My Roots (PPC)

Developer’s Description:

My Roots is the most powerful genealogy application available for Pocket PC handhelds. It lets you take your genealogy data with you wherever you go. Since handheld computers can fit in your shirt pocket or purse, they are much more convenient than a laptop or a 3-ring binder. With My Roots, you can stay organized and work more efficiently whether you’re at a courthouse, library, or family reunion.

My Roots comes with a free conversion utility(tapperware.com) for importing data from GED files created by all the best-selling desktop genealogy applications including Family Tree Maker, Legacy, PAF, and RootsMagic (see the FAQ (tapperware.com) for a complete list).

You can view and modify data right in My Roots. Once you’ve finished making changes, for example, after a trip to the research library, you can export your data to a GED file. My Roots provides many ways to view your data, including family group sheets, ancestor and descendant charts, and a relationship calculator.

Last Updates:

Several minor bug fixes – all users should install this version

OS Required: PocketPC 4.00 (aka PocketPC 2003 or Windows Mobile 2003).

Hardware Required: Hardware that supports PocketPC 4.0 or later – unknown on Smartphones (see MobileGenealogy.com’s Smartphone section for more information)/

Languages Supported: English, French, German
Limitations:My Roots Conversion Utility is set up to import at most 10,000 people (unregistered/demo creates only 20 people and imports only 50 records)
Discussion Forums/Mailing List:

Screenshots:

Other products by the same developer or compatible with this software

They also produce a Palm OS Version of My Roots (one of the few companies to produce dual versions).
MobileGenealogy.com’s product page on it can be found here
(virtually identical to this page, with the exception of the Palm/PPC differences).

Compatibility Issues

Notes on exporting from various genealogy applications to ‘My Roots’ – located here (tapperware.com)

Releases
17 Feb 2005 – version 4.01

* Several minor bug fixes – all users should install this version

1 Dec 2004 – version 4.00

* Support for Sources and Source Citations
* Graphical Relationship Calcualtor
* Unlimited number of notes up to 32k each for each person, event, or factSignificant speed improvements
* New Filtering options
* More convenient Soundex support

Other Features Listed by the Manufacturer

PC Support
My Roots comes with a free conversion utility for importing data from a GED file and exporting data to a GED file.

Easy Navigation
When looking at a person’s detailed information, you can switch to the person’s father, mother, or children in one tap. You can switch to a sibling in two taps, and it requires only one tap to edit an event or fact.

Family Group Sheet
The family group sheet screen displays all relevant family information in one place, including family events, children, and multiple spouses. You can move up or down the family tree in a single tap.

Ancestor and Descendant Charts
My Roots can display a 4-generation ancestor or descendant chart for any individual. The chart can be re-displayed for any other person in a single tap. You can also switch between ancestor and descendant charts in one tap.

Relationship Calculator
My Roots provides a graphical relationship calculator for finding relationships between blood-relatives. In addition to a textual description of the relationship (e.g., “1st Cousins twice removed”), it also shows you the people through which they are related.

Filtering
You can display a subset of your data by creating up to three simultaneous filters. For example, you could set one filter to be “surname is Jones”, another to be “birth year before 1900”, and a third to be “birth location contains Ohio”. Only people that meet all three criteria will be displayed until you cancel the filters.

Find Function
Using the built-in Find function, you can quickly locate an individual even in a very large database.

Multiple Databases
My Roots allows you to create multiple databases. This lets you divide up your data in whatever way makes sense for you.

Soundex
When editing a person’s name, the corresponding Soundex code is automatically displayed.