Editing GEDCOM (section)

==Versions==
The current version of the specification in wide use is GEDCOM ''5.5.1 final'', which was released on 15 November 2019.  Its predecessor, GEDCOM ''5.5.1 draft''<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft">{{cite web |author= Family History Department GEDCOM Coordinator |title= The GEDCOM Standard: Draft Release 5.5.1 |date= 2 October 1999 |accessdate= 2022-10-01 |publisher= [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] |url= http://www.phpgedview.net/ged551-5.pdf}}</ref> was issued in 1999, introducing nine new attribute, tags and adding [[UTF-8]] as an approved [[character encoding]]. The draft was not formally approved, but its provisions were adopted in some part by a number of genealogy programs<ref>[http://www.ged-gen.com/help/hlpintro.html GED-GEN is based on GEDCOM version 5.5.1 (draft)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203215917/http://ged-gen.com/help/hlpintro.html |date=2009-02-03 }}, dated 2 October 1999. The following record types are parsed: header, individual, family, notes, source, and repository. However not all elements within these records are processed. – Specifications – GED-GEN Introduction</ref><ref>[http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 0000688: Support for Gedcom 5.5EL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726125916/http://bugs.gramps-project.org/view.php?id=688 |date=2011-07-26 }}(0008068) romjerome (developer) 2009-01-25 06:13 – "Note : GRAMPS 3.0.x supports a part of GEDCOM 5.5.1 on export, which is not supported by most programs" – Gramps Bugtracker</ref><ref>[http://www.myblood-line.com/Support.html "MyBlood supports the GEDCOM 5.5 and 5.5.1 file format."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605143052/http://www.myblood-line.com/Support.html |date=2009-06-05 }} – MyBlood Support – Forum, FAQ, Know Problems</ref> including FamilySearch.org.<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/>

Lineage-linked GEDCOM is the deliberate de facto common denominator.<ref name="defacto" />  Despite version 5.5 of the GEDCOM standard first being published in 1996, many genealogical software suppliers have never fully supported the feature of multilingual Unicode text (instead of the ANSEL character set) introduced with that version of the specification. Uniform use of Unicode would allow for the usage of international character sets. An example is the storage of East Asian names in their original [[CJK|Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK)]] characters, without which they could be ambiguous and of little use for genealogical or historical research.<ref name="ldscatalog.com">[http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=77065000&catalogIdentifier=LDS_SalesCatalog&action=Changes Personal Ancestral File 5.2 and PAF Companion 5.4 – Software Version Changes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306010346/http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=77065000&catalogIdentifier=LDS_SalesCatalog&action=Changes |date=2009-03-06 }} Release 5.0.1.4, 22 December 2000 – "10.GEDCOM improvements: Table:Destination:PAF 5 GEDCOM Version:5.5 Character Set:UTF-8</ref> [[Personal Ancestral File|PAF 5.2]] is an example of software that uses [[UTF-8]] as its internal character set, and can output a UTF-8 GEDCOM.<ref name="ldscatalog.com" /><ref>[http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/PAF5.pdf Personal Ancestral File 5.1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070721110633/http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/PAF5.pdf|date=2007-07-21}} – "Also noted in a second test was the use of  four tags from a later draft version of the Gedcom specification, FONE (phonetic name), ROMN (romanized name), EMAIL (e-mail), and _UID" Jan/Feb 2002 NGS Newsmagazine</ref>

GEDCOM 7.0 ''requires'' UTF-8 encoding throughout,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-07 |title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification |url=https://gedcom.io/specifications/FamilySearchGEDCOMv7.html#characters |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=gedcom.io |language=en}}</ref> and resolves other long-standing issues with GEDCOM 5.5.1. Multimedia support in the form of an associated .zip file, called a GEDZip, is another inclusion. Efforts are underway to see 7.0 embraced as the new exchange standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Implementation Progress • Genealogy |url=http://familysearch.org/en/GEDCOM/implementation-progress |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Genealogy |language=en}}</ref> GEDCOM 7.0 allows explicitly identifying what standards other than GEDCOM may apply to a particular file. GEDCOM has always been [[Extensibility|extensible]], but prior to 7.0 there was no standard way to identify such extensions. Also, GEDCOM 7.0 allows explicitly marking an event as nonexistent. This allows, for example, documenting that a particular individual never married.<ref name=":1" />  GEDCOM 7.0 was the first version to use [[semantic versioning]], and is the most recent [[minor version]] of the specification.

