Difference between revisions of "GEDCOM"

What is it?

GEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is a specification for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogy software. GEDCOM was developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an aid to genealogical research. A GEDCOM file is plain text (usually either ANSEL or ASCII) containing genealogical information about individuals, and meta data linking these records together.

Most genealogy software supports importing from and/or exporting to GEDCOM format. However, some genealogy software programs incorporate the use of proprietary extensions to the GEDCOM format, which are not always recognized by other genealogy programs. The GEDCOM TestBook Project evaluates how well popular genealogy programs conform to the GEDCOM 5.5 standard. Additionally, many tools exist to convert GEDCOM files to HTML pages.

GEDCOM Export

Currently, your entire tree is exported. A user's privacy settings will control what is exported

To download your GEDCOM file, make sure you are logged in to Geni and click the GEDCOM link in the footer. An email will then be sent to your primary email address with a link that allows you to download your export in a .zip file.

Let us know in the forum whether the file looks and works as you'd expect. We'd also like to hear your concerns with what information you would want to be exportable.

We are aware that many of you are even more interested in importing of GEDCOM files. That is a longer project that involves our tree merging features--we'll keep you updated in this forum as we get closer.

Thank you for using this feature the Geni Team is looking forward to your feedback.

Notes

Sometimes foreign language characters don't seem to export properly. Try opening the file and changing the line that reads CHAR UTF-8 to CHAR ANSEL or CHAR UNICODE and see if that resolves the issue.

PAF treats occupations as attributes, and Geni treats occupations as events. PAF will import the occupation information, but you will see "Unexpected tag 'ADDR' in Event Detail Structure." errors in your import log which can safely be ignored.

Marriages events attended by individual will be emitted under the INDI record for the individual. Some programs ignore this and it appears to cause no problem with importing the rest of the data.

GEDCOM Import

We are excited to announce that you can build your Geni tree from your GEDCOM file! Geni is now the easiest and best way to share your research with your family.

Importing your GEDCOM is easy:

  1. Go to the GEDCOM Import page.
  2. Fill out the form and upload your GEDCOM file.
  3. Indicate who you are in your file.
  4. You're done! 

Geni will import your GEDCOM file and build your tree for you. You can begin filling out your profile information right away. Once your GEDCOM has been processed and your Geni tree is built you will receive another email.

Please Note: Importing a GEDCOM will create a new Geni Tree. If you already have a Geni account you must use a different email address for this import. This will start a new Tree which will not be merged into your existing Tree. We plan to enable GEDCOM Import into existing Trees in the future.

(Note for Gmail users: you may insert a period into your email address if you are creating a second tree and it will still be delivered to your inbox eg. johnsmith@gmail.com can receive messages sent to john.smith@gmail.com or j.o.h.n.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com)

The following information is imported

Notes:

 This section is incomplete.
 Italicized fields are not part of the GEDCOM 5.5 standard 
 but seem to be in common use.

Header Record - No

Submitter Record - No

Submission Record - No

Individual Record

 RESN (Restriction Notice) - No
 Personal Name Structure
   Name - Yes
     NPFX - Yes
     GIVN - Yes
     NICK - Yes
     SPFX - No
     SURN - Yes
     NSFX - Yes
     Source Citation - Yes
     Note Structure - No
 SEX - Yes
 Individual Event Structure (see Event Detail)
   BIRT (Birth) - Yes
   CHR (Christening) - Yes
   DEAT (Death) - Yes
   BURI (Burial) - Yes
   CREM (Cremation) - Yes
   ADOP (Adoption) - Not yet
   BAPM (Baptism) - Yes
   BARM (Bar Mitzvah) - Yes
   BASM (Bat Mitzvah) - Yes
   BLES (Blessing) - Yes
   CHRA (Adult Christening) - Yes
   CONF (Confirmation) - Yes
   FCOM (First Communion) - Yes
   ORDN (Ordination) - Yes
   NATU (Naturalization) - Yes
   EMIG (Emigration) - Yes
   IMMI (Immigration) - Yes
   CENS (Census) - Yes
   PROB (Probate) - Yes
   WILL (Will Creation) - Yes
   GRAD (Graduation) - Yes
   RETI (Retirement) - Yes
   EVEN (Generic Event) - Yes
 Individual Attribute Structure
   CAST (Caste) - Yes
   DSCR (Physical Description) - Yes
   EDUC (Education) - Yes (as an event)
   INDO (National ID Number) - No
   NATI (National Or Tribal Origin) - No
   NCHI (Number of Children) - No
   NMR (Number of Marriages) - No
   OCCU (Occupation) - Yes (as an event)
   PROP (Possessions) - No
   RELI (Religion) - Yes
   RESI (Residence) - No
   SSN (Social Security Number) - No
   TITL (Nobility Type Title) - Yes
 Child To Family Link - (Handled in Family Record)
 Spouse to Family Link - (Handled in Family Record)
 SUBM - No
 Association Structure - No
 ALIA - No
 ANCI - No
 DESI - No
 Source Citation - Yes
 Multimedia Link - No
 Note Structure - Yes
 RFN (Permanent Record File Number) - No
 AFN (Ancestral File Number) - No
 REFN (User Reference Number) - No
 RIN (Automated record id) - No
 Change Date - yes
 EMAIL (Email address) - Yes
 _EMAIL - (Email address) - Yes

