Views - Geo View

This view shows locations of events on a map.

Installation

GeoView is an extension to the GenJ core and has to be downloaded separately (filename: genj_geo-x.y.zip). The extension contains maps and components for representing the geographic information contained in a Gedcom file. To install, unzip the archive into the GenJ installation directory while preserving the contained sub-directory structure.

Usage

To open GeoView select the little earth-symbol in Control Centers toolbar (only available after installation - see note above). This will open a window containing a map in the main area.

GenJ will automatically try to find all places and addresses in the respective Gedcom file - resolving them to latitude/longitude. All locations are listed on the right. If coordinates were found successfully, those locations are also represented on the clickable map.

NOTE: GeoView relies on a server-side component for resolving locations to latitude/longitude. Connectivity and service limitations apply! (see below)

If the name of a location on the right is followed by latitude/longitude as well as a questionmark (?) then more than one matching city or town was found. Select the location on the right and click "Change" below to review and pick the desired match.

If a location is marked as "Unknown" then no respective city or town was found. Again select the location on the right and click "Change" below. Trying different variations/spellings of the city or town provided might resolve to a suitable match. A click on "Remember" will remember the latitude/longitude for the current location.

The locations can be selected, associated events are grouped below (unfold with '+'). By (double)clicking on events the current focus of other views is updated to show this event accordingly.

How locations in the Gedcom file are analyzed

GeoView creates a location for every event in the Gedcom file that has an associated place (PLAC) or address (ADDR) - only the first is used. Two locations are considered to be different if the sequence of jurisdictions is different. The following excerpt shows Gedcom information that is not treated as the same:

 1 BIRT
 2 PLAC Rendsburg
 => Rendsburg
 1 BIRT
 2 PLAC Rendsburg, Schleswig Holstein
 => Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein
 1 BIRT
 2 PLAC Rendsburg, Germany
  => Rendsburg, Germany 
 1 BIRT
 2 ADDR
 3 CITY Rendsburg
 3 CTRY Deutschland
  => Rendsburg, Deutschland 

Technical Limitations

GeoView talks to a server-side component to resolve locations' latitude/longitude. This requires that the computer is connected to the internet (online) and no firewall restrictions limit outgoing HTTP connections. If the computer is behind a firewall-proxy, open the application options (Control Center|Views|Options) and enter the proxy's hostname:port to use. Check the toolbar for more information at runtime.

Matched locations are cached locally. Select locations individually on the right and click "Change" to re-match already resolved locations.

Toolbar

  1. choose currently displayed map
  2. zoom to map extend
  3. activate zoom tool
  4. resolve locations (green - all locations matched, yellow - some locations matched, red - connection problems), hover mouse for more information
  5. close view

More Information regarding Geoview

More Tips and Tricks regarding getting maps and customizing them can be found in the User FAQ
The forum also contains valuable information - it can be searched here for keyword "GeoView".