Editing GEDCOM (section)

==File structure==
A GEDCOM file consists of a [[header (computing)|header]] section, records, and a [[trailer (information technology)|trailer]] section. Within these sections, [[Record (computer science)|records]] represent people (INDI record), families (FAM records), sources of information (SOUR records), and other miscellaneous records, including notes. Every line of a GEDCOM file begins with a level number where all top-level records (HEAD, TRLR, SUBN, and each INDI, FAM, OBJE, NOTE, REPO, SOUR, and SUBM) begin with a line with level 0, while other level numbers are positive [[integer]]s.

Although it is possible to write a GEDCOM file by hand, the format was designed to be used with software and thus is not especially human-friendly. A GEDCOM validator<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phpgedview.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/*checkout*/phpgedview/trunk/phpGedView/gedcheck.php|title=View of phpgedview's GEDCOM validator source code}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> that can be used to validate the structure of a GEDCOM file is included as part of [[PhpGedView]] project, though it is not meant to be a standalone validator. For standalone validation "The Windows GEDCOM Validator" can be used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rumblefische.com/vged/vged.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106162327/http://www.rumblefische.com/vged/vged.html |title=VGed 3.02 |website=Rumble Fische |archive-date=January 6, 2011}}</ref> or the older unmaintained Gedcheck<ref>[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_gedcom.asp Gedcheck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207121907/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_gedcom.asp |date=2009-02-07 }} – "uses a grammar file for the specific version of GEDCOM to be checked against." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</ref> from the LDS Church.

During 2001, ''The GEDCOM TestBook Project'' evaluated how well four popular genealogy programs conformed to the GEDCOM 5.5 standard using the Gedcheck program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsgentech/projects/TestBook2001/index.cfm |title=GEDCOM TestBook Project |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615015106/https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsgentech/projects/TestBook2001/index.cfm |archive-date=2006-06-15 }}</ref> Findings showed that a number of problems existed and that "The most commonly found fault leading to data loss was the failure to read the NOTE tag at all the possible levels at which it may appear."<ref>[GEDCOM and the GenTech Testbook Project] Genealogical Computing 7/1/2001 – Archive Summer 2001 Vol. 21.1 – Ancestry.com</ref> In 2005, the ''Genealogical Software Report Card'' was evaluated (by Bill Mumford who participated in the original ''GEDCOM Testbook Project'')<ref>[https://archive.today/20120708201214/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEOCAG/message/571 The Genealogical Software Report Card] 2000 S W Mumford Last updated March 2005 {{Unreliable source?|date=August 2011}}<!-- forums are not reliable sources --></ref> and included testing the GEDCOM 5.5 standard using the Gedcheck program.<ref>[http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/review.htm Reviews from the NGS Newsmagazine and its Predecessors.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212181201/http://mumford.ca/reportcard/review.htm |date=2009-02-12 }} – Test Result are in the PDF's</ref>

To assist with adoption of GEDCOM 7.0, validation tools now exist for that standard as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tools for FamilySearch GEDCOM |url=https://gedcom.io/tools/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=FamilySearch GEDCOM |language=en}}</ref>

===Example===
The following is a sample GEDCOM file.
{| class="infobox vcard" style="text-align: center; font-size:90%;"
|class="adr" style="text-align: center;"|'''sample.ged'''
|-
|class="adr" style="text-align: left;"|
 0 HEAD
 1 SOUR PAF
 2 NAME Personal Ancestral File
 2 VERS 5.0
 1 DATE 30 NOV 2000
 1 GEDC
 2 VERS 5.5
 2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
 1 CHAR ANSEL
 1 SUBM @U1@
 0 @I1@ INDI
 1 NAME John /Smith/
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMS @F1@
 0 @I2@ INDI
 1 NAME Elizabeth /Stansfield/
 1 SEX F
 1 FAMS @F1@
 0 @I3@ INDI
 1 NAME James /Smith/
 1 SEX M
 1 FAMC @F1@
 0 @F1@ FAM
 1 HUSB @I1@
 1 WIFE @I2@
 1 MARR
 1 CHIL @I3@
 0 @U1@ SUBM
 1 NAME Submitter
 0 TRLR
|}

The header (HEAD) includes the source program and version (Personal Ancestral File, 5.0), the GEDCOM version (5.5), the [[character encoding]] ([[ANSEL]]), and a link to information about the submitter of the file.

The individual records (INDI) define John Smith (ID I1), Elizabeth Stansfield (ID I2), and James Smith (ID I3).

The family record (FAM) links the husband (HUSB), wife (WIFE), and child (CHIL) by their ID numbers.