Gedcom

The word Gedcom designates a genealogical data exchange format.

It was originally developed by the Mormon Church for religious reasons, then retrieved by genealogists to exchange genealogical data between people runnning their genealogy applications on incompatible computer systems.

So Gedcom is a kind of genealogical language.

The word Gedcom, which is an acronym for Genealogical data communication, is spelled like an acronym: GEDCOM. By metonymic derivation, the word also designates a genealogy file in Gedcom format. The xxxxx.ged file you are working on within Ancestris is a Gedcom.

Since the mid-1990s, with the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of digital exchanges, the Gedcom specification has gradually become an essential standard for most genealogy software and sites.

However, while most of them can export in Gedcom format, some of them do not stricktly respect the Gedcom format and make some adaptations by adding proprietary structures or using existing ones for different meanings. In some cases, proprietary data structures cannot be properly converted to the gedcom format and some data might simply not exported.

Ancestris is fully Gedcom compatible (version 5.5 and 5.5.1). As a user, you may secure reliable and complete genealogy files, without risk of data loss, and share or transmit them with anymone.

Characteristics of a Gedcom file

A Gedcom file is a text file, i.e. a file containing human readable lines of text, that can be opened and edited using any text editor, such as Notepad, Kate, Kwrite, Gedit, etc. Its extension name is "*.ged".

As a result, such a file can be used *as is* by any genealogy software, installed under any operating system, without any conversion need.

Each line of text starts with a number and a label. The label is called a "tag". This tag is made up of three or four capital letters. It defines the type of information that follows on the line.

• For example, the tag PLAC (= place) always indicates that the text that follows this tag is a place (such as place of birth, place of death, place of a ceremony, etc.)

Records of a Gedcom file

A Gedcom file contains a set of records. A record is a group of text lines, the first one of which starts with a zero "0". A record defines something in particular, which depends on the type of record.

The first and the last record of a Gedcom file are of a particular type:

• The first record is called the header (HEAD tag) and defines some general information about the file.
• The last record is called the end of file trailer marker (TRLR tag). It defines the end of the file.

Each of the other records defines a genealogical entity, with its own set of tags.

A Gedcom file uses 7 entity categories. The records that can be found in a Gedcom file are therefore as follows:

• Records defining individuals (tag INDI)
• Records defining families (tag FAM)
• Records defining notes (tag NOTE)
• Records defining sources (tag SOUR)
• Records defining repositories (tag REPO)
• Records defining media files (tag OBJE)
• Records defining information submitters (tag SUBM)

The choice to consider these 7 categories of data as being records is arbitrary of course, but it is always the case when creating a standard.

One could easily imagine other types of records, such as places for example. The fact that a place is not a separate entity does not prevent Ancestris from managing them and respecting the Gedcom format at the same time.

Tree structure of a record

Each record is presented in a tree structure: each tag can include any number of sub-tags.

Sub-tags are hierarchically depending on the next higher level tag, and may in turn include one or more sub-tags, etc.

Hierarchical levels

Hierarchical levels are numbered.

As each line must imperatively remain in its place from the point of view of the hierarchy, each of them is assigned a number corresponding to the level occupied in the tree structure of the record.

This is how the main level line of each record (that is, level zero) is numbered 0. A line located at the level immediately below bears the number 1. A line located at the level immediately below the previous level bears the number 2. And so on.

Identifier and entity records

As mentionned above, apart from HEAD and TRLR records, all the other records are entity records.

Each entity record starts with a level 0 line followed by the following:

• The ID number of the entity surrounded by two at-signs (@),
• The tag associated with the category to which the entity belongs.
  
  • For example, the line "0 @I5@ INDI" is the first record line of an INDIvidual entity which ID is 'I5'.

Indentation

For greater clarity, lines of a record can be indented so as to more clearly show the relationship between the lines of the record. The information lines underneath a tag qualify the tag.

