View source for GEDCOM

{{short description|Specification for genealogical data}}
{{Infobox file format
| name          = GEDCOM
| icon          = 
| logo          = 
| screenshot    = 
| caption       = 
| extension     = {{code|.ged}}
| mime          = application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom <ref name= GordonClarke>{{cite web |last= Clarke |first= Gordon |title= Media subtype name: vnd.familysearch.gedcom+zip |date= 2021-12-07 |accessdate= 2022-10-01 |website= [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] |url= https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom+zip}}</ref> application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom+zip <ref name= GordonClarke/>
| type code     = 
| uniform type  = 
| magic         = 
| owner         = [[Genealogical Society of Utah|LDS FHD]]
| released      = {{Start date and age|1984}}
| latest release version = 7.0.16
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2025|03|18|df=yes/no}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Releases · FamilySearch/GEDCOM |url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/releases |website=GitHub |access-date=21 April 2025|language=en}}</ref>
| genre         = [[Genealogy]] data exchange
| container for = 
| contained by  = 
| extended from = 
| extended to   = 
| standard      = [[Defacto#Standards|De facto]]<ref name="defacto">[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9601D&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R1252&D=0&H=0&I=-3&O=T&T=0&m=904 Subject: GEDCOM and Formal Standards Organizations] Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 11:53:52 -0700 From: Bill Harten – Organization: Brigham Young University "why wasn't GEDCOM developed through a formal standards organization?..."Thus GEDCOM was born as a deliberate, de facto standard, to be followed only by those who felt it was in their best interest to do so.</ref>
| free          = 
| open          = yes
| url           = {{URL|https://gedcom.io}}<br />{{URL|https://github.com/familysearch/GEDCOM}}
}}

'''FamilySearch GEDCOM''', or simply '''GEDCOM''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɛ|d|k|ɒ|m}} {{respell|JED|kom}}, [[acronym]] of ''Genealogical Data Communication''), is an [[open format|open file format]] and the [[de facto standard]] specification for storing [[genealogy|genealogical]] data.<ref name="defacto" /> It was developed by [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), the operators of [[FamilySearch]], to aid in the research and sharing of genealogical information.<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9509e&L=gedcom-l&T=0&I=-3&P=655 Subject: rep: T Jenkins – open letter to GEDCOM-L] – "The goal was to try and provide a standard to allow developers to provide a vehicle for their users to share genealogical conclusions and supporting evidence with others." From: "Jed R. Allen" Brigham Young University – Date: 29 Sep 1995 17:40:04 -0600 – GEDCOM-L Archives – September 1995, week 5 (#7)</ref> A common usage is as a standard format for the backup and transfer of [[family tree]] data between different [[genealogy software]] and [[genealogy websites|websites]], most of which support importing from and exporting to GEDCOM format.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 2005 |title=Genealogical Software Report Card |url=http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211172052/http://mumford.ca/reportcard/index.htm |archive-date=2009-02-11}}</ref>

GEDCOM is defined as a [[text encoding|plain text]] file, using [[UTF-8]] encoding as of version 7.0. This file contains genealogical information about individuals such as names, events, and relationships; [[metadata]] links these records together.

GEDCOM 7.0, released in 2021, is the most recent version of the GEDCOM specification {{As of|July 2024|lc=y}}.<ref name=specV7>{{cite web |title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification |url=https://gedcom.io/specifications/FamilySearchGEDCOMv7.html |website=gedcom.io |access-date=10 July 2024 |language=en |date=8 February 2024}}</ref> However, its predecessor, GEDCOM 5.5.1, remains the industry's format standard for the exchange of genealogical data.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} First released as a draft standard in 1999, GEDCOM 5.5.1 received only minor updates in the subsequent 20 years leading up to the release of 5.5.1 final in 2019. To address its shortcomings, some genealogy programs introduced [[Proprietary file format|proprietary]] extensions to GEDCOM which are not always recognized by other programs, such as GEDCOM 5.5 EL (Extended Locations).<ref>[http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5EL GEDCOM 5.5 EL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111114712/http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5EL |date=2020-01-11 }} (Extended Locations) specification</ref><ref>[http://www.fhug.org.uk/wishlist/wldisplay.php?currentpage=2&wlwlref=249 Ability to save information against places] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124125538/https://www.fhug.org.uk/wishlist/wldisplay.php?currentpage=2&wlwlref=249 |date=2020-01-24 }} – "Support for parts of the GEDCOM 5.5EL proposal" –  FHUG Wish List</ref><ref>[http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 0000688: Support for Gedcom 5.5EL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726125916/http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 |date=2011-07-26 }} – Gramps Bugtracker</ref> Efforts have been made to have 7.0 more widely adopted since its release. [[FamilySearch]] intends to be GEDCOM 7.0 compatible in the third quarter 2022 and [[Ancestry.com]] is planning for 7.0 compatibility, but has not yet specified an implementation date.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

