Sceya - Importing GEDCON data

Genealogical Methods

IMPORTING GEDCOM FILES

When one program creates a GEDCOM file, it does so using a set of rules.

When another program imports a GEDCOM file, it does so using a set of rules.

YOUR DATA MAY BE INCORRECTLY TRANSFERRED

The GEDCOM "standard" is not precise enough. Software developers can interpret it in different ways.

The rules created by one developer for exporting data may be different from the rules used by another developer importing the same data.

Some programs output GEDCOMs that blatantly do not follow the "standard".

Some data stored within one program has no defined way for it to be included in a GEDCOM file, therefore that data will be lost when it is exported to a valid GEDCOM file.

What gets lost or distorted?

In my experience, there are many ways in which the result as viewed in the importing program is NOT equivalent to what was seen in the exporting program.

File Format - Some programs output GEDCOM in Unicode (UTF-8) characters.
(But some programs cann ot read that file even though it is a GED extension. Personal Ancestral File 5 is one of those that does this by default. You may have save the file as a normal ASCII text filebefore some programs can import it..)

Names - most names come through OK.
(But names that have suffixes, titles, nick-names, two word surnames or contain special characters may not be interpreted as the user would expect. Name variations may not be applied as the user may expect.)
Dates - most dates written with the month as Jan, Feb ... come through OK.
(Dates that are more complex, that is as ranges or with modifiers like "Est." for "estimated" may not arrive in the form the user expects. Beware of mixing dates of UK and USA formats.)
Places - usually all the text comes through OK.
(But it may not be stored where you expect it to be. Beware of place abbreviations.)
Relationships - Properly structured GEDCOMs will transfer all relationships.
(But some programs will not transfer families correctly, separating one parent from the children or by not showing a relationship between the parents.)
Marriages - Usually fully documented marriages transfer without problems.
(But some programs assume a marriage when the parent's are not married or don't associate children's parent in the way that the user might expect.)
Marriage Order - Multiple-marriages transfer without problems provided they are all dated.
(But some programs do not handle undated marriages as the user might expect.)
Birth Order- Children will be shown correctly if they all have birth dates in that family.
(If there is atl least one child without a birth date within a family, then the GEDCOM "standard" provides no method of the importing program to determine the birth order of the children.)
Sources - Some programs can handle sources.
(But it quite probable that the source details will not be stored in the way that the user expects.)
Images - Very few programs allow links to images to transfer correctly.
(This is particularly true as the image files need to be stored in the same place on the two computers.)
Other Features - Some data features get lost because GEDCOM can't handle them.
(Witnesses, roles, source types and sentences are examples of what can't be exported from The Master Genealogist or Genbox. Name and Place Styles are also lost from The Master Genealogist.)
Non-Standard Tags - GEDCOM allows for Propriety extensions of data storage.
(However, these extra tags are only intended for use when that Gedcom is imported back into the same version of the program on another computer. Any data included as a Proprietry GEDCOM tag is likely to be lost in the transfer.)

EXPERIMENT FIRST!

Take a small example data set with as many special cases in it as possible.
Experiment with the importing process.
Edit the data in the exporting program until you get the least amount of editing to do in the importing program.
Be prepared to edit the data in the importing program before you use it there.
Print equivalent reports in both the exporting program and the importing program to check for inconsistencies in the transfers. I find the TMG Descedant Indented Chart, Pedigree Chart and some Family Group Sheets are good checks for missing partners or children or their reporteed bith order. They usually have equivalents in the other program. Look at persons who have multiple marriages as there marriage order may not be reported correctly.
Check and re-check your output before you commit to using a GEDCOM import.