{{As of|July 2024}}, the next planned minor release is v7.1, which is under development.<ref>{{cite web |title=GitHub - FamilySearch/GEDCOM at v7.1 |url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/tree/v7.1 |website=GitHub |access-date=10 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

===Release history===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! GEDCOM version
! Release date
! Notes
|-
! {{Version|o|1.0<ref name="beitrag103" >[https://archive.today/20130105083459/http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/pafuser/message/103 pafuser : Beitrag: Re: &#91;pafuser&#93; PAF 5.01 und GEDCOM] By Eckhard Henkel – Beitrag #103 von 1494 – Yahoo Groups</ref>}}
| 1984<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9407D&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R519&I=-3 Subject:description of InterGED theory] From:Gary Steiner – "The first GEDCOM standard, version 1.0, was released to the genealogical software development community in 1984." – GEDCOM-L Archives – July 1994, week 4 (#14)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|2.0<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| Dec 1985<ref name="timeline2000" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0011C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R645&I=-3&m=5582 Subject:Timeline of GEDCOM versions and PAF] By George Archer – GEDCOM-L Archives – November 2000, week 3 (#12)</ref>
| [[Personal Ancestral File|PAF]] 2.0
|-
! {{Version|o|2.1}}
| Feb 1987<ref name="timeline2000" />
| GEDCOM for PAF 2.1
|-
! {{Version|o|2.3 Draft}}
| 7 August 1985<ref name="starkey59" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0006D&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=59 Subject:Re: GEDCOM standards help please] From:Graham Starkey – "DRAFT VERSION 2.3–7 August 1985 with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions" – GEDCOM-L Archives – June 2000, week 4 (#1)</ref>
| with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions
|-
! {{Version|o|2.4 Draft}}
| 13 December 1985<ref name="starkey59" />
| with PAF2.0 GEDCOM implementation conventions
|-
! {{Version|o|3.0 Standard<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| 9 October 1987<ref>[http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ROOTS/1990-02/0634862536-01 RootsWeb: ROOTS-L Re: Large Charts (fairly long)]:Date:Tue, 11 Jul 89 15:14:31 CDT From: Marty Hoag <NU021172@N...> Subject:Re: Printing trees with PAF? From soc.roots ... * GEDCOM release 3.0, 9 Oct 1987, 131 pages (!)</ref>
| PAF 2.0 and 2.1 implementation of 3.0
|-
! {{Version|o|4.0 Standard}}
| August 1989
| PAF 2.1 – 2.31
|-
! {{Version|o|4.1 Draft<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9410A&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R880&I=-3&T=0|title=LISTSERV - GEDCOM-L Archives - LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU|website=listserv.nodak.edu}}</ref>}}
| –
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|4.2 Draft<ref>[https://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.computing/browse_thread/thread/bddc9724596065ed/fc70b4faae5128a4?lnk=gst&q=gedcom+released#fc70b4faae5128a4 File Structures for PAF and GEDCOM] – Date: 1996/01/04 – soc.genealogy.computing | Google Groups:</ref>}}
| 25 January 1990<!--may be wrong--><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9405A&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=1781 Subject:4.x specs] From:Rafal Prinke -"while this document has the date January 25, 1990. So maybe it is GEDCOM 4.2 ?" – GEDCOM-L Archives – May 1994, week 1 (#19)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.0 Draft<ref name="beitrag103" />}}
| 31 December 1991<ref name="starkey59" />
| lineage-linked structures were introduced.<ref name="jedfuture" >[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9805A&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R2&I=-3&T=0 Subject: GEDCOM (Future Direction) Announced by Family History] From: "Jed R. Allen" Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 18:08:24 -0600</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|5.1 Draft}}
| 18 September 1992<ref name="timeline2000" />
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.2 Draft}}
| 22 January 1992<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0006D&L=GEDCOM-L&T=0&F=&I=-3&S=&P=59 Subject:Re: GEDCOM standards help please] From:Graham Starkey – "DRAFT Release 5.2–22 January 1992   120kb" – GEDCOM-L Archives – June 2000, week 4 (#1)</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.3 Draft}}
| 4 November 1993<ref>[http://ftp.aset.psu.edu/genealogy/gedcom55/gedstand.t82 GEDCOM 5.3 draft] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722012217/http://ftp.aset.psu.edu/genealogy/gedcom55/gedstand.t82 |date=2010-07-22 }} – 4 November 1993</ref>
| [[Unicode]] standard ([[ISO/IEC 10646]]) was introduced as an additional character set.
|-
! {{Version|o|5.4 Draft}}
| 21 August 1995<ref>[http://www.lege.com/gedcom54.html  THE GEDCOM STANDARD] – DRAFT Release 5.4–21 August 1995</ref>
| –
|-
! {{Version|o|5.5 Standard}}
| 11 December 1995<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0011C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R645&I=-3&T=0 Subject:Timeline of GEDCOM versions and PAF] By George Archer – "5.5 11 Dec 1995 (Title Page for 5.5)"- GEDCOM-L Archives – November 2000, week 3 (#12)</ref>
| PAF 3, 4 and 5
|-
! {{Version|co|[http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gctoc.htm 5.5 Standard]}}
