How do I load data from other FamilyTree programs?

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Keith Wilson
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How do I load data from other FamilyTree programs?

Post by Keith Wilson » Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:41 am

A Gedcom file contains data in a format that most (all) genealogy applications can read and write. There are various versions of the Gedcom File Specification, however the Gedcom 5.5 is the current and officially recognised version of the Standard.

Gedcom 5.5 (issued 1996) is the only version of Gedcom that iFamily for Tiger understands. In the unlikely event that you have a Gedcom file that conforms to earlier versions of the Gedcom specification, i.e. (prior to 1966) then it will need to be converted to Gedcom 5.5 before loading it into iFamily for Leopard.

To transfer data from Family Tree Maker (FTM), The Master Genealogist (TMG), Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Reunion, Legacy, MacFamilyTree (MFT), The Next Generation (TNG) or any of the other hundred or so genealogy applications:
  • Export a Gedcom 5.5 file from the other genealogy application.

    If your are creating a Gedcom file from Family Tree Maker then select the FTM option not the FTW option.

    iFamily will read Gedcom 5.5 files that are encoded as ANSI, ANSEL, MacIntosh, UTF-8, Unicode and IBMPC. If you are using Scandinavian or Cyrillic characters then do not use ANSI or MacIntosh encoding. The preferred encoding is UTF-8 or Unocode.
  • Transfer the Gedcom file to the hard drive on your Mac
  • Start iFamily for Tiger
  • Go to menu option File -> Gedcom Load
  • Select the Gedcom file and press the Open button.
  • When the Gedcom file has been loaded into iFamily then:
    • Review the log files by pressing the button marked Review Log Files
    • Press Save and Exit
    • If the Gedcom file contained references to images then import the images into iFamily and create the thumbnails.
If you encounter a problem loading a Gedcom file or need advice then send us an email describing the problem and attach the Gedcom file for analysis. The data in your Gedcom file will be treated as confidential data and will not be disclosed to others - after we have analysed the data and resolved any problems we will destroy the copy of the data that you have sent us.


After you have loaded a Gedcom file

Depending of which program wrote the Gedcom file you may need to correct the data that did not conform the the Gedcom 5.5 Standards. All of the errors in the Gedcom file are listed in iFamily's log files for the Gedcom Load.
  • Correcting Errors in Gedcom DATE fields

    A common error in Gedcom files is incorrectly formatted DATE fields.

    Some genealogy programs can write a variety of incorrectly formatted dates to the Gedcom file.

    One very badly behaved program can even write US dates (MM DD YYYY) AND British dates (DD MM YYYY) AND International dates (YYYY MM DD) as well as correctly formatted Gedcom dates (DD MMM YYYY) all to the same Gedcom file.

    Within iFamily there is a special menu option Events -> Event Dates... to assist you to fix these problems. This Event Dates dialog lists all the Events, the verified date that iFamily accepted and the original Gedcom Date, i.e. the date string that was in the Gedcom file.

    If the Gedcom Dates need re-interpreting then you should proceed as follows:
    • 1. Sort the table by clicking on the column header for Date and then

      2. Sort the table again by clicking on the column header for Gedcom Date.

      3. Scroll down until you see a Gedcom Date that was incorrectly written to the Gedcom file (it should be obvious).

      4. Select the event and press the appropriate conversion button.

      5. if this gives the required result then select a batch of similar Gedcom dates and press the same conversion button.

      You can select multiple events in the table by swiping with your mouse or using Shift+Click and/or Cmd+Click

      6. Scroll down to the next lot of Gedcom Dates that need to be converted and repeat the above until you reach the end of the list of events.

      7. If you make a major mistake then Close the dialog and immediately use Edit -> Undo or Cmd+Z to undo all the changes and then start again.

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