Jump to content
billdebwhitt

Export witnessed events in GEDCOM Export

Recommended Posts

Hello all - Am I looking in vain for a solution for this problem? Maybe there is a tag set up step I've missed somewhere because events for a witness are NOT included in the GEDCOM export.

 

For example:

In my data entry of a common family Census:

Primary: Head of Household and Wife

Witnesses: Children, parents, siblings, etc each properly identified with a defined role.

 

The TMG GEDCOM export includes EVENTS for the 2 primary people with no problem.

- (No, the ROLE doesn't go to GEDCOM but that's OK)

The export does NOT include an EVENT for any of the witnesses.

 

Similarly, this is also the case for other tag types that will almost always have multiple witnesses: Wills, Probate Settlements, Immigration and Emigration, etc.

Am I missing something?

- OR -

Is there an external utility similar to Second Site that can create a GEDCOM file from a TMG database or subset 'focus group' that includes witnessed events in the export?

Thanks so much! Debbie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry, Debbie, but the problem is not you and is not TMG. There simply is no mechanism in GEDCOM to identify a witness to an event. GEDCOM can only handle Principals. This is only one of many features in modern genealogy programs impossible to express in the very old GEDCOM standard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks, Michael - Not good news but at least I'm not missing something that I should have done.

 

I do NOT mind having these 'witnessed' events show up as 'principal' events. So... On to the second part of my question.

 

Is there an external utility similar to Second Site that can create a GEDCOM (5.5) file from a TMG database or focus group that would pull witnessed events as part of the GEDCOM process and export them as primary events?

 

Still keeping my fingers crossed!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks, Jim -

I'm sorry that I didn't see this forum discussion when I searched but I was only looking at the v9 forum. My bad!!

 

I agree that GEDCOM has limitations but know that there has to be a workaround somewhere. Many of us are in the same boat when working with relations and friends that use other than my preferred TMG. I for one won't switch but would still like to be able to share more completely than currently possible,

 

Still keeping fingers crossed!
Debbie

Edited by billdebwhitt

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Debbie,

 

My approach to sharing with others is to send them a Journal Report as a PDF file. This avoids the many pitfalls of trying to export to GEDCOM and finding many details either do not export, or are not imported properly to other programs. Witnesses are only a small part of the issue with exporting - data encoded in Roles and Sentences, Sources that get mangled, two-person tags that do not export because they are not "family" events or because the two persons are no married or have children, and dates and citations that are omitted because GEDCOM doesn't allow them for particular tag types are examples of other issues.

 

When you send a Journal you know what they received.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you for your reply, Terry -

While I normally send pdf files for exactly the reasons you mentioned...

 

Like many others, I do occasionally have the need to upload a GEDCOM to a private Ancestry tree for special family collaboration efforts. These TMG witnessed events really would be a fabulous addition. Some day, ;-)

 

To All - THANK YOU.

I'll stop jousting this windmill.

Debbie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Like many others, I do occasionally have the need to upload a GEDCOM to a private Ancestry tree for special family collaboration efforts.

Unfortunately, GEDCOM is really only good for the basic Birth/Marriage/Death/Children facts. However usually that is enough to get people to collaborate. As an added suggestion, if the tree is private maybe rather than an Ancestry tree you might want to explore posting a private Second Site tree, possibly hosted on John Cardinal's site, which could include everything you record in TMG?

 

I'll stop jousting this windmill.

You are by no means alone in being frustrated at the limitations of GEDCOM. And sometime Jousting can be good exercise. :D

 

Glad we could provide some explanations and suggestions,

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×