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FAQs about Personal Ancestral File (PAF) - The Answers

I presume you have clicked the box at the bottom right of the Reports and Charts window that says "Print To File".

When you click on the button to "print" the report - after previewing the file to see that it is what you are after - the file will be printed to an RTF file in the directory and file that you specify.

Now the tricky part is the fact that, you are absolutely correct, the RTF file does NOT have the index included.  This is due to the fact that each word processing program has its' own method of specifying index entries.  For instance, I use MS Word 2000 Premium.  Once my RTF file is in situ I have to go to my "insert" menu and select to insert indexes and tables.  This is, of course, after I've positioned my cursor in my RTF file where I want the index to appear.  Then all I have to do is hit the F9 key to update the index field and save the file with the index intact.  It may be that your word processing program does not recognize the index method used by PAF.  The entries are marked thusly - "{xe .....}" and should be visible if you are viewing your RTF file in print layout with hidden characters displayed.

When PAF was developed it was done so with the assumption of what Salt Lake techs thought was the most widely used word processing applications and printers.  I've had problems when physically printing reports - whether saved to RTF or straight from the print reports menu.  My primary printer is an Intellifax 4750 and it just won't print the very thin lines - less than 1.0 pt. - that are produced in PAF reports.  I did contact Salt Lake about that problem, as well, and after sending all my data down regarding my laser printer they came back with the advice that they will have to work on developing a more flexible PAF for different styles of printers and word processing programs.  Interesting!  So, it may be that there are other incompatibilities yet to be discovered as we, the users out here, add another word processor and/or printer to the mix.

Have you tried the Paf Companion?  The Descendant's Register report is produced from the PAF file information and dumped straight into an RTF file but brought up in WordPad rather than any resident default word processor.  The index to names is automatically included with the report.

Best of luck,

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