Family Tree Software Alternatives, Part 8: Gramps 5 (Updated 8 Aug 2018)

Details about Gramps*

Application: Gramps
Current Version: 5
Supported OS: Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD
Mobile Apps: None
Price: Free (donations accepted)
Publisher: Gramps Project
Website: http://gramps-project.org
GenSoftReviews:2.7 – 2.9 stars out of 5  (varies by OS)

Importing a GEDCOM file from Family Tree Maker (FTM) or any other app or website into Gramps is explained on their Wiki page, “Import from another genealogy program.” Gramps supposedly supports GEDCOM 5.5 and, to a lesser extent, 5.5.1. Detailed information about GEDCOM import can be found in the Wiki Manual article, “Manage Family Trees.”

Version Tested: This article has been updated based on Gramps 5.0.0. While some problems with GEDCOM import and export have been corrected, several problems remain. Note: portions of text in all capital letters are GEDCOM tags, with the rest of the plain text field name in lowercase. References to the GEDCOM standard are to 5.5.1 unless stated otherwise.

PROS

GEDCOM Import

+ After importing a GEDCOM, a list of errors is presented with data not imported and the line number in the GEDCOM. If you want to save this list, just select all of it, copy it, and past it into a text document. The errors associated with each person are also imported into a note for that person.

+ Lists cross-reference numbers from the GEDCOM file for people, families, notes, sources, and media on the appropriate screen. This makes it easier to refer to them in the original GEDCOM if necessary. (Fig. 1)

+ Imported FTM’s custom FREL and MREL tags listing relationships to father and mother (birth, adopted, etc.); unfortunately, it also exports these custom tags, although it also exports the correct Adoption structure.

+ Imported FTM’s illegal use of the ALIA tag as an Also Known As name.

+ Properly word wraps CONC tags on both import and export.

GEDCOM Export

+ Reports GEDCOM version as 5.5.1, which is great. However, it doesn’t follow the standard in all respects, especially with multimedia records. See Cons for both import and export.

+ Exports FTM’s illegal birth, death, and marriage event descriptions (other than the letter Y) to a TYPE tag subordinate to the event. While a NOTE tag might be better, still, this is not a bad way of preserving the data while correcting an improper structure.

+ Correctly attaches address records to events, unlike most genealogy apps.

+ Concatenates FTM’s illegal CONC tags in PAGE fields of source citations all onto one line without exceeding the 248 character limit, thereby eliminating the illegal tags.

+ Correctly uses the ADOPtion event structure to include the FAMC tag cross-referencing the family and including a subordinated ADOP tag showing which parent adopted. However, it also retained FTM’s custom FREL and MREL tags.

Other

+ Like FTM, allows citations to be attached to multiple people so that they can be easily edited. Upon export, each citation is correctly exported separately.

+ People, families, events, places, sources, citations, repositories, media, and notes all have a References tab showing what each item is linked to. For example, the references for sources show all the citations that use each reference. This can be useful if all the citations for a reference need to be changed. (Fig. 2)

+ Gramps is cross-platform, available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and BSD.

+ Gramps is open source, written in Python. Consequently, users can help improve and develop Gramps. Even if their code isn’t accepted for inclusion in Gramps releases, they can still change things they don’t like or add things that are useful to them.

+ Another nice feature of Gramps is that there are many add-ons available for importing, exporting, reporting, mapping, analyzing, etc.

CONS

GEDCOM Import

– Failed to import valid ADDResses in the Header, attached to a RESIdence event, and in a repository. For the address in the header, the import log simply stated, “ADDR element ignored,” but the log made no mention of the ADDR in the residence event. Genealogy apps should list all elements that they don’t import in the import log. The address in the repository was imported as a note.

– Failed to import valid event structures (date, place, etc.) on attribute fields, even though the GEDCOM standard clearly allows them (5.5.1, pp. 33-34). The import log stated that the date and place tags were recognized but not supported; does this mean a future update will support them? The fields affected are Caste, Description, Identification Number, and Social Security Number.

