LifeLines Source Release, Version 2.3.6, 17 January 1994.

This is the source distribution of the LifeLines system, a genealogy
software system.  Presumably you are porting LifeLines to a new UNIX
platform.  Start by running "make" in the current directory, and if
you are lucky, you will end up with two executables in the ./bin
subdirectory:

lines -- main LifeLines system program
btedit -- general purpose btree edit program

You shouldn't use btedit unless you know exactly what it does.  Think
of it as a superuser administration tool for unmangling mangled
databases -- powerful, but deadly.  Fortunately, it will rarely, if
ever, be needed.

If you are not lucky you will have to experiment until you get
something that works.  The code is standard C, and has been compiled
successfully by a number of compilers on a number of systems.  There
are no platform or system dependent #ifdef's in LifeLines.  I would
appreciate hearing from you if you have any compiler problems; when
you do I will change the master source code to accommodate your
compiler.

LifeLines uses curses; this may be a source of some consternation if
your system doesn't have a standard version of this library.  Public
domain versions of curses are available; try looking for sites that
archive Linux or FSF source code.  LifeLines also uses the panels
package, and a slightly modified version of the Linux public domain
version of panels (in the files "panels.c" and "panels.h") is
included.  I am the author of all other code (although the yacc.c file
in the ./interp subdirectory has been pre-processed by yacc).  I retain
all rights to the code that I wrote.

LifeLines makes heavy use of dynamic memory allocation.  If your UNIX
system provides more than one "malloc" library package, you should
try building LifeLines with each one, and then select the version that
runs most efficiently.  But this will probably not be an issue until
your databases get large (say over 10,000 persons).

If you find and fix bugs I want to hear about it.  Please send me the
affected files and a description of what you did.  If I agree with
your changes, I will incorporate them into the next official release.

There is a reference guide to using LifeLines in ./docs/quickref.

Questions?  You can write me, call me or e-mail me:

Thomas T. Wetmore IV
2 Barton Street
Newburyport, MA 01950 U.S.A.
508-465-3220
ttw@petrel.att.com
