GEDCOM

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GEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is a specification for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogical systems. It was developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an aid in their extensive genealogical research. A GEDCOM file is plain text (often in ASCII in the United States although technically the standard mandates use of an obscure text encoding named ANSEL) containing records for each individual in the family tree, and data linking these records together. Most (if not all) genealogy software supports importing from and/or exporting to GEDCOM format. Additionally, many tools exist to convert GEDCOM files to HTML pages.

Contents

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GEDCOM File Structure

A GEDCOM file consists of a header section, records, and a trailer section.

Records represent people (INDI record), families (FAM records), sources of information (SOUR records), and other miscellaneous records falling into the OTHR category, most notably notes.

Every line of a GEDCOM file begins with a level number, and all top level records (the header, trailer, and each INDI, FAM, SOUR, EVEN, or OTHR) begin with a line with level 0. All other level numbers are positive integers. Although it is theoretically possible to write a GEDCOM file by hand, the format was designed to be used with software and thus is not especially human-friendly.

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Versions

The current version of the specification is GEDCOM 5.5 which was released in January, 1996. On December 6, 2002 a beta version of GEDCOM 6.0 was released for developers to study and begin to implement in their software. GEDCOM 6.0 will be the first version to store data in XML format.

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Errors

The GEDCOM standard, Release 5.5 from 2 January 1996, contains several errors. So defines this standard that a number should be written with '+' symbols between the digits, e.g. 1+9+8+5 instead of 1985 (page 46). The standards also forbids empty lines in notes (page 24, 31 and 50). Further there is a difference between the definitions for a cross-reference identifier/pointer in the grammar syntax (page 12 and 13) and in the lineage linked grammar (page 51). In the grammar syntax the enclosing @-symbols are part of the cross-reference identifier/pointer. In the lineage linked grammar they are not. (These are just some examples of the mentioned errors. This is not a complete list.)

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Software limitations

The file structure handles basic relationship information very well. However, some genealogists feel that keeping track of records and events is just as important as keeping track of relationships. GEDCOM stores these as details under the individual and family records. This makes them more difficult to organize and add further details. Another dilemma is it is not clear which record should own an event. For example, the record for adoption details could be associated with the child, the adopted parents, the birth parents, or the family of which the child becomes part.

Another perceived weakness of the GEDCOM specification is that it has not been adopted by any formal standards body and thus is still developed and controlled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some believe this fact has contributed to infrequent releases (the latest official version was released in 1996) and slow evolution of GEDCOM. Although a draft of the next version was released in 2002, further development has appeared to have stagnated.

As a result of the limitations of the GEDCOM format, some genealogy software incorporates the use of proprietary extensions to the GEDCOM format which are not always recognized by other genealogy programs.

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Example

A sample GEDCOM file. The file is easier to read if you think of the first column as an indentation level.

The header (HEAD) includes the source program and version (Reunion, V8.0), the GEDCOM version (5.5), and the character encoding (MACINTOSH).

The individual records (INDI) define Adam (ID 1—@I1@), Eve (ID 2), and Cain (ID 3).

The family record (FAM) links the husband (HUSB), wife (WIFE), and child (CHIL) by their ID numbers (note the HUSB and WIFE tags don’t preclude same-sex or unmarried couples). 

 0 HEAD 
 1 SOUR Reunion
 2 VERS V8.0
 2 CORP Leister Productions
 1 DEST Reunion
 1 DATE 11 FEB 2006
 1 FILE test
 1 GEDC 
 2 VERS 5.5
 1 CHAR MACINTOSH
 0 @I1@ INDI
 1 NAME Adam //
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMS @F1@
 1 CHAN 
 2 DATE 11 FEB 2006
 0 @I2@ INDI
 1 NAME Eve //
 1 SEX F
 1 FAMS @F1@
 1 CHAN 
 2 DATE 11 FEB 2006
 0 @I3@ INDI
 1 NAME Cain //
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMC @F1@
 1 CHAN 
 2 DATE 11 FEB 2006
 0 @F1@ FAM
 1 HUSB @I1@
 1 WIFE @I2@
 1 MARR 
 1 CHIL @I3@
 0 TRLR
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External links

fr:Norme GEDCOM he:GEDCOM nl:Gedcom pl:GEDCOM pt:GEDCOM ru:GEDCOM tr:GEDCOM

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