Does Gramps export attributes to GedCom?

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1

Good evening,

I hope I’m posting in the right category.(else, pls tell me)

I’m starting to use Gramps Desktop vAIO64-6.0.3–1.(on Windows)

I’m trying to convert my GedCom file (exported from Heredis) to make it compatible with Gramps.

I’m converting some non standard tags to NOTE, but I’d like to convert some others to attributes.

For example, I’d like to convert “1 WWW http://source.example.com” to a source attribute,
I’ve tried several solutions without success, including:

1 _ATTR URL http://source.example.com
or
1 _ATTR
2 TYPE URL
2 VALUE http://source.example.com

To find out what the tag label was, I did the opposite.

In gramps, I created an attribute in the source file

and exported the genealogy to GedCom.

Result: I can’t find the attribute (URL) I have created in the GedCom file.

Is this normal?

Attribute
Attribute820×443 34.3 KB

Many Thanks and have a great day(/night)

Exported gedcom file :
0 HEAD
1 SOUR Gramps
2 VERS AIO64-6.0.3–1
2 NAME Gramps
1 DATE 18 JUL 2025
2 TIME 22:43:18
1 SUBM @SUBM@
1 FILE C:\Tempo\Untitled_6.ged
1 COPR Copyright (c) 2025 .
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5.1
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
1 CHAR UTF-8
1 LANG French
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
1 NAME
0 @I0002@ INDI
1 NAME Albert Joseph /DUPONT/
2 TYPE birth
2 GIVN Albert Joseph
2 SURN DUPONT
1 SEX M
1 BIRT
2 DATE 1 JAN 1900
2 SOUR @S0001@
3 PAGE Naissance de DUPONT Albert Joseph (Détails de la Citation)
3 QUAY 3
1 EVEN YES
2 TYPE SIGN
1 EVEN LEGITIMATE_CHILD
2 TYPE _FIL
1 CHAN
2 DATE 18 JUL 2025
3 TIME 22:42:41
0 @S0001@ SOUR
1 TITL Titre de la source 1
1 AUTH Auteur de la source
1 ABBR Document de la source
1 REPO @R0001@
2 CALN Référence de la source
3 MEDI Numerisation
1 CHAN
2 DATE 18 JUL 2025
3 TIME 22:42:41
0 @R0001@ REPO
1 NAME Archives du Pas-de-Calais (Nom du dépot d’archives)
1 ADDR Adresse du du dépot d’archives
2 ADR1 Adresse du du dépot d’archives
1 PHON Téléphone du du dépot d’archives
1 EMAIL Email du dépot d’archives
1 WWW url du du dépot d’archives
0 TRLR

2

See the following article on the Gramps wiki

Search for attributes on the wiki page.

Somebody more knowledgeable than me will hopefully answer you?

3

That wiki page is outdated and has many errors. But that does not help to answer the question in this topic.

2 Likes
4

My answer is: use the standard way - put the URL into the empty field PUBL. The URL shows where the source is published. No attribute and no custom GEDCOM tag like _ATTR.

5

Good evening,
Thank you both for your explanations !!

@hermann, can you please clarify: put the URL into the empty field PUB

To work around the non-standard gedcom tags, I was hoping to use an XML file rather than GEDCOM, but I haven’t been able to create the correct XML structure!
However, I’ve managed to create a basic JSON file that I hope to expand upon.

Thanks again!
Bertrand

6

Inside a GEDCOM source record (SOUR) there is a subtag PUBL (source publication facts). This is in my opinion the correct place for your URL. I can see in your screenshot an empty field labeled by “Infos pub”. I assume that this field is related to the GEDCOM tag PUBL, but don’t know it. Please try it.

I cannot follow your experiments with XML and JSON. There is only one standard to exchange data between genealogical programs, that is GEDCOM. You can us Gramps XML to exchange data between two Gramps installations. I have no idea for what you can use JSON.