• Non indented record:

0 @I5@ INDI 					=> this defines indidual number 'I5'
1 NAME John Doe 				=> The indivudual's name is John Doe
1 SEX M							=> This individual is a male
1 BIRT							=> What follows defines his birth event
2 DATE April 16, 1951			=> John Doe was therefore born on April 16, 1951
1 FAMC @F1328@					=> Family F1328 is the record that defines John Doe's family (FAM) where he is a child (C)

• Indented record:

0 @I5@ INDI 					=> this defines indidual number 'I5'
	1 NAME John Doe 			=> The indivudual's name is John Doe
	1 SEX M						=> This individual is a male
	1 BIRT						=> What follows defines his birth event
		2 DATE April 16, 1951	=> John Doe was therefore born on April 16, 1951
	1 FAMC @F1328@				=> Family F1328 is the record that defines John Doe's family (FAM) where he is a child (C)

The Ancestris Gedcom editor is the editor in Ancestris which shows you the exact information located in the Gedcom file enhancing the display of this information. This editor uses an indented display and does not show level numbers. It also adds handles to show or hide sub-tag levels making it easy to expand or collapse any branch.

• This is how the same individual would show in the Gedcom editor:

As you can see, the Gedcom editor enhances the display by adding icons and by fetching relevant hints.

In particular, the "@F1328@" piece of data is replaced, only in the display, not in the real Gedcom file, with the relevant information about the family. Here, we therefore immediately know that John's parents are named Martin and Kelly.

Also the name is divide into its lastname and firstname parts.

Line Compositionformatting d'uneinside lignea dans un enregistrement record

 Ligne standard Formatting

ChaqueEach ligneline d'unin enregistrementa contientrecard essentiellementis lesmade élémentsof suivants3 :elements:

• LeThe numérolevel denumber, niveau (defrom 0 àto n),n,
• LeThe tag indiquantwhich ladefines naturethe destype informationsof contenuesgenealogical surinformation lathat ligne,follows,
• LesThe informationsgenealogical associées au tag en question.information.

Exemple :

Example:

• Lathe ligneline 2 DATE 16 avrilapril 1951 peutmeans selevel lire ainsi : ligne de niveau 2,2,  information deof type DATE, etwhich devalue contenuis 16 avril 19511951.

In order to know what this date refers to, you would have to read the previous lines. Knowing this is a level 2 line, there must be a level 1 (the event in this case) and a level 0 (the record entity) above.

Referencing Référenceanother à une autre entité entity

CertainesA lignesline contiennentmay enrefer outreto uneanother référencerecord àentity. uneThis autreis entité,done laquelleusing consisteby enindicating unthe numéroidentification encadrénumber parof deuxthe arobasesentity, surrounded by twoat-signs (@).

Cette

The référencedifference constituebetween unreference marqueur"@id@" spécialdefining donta lerecord rôleand estreference différent"@id@" selonpointing lato placea qu'ilrecord occupeis parthe rapport au tag de la ligne.following:

• UneIf référencethe situéereference àis gauchein duthe tag0-level indiquerecord lebefore numérothe detag, l'enregistrementright courantafter (numérothe toujours"0", uniquethen dansit lais catégoriea d'entitédefinition dontof ila relève) :record. ceExample cas de figure ne se produit que sur la ligne de niveau 0 de l'enregistrement. Exemple :
  • 0 @I3@@I5@ INDI INDI : lignedefines principaleindividual de l'entité faisant l'objet de cet enregistrement, numéro ID de cet enregistrement : I3, catégorie d'entité : individu.I5
• UneIf référencethe situéereference àis droiteon duthe right hand side of the tag, indiqueit lereferences numérothe d'unentity. autreWe enregistrement,also etsay renvoieit à"points" cetowards dernierthe afinentity. deExample, leif mettrewe enhave relationthis avecline l'enregistrementinside courant.an Exemple :individual record:
  • 1 FAMC @F5@ @F1328@ : lignethis deindicates niveauthat 1,the tagfamily FAMCfrom which this person is a child (famillemeaning dontof descendFAMC), l'individuis courant)F1328. etIt référencealso F5assumes (autrementthat dit :F1328 l'individuis courantdefined descendsomewhere deelse lain famillethe F5)Gedcom file as a record which should start with 0 @F1328@ FAM.