Family Record

 Family Event Structure (see Event Detail)
   ANUL (Annulment) - Yes
   CENS (Census) - Yes
   DIV (Divorce) - Yes
   DIVF (Divorce Filing) - Yes
   ENGA (Engagement)  - Yes
   MARR (Marriage) - Yes
   MARB (Marriage Banner) - Yes
   MARC (Marriage Contract) - Yes
   MARL (Marriage License) - Yes
   MARS (Marriage Settlement) - Yes
   EVEN (Generic Event) - Yes
 HUSB - Yes
 WIFE - Yes
 CHIL - Yes
 NCHI (Number of Children) - No
 SUBM - No
 LDS Spouse Sealing - No
 Source Citation - Yes
 Multimedia Link - No
 Note Structure - Yes
 REFN (User Reference Number) - No
 RIN (Automated record id) - No
 Change Date - yes

Multimedia Record - No

Note Record

 Submitter Text - Yes
 Source Citation - Yes
 REFN (User Reference Number) - No
 RIN (Automated record id) - No
 Change Date - yes

Repository Record

 NAME - Yes
 Address Structure - Yes
 Note Structure - Yes
 REFN (User Reference Number) - No
 RIN (Automated record id) - No
 Change Date - yes

Source Record

 DATA
   EVEN (Events Recorded) - Yes
     DATE (Date Period) - Yes
     PLAC (Place) - Yes
   AGNC (Responsible Agency) - Yes
   Note Structure - Yes
 AUTH (Author) - Yes
 TITL (Title) - Yes
 ABBR (Abbreviation) - Yes
 PUBL (Publication Facts) - Yes
 TEXT (Source Text) - Yes
 Source Repository Citation - yes
 Multimedia Link - No
 Note Structure - Yes
 REFN (User Reference Number) - No
 RIN (Automated record id) - No
 Change Date - yes
 PERI (Periodical -> title) - Yes
 TYPE (Type -> description) - Yes
 URL (URL -> title) - Yes
 PAGE (Page -> description) - Yes
 PLAC (Place) - Yes
 DATE (Date Period) - Yes

Address Structure

 ADDR (Address Line) - Yes
   ADR1 (Address Line 1) - Yes
   ADR2 (Address Line 2) - Yes
   CITY (City) - Yes
   STAE (State/Province) - Yes
   POST (Postal Code) - Yes
   CTRY (Country) - Yes
 PHON - No

Event Detail

 TYPE (Event Descriptor) - Yes
 Date (Date or Range) - Yes
 Place Structure - Yes
 Address Structure - Yes
 AGE - No
 AGNC (Responsible Agency) - Yes
 CAUS (Cause) - Yes
 Source Citation - Yes
 Multimedia Link - No
 Note Structure - Yes
 

Note Structure

 NOTE (Submitter text or Xref) - Yes
   Source Citation - Yes

Source Citation

 SOUR (Source Description or Xref) - Yes
   TEXT (Source Text) - Yes
   PAGE (Page) - Yes
   EVEN (Event Types) - Yes
     ROLE (Role in Event) - No
   DATA
     DATE (Recording Date) - Yes
     TEXT (Source Text) - Yes
   QUAY (Certainty) - Yes
   Multimedia Link - No
   Note Structure - Yes
   CHAN (Change Date) - Yes