* FH running on Wine

[gerrynuk]

Has anyone managed to install FH5 using Wine on a Mac computer?

I have followed the instructions for installing on a Linux system but still cannot get past the FH Licence Key page. The Linux instructions were meant to overcome this problem but I wonder if there are additional issues on the Mac. By the way I am now running Mavericks so that may also be an issue.

Gerry

[Valkrider]

Gerry

I couldn't get it running on Mountain Lion (probably my lack of knowledge about Wine) and so gave up and went with Virtual Box and a copy of Windows XP. I upgraded to Mavericks yesterday (mistake several bits of s/w don't run under Mavericks ) I am going to have another go next week to see if I can get it running and will post back if I succeed.

[gerrynuk]

Hi Colin,

Interestingly I did get the Demo version up and running OK so I suspect the problem should be easily solvable!

Will be interested to hear how you get on.

Gerry

[Johnniebosh]

Hi - and seasonal greetings

I am running Ubuntu 12.04 having tired of the virii associated with all the windows - many and various - I have used since the mid '90's. I installed 'WINE' and then tried to install the demo v5 - repeatedly - only to be told that

Archive: /tmp/install_fh5.0.7_dl-1.exe
[/tmp/install_fh5.0.7_dl-1.exe]
End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
the last disk(s) of this archive.
zipinfo: cannot find zipfile directory in one of /tmp/install_fh5.0.7_dl-1.exe or
/tmp/install_fh5.0.7_dl-1.exe.zip, and cannot find /tmp/install_fh5.0.7_dl-1.exe.ZIP, period.

Any-one any ideas for a work around?

John

[tatewise]

The topic Version for Linux operating System (10898) can be found among others by entering Linux Wine in the Search top right.
That topic suggests that Peter Badham has installed OK with an almost identical configuration.
You could E-mail him directly by clicking on his name in the profile on the left.

[Valkrider]

An update on this.

I could not get FH v5 to install using Wine Bottler. It got halfway through the Wine creation process and then started the FH installer. It shouldn't do this it should only start the installer when told to after the first stage of creation has completed. I have spent several hours trying to resolve this unsuccessfully.

However as a last gasp attempt I tried Crossover (free trial) and it packaged the installer properly and installed it and it runs fine. As Wine is the underlying technology that Crossover uses it must be possible to get it running under Wine Bottler. I will keep at it but in the interim if anyone is desperate for it now then you can use Crossover.

[tatewise]

Yes, Crossover is the paid for & supported version, whereas Wine is the free unsupported version.

Has anyone contacted Peter Badham by E-mail as I suggested above, because he claims to have installed FH V5 in Wine satisfactorily.

Simon Orde of Calico Pie is aware of the issues and last year in response to a support request said:

I completely agree that it is very desirable that FH should run smoothly under Wine. We have in fact recently been contacted by 2 other people about this and are in the process of investigating some of the known problems - and in particular the problem that text doesn't appear in reports in V5. That has taken longer than we had originally hoped, but we will persevere.

Once it is understood what tips & tricks are needed to get FH V5 and Wine working together, I am happy to co-ordinate the information into Knowledge Base pages.

[Valkrider]

Mike

I have emailed Peter. He got it running on Linux rather than a MAC. I will wait and see if he has any suggestions.

I am not so worried about the printing at the moment as I still have a PC and only want to run it on my MacBook Air which I use as my laptop of choice. Hopefully the printing will be sorted as when this PC is past its sell by date I will be going to a Mac desktop too.

Should I get it running under Wine I will help to get the Knowledge Base article written up

[Peter Badham]

I am posting this reply to Colin so that all can see.

My knowledge of Mac systems is limited but as I understand it Wine Bottler is a version of Wine tailored for the Mac OS and I guess it needs some one with knowledge of that Bottler- Mac pairing to answer your question, I am sorry it is beyond me! I can only say that on my Ubuntu system running the FH install package V5 from Wine worked but with the issues I mentioned. I mainly value FH for it's diagramatic flexibilty and the way these interface with the person records and so far I haven't come accross any other problems with the facilities I use. I am running a 32bit install of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on an Intel Core 3 Duo board.

I am pleased to see that Simon Orde and his colleagues are still on the case.

[Valkrider]

I have given up on Wine & Wine Bottler, I just couldn't get FH to package. I have however bought the commercial version of Wine called Crossover. This packaged V5 flawlessly and it runs fine on my MACBook Air.

The last challenge is getting plugins to run. Has anyone had any success with this as I will be lost without Ancestral Sources and Find Duplicate Individuals?

[Valkrider]

An update.

A lot of plugins won't run even though they install

They will not install as part of the download process but must be imported. I will pull together a list of those that work and those that don't for inclusion in the Wiki.