– Uses a 5-point scale for source citation confidence ratings instead of the 4-point scale in the GEDCOM standard, and interprets QUAlitY ratings from the GEDCOM file in an idiosyncratic manner rather than importing the actual rating number and/or giving the interpretation from the standard. For example, it interpreted QUAY 3 as confidence “very high” rather than “Direct and primary evidence used, or by dominance of the evidence” (5.5.1, p. 43).

– Failed to import multimedia change dates.

– Imported citation text as a Source Text Note, which is not intuitively obvious, although it is not wrong. Upon export, it’s properly stored in the DATA.TEXT structure of the citation.

– The Citation Volume/Page box is only about 80 characters wide. The GEDCOM standard allows for 248 characters, while citations from FTM could be even longer, since they use illegal CONC and CONT tags. The small size of Gramps’ Volume/Page box could make dealing with long entries difficult.

– Interestingly, Gramps 4 did not use any user-defined (custom) GEDCOM tags, which was a good thing for compatibility with other apps. Rather, it converted FTM’s custom tags to the Event-Type structure. Unfortunately, Gramps 5 does away with this practice, instead retaining all custom tags.

GEDCOM Export

– Gramps doesn’t export multimedia objects according to the GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard. There are two options for exporting multimedia in GEDCOM 5.5.1: either with a cross-reference (so that it can be used multiple times), or without a cross-reference. The Gramps wiki manual states that the cross-reference method is not supported, but it does not structure multimedia records correctly. Rather, it exports multimedia objects in 5.5 format using the linked form structure on p. 33. This is unacceptable. Since Gramps labels its GEDCOM files as version 5.5.1, it should use the 5.5.1 standard for all structures.

– Exported address structures incorrectly: Exports each element of the address (street, locality, state/county, city, country, ZIP/postal code) using the ADDR and CONT tags; consequently, it will almost always end up using more than the maximum allotment of three CONT tags for a full address. Furthermore, the GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard states, “The address structure should be formed as it would appear on a mailing label using the ADDR and the CONT lines to form the address structure” (p. 31). That is, the first line should use the ADDR tag, the second line a CONT tag, and so on, up to three CONT tags for four lines). Apparently the GEDCOM standard authors didn’t envision addresses of more than four lines.

– Strips the valid event descriptor “Y” on birth, death, and marriage events, not even moving it to the Type tag as it does with invalid event descriptors (see above). This is unacceptable, since it represents a loss of important data.

– The Wiki Manual lists some data that are lost on export to GEDCOM. Some of these are to be expected, but if you plan on using Gramps, you should check this list before you start using some of Gramps’ unique features.

Other

– In the Person window, clicking on the Event Type column does not sort by event type as expected, even though clicking on the other columns (Description, Date, Place, Main Participants) sorts them.

– Gramps has no mobile applications.

– Gramps can’t synchronize a family tree with any websites. However, there is a third-party add-on called the Web Connect Pack that enables users to search a variety of British, French, German, and American websites, such as FamilySearch.org.

GEDCOM Crosswalk

I added the Gramps fields to the GEDCOM Crosswalk at Family Tree Maker to GEDCOM to Other Apps Crosswalk. This table shows at a glance how the major genealogy apps name their fields within the app and how they are exported to GEDCOM. The color coding indicates areas of concern: fields in red are not imported and/or exported correctly, while fields in yellow use custom tags that may not be recognized by other apps or websites. The major problem with Gramps is that it doesn’t support GEDCOM 5.5.1 with respect to media files.

First Impressions

Gramps has a lot of potential. While it has a few problems handling GEDCOM, especially multimedia, it seems to strive to import and export as much data as possible in a way that’s as compatible as possible. I reported the problems with Gramps 4 to the developers, and it seems they fixed some, but not all, problems in Gramps 5. While it’s possible to modify the code oneself, I’d rather the developers do it so it can be included for all users. I do like how users can develop their own add-ons and make them available to other users.