==Data model==
GEDCOM uses a lineage-linked [[data model]] based on the [[Conceptual schema|conceptual model]] of the [[nuclear family]]. The family (<code>FAM</code>) record type is therefore the only source of links between the individuals (<code>INDI</code>) in the file, assigning parents (as <code>HUSB</code> and <code>WIFE</code>) and children (as <code>CHIL</code>) by referring to individuals' [[Unique identifier|unique ID]] numbers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The GEDCOM Standard Release 5.5: Data Model Chart |url=https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gcmod.htm |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=homepages.rootsweb.com}}</ref> These historical origins are described in the 7.0 specification document: "The <code>FAM</code> record was originally structured to represent families where a male <code>HUSB</code> (husband or father) and female <code>WIFE</code> (wife or mother) produce <code>CHIL</code> (children)."<ref name=":0"/>

Although the links in a GEDCOM family record still use the original naming indicating a husband and a wife, the specification now states that "sex, gender, titles, and roles of partners should not be inferred based on the partner that the <code>HUSB</code> or <code>WIFE</code> structure points to" and that these individuals within a family structure are collectively referred to as 'partners', 'parents' or 'spouses'. A <code>FAM</code> record can also be used for "cohabitation, fostering, adoption, and so on, regardless of the gender of the partners."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-06-07 |title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification |url=https://gedcom.io/specifications/FamilySearchGEDCOMv7.html#records |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=gedcom.io |language=en}}</ref>

==File structure==
A GEDCOM file consists of a [[header (computing)|header]] section, records, and a [[trailer (information technology)|trailer]] section. Within these sections, [[Record (computer science)|records]] represent people (INDI record), families (FAM records), sources of information (SOUR records), and other miscellaneous records, including notes. Every line of a GEDCOM file begins with a level number where all top-level records (HEAD, TRLR, SUBN, and each INDI, FAM, OBJE, NOTE, REPO, SOUR, and SUBM) begin with a line with level 0, while other level numbers are positive [[integer]]s.

Although it is possible to write a GEDCOM file by hand, the format was designed to be used with software and thus is not especially human-friendly. A GEDCOM validator<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phpgedview.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/*checkout*/phpgedview/trunk/phpGedView/gedcheck.php|title=View of phpgedview's GEDCOM validator source code}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> that can be used to validate the structure of a GEDCOM file is included as part of [[PhpGedView]] project, though it is not meant to be a standalone validator. For standalone validation "The Windows GEDCOM Validator" can be used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rumblefische.com/vged/vged.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106162327/http://www.rumblefische.com/vged/vged.html |title=VGed 3.02 |website=Rumble Fische |archive-date=January 6, 2011}}</ref> or the older unmaintained Gedcheck<ref>[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_gedcom.asp Gedcheck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207121907/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_gedcom.asp |date=2009-02-07 }} – "uses a grammar file for the specific version of GEDCOM to be checked against." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</ref> from the LDS Church.

During 2001, ''The GEDCOM TestBook Project'' evaluated how well four popular genealogy programs conformed to the GEDCOM 5.5 standard using the Gedcheck program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsgentech/projects/TestBook2001/index.cfm |title=GEDCOM TestBook Project |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615015106/https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsgentech/projects/TestBook2001/index.cfm |archive-date=2006-06-15 }}</ref> Findings showed that a number of problems existed and that "The most commonly found fault leading to data loss was the failure to read the NOTE tag at all the possible levels at which it may appear."<ref>[GEDCOM and the GenTech Testbook Project] Genealogical Computing 7/1/2001 – Archive Summer 2001 Vol. 21.1 – Ancestry.com</ref> In 2005, the ''Genealogical Software Report Card'' was evaluated (by Bill Mumford who participated in the original ''GEDCOM Testbook Project'')<ref>[https://archive.today/20120708201214/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEOCAG/message/571 The Genealogical Software Report Card] 2000 S W Mumford Last updated March 2005 {{Unreliable source?|date=August 2011}}<!-- forums are not reliable sources --></ref> and included testing the GEDCOM 5.5 standard using the Gedcheck program.<ref>[http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/review.htm Reviews from the NGS Newsmagazine and its Predecessors.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212181201/http://mumford.ca/reportcard/review.htm |date=2009-02-12 }} – Test Result are in the PDF's</ref>

