If there is any part of genealogy technology that is more misunderstood than GEDCOM, I don't know what it is. It's like ghost or true love—everybody is talking about it, but nobody has really seen it. I've heard GEDCOM used as a noun, a verb, and an adjective—as both subject and predicate. So let's talk some GEDCOM.

What Is GEDCOM?
GEDCOM is two things. First, it's a specification for a computer file of family history information—owned, copyrighted, and managed by the GEDCOM Project of the Family History Department (FHD) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogy Data COMmunication. Second, GEDCOM refers to a computer file that complies with that specification. This type of file is used almost exclusively for moving genealogy data between different genealogy computer programs (GCPs), such as Brother's Keeper and Generations. The specification was originally developed in 1985 and is currently in version 5.5. It has been more than five years since I saw a GCP that did not read and write GEDCOM files.

The GEDCOM specification describes a list of "tags" such as "INDI" for an individual, "BIRT" for a birth event, "DATE" for a date, and so on. It also describes relationships between the tags. An example would be that "DATE" can go with "BIRT."

Name Two of Them
Actually, there's really only one GEDCOM, because there is only one current official version. However, some older versions of GCPs still in use today read and write to older versions of GEDCOM. This week, the LDS Church announced that the next version of GEDCOM will be GEDCOM 6.0 XML.

GEDCOM is a text format. A person can read it. It looks a lot like gibberish, but there you go. Here's an example of a description of a person in GEDCOM format:

0 @I1@ INDI
1 NAME William Jefferson (Blythe)/Clinton/
1 SEX M
1 BIRT
2 DATE 19 AUG 1946
2 PLAC Hope,Hempstead Co.,AR
1 NOTE Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV. His last name was legally
2 CONT changed to Clinton on 12 June 1962 in Garland Co., Arkansas.
1 NOTE He was inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States on 20 January
2 CONT 1993.
1 FAMS @F1@
1 FAMC @F2@

Please notice that each line starts with a level number, followed by a "tag," followed by a possible value. The Level 2 lines go with the Level 1 line above them, and so on.

When It Works, What Does It Do?
GEDCOM doesn't really do any work—your GCP does. Genealogy computer programs store your information in their own table designs. These designs are not the same from one GCP to another. In order to move data between different GCPs, it has to be converted to an intermediate format first. That format, these days, is always some flavor of GEDCOM.

When your GCP writes a copy of your genealogy information in GEDCOM format, it is "exporting a GEDCOM file." When it reads a GEDCOM format file into your program, it is "importing a GEDCOM file." You can export a GEDCOM file and e-mail it to friends or relatives, so that they can import it and see your conclusions. Depending on which GCPs you are using, your relatives and friends might or might not see your evidence.

There are several projects on the Web that link GEDCOM files submitted by users. Both the Ancestry World Tree (now with 66,507,349 names) and RootsWeb's WorldConnect (more than 41.1 million names on file) take a GEDCOM file and put it with those of thousands of other genealogists, creating a great resource for locating genealogy information.

What's the Downside?
There are several downsides to GEDCOM. First, it is really designed to handle your conclusions and doesn't handle your evidence as well. Simply put, it's a tool that was created for communicating very specific and very important information within the LDS community, and the church has been kind enough to add a few fields that the genealogy public is interested in.

How Do I Know If It Isn’t Working?
That's really a good question. Since your genealogy computer program actually does the GEDCOM import and export functions, it is the thing that actually works or doesn't work. Some GCPs do not import or export every tag that might be created by other GCPs. There is an ongoing GENTECH project called the "GEDCOM TestBook Project" that has recorded (on the GENTECH Web site) information about specific transfers.

What If I Change Computers?
Unlike many software or hardware components that require installation, GEDCOM isn't affected by a change of computers. Typically, you will have to move your genealogy data to the new computer and reinstall your GCP.

Link Me Up (More stars is better)

• GEDCOM Spec **
  A copy of the GEDCOM specification

• GENTECH GEDCOM TestBook **
  Results of tests going from one program to another

• Ancestry World Tree ***
  "A free service for everyone interested in tracing their roots"

• WorldConnect ***
  "Connecting the world one GEDCOM at a time"

What Else?
The LDS Church and GENTECH's Lexicon Working Group are reviewing options for using a different method to exchange data: "eXtensible Markup Language" or "XML." The FGS Conference included meetings on this topic, where representatives from GENTECH, the LDS Church, Ancestry.com, Sierra.com, and Origins.net discussed implementing an XML version of the GENTECH genealogical data model. This project might lead to not only better data exchanges among researchers, but will perhaps someday include temple submissions. While exciting, this project will take time to produce results that will be beneficial to genealogists.

My last thought on GEDCOM imports and exports is a privacy issue. Exporting info on living people is a no-no. This is especially true if the information is going to be published on the World Wide Web. Don't expose the people you care about most to people you don't care about at all.

Beau Sharbrough is the president of GENTECH, the founder of the GENTECH and FGS Web sites, and a founder of the Lexicon Working Group. He would like to hear from you at beau@sharbrough.net, but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e-mail message received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual computer problems. Visit Beau's Web site for information about speaking engagements. Beau is the father of two college-age girls and is another insufferable graduate of Texas A&M University.

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