In general, I like the Gramps user interface. It’s rather Linux-like yet still runs well on a Mac, with fonts and icons that are readable by default. The main window has a categories sidebar that is similar to FTM’s workspaces; the major categories are for people, events, places, sources, citations, media, and notes. I found the interface fairly intuitive, with a few exceptions (such as the location of citation text). The User Manual, which is an online wiki, is also fairly good. Gramps seems to be a robust genealogy application.

Update 21 Mar 2016: As I said I would do, I started reporting the bugs I found in Gramps using their bug tracking system. I posted reports about Gramps’ incorrect treatment of some Attribute fields, for which I’ve received no response, and the GEDCOM tag PHON, for which I did receive a response. However, as you will see if you read the notes from the administrator, romjerome, he failed to address the problem and instead raised several irrelevant points and questions. I answered his first round of questions, but his second round was even worse, and it’s clear that he doesn’t even know how to read GEDCOM. While I realize that romjerome is only one Gramps administrator, I’m not going to waste my time submitting any more bug reports to Gramps. If they’re not willing to address a simple problem like fixing how the PHON tag is imported, then it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be willing to address the major problem of how multimedia are imported and exported. At this time, I do not recommend Gramps, since it does not import and export GEDCOM correctly. You will lose some data if you ever import from or export to GEDCOM.

GEDCOM 5.5.1 Test: Gramps 4 passes the GEDCOM 5.5.1 Test. While it has serious compliance issues, both with import and export, it exports GEDCOMs using UTF-8 encoding and correctly labels the files as version 5.5.1. I still no not recommend Gramps, unless you use Paul Culley’s GEDCOM import patch, but that still does not solve the problems with GEDCOM export. The developers have been very slow to respond to the two bugs I reported; that’s one of the drawbacks of open source software.

Acknowledgments

Reader Paul Culley assisted with parts of this review. In addition, Paul has modified the GEDCOM import module of Gramps so that it imports most of FTM’s custom tags and structures, specifically the following:

• _LINK lines handled and converted to Source Citation NOTES
• _PHOTO converted to standard media object (which, since it is always first in the FTM Gedcom output, ends up as the chosen persons primary photo in Gramps)
• _JUST lines handled and converted to Source Citation NOTES
• OCCU lines had a Gramps bug fixed; now look correct
• _ELEC lines mapped to standard Gramps Elected EVENT
• Media DATE lines converted to media NOTES
• Media TEXT lines converted to media NOTES
• Other Lines with ‘_xxx’ format converted to EVENTS with friendly names (same as FTM event name). This fixes most of the rest. Any future added or other ‘_xxx’ format lines will also get converted to EVENTS with names matching the ‘_xxx’ tag.
• Corrected a bug where TEXT or PAGE lines followed by CONC lost the space between lines
• Readers interested in the modified module may indicate their interest in the Comments below, and I will put them in touch with Paul.

Updates

20 Mar 2016: Added information about Gramps’ Code field and additional information about how Gramps imports and exports Address Structures.

21 Mar 2016: Added information about my experience with reporting a bug to the Gramps developers.

30 Apr 2016: Added a statement about the GEDCOM 5.5.1 Test.

20 May 2018: Made minor updates.

8 Aug 2018: Made extensive updates based on Gramps 5.

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The Family Tree Software Alternatives Series

Part 1: How to Scrub Your Data
Part 2: How to Get Your Tree out of FTM
Part 3: RootsMagic 7
Part 4: Reunion 11
Part 5: MacFamilyTree 8
Part 6: Family Tree Builder 8
Part 7: Heredis 2015
Part 8: Gramps 5
Part 9: iFamily for Mac
Part 10: GEDitCOM II
Part 11: Legacy Family Tree 8
Part 12: Ancestral Quest 14
Part 13: Family Historian 6
Part 14: Should You Stick with Family Tree Maker?
Part 15: Brother’s Keeper 7
Part 16: RootsMagic 8
How Well Does Ancestry.com Handle GEDCOM?
Family Tree Maker to GEDCOM to Other Apps Crosswalk
The Perils of Following the GEDCOM Standard
Why All Genealogy Apps Should Support GEDCOM 5.5.1

*Information current as of the date of this post