Overview of PDPSys

PDPSys is a Windows based system specially designed for pedigree drawing and management of pedigree data. The system is easy to use and flexible providing an intuitive graphical interface for the construction of pedigrees and the entry and update of data pertaining to the pedigree as a whole and to each individual in the pedigree. Click here to view a screen shot of the main PDPSys window.

Pedigrees are constructed by drag-and-drop operations using the mouse. In each pedigree, individuals are represented by symbols and are joined by their lines of descent. An individual belonging to the pedigree is generated by simply dragging the appropriate symbol from a template (Replicator Frame) and droping it to a desired location in the drawing window. Parent-sibling and spouse relationships are established among the individuals by point and click operation with the aid of the Relation Assignment Frame. Once these are done, the horizontal and vertical lines of descent are drawn automatically. The symbols can be rearranged (drag and drop) to provide room for additional individuals, to eliminate cris-crossing of the lines of descent or simply to make the pedigree more visually appealing. Relationships can also be modified easily and when these are done the lines of descent are re-drawn accordingly to reflect the changes.

In addition to being able to add annotations, the symbol representing an individual can be pointed to by an arrow to designate the individual as a proband, can be provided with an 'slash' to indicate that the individual is deceased and/or can be filled with a pattern.