To assist with adoption of GEDCOM 7.0, validation tools now exist for that standard as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tools for FamilySearch GEDCOM |url=https://gedcom.io/tools/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=FamilySearch GEDCOM |language=en}}</ref>

===Example===
The following is a sample GEDCOM file.
{| class="infobox vcard" style="text-align: center; font-size:90%;"
|class="adr" style="text-align: center;"|'''sample.ged'''
|-
|class="adr" style="text-align: left;"|
 0 HEAD
 1 SOUR PAF
 2 NAME Personal Ancestral File
 2 VERS 5.0
 1 DATE 30 NOV 2000
 1 GEDC
 2 VERS 5.5
 2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
 1 CHAR ANSEL
 1 SUBM @U1@
 0 @I1@ INDI
 1 NAME John /Smith/
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMS @F1@
 0 @I2@ INDI
 1 NAME Elizabeth /Stansfield/
 1 SEX F
 1 FAMS @F1@
 0 @I3@ INDI
 1 NAME James /Smith/
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMC @F1@
 0 @F1@ FAM
 1 HUSB @I1@
 1 WIFE @I2@
 1 MARR
 1 CHIL @I3@
 0 @U1@ SUBM
 1 NAME Submitter
 0 TRLR
|}

The header (HEAD) includes the source program and version (Personal Ancestral File, 5.0), the GEDCOM version (5.5), the [[character encoding]] ([[ANSEL]]), and a link to information about the submitter of the file.

The individual records (INDI) define John Smith (ID I1), Elizabeth Stansfield (ID I2), and James Smith (ID I3).

The family record (FAM) links the husband (HUSB), wife (WIFE), and child (CHIL) by their ID numbers.

==Versions==
The current version of the specification in wide use is GEDCOM ''5.5.1 final'', which was released on 15 November 2019.  Its predecessor, GEDCOM ''5.5.1 draft''<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft">{{cite web |author= Family History Department GEDCOM Coordinator |title= The GEDCOM Standard: Draft Release 5.5.1 |date= 2 October 1999 |accessdate= 2022-10-01 |publisher= [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] |url= http://www.phpgedview.net/ged551-5.pdf}}</ref> was issued in 1999, introducing nine new attribute, tags and adding [[UTF-8]] as an approved [[character encoding]]. The draft was not formally approved, but its provisions were adopted in some part by a number of genealogy programs<ref>[http://www.ged-gen.com/help/hlpintro.html GED-GEN is based on GEDCOM version 5.5.1 (draft)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203215917/http://ged-gen.com/help/hlpintro.html |date=2009-02-03 }}, dated 2 October 1999. The following record types are parsed: header, individual, family, notes, source, and repository. However not all elements within these records are processed. – Specifications – GED-GEN Introduction</ref><ref>[http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 0000688: Support for Gedcom 5.5EL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726125916/http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 |date=2011-07-26 }}(0008068) romjerome (developer) 2009-01-25 06:13 – "Note : GRAMPS 3.0.x supports a part of GEDCOM 5.5.1 on export, which is not supported by most programs" – Gramps Bugtracker</ref><ref>[http://www.myblood-line.com/Support.html "MyBlood supports the GEDCOM 5.5 and 5.5.1 file format."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605143052/http://www.myblood-line.com/Support.html |date=2009-06-05 }} – MyBlood Support – Forum, FAQ, Know Problems</ref> including FamilySearch.org.<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/>

Lineage-linked GEDCOM is the deliberate de facto common denominator.<ref name="defacto" />  Despite version 5.5 of the GEDCOM standard first being published in 1996, many genealogical software suppliers have never fully supported the feature of multilingual Unicode text (instead of the ANSEL character set) introduced with that version of the specification. Uniform use of Unicode would allow for the usage of international character sets. An example is the storage of East Asian names in their original [[CJK|Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK)]] characters, without which they could be ambiguous and of little use for genealogical or historical research.<ref name="ldscatalog.com">[http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=77065000&catalogIdentifier=LDS_SalesCatalog&action=Changes Personal Ancestral File 5.2 and PAF Companion 5.4 – Software Version Changes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306010346/http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=77065000&catalogIdentifier=LDS_SalesCatalog&action=Changes |date=2009-03-06 }} Release 5.0.1.4, 22 December 2000 – "10.GEDCOM improvements: Table:Destination:PAF 5 GEDCOM Version:5.5 Character Set:UTF-8</ref> [[Personal Ancestral File|PAF 5.2]] is an example of software that uses [[UTF-8]] as its internal character set, and can output a UTF-8 GEDCOM.<ref name="ldscatalog.com" /><ref>[http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/PAF5.pdf Personal Ancestral File 5.1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070721110633/http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/PAF5.pdf|date=2007-07-21}} – "Also noted in a second test was the use of  four tags from a later draft version of the Gedcom specification, FONE (phonetic name), ROMN (romanized name), EMAIL (e-mail), and _UID" Jan/Feb 2002 NGS Newsmagazine</ref>

