Genealogy Chat

Hi there
Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong?
I've fortunately been given a GEDCOM file from a distant relative and it lists all my ancesters so I've added my close family and put it into FTB from Myheritage.com making myself the home person in the tree.

However, when I upload it to GR the family tree name is the giver of the gedcom file not mine.

Can anyone tell how to get the gedcom file or GR to list the tree as mine, espcially now, as I've made some additions to it???

many thanks
Steve

Steve, if you contact GR, they will change the "home" person for you.

Let's see if I understand correctly -
Someone (A) sends you (U) a GEDCOM file
(U) upload the GEDCOM file into a FTB project and make some changes.
(U) save the FTB project as a New GEDCOM file.
(U) upload the New GEDCOM file to Genes Reunited while logged on under your (U's) logon ID.

Now in GR, the tree does _not_ appear under (U's) Name, but it does appear under (A's) Name, with the changes that (U) made.

Is that what has happened?

This sounds to be impossible. If it is possible then there is a severe security hole in GR. I could create a GEDCOM file, upload it and replace someone-else's tree.

Please confirm my understanding of what you did.

--
Dave.

David, I suspect that what has happened is that (U) has uploaded and is no longer the "owner" although it is his tree if you like. ie he does not appear to be the start point of the tree.
If that is the case, it is a common problem and is easily sorted by GR.

Dave, Keith

Thanks for replying. I dont think its a security issue its just my confusion with GEDCOM files and using GR.

The problem is simple this:-

Someone sends you a GEDCOM file and they are "home person", the first entry in the family tree. You then add some more family members from your records, entry 131, 132 etc and while your about this you make yourself home person in FTB and save the gedcom file with a new name.

All's good so far then import the GEDCOM file to GR and you've guessed it the famliy tree is in the name of the original "home person"

So the question is where have I gone wrong or is it simple this GR family trees are generated in the order of person entry and cannot be changed???

Sorry for the long reply, hope there's a simple answer.

regards
Steve

It seems to be a glitch in the Genes software that often changes the home person.

You can change it yourself in the free PAF program, but not in FTM. I'm not familiar with FTB, but if you say you've already changed the home person to yourself, it's odd that GR doesn't recognise the change.

Genes will change the home person for you if you e-mail them, but you'll need to contact them every time you upload your tree.

My experience shows that when you merge trees, and subsequently upload to GR, GR recognises the home person from the original tree that you started with.

The trick with merging appears to be to start with your tree and merge the other into it, not the other way around.

There must be something in the Gedcom format that is doing this. Perhaps there is someone out there who understands the Gedcom file specification who can explain it?

Dave's observation re security is unlikely, however, as you can only replace your tree, nor someone else's. The names do not determine whose tree is replaced.

I don't think that can be the whole answer, because I've had this problem, and I've never merged trees.

My original tree was done on GR, starting with me; I then exported it to PAF, and later to FTM, and started uploading it to GR. At some point the home person became my great-grandfather, although the tree had never started with him.

****************TECHNICAL ANSWER*************

It is when the exporting programme and the importing programme are mismatched that problems occur.

The GEDCOM format has been developed over time and GR (amongst others) uses the older version of the format.

In addition the files can be created as Temple Ready and PAF variants as well as FTM and Legacy versions.

Tags (the programme code for forename, surname, relationship, place of birth, date of birth, baptism etc) are recorded in different ways by the different programmes.

Earlier GEDCOM programmes could only have 12 different tags, the latest version of files (known as V5.5) can have 256 distinct tags.


Tags can also be recorded as full or abbreviated.

Fields are the actual information entered, names, places and dates etc.

Records can be indented in some programmes and not others.

Character set is also a common reason for transferring problems, there are several types of character set including Ansel, Ansi and UFT 8.

If there is a mismatch between any of the versions, tags, fields, character sets etc then the transfer may not happen as expected.

Some programmes allow different export options, others don't and it is also possible to amend details within a GEDCOM file by opening the file with Word or similiar word processor programme and making the adjustments needed BUT unless the format is well known then it is best left alone.



The home person in a tree is recorded with an individuals number, this number always ends in "1", additional names will have different numbers, it is only by going into the file via word or notepad and chaging the numbers for the individuals that the home person can be changed.

In my tree i am the home person, but i do have both ancestors and descendants, i am person #1 in the file and all other names are higher numbers, i could always set the youngest or oldest person as the "home" person but that means changing other details too.

The text format used to record the name, birth, etc in a file appear as follows;

0 @I324@ INDI
1 NAME Benjamin /Goulson/
1 SEX M
1 BIRT
2 DATE 1677
1 DEAT
2 DATE 1731
2 PLAC Ropsley Lincolnshire
1 REFN 324
1 FAMS @F036@


The above gives the reference for the family group (F036) but EXCLUDE exact dates, sources, notes, burial and baptism details, ending marriage fact etc.

Thoise ten lines of text only record the following;

Benjamin Goulson,
male,
born 1677,
died 1831
at Ropsley, Lincolnshire

Family group F036 (all others with this reference are part of his family group (wife, children etc)

The longest text entry for an individual in my tree covers more than 100 lines of text and has over 1700 text characters, it could be edited via Notepad but if an error is made during the edit then the file can be compromised and becomes useless.

Glen

Just looking at my GED file (created with FTM 2005).

One of the first details recorded is the "submitter", in my case that is me.

The submitter becomes the home person in the tree irrespective of whether they are the first, last or a middle generation within the file.

If the original file Steve has uploaded still bears the name of the other tree owner as the submitter then they will appear as the home person no matter who is selected in a family/tree view as "home person".

Selecting a different person as "home person" does not change the number for the individual or the name of the submitter and this is why the home person appears incorrectly.

Glen

n

Thanks Glen and others, your advice and comments have been really helpful.

I've just had an email from GR asking for details of who the "tree owner" should be, so I'll send back the necessary information and hopefully get it corrected.

I do have a suplimentary question, once the Gedcom file is correct on GR should I download the file and save this as the working gedcom for all future revisons and updates ??

I'm assuming that this will then be "my tree" and any other information / gedcom data can just be added in FTB as normal and hopefully not changing the tree owner identity in the process.

Hope this is correct

Steve

I would try doing that, yes.

Keep a copy of your current one under a different name, though, because I don't trust Genes software :-)

It mostly seems to work OK at present, but it has occasional periods of doing awful things.

Steve

If you keep the "corrected" file as the base for your tree then you can edit, add and delete as you need to, but remember that if you want to update a tree on a site such as GR then you will have to create a new gedcom from the file.

All updated information will be included in the new file (with the exception of images you may have added, GEDCOM is only a text format and images such as jpeg etc will not transfer).

Glen