When Importing data, there isn’t a standard for communicating to the recipient of a shared tree. So no channel to offer a suggestion of a good starting point where the recipient should begin exploring.
Since GEDCOM and other formats do not have a Home Person, the User has to make a blind guess of the individual to set as the Tree’s Home Person and Active Person.
There are some obvious choices to people who examine the file.
The first person in a file is often where the original research began.
the person with the most secondary objects is often a person of interest.
Offering Recommendations of possible Home Person option (for imports where there is no Home Person in the import file or yet defined in the loaded tree) is a reasonably intelligent thing for Gramps to do,
GEDCOM this “Home Person” should be deducted using SUBM record of HEAD if this one is well filled and or generated when exported from every software (not only Gramps)
The SUBM is often not included (connected) in the tree.
from Perplexity.ai
As an expert in the GEDCOM 5.5.1 format, I can describe the tags related to the owner, submitter, and researcher:
Submitter Tags
The submitter record in GEDCOM 5.5.1 is identified by the SUBM tag and contains information about the person or organization that submitted the genealogical data[3]. The main tags associated with the submitter record are:
SUBM: Identifies the submitter record
NAME: The name of the submitter (mandatory)[3]
ADDR: Address structure for the submitter’s contact information
While GEDCOM 5.5.1 doesn’t have specific “owner” tags, some genealogy software uses custom tags to indicate ownership or additional information. These custom tags typically start with an underscore (_) and are considered user-defined tags[5]. Some examples include:
_ARCH: Archiving the Source[1]
_CREA: Date the item was created[1]
_GUID: File ID[1]
_PRIM: Defined if the media is primary[1]
Researcher Tags
GEDCOM 5.5.1 doesn’t have specific “researcher” tags, but information about researchers can be included in various ways:
As part of the submitter record (SUBM) if the researcher is also the submitter.
In source records (SOUR) if the researcher is credited for specific information.
In note structures (NOTE) attached to relevant records.
It’s important to note that while GEDCOM 5.5.1 is the de facto standard, some applications may use additional custom tags or interpret tags differently[8]. When creating GEDCOM files, it’s best to stick to standard tags for maximum compatibility across different genealogy software[5].
0 @U1@ SUBM
1 NAME John Doe
1 ADDR 123 Main Street
2 CONT Anytown, State 12345
2 CONT USA
1 PHON +1-555-123-4567
1 EMAIL johndoe@example.com
1 WWW https://www.johndoefamilyhistory.com
1 LANG English
1 RFN ABC-123
1 RIN 98765
1 NOTE Amateur genealogist specializing in 19th century European immigration
2 CONT to North America. Researching Doe, Smith, and Johnson families.
1 CHAN
2 DATE 1 MAR 2025
3 TIME 14:30:00
Please don’t use IA for answering these kind of questions ! IA is far from what I’m talking about.
GEDCOM is not a stranger for me, I spent enough time on it.
deducted means, when finding this in GEDCOM :
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
1 NAME Jean Marcel Dupont
Finding corresponding individual(s) in data imported that could correspond to “Jean Marcel Dupont” could be done, and proposing result as person that can be defined as “Home person” after GEDCOM import can be a new step “post import” (and allowing to select another person with a a button “Other”.
Some software use the first INDI record to define the “Home User”, this should also be another solution.
In Gramps you can set a tag for an import, also adding a default source. Well. But why there’s no checkbox on Source to specify it as submitter ? (as a GEDCOM can have more than one submitter ?)
I answered first : “The SUBM is often not included (connected) in the tree.” then used AI to provide background fodder (including examples) for further discussion.
The hope is that the extra fodder will inspire alternative uses of what data IS provided.
This is a good point when the GEDCOM data was created by the users when is moving to another tool.
But it becomes less valid when trying to import public GEDCOMs or files shared by cousins. Or when downloading a Tree from a public website that offers that option.
My experience has been that Genealogists rarely share GEDCOM data containing living persons in the Tree. (And “living” always includes themself as submitter. Complicated more when “living” so often includes their parents.) Many choose to prune the tree at grandparents or great-grandparents to make the data seem more ‘pertinent’ to a larger audience. That has often been true when publishing books of genealogies too. Moving the proband focus up an ancestor generation dramatically increases the market for the book.
I agree that setting to Home Person and Active Person to the first INDI record of an initial import is a good default.