Is GEDCOM 7 on the horizon maybe?

[BeppieChick]

Hi - I upload my GEDCOM file to GenealogieOnline.nl once a month or so - a few days ago I received this message from them. I realise it is not crucial so I thought I would ask on here if Leister might be getting GEDCOM 7 any time soon instead of GEDCOM 5.5.1. Maybe this is also an issue with MyHeritage but so far they have not informed me of this, so maybe it is just GenealogieOnline website. This is the message I received:

A check of the GEDCOM file you uploaded, shows that this file - produced by Reunion - is not entirely in accordance with the GEDCOM agreements. This does not mean that you have done something wrong! However, there is a risk that the data entered by you will not come across correctly and completely if you transfer this from your family tree program or service via a GEDCOM file to another family tree program or service (such as Genealogy Online). I recommend that you ask the Reunion team to better handle your data by carefully following the GEDCOM 5.5.1 (or rather GEDCOM 7) specification so that other family tree programs and services can properly process your genealogical data.

If I should write direct to Leister (I don't have his email address), I will do that instead of on this forum, just not sure who to contact first - him or this forum.

Kind regards
Liz

[Herb]

Who knows what Leister is planning? They are pretty much the only genealogy software program that is not compatible with GEDCOM 7 standards. At some point, sooner rather than later, Leister is going to have to update

[Blaise A. Darveaux]

This topic has been covered in this forum several times. Briefly, every developer of genealogy software interprets the Standard (currently at 5.5.1) as best it can. The Standard itself contains ambiguities in how to implement certain features. Most of the standard is handled the same way by most genealogy software, but there are some features that vary from software to software.

You ask if Reunion will be getting GEDCOM 7 any time soon. They haven't said, but it would do no good for them to be able to read and write 7 if no one else is on board with it. I have said this before, the major data centers need to adopt the new standard and then the smaller players will follow. And there probably will be a time when most genealogy applications will have the ability to read and write 5.5.1 and 7 concurrently, but that day is not here. By the way, 7 will not be perfect either. Every new standard has been an improvement from the last, but no one assumes the new one will solve all genealogy data transfers perfectly.

I do not have any experience with any other genealogy software other than Reunion. Others on this forum, like Herb above, probably have seen others.

[Herb]

I can tell you for certain that MacFamily Tree 10, RootsMagic 9, and Heredis 2024 all use GEDCOM v.7. Although I don't know, my guess is that Family Tree Maker 2019 for Mac also uses it. My point was that Reunion cannot viably continue to operate in its own little silo and continue to ignore progress in the world around it.

[BeppieChick]

Thanks Herb and Blaise - appreciate your responses and understand both reasons for and against going to GEDCOM 7. I have no worries sticking to 5.5.1 - it was just the email from genealogieonline that said some of my information is not able to be read by other family trees/websites. Personally, that is not a big issue for me, so was just asking. Blaise - sorry to bring the subject up again - I should have looked into the forums first before repeating a topic.

[cookp]

I can tell you for certain that ... RootsMagic 9 ... use GEDCOM v.7

I am not sure that is totally correct in that RootsMagic 9 exports GEDCOM v5.5.1 and a trial import of maximal70.ged from https://gedcom.io/tools/ had issues with the ASSO tag, among many others, not being recognised by RM9 (tomH March 2023) and their software version history has no updates covering compatibility since this date.They also have no official timetable for when it will be available or what specific features they plan to add (since 2021).

So in fairness to Reunion development, I don't think Reunion is in a silo, rather they, like other developers are still working towards it.

PS I am needing to use RootsMagic 9 for initially downloading and now tidying-up images from Ancestry, prior to switching across to Reunion 13 (or 14) once this large task is complete. This is because Ancestry chooses not to include image links in their GEDCOM file so other software is needed.

[theKiwi]

I can tell you for certain that MacFamily Tree 10, RootsMagic 9, and Heredis 2024 all use GEDCOM v.7. Although I don't know, my guess is that Family Tree Maker 2019 for Mac also uses it. My point was that Reunion cannot viably continue to operate in its own little silo and continue to ignore progress in the world around it.

Incorrect. Here's the header from a GEDCOM file I've just exported from the latest version of RootsMagic

0 HEAD
1 SOUR RootsMagic
2 NAME RootsMagic
2 CORP RootsMagic, Inc.
3 ADDR PO Box 495
4 CONT Springville, UT 84663
4 CONT USA
3 PHON 1-800-ROOTSMAGIC
3 WWW www.RootsMagic.com
1 DEST RootsMagic
1 DATE 29 JAN 2024
1 FILE Roger from Reunion RM.ged
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5.1
​

And here's the header from an export from FTM 24.2.2.560

0 HEAD
1 SOUR FTM
2 VERS 24.2.2.560
2 NAME Family Tree Maker for Mac
2 CORP The Software MacKiev Company
3 ADDR 30 Union Wharf
4 CONT Boston, MA 02109
3 PHON (617) 227-6681
1 DEST FTM
1 DATE 29 JAN 2024
1 CHAR UTF-8
1 FILE Roger New_2024-01-29 FTM.ged
1 SUBM @SUBM@
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5.1
​

Both are labelled 5.5.1

Roger

[B Jansen]

I have no worries sticking to 5.5.1

Reunion isn't 5.5.1 compliant. Reunion hasn't recognized long-establish GEDCOM protocols going back decades into the PAF era. It could be such a great program ...

[Pat Farrell]

"The great thing about standards is that there are so many to chose from" -- ancient internet folklore from the 1990s
"How did God create the entire universe in only six days? No installed base" -- ancient computer software dictum from the 1980s.

I'm surprised that GEDCOM is still in use. It is a lot better now than it was when I was looking hard at its technical specs in the early 2000s. Back then it was purely a way for members of the LDS to transfer data as part of their theology. It was clearly a very simplistic format to meet those goals on the DOS-based PCs of the era. The LDS policy was that the standard, as it was, was not going to change, as it was sufficient for their spiritual needs. Lucky for us, the LDS spun off control of the spec a few years ago.

5.5.1 and 5.5.5 are a ton better. 5.5.5 is aimed at removing ambiguity, allowing testing, and similar modern software engineering concepts. I haven't looked carefully at 7.0's specs yet.

Any design "from white paper" of a thing to do transfer of genealogy data would use a modern technology, probably JSON.

I expect that the applications and websites will claim to be using 7.0 at some level of actual implementation that is less than 100% of the standard for a long time.
And I expect there will be cool things in packages like Reunion and others, that are still missing or ambiguous in the finalized 7.0 spec.