GEDCOM 7.0 ''requires'' UTF-8 encoding throughout,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-07 |title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification |url=https://gedcom.io/specifications/FamilySearchGEDCOMv7.html#characters |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=gedcom.io |language=en}}</ref> and resolves other long-standing issues with GEDCOM 5.5.1. Multimedia support in the form of an associated .zip file, called a GEDZip, is another inclusion. Efforts are underway to see 7.0 embraced as the new exchange standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Implementation Progress • Genealogy |url=http://familysearch.org/en/GEDCOM/implementation-progress |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Genealogy |language=en}}</ref> GEDCOM 7.0 allows explicitly identifying what standards other than GEDCOM may apply to a particular file. GEDCOM has always been [[Extensibility|extensible]], but prior to 7.0 there was no standard way to identify such extensions. Also, GEDCOM 7.0 allows explicitly marking an event as nonexistent. This allows, for example, documenting that a particular individual never married.<ref name=":1" />  GEDCOM 7.0 was the first version to use [[semantic versioning]], and is the most recent [[minor version]] of the specification.

{{As of|July 2024}}, the next planned minor release is v7.1, which is under development.<ref>{{cite web |title=GitHub - FamilySearch/GEDCOM at v7.1 |url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/tree/v7.1 |website=GitHub |access-date=10 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

