Transfer via GEDCOM

[DavidNewton]

When replying to the thread comparing FTM and Legacy I wondered why using a well-documented standard like GEDCOM can lead to data corruption. I knew from past internet searching that the problem was connected with the CONC tag used to divide long text and then reconstitute it so I read the standrad and here is what it says:

GEDCOM 5.5
CONC implies concatenation to the previous line without a new line. This is used so that a text note or description can be processed (word wrapped) in a text window without fixed carriage returns.
GEDCOM 5.5.1
The CONC tag assumes that the accompanying subordinate value is concatenated to the previous line value without saving the carriage return prior to the line terminator. If a concatenated line is broken at a space, then the space must be carried over to the next line. Otherwise most operating systems will strip off the trailing space and the space is lost in the reconstitution of the note.

The distinction in the handling of spaces between a word that ends one line and the word that starts the next. In GEDCOM 5.5.1 this must be placed at the beginning of the following line, in GEDCOM 5.5 it can be placed at the end of the previous line. The version of GEDCOM being used is contained in the header of the GEDCOM so this really should not be a problem, but it clearly is a problem.

David

[PeteW1959]

This is just down to lazy programming, assuming the file is using the latest standard or just not reading the latest version of the standard. There really is no excuse for so called 'professional' companies to allow this to happen.

A single line of code can check for the gedcom version and set a flag. It is then a very simple matter to check the flag each time the CONC tag is encountered and use a simple IF construct to handle it appropriately. It really isn't rocket science.

[PhotoFamily]

FH actually asks the user to verify the way the words are hyphenated - FH shows the user a sample of the data that it is parsing, and asks if it is parsed correctly. It will change to the incorrect method if necessary to parse the information.

[Smsgtbob]

GEDCOM Issues

In transferring from REUNION to FTM for MAC via a GEDCOM, I encountered some issues for which I have not found a remedy:

(1) After installing FTM 2 for MAC via a DVD, and importing a REUNION 10 GEDCOM, I find that all suffix entries in REUNION, i.e., Jr., Sr., I, II, II, Rev., Major, Colonel, etc., were omitted.
(2) After upgrading to FTM 3 for MAC via a download, and then importing the same REUNION GEDCOM, the entire name (Surname, FN, MI) when a suffix of Jr., Sr., etc is present, that this become the name imported. i.e., Robert Jones, Jr., is imported as 'Jr'.
(3) My sources in REUNION were primarily of the .pdf derivation, but when imported via the same GEDCOM, none of them show in the 'Sources' --> 'Source citations' page. The only entry is a '[no source-citation information]', with one exception - if the REUNION source had a 'detail' entry, that detail appears.

Has anyone experienced this and if so, what was your solution?

bob

[DavidNewton]

Bob

I had some similar problems with FTM ignoring source text and my ultimate solution was not to use FTM - however I can see that is not particularly helpful. There is an oldish online blog regarding transfer from Reunion to FTM at http://genealogytools.com/secrets-to...maker-for-mac/ which may help.

David

[Smsgtbob]

Bob

I had some similar problems with FTM ignoring source text and my ultimate solution was not to use FTM - however I can see that is not particularly helpful. There is an oldish online blog regarding transfer from Reunion to FTM at http://genealogytools.com/secrets-to...maker-for-mac/ which may help.

David

David - Thanks for the reference. I viewed the Video and got several items that may help; however, since the video is dated 2010, it predates both FTMM2 and FTMM3, so some of the data has been moved around in those programs and the menus changed. e.g., The locations feature in REUNION is not where he pointed to and the video seemed to truncate just as some of the hints on the sources data was getting interesting. I will experiment a bit more and again thanks for showing me where to look.

Bob

[Smsgtbob]

David - After messing around with the Tech folks and experimenting for a month, I have decided you are correct in not using FTM.

I have had nothing but problems with it for years. Somehow the program was registered by FTM, but not through any attempts on my part to register it from the program. Also, I have had an ancestry.com subscriptiion for years, yet the program would not permit me to activate it via the program. FTMM3 does not import any suffix data, i.e., Jr, Sr, Rev., I, II, II, etc.

Today, tech support confirmed that a GEDCOM will not import the sources so that some sense can be made of the data it imports. thus, I would have to re-create 2,000 sources in my files that covers 28,000 person. At 81 years of age, I would never live long enough to make the sucker work. So, I'm going back to REUNION and forget this program.

I'll continue to use ancestry, but I am returning to REUNION and am forgetting FTMM - it is a flawed program unless one builds their files from day one. GEDCOM import is a poor process that even technicians can not fix.

Bob:(

Bob

I had some similar problems with FTM ignoring source text and my ultimate solution was not to use FTM - however I can see that is not particularly helpful. There is an oldish online blog regarding transfer from Reunion to FTM at http://genealogytools.com/secrets-to...maker-for-mac/ which may help.

