GEDCOM Viewer has a number of options that can be changed
to modify its behavior. These options can be accessed via the items
in the Options menu.
When GEDCOM Viewer starts, options settings are loaded
automatically from the file default.ini in the
installation folder.
When GEDCOM Viewer terminates normally, for example
via the Quit item on the File menu,
the current options settings are written to the
default.ini file.
In addition, it is possible to save the current options settings
to a file that you specify using the Save options
item of the Options menu. Only the values of options
variables that have been changed from their default values are
actually saved to this file.
Options that were previously saved to a file can be loaded into
GEDCOM Viewer using the Load options item
of the Options menu.
Selecting the Edit options item opens the
Options Editor screen.
On the left-hand side of this screen is a scrollable list of
option variables. Clicking on one of these variables causes
information about that variable to be displayed on the right-hand
side of the screen. A description of the option variable and
its possible settings are shown in the "Description" field.
Each option variable has a type, which is displayed in the
"Type" field. The current value of the variable is shown in
the "Value" field. The "Status" field indicates whether the
variable is set to its default value or whether it has been changed
from the default.
To change the value of the displayed option variable, enter the
new value in the "Value" field and press ENTER.
The "Status" field should then display "changed", indicating that
the value has been changed from the default.
New option variables can be created using the Add
button. Option variables you add will be saved to and restored
from options files just as the predefined option variables are.
In the current version of GEDCOM Viewer there is little
point in creating new option variables, because the program has
no provision for using them. This may change in later versions.
You can also delete the displayed option variable by clicking
on Delete. The selected option variable will be
removed from the list of available options. Note that although
you can permanently remove a new option variable that you have
created, it is not possible to permanently remove a predefined
option variable -- the next time the program is started any
predefined option variables that were previously deleted are
restored and revert to their default values.
The precise set of option variables that are predefined in
GEDCOM Viewer will vary, depending whether you have
any add-ons installed. The basic program has a certain set
of predefined option variables to configure its behavior.
These variables may also affect the behavior of add-ons.
In addition, each add-on will in general include other
predefined option variables specific to the functionality
of that add-on.
If you have previously installed an add-on, changed the
value of one of the option variables from its default,
and then update to a new version of GEDCOM Viewer,
that option variable and its setting will persist even if
you do not install the same add-on in the new version.
If the option variable is no longer desired, it can be
removed using the Delete button in the Options
Editor. Once the options have been saved, the variable
will remain deleted unless the add-on that defines it is
reinstalled, in which case the variable will reappear with
its default value.
The option variable LANGUAGE controls the human
language that is used in generating the text labels that
are used in the formatted information display. In addition,
the setting of this variable affects the formatting of dates
in the information display. It also affects the collating sequence
used in constructing the surname and individual index displays,
which may in turn affect the order in which the names are presented
in those displays.
The Set language item of the Options
menu provides an alternative way of setting this variable.
When this item is selected, a list of the supported languages
is presented. Choosing one of the languages immediately updates
the displayed information accordingly. For large GEDCOM files
there may be a short delay while the list of individuals is
resorted according to the new collating sequence.