===Release history===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! GEDCOM version
! Release date
! Notes
|-
! {{Version|o|1.0<ref name="beitrag103" >[https://archive.today/20130105083459/http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/pafuser/message/103 pafuser : Beitrag: Re: &#91;pafuser&#93; PAF 5.01 und GEDCOM] By Eckhard Henkel – Beitrag #103 von 1494 – Yahoo Groups</ref>}}
| 1984<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9407D&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R519&I=-3 Subject:description of InterGED theory] From:Gary Steiner – "The first GEDCOM standard, version 1.0, was released to the genealogical software development community in 1984." – GEDCOM-L Archives – July 1994, week 4 (#14)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|2.0<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| Dec 1985<ref name="timeline2000" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0011C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R645&I=-3&m=5582 Subject:Timeline of GEDCOM versions and PAF] By George Archer – GEDCOM-L Archives – November 2000, week 3 (#12)</ref>
| [[Personal Ancestral File|PAF]] 2.0
|-
! {{Version|o|2.1}}
| Feb 1987<ref name="timeline2000" />
| GEDCOM for PAF 2.1
|-
! {{Version|o|2.3 Draft}}
| 7 August 1985<ref name="starkey59" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0006D&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=59 Subject:Re: GEDCOM standards help please] From:Graham Starkey – "DRAFT VERSION 2.3–7 August 1985 with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions" – GEDCOM-L Archives – June 2000, week 4 (#1)</ref>
| with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions
|-
! {{Version|o|2.4 Draft}}
| 13 December 1985<ref name="starkey59" />
| with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions
|-
! {{Version|o|3.0 Standard<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| 9 October 1987<ref>[http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ROOTS/1990-02/0634862536-01 RootsWeb: ROOTS-L Re: Large Charts (fairly long)]:Date:Tue, 11 Jul 89 15:14:31 CDT From: Marty Hoag <NU021172@N...> Subject:Re: Printing trees with PAF? From soc.roots ... * GEDCOM release 3.0, 9 Oct 1987, 131 pages (!)</ref>
| PAF 2.0 and 2.1 implementation of 3.0
|-
! {{Version|o|4.0 Standard}}
| August 1989
| PAF 2.1 – 2.31
|-
! {{Version|o|4.1 Draft<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9410A&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R880&I=-3&T=0|title=LISTSERV - GEDCOM-L Archives - LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU|website=listserv.nodak.edu}}</ref>}}
| –
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|4.2 Draft<ref>[https://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.computing/browse_thread/thread/bddc9724596065ed/fc70b4faae5128a4?lnk=gst&q=gedcom+released#fc70b4faae5128a4 File Structures for PAF and GEDCOM] – Date: 1996/01/04 – soc.genealogy.computing | Google Groups:</ref>}}
| 25 January 1990<!--may be wrong--><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9405A&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=1781 Subject:4.x specs] From:Rafal Prinke -"while this document has the date January 25, 1990. So maybe it is GEDCOM 4.2 ?" – GEDCOM-L Archives – May 1994, week 1 (#19)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.0 Draft<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| 31 December 1991<ref name="starkey59" />
| lineage-linked structures were introduced.<ref name="jedfuture" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9805A&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R2&I=-3&T=0 Subject: GEDCOM (Future Direction) Announced by Family History] From: "Jed R. Allen" Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 18:08:24 -0600</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|5.1 Draft}}
| 18 September 1992<ref name="timeline2000" />
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.2 Draft}}
| 22 January 1992<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0006D&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=59 Subject:Re: GEDCOM standards help please] From:Graham Starkey – "DRAFT Release 5.2–22 January 1992   120kb" – GEDCOM-L Archives – June 2000, week 4 (#1)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.3 Draft}}
| 4 November 1993<ref>[http://ftp.aset.psu.edu/genealogy/gedcom55/gedstand.t82 GEDCOM 5.3 draft] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722012217/http://ftp.aset.psu.edu/genealogy/gedcom55/gedstand.t82 |date=2010-07-22 }} – 4 November 1993</ref>
| [[Unicode]] standard ([[ISO/IEC 10646]]) was introduced as an additional character set.
|-
! {{Version|o|5.4 Draft}}
| 21 August 1995<ref>[http://www.lege.com/gedcom54.html  THE GEDCOM STANDARD] – DRAFT Release 5.4–21 August 1995</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.5 Standard}}
| 11 December 1995<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0011C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R645&I=-3&T=0 Subject:Timeline of GEDCOM versions and PAF] By George Archer – "5.5 11 Dec 1995 (Title Page for 5.5)"- GEDCOM-L Archives – November 2000, week 3 (#12)</ref>
| PAF 3, 4 and 5
|-
! {{Version|co|[http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gctoc.htm 5.5 Standard]}}
| January 2, 1996<ref>[http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GEDCOM55.EXE GEDCOM 5.5 Standard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061120085819/http://www.familysearch.org/gedcom/gedcom55.exe |date=2006-11-20 }} (Executable file in Envoy format)</ref><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9608B&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R89&I=-3&T=0 Re: Looking for GEDCOM versions 4 & 5.xx] "Brian C. Madsen" – "A GEDCOM 5.5 Errata Sheet dated 10 January 1996 supposedly contains corrections to pages 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 29, 29, 33, 34, 39, 57, 79, and 85."</ref>
| PAF 3, 4 and 5 / [http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gctoc.htm 5.5 Standard]<ref>[https://chronoplexsoftware.com/gedcomvalidator/gedcom/index.htm Gedcom Documentation Library]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601054626/https://chronoplexsoftware.com/gedcomvalidator/gedcom/index.htm |date=June 1, 2016 }}, Chronoplex Software</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|GEDCOM (Future Direction) Draft<ref name="jedfuture" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200312132308/ftp://ftp.ldschurch.org/genealogy/GEDCOM/Future/Gedfmstr.pdf GEDCOM Specification Future Direction] (1999-07-07)</ref>}}
| May 1, 1998<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0002C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R351&I=-3|title=LISTSERV - GEDCOM-L Archives - LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU|website=listserv.nodak.edu}}</ref><ref>[http://xml.coverpages.org/gedcomments9808.html Comments on the GEDCOM Future Directions document] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612041604/http://xml.coverpages.org/gedcomments9808.html |date=2016-06-12 }} Michael H. Kay, 17 May 1998</ref>
| "it used an entirely new data model"<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9805B&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R154&I=-3 Subject:GEDCOM Future Directions] – From:John Nairn – Date:Mon, 11 May 1998 13:38:45 -0600 – GEDCOM-L Archives – May 1998, week 2 (#3)</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|5.5.1 Draft<ref>[http://www.softwarerenovation.com/igenie/GEDCOM.aspx GEDCOM 5.51 data model in UML format] – Software Renovation Corporation</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5.1|title=Gedcom 5.5.1 – GenWiki|website=wiki-en.genealogy.net|access-date=2009-02-11|archive-date=2019-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604095318/http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5.1|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
| October 2, 1999<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/>
| Used by FamilySearch.org<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/> [[UTF-8]] added as an approved character encoding.
|-
! {{Version|co|5.5.1 Release<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edge.fscdn.org/assets/img/documents/ged551-5bac5e57fe88dd37df0e153d9c515335.pdf|title=THE GEDCOM STANDARD Release 5.5.1}}</ref>}}
| November 15, 2019
| current standard, minor text modifications to 5.5.1 Draft.
|-
! {{Version|o|5.6 Private Draft}}
| -<!--before Feb 20, 2001--><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0102c&L=gedcom-l&T=0&I=-3&P=63 Subject:Re: GEDCOM History] From:STEFANO BOSCOLO – Date:Tue, 20 Feb 2001 19:54:06 +0100 – GEDCOM-L Archives – February 2001, week 3 (#1)</ref>
| "Jed Allen sent those two files to a few people only for sort of "private comments"<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0102c&L=gedcom-l&T=0&I=-3&P=331 Subject: Re: GEDCOM History] From:"Rafal T. Prinke" – Date:Tue, 20 Feb 2001 22:14:55 +0100 – GEDCOM-L Archives – February 2001, week 3 (#4)</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|6.0 XML Draft}}
| December 28, 2001<ref name="xml gedcom">{{Cite web |url=http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GedXML60.pdf |title=Draft Specification for GEDCOM XML 6.0 |website=[[FamilySearch]] |access-date=2006-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116032407/http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GedXML60.pdf |archive-date=2006-11-16 }}</ref>
|Was not a complete specification, and not recommended to begin to software implementations.
|-
! {{Version|o|7.0.0-rc1 Draft}}
| February 2021<ref name="GEDCOM 7.0 draft">{{Cite web |url=http://gedcom.io/ |title=Web site for GEDCOM 7.0 |access-date=2021-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225095749/http://gedcom.io/ |archive-date=2021-02-25}}</ref>
|Release candidate revealed for RootsTech 2021, but then all talks, specifications and the web site were removed on 25 February 2021<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?p=3724 |title=GEDCOM 7.0 at Louis Kessler's Behold Blog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511122903/https://beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?p=3724 |archive-date=2021-05-11 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|7.0<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/releases/download/v7.0.9/gedcom.pdf|title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification Release 7.0.9|website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref>}}
| 27 May 2021
| Modernize character encoding, clarify ambiguities in 5.5.1 specification, introduce semantic versioning, improve multimedia handling
|-
! {{Version|c|7.0.13<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/releases/download/v7.0.13/gedcom.pdf|title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification Release 7.0.9|website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref>}}
| 4 August 2023
| 
|-
| colspan="3" | {{Version|l|show=111100}}
|}