David

[DavidNewton]

Bob

A wise move I fancy. It is a pity because some of the features of FTM are quite excellent, but in the end usability and transportability is what counts. I'm a Windows user and I use Family Historian now - I have tried all the major programs and although not perfect the feature combination of Family Historian suits me. There have been a number of threads on the Family Historian forum about using FH under 'Crossover'? on a Mac but frankly my experience with emulators (somewhat minimal) is that they almost always fail in some respect. If you can you should use a native program.

David

[Smsgtbob]

Bob

A wise move I fancy. It is a pity because some of the features of FTM are quite excellent, but in the end usability and transportability is what counts. I'm a Windows user and I use Family Historian now - I have tried all the major programs and although not perfect the feature combination of Family Historian suits me. There have been a number of threads on the Family Historian forum about using FH under 'Crossover'? on a Mac but frankly my experience with emulators (somewhat minimal) is that they almost always fail in some respect. If you can you should use a native program.

David

I too, have tried a plethora of genealogy programs - both Windows-based and MAC-based over the past 20+ years. I used to run several windows based programs (Legacy, PAF, and a few others) on my MAC via the Virtual Machine program FUSION, somewhat similar to Crossover. It was a pretty good package, but I just got tired of having to maintain two systems.

I finally went with a pure MAC based program called REUNION and left the PC world about 8 years ago. I still have an old Dell unit that I crank up once in a while just to stay proficient. I've been happy with REUNION and it does just about everything I've ever desired. It is stable and pretty intuitive to run, so I will stay with it.

Good ancestor hunting and thanks for the responses.

Bob

[PhotoFamily]

I run VMware Fusion on my Mac very successfully. Within it, I run Family Historian. Happy with both.

[Dobie1950]

Hi I’m new here and not even sure if I’m in the right place,I was looking for Legacy forums and I was brought here.I do see Legacy’s name mentioned so maybe someone can help.

Information I’m looking for:
I know how to make GED files for both importing and exporting. Our family tree contains information for both my husbands side and my side.We both have large extended families. I am using Legacy 7.5 and would like to export only a portion of my family tree for relatives on my father’s side of the family. I want to use my paternal grandfather and grandmother as the primary family for direct line descendants and ancestors. How can a separate out my husband’s families and my mother’s families.

I see focus groups as an options but even when I try to make a direct line of descendants and ancestors it includes my husband’s side and my mother’s side.Do I have to add each individual separately to the focus group?And can I even make a GED from a focus group?Tagging does the same unless done individually.I guess I’m looking for some kind of global tagging.

My grandfather was an only childbut had 14 children, and has 251 direct line descendants and 62 step children from (grandchildren to great-great-great grandchildren) and their spouses. So I am not really crazy about adding 313+ individuals one at a time.

I also use The Master Genealogist 8.0 (TMG8) because I like the way it makes the charts and allows me to manipulate the charts.I use Legacy 7.5 for the look and ease of putting in new information.I then export the GED I make in Legacy and import it into TMG8 to make the .vcf charts.

I have also downloaded “My Heritage Family Tree” free software version to check out how it looks and operates as a suggestion to my relatives that want to use the GED.

Thank you in advance any help you can give and any directions you can offer.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Welcome to the forum Dobie1950.
There is a Legacy user group as well as online video tutorials - you will find the links on the Legacy page in our reference library. Not sure if there is anything there that will help.

In other software that I have used when exporting a GEDCOM you have the option to export just selected individuals rather than the whole tree but I am not sure if Legacy offers this option.

[DavidNewton]

Hi Dobie1950. I think the way forward for you here is tagging. You can tag whole groups of people from the Search List using the Options>Advanced Tagging. So, using Tag 1 as an example, you could select your paternal grandfather on the list, go to the advanced tagging screen and first of all clear the Tag 1 by selecting 'untag' and clicking Everyone. Now select 'Tag' and click descendants, followed by ancestors (don't click entire family line). You could follow up with a similar selection using your maternal grandmother selected to pick up her ancestors. That may (or may not) select everyone you want but should go a long way towards and if a small number of individuals are not tagged then you can tag them by double clicking the tag in the Family screen (if you have the tags visible).

Secondly, when exporting GEDCOM. In the Record Selection box you can choose to select all records with an individual tag of 1. If you do that you have various options regarding spouses, children and parents (I apologise if these options are not available in Legacy 7.5, I only have Legacy v8 available)

The archives of the Legacy User Group Mailing list can be found here

http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/

The archive is searchable but you may need to go back to 'earlier messages' to find what you want with Legacy 7.5.

David

[Dobie1950]

Thanks everyone for the help. I was almost sure that tagging was going to be the way to go but was hoping for a less cumbersome way.

[Dobie1950]

Yeah! Yeah! I was messing around with tagging last night trying some of the things David was suggesting and I got exactly what I was looking for. And it wasn't that cumbersome. I don't know what I was doing before but anywho!! The one problem (and it may only be my lack of knowledge about the program) was that I couldn't get it to make a GED using tags. But I could export the information I needed as another legacy file using tags and now I can make a GED file from that family file. So again thanks for the help.