7

Not sure if you have seen it but you maybe interested in Heredis GEDCOM’s that has some suggested modifications before importing in Gramps. (found on the Gramps wiki)

1 Like
8

Hello,
I actually hadn’t seen it.
This will give me a good starting point, thanks!
Bertrand

1 Like
9

Hello,
You’re indeed right, the “Infos pub” field is indeed exported under the PUBL tag.

image
image657×393 19.2 KB

0 HEAD
1 SOUR Gramps
2 VERS AIO64-6.0.3–1
2 NAME Gramps
1 DATE 27 JUL 2025
2 TIME 11:05:33
1 SUBM @SUBM@
1 FILE C:\Tempo\Untitled_3_source.ged
1 COPR Copyright (c) 2025 .
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5.1
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
1 CHAR UTF-8
1 LANG French
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
1 NAME
0 @I0002@ INDI
1 NAME Alfred /MONVOISIN/
2 TYPE birth
2 GIVN Alfred
2 SURN MONVOISIN
1 SEX M
1 BIRT
2 DATE 1 JAN 1920
2 PLAC Paris
1 CHAN
2 DATE 26 JUL 2025
3 TIME 20:56:44
0 @S0000@ SOUR
1 TITL Naissance Paris 1890-1910
1 PUBL https://gramps.discourse.group/t/does-gramps-export-attributes-to-gedcom
2 CONC /7970
1 ABBR Abréviation de la Source
1 CHAN
2 DATE 27 JUL 2025
3 TIME 10:58:13
0 TRLR

However, if I re-import the gedcom file created by Gramps into Gramps (same softwre, same version, same PC..), the source completely disappears (which doesn’t seem normal to me)!

image
image436×472 25.2 KB

Hence the idea of trying to use a json file!

Bertrand

10

You don’t have any citations linked to that source in the Gedcom file so it doesn’t appear on Citation Tree tab. Look at Sources (only) tab:

Screenshot_20250727_113033_Chrome
Screenshot_20250727_113033_Chrome1054×1367 69.6 KB

You’ll find all your sources, used and unused for citations

11

That is the reason why webtrees forces users to only generate linked records. They should only generate unlinked records if they really know what they do, not by accident.

Gramps offers you as user to possibility to generate any type of unlinked records very easily. And then unexpected behavior could be a result.

12

I wouldn’t like my software to force me to create a citation for a source. It’s very practical to be able to save sources, for example, to add notes, without having to create a citation.

13

OK, your “source attribute” problem seems to be solved, Bertrand. You found a good place for your source URL.

Can you click on the link when it is presented in the user interface, for example in a list of sources?

14

I can’t follow you, @PLegoux. Please explain it again to me.

“Source” is for me always the source that proofs something. So it should be never unrelated. If I like to add somewhere a note I don’t need a source because a shared note could be added everywhere.

15

Thanks to both of you,
I should have clicked “source only.”
The Gramps workflow still seems a bit obscure to me, and I don’t remember how I created this source without the citation.
The URL appears correctly but isn’t clickable.

image
image1135×620 56.8 KB

16

I can use sources without citations, for example:

  • to associate a map from a website with its references, that map will only be linked to a place, no citations needed
  • to store sources to be explored (with a “To Do” note). Perhaps there will then be a citation, but perhaps not. The source will then remain with its “Done” note as a Reference, as part of some research journal
  • I sometimes add Archive Inventories as a Source, but again, no citation will be made.
17

URLs are only clickable if they are in a note (or used in Internet tab in some objects: Person, Repository, Place)

18

so where to put the url of a source citation ?
typical example the hyperlink of a digitized document from an online archive ?

PS : il manque vraiment des vidéos en français :wink:

19

Thank you! I fully agree with your third point. Sometimes it makes sense to use the top down way and describe which sources are available in a repository.

Your second point is like your third point more management of the genealogical process than genealogical data itself. Interesting. I know that some researchers are using specialized tools for that, I’m using some sheets of paper. But you are right: why not using the genealogical program itself for that task. You said that you are adding a ToDo to such a unlinked source. I would prefer the other way around: add a unlinked ToDo record and link to a source (and an archive) in the ToDo. But that is not important.

I’m not sure if I understood your first point. The map is of interest for a place or a region. You found the map on a web page. So you define a source with the link to the map. This source does not proof anything, but helps in understanding where something happened. Is this correct? It makes sense to me. But then you are saying that the map is linked to the location. But how can you establish such a link without a source citation?

20

Most of the discussions about GEDCOM imports or exports on this forum tend to be discuss external workarounds for migrating unsupported tags. They might be custom tags that the plugin does not recognize or standard tags that are not handled fully.

Since Python is so malleable, perhaps we could have a full discussion about tweaking the code? Specifically, how to add recognition of a specific tag and import its value created as a primary or secondary Gramps object. Then another discussion about how to create a specific GEDCOM tag for the exporter plugin.