==Limitations==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2009}}
{{Update|date=July 2022|reason=This section needs to be checked against GEDCOM 7.0 for accuracy, and sourced if still true.}}

===Support for multi-person events and sources===
A GEDCOM file can contain information on events such as births, deaths, census records, ship's records, marriages, etc.; a rule of thumb is that an event is something that took place at a specific time, at a specific place (even if time and place are not known).  GEDCOM files can also contain attributes such as physical description, occupation, and total number of children; unlike events, attributes generally cannot be associated with a specific time or place.

The GEDCOM specification requires that each event or attribute is associated with exactly one individual or family.<ref name=gedcom2627>GEDCOM Standard 5.5, pp. 26–27.</ref>  This causes redundancy for events such as census records where the actual census entry often contains information on multiple individuals.  In the GEDCOM file, for census records a separate census "CENS" event must be added for each individual referenced.  Some genealogy programs, such as [[Gramps (software)|Gramps]] and [[The Master Genealogist]], have elaborate database structures for sources that are used, among other things, to represent multi-person events.  When databases are exported from one of these programs to GEDCOM, these database structures cannot be represented in GEDCOM due to this limitation, with the result that the event or source information including all of the relevant citation reference information must be duplicated each place that it is used.  This duplication makes it difficult for the user to maintain the information related to sources.

In the GEDCOM specification, events that are associated with a family such as marriage information is only stored in a GEDCOM once, as part of the family (FAM) record, and then both spouses are linked to that single family record.<ref name=gedcom2627/>

===Ambiguity in the specification===
The GEDCOM specification was made purposefully flexible to support many ways of encoding data, particularly in the area of sources.  This flexibility has led to a great deal of ambiguity, and has produced the side effect that some genealogy programs which import GEDCOM do not import all of the data from a file.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.family-genealogy.com/downloads/GEDCOM_Sync_Issues.pdf|title=Why GEDCOM Files are Not in Sync with All Genealogy Programs|date=2011-04-24|work=family-genealogy.com|access-date=2015-03-17|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223418/http://www.family-genealogy.com/downloads/GEDCOM_Sync_Issues.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Ordering of events that do not have dates===
The GEDCOM specification does not offer explicit support for keeping a known order of events. In particular, the order of relationships (FAMS) for a person and the order of the children within a relationship (FAM) can be lost. In many cases the sequence of events can be derived from the associated dates. But dates are not always known, in particular when dealing with data from centuries ago. For example, in the case that a person has had two relationships, both with unknown dates, but from descriptions it is known that the second one is indeed the second one. The order in which these FAMS are recorded in GEDCOM's INDI record will depend on the exporting program. In Aldfaer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aldfaer.nl |title=Aldfaer, Hét gratis stamboomprogramma|trans-title=Aldfaer, the free family tree program |website=www.aldfaer.nl|language=Dutch|location=[[Netherlands]]|accessdate=2022-10-01}}</ref> for instance, the sequence depends on the ordering of the data by the user (alphabetical, chronological, reference, etc.). The proposed XML GEDCOM standard<ref name="xml gedcom"/> does not address this issue either.