Ancestral Sources will not work as a plugin BUT it can be 'bottled' in Crossover as a separate application and it runs and can be pointed at the FH gedcom.

Find Duplicate individuals is one of the ones that won't run. The error message is

"attempt to concatenate global 'StrComputerName' (a nil value). No changes have been made to data records."

This appears to be a shortcoming of the 'bottler' application.

[tatewise]

That is great feedback Colin, and certainly makes the beginnings of a [kb]|[/kb] page.
However, a little explanation may aid understanding...

Application Programs.
It is a common misconception that Ancestral Sources is a Plugin.
In fact it is an application program just like Family Historian itself.
The clue is that its download file is a .exe application installation file.
Therefore it must be bottled and installed in Crossover.

Plugins, Queries, Facts Sets, etc.
As you say, these are imported not installed into FH via the File > Import/Export > Import options.
They are mostly plain text files, but with unusual file types such as .fh_lua, .fhq, .fhf, etc.
Their Type description should always be Family Historian ... something i.e. PlugIn (Lua), Query, Fact Set, etc.
Double-clicking or downloading such files should automatically import them into FH.
(In the same way that double-clicking a .pdf flle automatically opens Adobe Reader).

At the risk of complicating things, there are Plugins associated with Ancestral Sources that may be imported into FH and act as a shortcut to invoke Ancestral Sources with some preset options.
i.e.
Ancestral Sources Data Entry (temporarily being updated so not listed in Plugin Store)
Ancestral Sources Baptism Entry
Ancestral Sources for Census Entry

Auto-Importing
Is it only Plugins that will NOT auto-import by double-clicking or downloading?

In the thread Change properties tabs (11059) you have been importing Facts Sets and Property Box Tabs.
Did these auto-import by double-clicking or downloading, or did you have to use the FH Import commands?

Could you try and download any Query from fhugdownloads:queries|> Downloads & Links ~ Queries to see if it auto-imports.

If it is only Plugins that have the problem, then that would appear to be a Crossover file association issue.

The Plugins that you have reported as not working need further investigation.

[Valkrider]

Mike

At the moment I use a desktop PC for most of my genealogy research and it is that install that I was using for the other thread. I also have a Mac Book Air that I use as my laptop and it is on that I am trying to get FH running on. At some stage when I have it all sorted on the Air I will probably look to replace my desktop with an iMac. So at the moment the laptop does not get much use with FH but hopefully that will change as I do use it at my monthly genealogical society meetings.

Sorry about the confusion I may have caused over the Ancestral Sources piece, I had forgotten that it is a separate install (the exe extension should have told me doh ) as of course I use the Ancestral Sources Data Entry plugin to call AS from FH and so the fact that it is a separate programme was forgotten due to the apparent integration. I look forward to Ancestral Sources Data Entry being available again so that I can try it on the Mac.

I will try importing a couple of queries and provide an update.

At the moment my thinking (with not a lot of knowledge) is that the plugins that don't work pop the individual select box onto the screen as the first thing that they do on running whereas the ones that work don't pop this dialog. This may be a red herring and needs more testing to confirm.

Does the error message on the non-working plugins mean anything to you?

I have updated the Crossover part of the Knowledge Base with my findings to date.

[Valkrider]

I have added the custom query Census by year ancestors 2 and this runs perfectly. I have also run several of the standard queries without issue. So it looks like it is just some plugins that cause a problem.

[tatewise]

Colin, I am interested in TWO problems:

(1) Auto-Importing
You said, "I have added the custom query ...", but what is important is how you added it.

Did you simply download it from the FHUG and let FH automatically import the Query .fhq file?
OR
Did you download and Save the .fhq file and then double-click that file to auto-import the Query?
OR
Did you have to use the FH File > Import/Export > Import > Query... command?

I would be extremely surprised if any Query, or any other import, does not work OK, with the exception of Plugins.

(2) Plugins Not Working
Plugins are more complex than any other imported item, and are written in a language called Lua.
They rely on a software package bundled & bottled with FH called the Lua interpreter.

The error message you reported refers to a Plugin global variable StrComputerName.
This is obtained from the Lua interpreter using os.getenv("COMPUTERNAME").
( It supplies a nil value if the named variable is undefined, and this causes the error. )
This in turn is obtained from the Windows/DOS environment variable COMPUTERNAME.
On a PC that Computer name is shown by Start > Control Panel > System near the bottom.

So, it seems Crossover is not supporting that COMPUTERNAME environment variable in a Windows compatible way recognised by the Lua interpreter resulting in anil value.

