# Possible bug in Family Lines Graph and Pedigree Chart

**URL:** <https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [December 18, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951 "2025-12-18T17:18:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HontoniKawaii](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/hontonikawaii/32/7667_2.png) [@HontoniKawaii](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/HontoniKawaii)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951/1 "2025-12-18T17:18:56Z")

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Not sure if this is a bug or how to suppress this behaviour. When I generate a Family Lines Graph and have a direct ancestor who was present both in her biological parent’s family unit and in another with a step-parent, the graph will add the extra spouse with an oval for the marriage pointing to the child as well. It makes the child seem to have two mothers, for example. This is not ideal visually and confuses other family members who’d receive said graphs.

Also, the behaviour is present in the Pedigree Chart view, but worse. It shows the step-parent, who came later, as the direct line to the child, which is wrong and makes navigating a bit difficult. Maybe there needs to be an extra check in the logic when generating or displaying these views to default to the family unit with both birth parents.

> **Prereqs check**
>
> Some of the ‘failed’ dependencies are present. The checks seem to be wrong eg. PyICU, Pysycopg2, networkx, pydotplus, pygraphviz, etc.
> 
> Diagnostic Gramplet to help evaluate if Gramps has all prerequisites installed.
> 
> ```python
> You have Gramps 6.0.3. Please make a backup and then upgrade.
> Gramps 6.0.6, is the most current version.
> 
> REQUIRED
> Installations of the following packages are ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED
> (Requires the minimum version or greater.):
> • Python 3.13.9 (Passed: version 3.9.0 or greater installed.)
> • orjson 3.11.4 (Passed: version 3.8.5 or greater installed.)
> • GTK+ 3.24.51 (Passed: version 3.24.0 or greater installed.)
> • PyGObject 3.54.5 (Passed: version 3.29.0 or greater installed.)
> • Cairo 1.18.4 (Passed: version 1.13.1 or greater installed.)
> • Pycairo 1.28.0 (Passed: version 1.13.3 or greater installed.)
> • Pango 1.56.4 (Passed: version 1.29.3 or greater installed.)
> • PangoCairo 1.0
> • Berkeley Database library (bsddb3: 4.8.30) (Python-bsddb3 : 6.2.9)
> • SQLite Database library (sqlite3: 3.51.1)
> • xdg-utils (Manual check see instructions link)
> • librsvg2 (Manual check see instructions link)
> • language-pack-gnome-xx (Manual check see instructions link) for your Language 
> 
> RECOMMENDED
> Installations of the following packages are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED as necessary for Geography and Charts:
> • osmgpsmap 1.0 (Passed: version 1.0 or greater installed.)
> • Graphviz 14.0
> • PyICU not found but we have ICU 3.13.9
> • Ghostscript 10.06.0
> • python-fontconfig not found, (Requires version 0.5.x)
> 
> Optional
> Installations of the following packages are optional:
> Gtkspell enables spell checking in the notes.
> • GtkSpell 3.0 (Passed: version 3.0 or greater installed.) (enchant module: not found)
> • rcs installed TBD (Passed: version 5.9.4 or greater installed. If not on Microsoft Windows)
> Python Image Library (PIL) is needed for cropping images and LaTeX output.
> • (PILLOW 12.0.0)
> • GExiv2 : 0.10 (Exiv2 library : 0.28)
> • geocodeglib 1.0 (Passed: version 1.0 or greater installed.)
> For addon Networkchart, font White Rabbit provides an extremely readable result.
> • Installed font: White Rabbit
> 
> Development & Translation Requirements
> Installations of the following packages are RECOMMENDED if you intend to translate or do any development (addons etc.):
> • gettext (msgfmt): 0.26
> • intltool-update: 0.51.0
