Land Measurement Conversion Guide

GEDCOM is an acronym for Genealogical Data Communication; it's a method of formatting the text of your family data so that different software programs and operating systems can read and understand it.

The GEDCOM "standard" was originally developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Family History Department, which holds the copyright. Although it began as a "universal" format, many genealogy programs implement their own, slightly-modified version of GEDCOM. To you, the user, this means that it isn't always a sure thing that all of your data makes it from one program to another (more about this later).

What is a GEDCOM File?

A GEDCOM file is a series of text lines (usually using the ASCII character set) each holding a specific piece of data relevant to your family file. The lines are numbered to show the hierarchy among the data, and are tagged to show the type of data.

It's quite possible to construct a GEDCOM file manually (using a word processor), but the process could be painstaking. 

Parts of a GEDCOM File

If you created a GEDCOM file and opened it using your word processor, you would see line after line of numbers, abbreviations, and bits and pieces of data. There are no blank lines and no indentations in a GEDCOM file. Although it might look confusing, there is method to the madness.

Groups of lines that hold information about one individual (INDI), one source (SOUR) or one family (FAM) are consideredrecords, and each line in a record has a level number. The first line of every record is numbered "0" (zero), to show that it is the beginning of a new record. Within that record, different level numbers pertain to the next nearest level above it; the lines following the 0 level all pertain to that record, until the next 0 level is reached.

Think of it like an outline format, with level numbers instead of Roman numerals, etc. For example, here is a simplified record of an individual with some explanations in parenthesis:

0 NAME Joseph /PRYOR/
1 SEX M (data about the record in level 0 above, which is Joseph)
1 BIRT (more data about Joseph, this time that he had a birth...)
2 DATE 13 FEB 1922 (details about the birth in level 1 above)
2 PLAC Monroeville, Cass Co, MI (more details about the birth)
[This record is about Joseph PRYOR until the next level 0 is reached, signalling the start of a new record:]
0 NAME Martha /WHITE/ (new record about another individual)
1 SEX F (data about Martha)
1 BIRT (etc.)

After the level number, these lines also contain a Tag, which is an abbreviation of the type of data in that line. Most tags are obvious; HUSB for husband, PLAC for place, MARR for marriage, etc., but some are more unique, like EMIG for Emigration, and HMOT for Husband of Mother. These tags can also bePointers (@S43@), which indicate another individual, family, or source within the same GEDCOM file.
When importing a GEDCOM file, a genealogy program uses these level numbers and tags to assemble the data into a family, with relationships intact. The software reads the line numbers and the tags and tries to place the data into the correct fields. If the software doesn't recognize a tag, it either ignores that line or places it in a specific field from which you can move it later.