Mostly, the Plugins that you say work OK, do NOT use os.getenv("COMPUTERNAME") and those that fail do use it.
However, you say Search and Replace works OK, but its latest V2.0 does use os.getenv("COMPUTERNAME") and should fail, whereas the earlier V1.7 does NOT use it and should therefore work.
Which version of Search and Replace are you running?

[Valkrider]

Mike

(1) Auto Importing

As the plugins wouldn't auto-install I didn't bother to try the queries with auto-install I just went straight to the FH File > Import/Export > Import > Query... command?

(2) Plugins Not Working

Thanks for the explanation of what is causing the error I will pass it on to the Crossover authors and see what they say.

Yes it is Search and Replace v1.7 that I am using the same one that I am running on the windows PC. So I suspect that it therefore confirms your fault finding diagnosis.

I have raised a ticket with the Crossover authors on this.

I have edited the Knowledgebase to remove the references to Ancestral Sources.

[tatewise]

OK, that all fits, and once confirmed I was going to suggest you report the COMPUTERNAME problem to Crossover, so you read my mind.

Colin, could you try using the download and double-click auto-import methods for a Query, and perhaps one or two other types of FHUG download.
That would confirm whether the file association problem applies to all importable file types or just Plugins.
It would be useful extra information for a Crossover FHUG KB page and also to report to Crossover.

P.S. I cannot see any change in the Crossover User Comments regarding Ancestral Sources.

[Valkrider]

Mike

I have tried a couple more queries and they do load with a download and open with fine exactly as on Windows.

I have tried a couple more plugins and cannot get them to open in Family Historian. I will do some more playing with this as it may just be a file association issue.

I meant that I have removed all comments about Ancestral Sources from the article on the Knowledge Base about Crossover. Once I do some more testing of Ancestral Sources I will update the page again appropriately.

[tatewise]

That is all good.
It would be useful to try auto-import for some other FHUG download data types such as Diagram Types, Report Types, Fact Sets, Property Box Tabs, etc.
Mostly they have traditional three character file types .fhd, .fhr, .fhf but Property Box Tabs have .fhpbt and Plugins have .fh_lua that are a little unusual.

[Valkrider]

Mike

I have done a bit more testing today but need to do some more.

Custom diagrams download and install properly from the links in the Knowledge Base and the normal Open With dialog (auto-import).

Charts seem to be a problem they download and install correctly as above. They run but only show multimedia items no text. I need to do some more testing of Charts in general.

Fact Sets and Propery Box tabs download and install correctly from the link as above. I need to do some more testing of the functionality of these though.

So it just looks like it is plugins that won't install from Open With. More testing to do here too.

Still not heard back from Codeweavers about Crossover.

[tatewise]

When you download a Plugin try using Save instead of Open With.
Then double-click the Plugin .fh_lua file to see if it will auto-import.

If both Save and Open With fail, then it is almost certainly a File Association problem in Crossover that only affects .fh_lua files.

There was a similar problem with early versions of FH V5 as mentioned in Property Box Tab double-click does not Import (9825) but that was fixed long ago.

If it is only Open With that fails, then the problem may be Internet browser related.

A couple of years ago there were problems with FH V4 and Wine not rendering text in Charts correctly as reported in V4 success with Ubuntu Linux and Wine (9257), but it all seemed to get resolved.

[Valkrider]

Mike

I can't find a way to set the default application to a Crossover application on the MAC however I have managed to do the file association in Firefox and now Open With works fine and the plugins now install rather than having to import them. They still won't run though as expected.

I had v5.07 installed on the MAC and have performed a flawless upgrade to v5.09 from the website download

I have found a couple of issues though, make sure FH is not accessing the same Gedcom file if you are running Ancestral Sources. Returning from Ancestral Sources after a Census update (only record type checked so far) the usual dialog box about the changed file pops up BUT will not close and you can't do anything else in FH so you have to Force Quit it.

Not unexpectedly the FH PDF printer doesn't work.

I won't have any more time today to do any more so I will report back tomorrow with anything else.

[Valkrider]

Mike

Great news I have had an email from Codeweavers about resolving the issue with the plugins not running. It is an easy fix and just requires editing of one file.

I have made the edit and all the non-working plugins are now working. I will document what is required and add it to the knowledgebase.

All I now have to sort out is the printing and display of the charts.

[tatewise]

That is indeed good news.

I have created how_to:install_family_historian_with_crossover_wine|> How to Install Family Historian with Crossover and Wine.
It is linked to the how_to:family_historian_on_imac_ipad_android_etc|> Family Historian on iMac, iPad, Android, etc page, and both the Crossover and the Wine pages.

Feel free to add whatever you discover.

[Valkrider]

Mike,

Thanks for the work you have done on that section so far. I will do some screenshots of the tweaks necessary and update it.