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The Hazards of GEDCOM
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Take almost any genealogy software package you can think of, export your
database to GEDCOM, and then import that GEDCOM file into the exact same
software package.
You'll be astonished at how much has changed, and how imformation was
lost.
- Missing GEDCOM features. Many common features in modern generalogy
software packages are not supported by GEDCOM.
This may not export correctly, or at all.
- Different Features in Different Software.
Not all GEDCOM features are implemented by all software.
- Incompatible Implementations.
- Miscellenous Problems.
- Merger Mania.
Missing Features
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The following are features that are common to genealogy software,
but are not supported by GEDCOM.
These correspond to information that will get lost even when you
export and import a GEDCOM from and to the same software package.
- Child Status
- Any good software package will allow you to mark children that
were adopted. Most support many child status field values,
such as foster, godchild, illegitimate, twin, and step child.
Others also add flags that indicate children that were stillborn,
died as an infant, or died as a child.
No child status fields are preserved via GEDCOM.
If you have entered a child's adoptive parents, godparents, and birth
parents, the GEDCOM import will either fail or will link the child to
three sets of natural parents.
Since godparents are often not married to each other and have no other
children in common between them, this sort of import can make quite a
mess.
Incompatible Implementations
- There are a number of GEDCOM features that are implemented differently
by different software packages.
These will
Miscellaneous Software Blunders
- There are a number of GEDCOM features that are implemented differently
by different software packages.
These will
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