Shirt a Phobia

Sample Page

Family.Show is free and open-source genealogy software for Microsoft Windows. It was originally developed for Microsoft by Vertigo Software as a reference application for Windows Presentation Foundation and ClickOnce, and was released in 2007.[4][5]

The application was intended primarily as a technology sample rather than a full-featured genealogy product.[6] The source code was originally published on CodePlex and later forked on GitHub, where independent development continued.[7][8]

History

Microsoft commissioned Family.Show from Vertigo Software as a demonstration of Windows Presentation Foundation interface design and ClickOnce deployment.[4][5] Technology writers covered the release as an example of a polished WPF reference application rather than as a conventional commercial genealogy package.[9][10]

Version 3.0 was released in 2009 as Microsoft’s WPF reference application.[5] Later development continued outside Microsoft through a GitHub fork. Version V4.0, released on 15 December 2023, updated the application for .NET 8.0.[3]

Features

Family.Show provides a graphical family-tree editor with support for entering people and relationships, adding photographs, writing rich-text stories, and viewing a tree diagram with panning, zooming, and a time-slider control.[11] It also included family statistics such as surname clouds, birthday lists, and age-distribution charts.[11]

The program had partial support for GEDCOM 5.5 and was limited compared with dedicated genealogy applications. Contemporary coverage noted limitations including single birth and death events per person and limited handling of approximate dates.[11][6]

File format

Family.Show stores family data, stories, and photographs in a package file using the extension .familyx.[12] The format uses the Open Packaging Conventions model used by Microsoft application formats.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ “XAML-Based Tools Help Custom Development Shop Speed Delivery, Focus on User Experience”. Microsoft Customer Stories. Archived from the original on 11 July 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  2. ^ “Family.Show Version 1 was released in April in preparation for the MIX 07 conference”. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b “Family.Show V4.0”. GitHub. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  4. ^ a b Sneath, Tim (17 July 2007). “Announcing Family.Show 2.0”. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on 19 July 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  5. ^ a b c Sneath, Tim (23 February 2009). “Announcing Family.Show v3 – Our WPF Reference Application”. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  6. ^ a b “Family.Show”. Vertigo Software. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  7. ^ “Family.Show – CodePlex Archive”. CodePlex Archive. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  8. ^ “fredatgithub/FamilyShow”. GitHub. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  9. ^ Reimer, Jeremy (1 May 2007). “Amateur Genealogists: take note of Family.Show”. Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  10. ^ Anderson, Tim (1 May 2007). “Family.Show – an excellent WPF demo app”. Tim Anderson’s IT Writing. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  11. ^ a b c Tucker, Mark (19 July 2007). “Microsoft sample showcases new technology, innovation in genealogy software”. ThinkGenealogy. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  12. ^ “Family.Show – Release: FamilyShow 3.0”. CodePlex. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  13. ^ “Structure of *.familyx files”. CodePlex. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2026.