Genealogy Pointers

One of the biggest advantages for genealogist is the Internet. The ability it provides to exchange information with other genealogist. The common method used for this information exchange is the GEDCOM. So what exactly is a GEDCOM?

First, the meaning of the letters are: It comes from GEnealogical Data COMmunication. It’s simply a method of formatting your family tree data into a text file, which is easily read and converted by any genealogy software program. The GEDCOMB was originally developed in 1985 and is owned by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The GEDCOM uses a set of tags to describe the information in your family file, such as BIRT for birth, DATE for a date, FAM for family, and INDI for an individual. GEDCOMS are best suited for opening with a family tree software program or a special GEDCOM viewer. Otherwise, they basically look like a bunch of gibberish.

Many beginners make the mistake of trying to open and read the file with a word processor. This can be done, but you will face a jumble of numbers, abbreviations, and bits and pieces of data. There are no indentions, and no blank lines in a GEDCOM file. That’s because it’s meant for exchanging the information from one computer to another, and was never really intended to be read as a text file.

It basically takes your family information and puts it in an outline format. The records are arranged in groups of lines that have information about one individual (INDI) or one family (FAM). In each line an individual records has a level number. The first line is numbered zero (0) to show it’s the beginning of a new record. Within that record, different level numbers are subdivisions of the next level above it. For example, the death of an individual may be given level four (4) and further information about the death (date, place, etc.) would be given level (5).

After the level number, there will be a descriptive tag, which refers to the type of data contained in that line. Tags can also serve as pointers (@13@), which indicates a related individual, family or source within the same GEDCOM file.

A GEDCOM is basically a connected database of records with pointers, which keeps all of the relationships straight. So you can read a GEDCOM file in word, once you learn how to decipher it, but you will still find it much easier to read with the appropriate software.

So how do you read a GEDCOM file? Well, if you have been researching your family tree, it is likely you’ve either downloaded a GEDCOM file from the Internet or received one from a fellow researcher. This GEDCOM may contain vital information of your ancestors and your computer can’t seem to open it. What do you do?

1. Is it a GEDCOM or not?
To ensure that the file you want to open is a GEDCOM file, and not a family tree created in some other format by a genealogy software program. The file for GEDCOM format must end with the extension .ged. If it ends in some other extension, it’s not a GEDCOM file.

2. GEDCOM file must be saved to your computer
It doesn’t matter is you are downloading it from the Internet or opening it as an email attachment, the first thing to do is save the file to a folder on your hard drive. If you are saving it from an email, you may want to scan it first for viruses before saving it to your hard drive.

3. Backing up your existing genealogy database.
You should always make sure you have a recent backup of your family tree file on your computer before you open a new GEDCOM file. This will allow you to revert to your original file in case something goes wrong when you’re opening/importing the new GEDCOM file.

5. Using your genealogy software to open the GEDCOM file.
Begin your family tree program and close any open family tree projects. Follow the program’s instructions for opening/importing a GEDCOM file. Make sure you look at the GEDCOM file by itself first before you merge it directly into your own family tree database. It’s much harder to figure out how to remove unwanted people, than it is to add new people later after you have reviewed the new file.

So now you would like to know how to create and share your own GEDCOM file.
You can share your family tree file with your friends, family, or fellow researchers but unless they have the same genealogy software program that you do, they will not be able to open and read your family file unless you send it to them in a GEDCOM format.

So how do you do this? First all major family tree software programs support creating GEDCOM files. Don’t worry, creating a GEDCOM file won’t overwrite your existing data or change your existing file in anyway. You are going to “export” a file. Exporting a GEDCOM file is easy to do with any family tree software. Follow the instructions below. If you need any help, check in the help section in your family tree.

1. Open your family tree program and open your genealogy file.
2. Click the File menu.
3. Select either Export or Save as…
4. Change the Save As Type or Destination drop-down box to GEDCOM or .GED
5. Select the location where you’d like to save your file.
6. Enter a filename.
7. Click Save or Export
8. Some type of confirmation box will appear stating that your export has succeeded.
9. Click OK
10. Your file is now ready for you to share with others.

In order to share your file with others, you can do one of three things. You can send it in e-mail as an attachment, be sure to put a note in the e-mail telling what it is so they won’t delete it as a virus-laden attachment. You can send the information by regular mail by printing it out or burning it on a CD. Or you can choose to upload your file to one of the many pedigree databases that are on the web. Make sure the web site you choose guarantees that they won’t sell your information for profit.