==Lesser-known features==
GEDCOM has many features that are not commonly used.  Some software packages do not support all the features that the GEDCOM standard allows.

===Multimedia===
The GEDCOM standard supports the inclusion of multimedia objects (for example, photos of individuals).<ref>GEDCOM Standard 5.5, p. 28.</ref>  Such multimedia objects can be either included in the GEDCOM file itself (called the "embedded form") or in an external file where the name of the external file is specified in the GEDCOM file (called the "linked form").  Embedding multimedia directly in the GEDCOM file makes transmission of data easier, in that all of the information (including the multimedia data) is in one file, but the resulting file can be enormous.  Linking multimedia keeps the size of the GEDCOM file under control, but then when transmitting the file, the multimedia objects must either be transmitted separately or archived together with the GEDCOM into one larger file.   Support for embedding media directly was dropped in the draft 5.5.1 standard.<ref>Draft GEDCOM Standard 5.5.1, p. 6.</ref>

===Conflicting information===
The GEDCOM standard allows for the specification of multiple opinions or conflicting data, simply by specifying multiple records of the same type.  For example, if an individual's birth date was recorded as 10 January 1800 on the birth certificate, but 11 January 1800 on the death certificate, two BIRT records for that individual would be included, the first with the 10 January 1800 date and giving the birth certificate as the source, and the second with the 11 January 1800 date and giving the death certificate as the source. The preferred record is usually listed first.

This example encoded in GEDCOM might look like this:
 0 @I1@ INDI
 1 NAME John /Doe/
 1 BIRT
 2 DATE 10 JAN 1800
 2 SOUR @S1@
 3 DATA
 4 TEXT Transcription from birth certificate would go here
 3 NOTE This birth record is preferred because it comes from the birth certificate
 3 QUAY 2
 1 BIRT
 2 DATE 11 JAN 1800
 2 SOUR @S2@
 3 DATA
 4 TEXT Transcription from death certificate would go here
 3 QUAY 2

Conflicting data may also be the result of user errors. The standard does not specify in any way that the ''contents'' must be consistent. A birth date like "10 APR 1819" might mistakenly have been recorded as "10 APR 1918" long after the person's death. The only way to reveal such inconsistencies is by rigorous validation of the ''content data''.

===Internationalization===
The GEDCOM standard supports internationalization in several ways. First, newer versions of the standard allow data to be stored in Unicode (or, more recently, UTF-8), so text in any language can be stored.<ref>GEDCOM Standard 5.5, p. 45.</ref>  Secondly, in the same way that one can have multiple events on a person, GEDCOM allows one to have multiple names for a person,<ref>GEDCOM Standard 5.5, p. 27.</ref> so names can be stored in multiple languages, although there is no standardized way to indicate which instance is in which language.  Finally, in version 5.5.1, the NAME field also supports a phonetic variation (FONE) and a romanized variation (ROMN) of the name.<ref>GEDCOM Draft 5.5.1, p. 38</ref>

==GEDCOM X==
In February 2012 at the RootsTech 2012 conference, [[FamilySearch]] outlined a major new project around genealogical standards called GEDCOM X, and invited collaboration.<ref name="gedcomx">{{cite web|url=http://www.gedcomx.org/|title=GEDCOM X|publisher=FamilySearch|access-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref> It includes software developed under the [[Apache License|Apache]] [[open source license]]. It includes data formats that facilitate basing family trees on sources and records (both physical artifacts and digital artifacts), support for sharing and linking data online, and an API.<ref name="gedcomx"/><ref>{{cite news | url= https://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/2012/02/ryan-heaton-new-gedcom.html | title= Ryan Heaton: A New GEDCOM | work= The Ancestry Insider | date= 2012-02-04 | access-date= 2012-02-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= https://geneapoppop.blogspot.com/2012/02/rootstech-learning-3-gedcom-x-andor.html | title= RootsTech Learning #3 – GEDCOM X and/or BetterGEDCOM and/or FHISO | work= Stardust 'n' Roots | date= 2012-02-13 | access-date= 2012-02-16 }}</ref>