Norme Gedcom norm

La normeThe Gedcom désignestandard l'ensemblerefers desto règlesthe quiset régissentof cerules qu'ilthat estgovern possiblewhat decan faireand etcannot nebe pasdone faireso pourthat queeveryone toutarranges legenealogical mondeinformation rangein lesa informationscertain généalogiquesway. d'uneIt certaineis façon.therefore C'estthe doncgrammar laof grammairethe duGedcom langage Gedcom.language.

DeuxTwo normesmain principalesstandards existent,exist, 5.5 etand 5.5.1, lathe secondesecond étantbeing unea légèreslight évolutionevolution deof lathe première.first. DesThings chosespermitted permisesin dansthe lafirst premièreare neno lelonger sontpermitted plusin dansthe lasecond, seconde,and etvice vice-versa. CesThese différencesdifferences sontare néanmoinsnevertheless limitées.limited.

Ancestris saithandles gérer les normesboth 5.5 et 5.5.1. norms, and can convert your Gedcom file from one norm to the other and vice-versa.

VousYou trouverezwill enfind basseveral delinks at the bottom of the page plusieurswhich liensbring quitogether rassemblentall l'ensemble de lathe documentation quethat l'we have found on aGedcom trouvé sur les normes Gedcom.

Nous vous proposons ici une traduction des points essentiels de la norme et leur utilisation dans Ancestris.standards.

 Norme Gedcom 5.5

VousYou trouverezwill icifind ledetails détailof dethe toutecomprehensive laGedcom normestandard release 5.5 soushere formein dethe liensform web.of web links.

Tables des matières

Lettre de William S. Harten
Tableau type des données - Page 1 - Page 2
Introduction

• • Objet et Contenu du Standard GEDCOM
  • Fonctionnalités de la Version 5.x
  • Modifications de la Version 5.5 résultant de l’Étude de la Version (d'essai) 5.4
  • Ajouts et Modifications par rapport à la Version d'Essai 5.4
  • Modifications par rapport à à la Version 5.3

Chapter 1: Grammaire de la Représentation des données

• • Concepts
  • Grammaire
  • Description des Composants Grammaticaux

Chapter 2: Grammaire Liée à la Parenté (En français sur ce wiki Grammaire Gedcom.)

• • Structures d'Enregistrement du Fichier Lié à la Parenté
  • Infrastructure du Fichier Lié à la Parenté
  • Éléments de Base du Fichier Lié à la Parenté
  • Compatibilité avec les Autres Versions Gedcom
  • Structure du Fichier de Transmission Gedcom
  • Exemple de la Transmission de GEDCOM lié à la parenté

Chapter 3: Utilisation des jeux de caractères dans GEDCOM

• • 8-Bit ANSEL
  • ASCII (Version USA)
  • UNICODE (ISO 10646)

Chapter 4: Enregistrement de la Production GEDCOM
Appendice A : Définition du Tag Gedcom Lié à la Parenté (En français sur ce wiki : Définition des tags)
Appendice B : Références Croisées

• • Structure des Références Croisées
  • Références Croisées de Base

Appendice C : Codes LDS Temple
Appendice D : Jeu de Caractères ANSEL

• • Caractères graphiques sans déplacement
  • Caractères graphiques avec déplacement

Appendie E : Encoder/Décoder Objets Multimedia

• • Introduction
  • Encoder
  • Décoder

 Norme Gedcom 5.5.1

VousYou pouvezcan aussialso consulterconsult la normethe Gedcom standard release 5.5.1 icias sous forme de fichiera pdf en anglais :file: Norme Gedcom 5.5.1.

Curieusement,

Oddly lesenough, deuxthe normestwo nestandards sontare pasnot disponibleavailable sousunder lethe mêmesame format.

VousYou trouverezwill dansfind cein mêmethis very document una comparatifcomparison entrebetween lesthe deuxtwo normes.standards.

Liens utiles

• Gedcom : page Gedcom de Wikipédia
• The Gedcom Standard Release 5.5 (en anglais)
• ptexier.pdf site de Patick TEXIER (PDF), conseils et décryptages de la norme Gedcom
• The Gedcom Standard Release 5.5 (version HTML) : le document de référence (en anglais)