v6.0.3; Win 11
Tried to import a GEDCOM from FTM 2024 and I received nearly 10K exceptions in an error log. Although some were related to the Privacy setting in FTM (which I can easily fix), the vast majority of errors were about footnotes. Is there a setting in GRAMPS that I have to toggle to allow the import of footnotes? Thanks!
Could you create a sample tree in Family Tree Maker (FTM) 2024 (that includes a footnote) and export it as GEDCOM?
Having a small sample file (in their GEDCOM dialects) to explore would be helpful. If they support both 5.5.x and 7.0 versions, having examples of both would be good too.
(If you want to avoid the hassle of creating something from scratch, look at that error log for a good candidate to export. Choose someone from the 1800s so living person privacy won’t be at risk.
Include the parents, grandparents, piblings, siblings and spouses to get a good cross-section of relationships, events and sources.)
There is no option in FTM to select a GEDCOM version. The last version I heard they supported was v6.5. Since I’m a “new user”, I’m not permitted to attach files. Do you have an FTP site I can upload to? Thanks.
Boosted your account to a “basic” user. But you can attach a file to my username (notice the intentional mispelling) at yahoo dot com
Their GEDCOM is probably 5.5 or 5.5.1 version. (The 6.x version was skipped because none of the proposal drafts were accepted. That is why the next step was 7.0.x in 2021… but the adoption has been pretty thin so far.) But it might be GEDCOM7 – since there’s an option to include media in the export.
But their dialect might be unique too. That would be the only way to include the actual media in a 5.5.x version GEDCOM.
OK, it appears that the uploading of a GEDCOM file is “not authorized” in this forum. This is odd since this file format is important for any import/export issues. I’ve sent to your email, thanks.
I’ve added .ged to the list of allowed file extensions.
Only certain types of uploads are permitted. If the forum allowed anything, we could not protect it from being spam-bombed.
Speaking of that, the file you sent me was not a “sample” as requested. It was the full 7.5MB file… which is too much for basic troubleshooting or adapting the import module.
But it did answer a couple questions:
0 HEAD
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5.1
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
3 VERS 5.5.1
1 CHAR UTF-8
1 SOUR FTM
2 NAME Family Tree Maker for Windows
2 VERS 25.0.0.1164
2 CORP The Software MacKiev Company
3 ADDR 30 Union Wharf
4 CONT Boston, MA 02109
3 PHON (617) 227-6681
1 DEST FTM
1 DATE 30 JUL 2025
1 FILE winterswayt2017_2025-07-30a.ged
1 SUBM @SUBM@
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
the footnotes are a custom tag and are redundantly stored data:
Line ignored as not understood Line 46: 3 _FOOT Ethel Wayt Herrick,
“Descendants of Ira James Wayt & Amanda Mae Simms.” Gives the birth date only.
0 @I15@ INDI
1 NAME Retha Florence /Bennett/
2 SOUR Details: Ethel Wayt Herrick, "Descendants of Ira James Wayt & Amanda Mae Simms", notes given name as "Bertha", but this is incorrect. Footnote: Ethel Wayt Herrick, "Descendants of Ira James Wayt & Amanda Mae Simms", notes given name as "Bertha"
3 CONC , but this is incorrect.
3 _FOOT Ethel Wayt Herrick, "Descendants of Ira James Wayt & Amanda Mae Simms", notes given name as "Bertha", but this is incorrect.
and Media objects are not included, just the paths:
0 @M19271@ OBJE
1 FILE L:\Genealogy\FTM\2017\winterswayt2017 Media\Chloe Grierson.jpg
2 FORM j2k
2 TITL Chloe Grierson
2 _DATE 2/28/2025 10:23:10 PM
There are 4 media objects (M1983, M5908, M19273, M4227) that are malformed. They are in the wrong directories or are mis-identified. You should fix them before exporting again.:
Well, the Sources are a mess. They don’t follow the normal Source and Citation structure of GEDCOM at all. But I’m not certain whether that’s due to the FTM export processing or the data being entered in the wrong fields within FTM.
The data is entered into the correct fields. However, FTM doesn’t have a proper footnotes field. Rather, they “suggest” that users utilize the Reference Note field that also doubles as Citation text. The reason? FTM’s developers never considered that users would want to include footnotes in reports, so they made FTM display Citation text as either footnotes or end notes. That said, I did not have the problem I posted here with my GEDCOM import into Roots Magic.
Thank you! Much appreciated.