In August 2012 [[FamilySearch]] employee and GEDCOM X project leader Ryan Heaton dropped the claim that GEDCOM X is the new industry standard, and repositioned GEDCOM X as another FamilySearch [[open source]] project.<ref>[http://www.tamurajones.net/GEDCOMXNoIndustryStandard.xhtml 2012-08-31 GEDCOM X: no industry standard], FamilySearch abandons GEDCOM X push, By Tamura Jones, Modern Software Experience.</ref>

After the release of GEDCOM 7, FamilySearch positioned GEDCOM X as useful for interoperation with its FamilySearch Family Tree software.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General FAQs |url=https://gedcom.io/generalfaqs/ |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=FamilySearch GEDCOM |language=en}}</ref>

==Alternatives==
Commsoft, the authors of the [[Ancestry.com#Past products|Roots]]<ref>[http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3549 CommSoft to Return?] Dick Eastman Online 3/14/2001 – Archive – Ancestry.com</ref> series of genealogy software and Ultimate Family Tree, defined a version called Event-Oriented GEDCOM (also known as "Event GEDCOM" and originally called InterGED<ref>[http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/TMG/2002-02/1013805198 RootsWeb: TMG-L &#91;TMG&#93; InterGED/Event GEDCOM] Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 13:33:18 -0700</ref>),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sonic.net/~commsoft/rstory.html|title=Commsoft: The Roots Story|access-date=2008-11-20}}</ref> which included events as first class (zero-level) items.  Although it is event based, it is still a model built on assumed reality rather than evidence.  Event GEDCOM was more flexible, as it allowed some separation between believed events and the participants.  However, Event GEDCOM was not widely adopted by other developers due to its semantic differences.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}  With Roots and Ultimate Family Tree no longer available, very few people today are using Event GEDCOM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/TMG/2000-06/0962255126|title=TMGL Archives: Event-oriented|date=2000-06-29|access-date=2008-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101122737/http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/TMG/2000-06/0962255126|archive-date=2007-11-01}}</ref>

[[Gramps (software)#File format|Gramps XML]] is an [[XML]]-based [[open format]] created by the [[open source]] genealogy project [[Gramps (software)|Gramps]] and used also by [[PhpGedView]].

The Family History Information Standards Organisation<!-- "Organisation" is the spelling the FHISO uses. --> was established in 2012 with the aim of developing international standards for family history and genealogical information.<ref>{{cite web |title=Family History Information Standards Organisation |url=http://fhiso.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430173206/https://fhiso.org/ |archive-date=2016-04-30 |access-date=25 April 2016 |publisher=FHISO}}</ref> One of the standards the organization proposed was Extended Legacy Format (ELF), compatible with GEDCOM 5.5(.1), but including an extensibility mechanism. The organization requested public comment on the proposed standard in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annual Report to Members for 2018 |url=https://fhiso.org/report-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225053312/https://fhiso.org/report-2018/ |archive-date=2019-02-25 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Family History Information Standards Organisation |language=en-US}}</ref> It withdrew the proposal because release 7.0 of GEDCOM addressed many of the organization's concerns.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Richard |date=2021-07-21 |title=FamilySearch GEDCOM 7 |url=https://fhiso.org/2021/07/familysearch-gedcom-7/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804002707/https://fhiso.org/2021/07/familysearch-gedcom-7/ |archive-date=2021-08-04 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Family History Information Standards Organisation |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[FamilySearch]]
**[[Ancestral File Number]]
**[[International Genealogical Index]]
*[[GENDEX]] – Genealogical index
*[[Genealogical numbering systems]]
*[[GNTP]] – Genealogy Network Transfer Protocol
*[[Tiny Tafel|Tiny Tafel Format]] – encoded "ancestor table"
*[[List of genealogy databases]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
;General
* [http://gedcom.io/ GEDCOM Standard]
* [http://www.familysearch.org/developers/docs/guides/gedcom FamilySearch GEDCOM Guide]
* [http://www.gedcomx.org/ GEDCOM X Project]
* {{cite web |title=More on LDS Church's Adoption of the XML Standard |url=http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3438 |website=ancestry.com |access-date=20 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927061127/http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3438 |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead}}
* [https://edge.fscdn.org/assets/img/documents/ged551-5bac5e57fe88dd37df0e153d9c515335.pdf THE GEDCOM STANDARD Release 5.5.1], released 15. November 2019

{{Genealogy software}}

[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1984]]
[[Category:Computer file formats]]
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[[Category:Genealogy software]]