Genealogy.com: Internet Genealogy -- Lesson 9: GEDCOM Mysteries Revealed


New? Start Here

Genealogy How-To

	Getting Started

	Getting Organized

	Developing Your Research Skills

	Sharing Your Family's Story

	Reference Guide

	Biography Assistant

Free Genealogy Classes

	Beginning Genealogy

	Internet Genealogy

	Tracing Immigrant Origins

What Does a GEDCOM File Look Like?

There are six basic sections to a GEDCOM file:

Header

Submitter

Individuals

Families

Sources

Trailer

In turn, all six sections of the GEDCOM file are made up of one or more lines of information. Each line contains three basic elements:

Level (each level 1 line refers to the previous level 0 line, level 2 lines refer to the previous level 1 lines, etc.)

Tag (such as INDI for indivdual, HUSB for husband, BIRT for birth)

Value (the actual data, such as a name or a date)

To show how the sections and lines fit together, below is part of a GEDCOM that I exported. Explanatory comments are on the right in italics; a level of "0" (zero) marks the start of a new section, indicated by a bold italic comment:

0 HEAD	*Header Section*
1 SOUR FSB	Source of the GEDCOM
2 VERS 2.02	Version of GEDCOM that created it
1 DEST PAF	Destination format of the GEDCOM
1 CHAR IBMPC	IBM characters
1 FILE gert.ged	File name
1 DATE 14 Jan 1996	Date file was created
0 @S1@ SUBM	*Submitter Section*
1 NAME Marthe Arends	Name of the submitter
1 ADDR PO BOX 1571	Address of the submitter
2 CONT Snohomish, WA 98291-1571
0 @I4@ INDI	*Individual Section*
1 NAME KENNETH WARDEN /NEESE/	First person in the database
1 SEX M	Person is a male
1 BIRT
2 DATE 8 Jan 1909	Birth date
2 PLAC NANAIMO,B.C.	Birth place
1 DEAT
2 DATE 26 Aug 1983	Death date
2 PLAC EDMONDS,SNOHOMISH CO.,WASHINGTON	Death place
1 BURI	Burial date
2 PLAC EDMONDS,SNOHOMISH CO.,WASHINGTON	Burial place
1 OCCU CARPENTER	Occupation
1 EDUC Grade School	Education
1 RELI Presbyterian (?)	Religion
1 COMM MEMBERSHIP: Masonic order in Edmonds	Memberships
1 FAMS @F3@	This person is Spouse in family #3
1 FAMS @F5@	He is also Child in family #5
1 NOTE Ken was rescued from an explosion of a ship loaded with dynamite in Nanaimo when	Free-text notes about the individual
2 CONT he was about 4 years old. He did suffer a fracture of his skull and remembers
2 CONT being delusional.
0 @F3@ FAM	*Family Section*
1 HUSB @I6@	Husband is individual #6
1 WIFE @I7@	Wife is individual #7
1 CHIL @I8@	Child #1 is individual #8
1 CHIL @I4@	Child #2 is individual #4
1 MARR
2 DATE 15 Feb 1932	Marriage date
2 PLAC SEATTLE, KING CO., WASHINGTON	Marriage location
1 DIV N	No divorce
1 NOTE Ken and Gertrude eloped to the Smith Tower in Seattle (then the tallest building).
0 TRLR	Trailer Section (end of file)

Note: For the sake of brevity, I've deleted some of the original lines from the Individual and Family sections. No source information is represented in this example.

Previous Page | Next Page