| January 2, 1996<ref>[http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GEDCOM55.EXE GEDCOM 5.5 Standard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061120085819/http://www.familysearch.org/gedcom/gedcom55.exe |date=2006-11-20 }} (Executable file in Envoy format)</ref><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9608B&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R89&I=-3&T=0 Re: Looking for GEDCOM versions 4 & 5.xx] "Brian C. Madsen" – "A GEDCOM 5.5 Errata Sheet dated 10 January 1996 supposedly contains corrections to pages 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 29, 29, 33, 34, 39, 57, 79, and 85."</ref>
| PAF 3, 4 and 5 / [http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gctoc.htm 5.5 Standard]<ref>[https://chronoplexsoftware.com/gedcomvalidator/gedcom/index.htm Gedcom Documentation Library]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601054626/https://chronoplexsoftware.com/gedcomvalidator/gedcom/index.htm |date=June 1, 2016 }}, Chronoplex Software</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|GEDCOM (Future Direction) Draft<ref name="jedfuture" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200312132308/ftp://ftp.ldschurch.org/genealogy/GEDCOM/Future/Gedfmstr.pdf GEDCOM Specification Future Direction] (1999-07-07)</ref>}}
| May 1, 1998<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0002C&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R351&I=-3|title=LISTSERV - GEDCOM-L Archives - LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU|website=listserv.nodak.edu}}</ref><ref>[http://xml.coverpages.org/gedcomments9808.html Comments on the GEDCOM Future Directions document] Michael H. Kay, 17 May 1998</ref>
| "it used an entirely new data model"<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9805B&L=GEDCOM-L&P=R154&I=-3 Subject:GEDCOM Future Directions] – From:John Nairn – Date:Mon, 11 May 1998 13:38:45 -0600 – GEDCOM-L Archives – May 1998, week 2 (#3)</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|5.5.1 Draft<ref>[http://www.softwarerenovation.com/igenie/GEDCOM.aspx GEDCOM 5.51 data model in UML format] – Software Renovation Corporation</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5.1|title=Gedcom 5.5.1 – GenWiki|website=wiki-en.genealogy.net|access-date=2009-02-11|archive-date=2019-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604095318/http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Gedcom_5.5.1|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
| October 2, 1999<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/>
| Used by FamilySearch.org<ref name="GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft"/> [[UTF-8]] added as an approved character encoding.
|-
! {{Version|co|5.5.1 Release<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edge.fscdn.org/assets/img/documents/ged551-5bac5e57fe88dd37df0e153d9c515335.pdf|title=THE GEDCOM STANDARD Release 5.5.1}}</ref>}}
| November 15, 2019
| current standard, minor text modifications to 5.5.1 Draft.
|-
! {{Version|o|5.6 Private Draft}}
| -<!--before Feb 20, 2001--><ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0102c&L=gedcom-l&T=0&I=-3&P=63 Subject:Re: GEDCOM History] From:STEFANO BOSCOLO – Date:Tue, 20 Feb 2001 19:54:06 +0100 – GEDCOM-L Archives – February 2001, week 3 (#1)</ref>
| "Jed Allen sent those two files to a few people only for sort of "private comments"<ref>[http://listserv.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0102c&L=gedcom-l&T=0&I=-3&P=331 Subject: Re: GEDCOM History] From:"Rafal T. Prinke" – Date:Tue, 20 Feb 2001 22:14:55 +0100 – GEDCOM-L Archives – February 2001, week 3 (#4)</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|6.0 XML Draft}}
| December 28, 2001<ref name="xml gedcom">{{Cite web |url=http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GedXML60.pdf |title=Draft Specification for GEDCOM XML 6.0 |website=[[FamilySearch]] |access-date=2006-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116032407/http://www.familysearch.org/GEDCOM/GedXML60.pdf |archive-date=2006-11-16 }}</ref>
|Was not a complete specification, and not recommended to begin to software implementations.
|-
! {{Version|o|7.0.0-rc1 Draft}}
| February 2021<ref name="GEDCOM 7.0 draft">{{Cite web |url=http://gedcom.io/ |title=Web site for GEDCOM 7.0 |access-date=2021-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225095749/http://gedcom.io/ |archive-date=2021-02-25}}</ref>
|Release candidate revealed for RootsTech 2021, but then all talks, specifications and the web site were removed on 25 February 2021<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?p=3724 |title=GEDCOM 7.0 at Louis Kessler's Behold Blog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511122903/https://beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?p=3724 |archive-date=2021-05-11 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
! {{Version|o|7.0<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/releases/download/v7.0.9/gedcom.pdf|title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification Release 7.0.9|website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref>}}
| 27 May 2021
| Modernize character encoding, clarify ambiguities in 5.5.1 specification, introduce semantic versioning, improve multimedia handling
|-
! {{Version|c|7.0.13<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/releases/download/v7.0.13/gedcom.pdf|title=The FamilySearch GEDCOM Specification Release 7.0.9|website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref>}}
| 4 August 2023
| 
|-
| colspan="3" | {{Version|l|show=111100}}
|}