Edit raw GEDCOM record

Gedcom is a hierarchical structure of marked-up information. The notation has been invented many times, examples of such structures abound: the directory and file system in your computer is a typical example. A directory (or folder) has a name (markup or tag), contains files (content) and other directories forming a tree or hierarchy. XML is a modern standard to accomplish the same goal: the following example shows a hierarchy of image element with two sub-elements file and description, with file having its own sub-element, title:

<image>
  <file>matilda.jpg 
    <title>Matilda</title>
  </file>
  <description>Photo of Aunt Matilda<description>
</image> 

The structure of the Gedcom file is very simple. Each line begins with a number and a tag (preceded by ID if for top level records). The tag is good for one line of text only, next line must be tagged again. The sub-element is designated by an incremented number. The XML example above could look like this in Gedcom,

2 OBJE
3 FILE matilda.jpg
4 TITL Matilda
3 NOTE Photo of Aunt Matilda

The top level elements (Records) have an ID preceding them, for example

0 @M1234@ OBJ (here we define the object with ID of M1234)

and are cross-referenced by referring to them within other structures:

3 OBJ @M1234@ OBJ (here we refer to it). 

If the content of the tag extends a single line, continuation tags (CONT and CONC) allow you to break the line and continue the text.

In PGV, each top level record is available for your inspection and editing (if you have editing privileges). Editing is most easily done via the user interface, therefore editing raw records should be left for the cases where the user interface does not have a appropriate tool or value.

Überschrift

real facts	attributes	Gedcom	remarks
Peter Smith Peter Smith 1816 1899	full-name given-name surname	0 @I001@ INDI 1 NAME Peter /Smith/ 2 GIVN Peter 2 SURN Smith	surname in "/"

some text under the 1. table, next table displays under this text...

Peter Smith Peter Smith 1816 1899

full-name given-name surname

0 @I001@ INDI 1 NAME Peter /Smith/ 2 GIVN Peter 2 SURN Smith

this is a test block

column 1	column2	column3
1111	22222	333333
111111	22222222	333333333
11	22	33

Gedcom structures

When editing a Gedcom record, you may need to verify the structure of the particular section. Gedcom Structures gives you the list and descriptions of all the structures that you may encounter in Gedcom.

Notes:

• Article needs expansion