Configuration - GEDCOM Basics

GEDCOM Basics

Path and Name of GEDCOM on Server

There are two ways of importing your GEDCOM file into PhpGedView. They are:

1. FTP the file to the server

2. Upload within PhpGedView

When your file already exists on the server, you engage the Add GEDCOM procedure and fill in the path and name of your GEDCOM file as they exist on the server. The name can be with or without extension. If no extension is given, .ged will be assumed. The path is optional. If no path is given, the value of the Index file directory option, as set in your PhpGedView site configuration, will be used. Please note that on most servers, file and path names are case sensitive.

When you engage the Upload GEDCOM procedure built into PhpGedView, you can use the Browse button to locate the desired file on your local computer. This can be a regular GEDCOM file or a ZIP file containing the GEDCOM file. PhpGedView will automatically extract and then use the GEDCOM file contained in that ZIP file.

When uploading a file it is possible to specify an alternative path and/or filename to save it under on the server.

GEDCOM Title

Enter a descriptive title to be displayed when users are choosing among GEDCOM datasets at your site.

Language

Assign the default language for the site.

When the Allow user to change language option is set, users can override this setting through their browser's preferred language configuration, configuration options on their Account page, or through links or buttons on most PhpGedView page

Character Set Encoding

This is the character set of your GEDCOM file. UTF-8 is the default and should work for almost all sites. If you export your GEDCOM using IBM Windows encoding, you should put WINDOWS here.

NOTE: PhpGedView can't support UNICODE (UTF-16) because the support is missing in PHP.

Default Person for Pedigreee and Descendancy Charts

Set the ID of the default person to display on Pedigree and Descendancy charts

Calendar Format

This option allows you to specify the type of calendar you would like to use with this GEDCOM file.

French calendar is the French Revolutionary Calendar[1].

Hebrew calendar is the same as the Jewish[2] calendar but using Hebrew characters. Both this and the next one are lunar calendars[3].

Hijri[4] calendar is the same as the If Arabic calendar but using Arabic characters.

Note: The values used for Jewish and Hebrew dates are calculated from the Gregorian[5] or Julian[6] dates. Since the Jewish calendar day starts at dusk, any event taking place from dusk till midnight will display as one day prior to the correct Jewish date. The display of Hebrew can be problematic in old browsers, which may display Hebrew backwards (left to right) or not at all.

Another option exists to show Hebrew dates in PhpGedView. Your Gedcom file may include Gregorian dates (4 NOV 2006) and/or Hebrew dates (@#DHEBREW@ 13 CSH 5760). If you select the Gregorian calendar, you see both dates in the Anniversary Calendar and in the On This Day ... and the Upcomming Events blocks.

In order to see the Hebrew date (@#DHEBREW@ 13 CSH 5760) not with an Ashkenazi spelling on non Hebrew pages you should carry out the following sequence:
- select as the Calender - Jewish or Hebrew
- select Jewish Ashkenaz pronunciation - No
- select as the Calendar - Gregorian
- save the configuration

Use RTL Processing

Use processing to properly display GEDCOM data in RTL languages. If set to Yes the database will be processed at runtime to ensure proper display of RTL data; this setting can slow down performance.

This sets $USE_RTL_FUNCTIONS in xxx.GED_conf.php.

Use RIN Number instead of GEDCOM ID

Set to Yes to use the RIN number instead of the GEDCOM ID when asked for Individual IDs in configuration files, user settings, and charts. This is useful for genealogy programs that do not consistently export GEDCOMs with the same ID assigned to each individual but always use the same RIN.

Individual ID Prefix

When a new individual record is added online in PhpGedView, a new ID for that individual will be generated automatically. The individual ID will have this prefix.

Family ID Prefix

When a new family record is added online in PhpGedView, a new ID for that family will be generated automatically. The family ID will have this prefix.

Source ID Prefix

When a new source record is added online in PhpGedView, a new ID for that source will be generated automatically. The source ID will have this prefix.

Repository ID Prefix

When a new repository record is added online in PhpGedView, a new ID for that repository will be generated automatically. The repository ID will have this prefix.

Media ID Prefix

When a new media record is added online in PhpGedView, a new ID for that media will be generated automatically. The media ID will have this prefix.

Archive Searchlog Files

How often should the program archive Searchlog files.

This sets $SEARCHLOG_CREATE in xxx.GED_conf.php.

Archive Changelong Files

How often should the program archive Changelog files.

This sets $CHANGELOG_CREATE in xxx.GED_conf.php.

PHP Time Limit

The maximum time in seconds that PhpGedView should be allowed to run.

The default is 1 minute. Depending on the size of your GEDCOM file, you may need to increase this time limit when you need to build the indexes. Set this value to 0 to allow PHP to run forever.

CAUTION: Setting this to 0 or setting it too high could cause your site to hang on certain operating systems until the script finishes. Setting it to 0 means it may never finish until a server administrator kills the process or restarts the server. A large Pedigree chart can take a very long time to run; leaving this value as low as possible ensures that someone cannot crash your server by requesting an excessively large char