. COMPUPED allows you to look at reverse pedigrees, study sex links of a cat, inbreeding coefficients, do a gene search, print out a descendent/ancestor report and print out a five generation pedigree on a single sheet of paper. You can also display up to a 32 generation pedigree on your screen. The free form notes editor will allow you to enter up to 3,000 lines of information per cat.

Purchasing COMPUPED will allow you to install the program on two personal computers for your use, as long as you don't allow someone else to use the program on the second computer while you are using it on the first. A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions, with answers) is on the web site for this program, and is quite comprehensive.

COMPUPED users have the option of purchasing a pre-loaded breed database. These files are considered to be copyrighted and will be keyed to use with the individual's copy of the program. It should be noted that the information contained in these "breed files" has been gathered from various other COMPUPED users over the years and cannot be guaranteed to be accurate.

We found the biggest drawback to using this program is that there is no "import" feature nor a feature for the end user to combine data from two COMPUPED databases, nor one to allow them to export their data for other users to use. RCI Consulting will merge pedigree files for a fee. A knowledgeable computer user might be able to use the "report writer" to create an export file of sorts for import into other programs. Lack of these features certainly hinders the sharing of pedigree information among linechasers, but it should be noted that many other programs include data conversion routines that will convert COMPUPED files.

This article has, hopefully, offered some insight into the programs on the market. Other programs, such as PET CARE, are also available but they are so overly-simplified that we chose not to include them. . In conclusion, we can only reiterate what was said in our opening paragraph in the November issue - it's your personal requirements that will determine which of these fine programs you choose

Summary of all Programs Reviewed

Users of the program PEDIGREE ( you can downoad a demo copy with a 200 record limit ) have a distinct advantage when it comes to placing pedigrees online. By choosing the visual pedigree display choice as ascii, and with the aid of a nifty little utility program that can redirect information from a printer to a disk file when using the PRINT SCREEN key, a 3 generation visual pedigree can be saved in a format that will allow it to be used on your web site with the <pre></pre> tag, but in a format so that it actually resembles a pedigree printout. The following is a sample of a pedigree:

                                                         
        VISUAL PEDIGREE - PEDIGREE Version 3.12  (c) 1996 Ruskat Cattery         
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+  
 |                          +----<3>GC ABYDOS PHOENIX DM                     |  
 |                          |       0382-002662 RED 09/09/1979               |  
 |      +-------<1>GC/NW QUIN-JO'S RED 'N REDDY                              |  
 |      |SIRE:     0382-258087 RED 11/04/1984                                |  
 |      |                   |       CH QUIN-JO'S ROSITA                      |  
 |      |                   +----<4>0383-199243 RED                          |  
 | GP/RW TAILSEND SYNIAN (7th Best Cat Great Lakes Region 1990-1991          |  
 | 0382-537372 RED 02/25/1989                                                |  
 | (M)  |                   +----<5>CH TAILSEND TA-LEE-HO                    |  
 |      |                   |       0380-141969 RUDDY 10/08/1982             |  
 |      |DAM:      CH TAILSEND TOUCH OF CLASS                                |  
 |      +-------<2>0383-422088 RED                                           |  
 |                          |       TAILSEND SUSSUDIO                        |  
 |                          +----<6>0381-276018 RUDDY 07/15/1985             |  
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+  
CH=Champion GC= Grand Champion GP=Grand Premier RW=Regional Winner

 

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