> Sphinx is a tool that builds the Gramps development documentation and man pages
> • Sphinx: found
> 
> Optional packages required by Third-party Addons
> Prerequistes required for the following Third-party Addons to work:
> 01. Addon:Family Sheet : (PILLOW 12.0.0)
> 02. Addon:Graph View : (GooCanvas:3.0)(PyGoocanvas: TBD?)(Graphviz 14.0)
> 03. Addon:PedigreeChart : (NumPy : 2.3.3 )
> 04. Addon:Network Chart : (networkx not installed)(Graphviz 14.0)
> and one of either: (pydotplus: not installed) or (pygraphviz: not installed)
> 05. Addon:GenealogyTree : (lualatex :not found)(PILLOW 12.0.0)
> 06. Addon:HTMLView : (Webkit: not installed )
> 07. Addon:GoogleMapKML : (Google Earth on Desktop : not found.)
> 08. Addon:Webconnect Pack : (libwebconnect : Installed)(Passed)
> 09. Addon:TMG Importer : (DBF not found.)(Requires version 0.96.8 or greater installed.)
> 10. Addon:PostgreSQL#Prerequisites Database library Support : (PostgreSQL not found.)(psycopg2 : not found.)
> 11. Addon:Edit Image Exif Metadata : (PILLOW 12.0.0) GExiv2 : 0.10 (Exiv2 library : 0.28)
> 12. Addon:Photo Tagging Gramplet : (NumPy: 2.3.3)(OpenCV facedetection: 4.12.0)
> 13. Addon:Lxml Gramplet : (lxml: 6.0.2.0)(libxml: 2.14.5)(libxslt: 1.1.43)
> 14. Addon:MongoDB : • Requires: MongoDB TBD / pymongo TBD
> 
> Diagnostic checks
> Check for potential issues.
> 
> Environment settings:
> • Operating System: linux
> kernel: 6.18.1-1-default
> 
> Locale Settings:
> • LANG: en_GB.UTF-8
> • LANGUAGE: en_GB
> • LC_MESSAGES: not set
> • LC_TIME: not set
> 
> Gramps Environment variables:
> • GRAMPSI18N: not set
> • GRAMPSHOME: not set
> • GRAMPSDIR: not set
> • GRAMPS_RESOURCES: /usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages
> 
> Locales available:
> 
> Installed Locales\\Translations (If only English is listed please re-install Gramps again and make sure to select all the Translations and Dictionaries)
> 
> sq : Albanian
> ar : Arabic
> bg : Bulgarian
> ca : Catalan
> zh_HK : Chinese (Hong Kong)
> zh_CN : Chinese (Simplified)
> zh_TW : Chinese (Traditional)
> hr : Croatian
> cs : Czech
> da : Danish
> nl : Dutch
> en_GB : English
> en : English (USA)
> eo : Esperanto
> fi : Finnish
> fr : French
> de : German
> de_AT : German (Austria)
> el : Greek
> he : Hebrew
> hu : Hungarian
> is : Icelandic
> it : Italian
> ja : Japanese
> ko : Korean
> lt : Lithuanian
> nb : Norwegian Bokmal
> nn : Norwegian Nynorsk
> pl : Polish
> pt_BR : Portuguese (Brazil)
> pt_PT : Portuguese (Portugal)
> ru : Russian
> sr : Serbian
> sk : Slovak
> sl : Slovenian
> es : Spanish
> sv : Swedish
> ta : Tamil
> tr : Turkish
> uk : Ukrainian
> vi : Vietnamese
> 
> ```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaveSch](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/davesch/32/40_2.png) [@DaveSch](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/DaveSch)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951/2 "2025-12-19T17:09:22Z")

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> [@HontoniKawaii](#):
>
> Also, the behaviour is present in the Pedigree Chart view, but worse. It shows the step-parent, who came later, as the direct line to the child, which is wrong and makes navigating a bit difficult. Maybe there needs to be an extra check in the logic when generating or displaying these views to default to the family unit with both birth parents.

The Pedigree view is using the first set of parents listed.

It is best seen (and fixed) in the Relationships view. A person’s parents are listed first in the display. If the step or adoptive parents are at the top, that set of parents will be used in the Pedigree view.

To reorder the parents list go to the menu Edit \>\> Reorder or the ![view-sort-ascending-symbolic](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/2X/7/7c2ed50f466d7e2d50cd5316f370a3a2035f3652.png) icon in the toolbar. The icon will also appear next to a family if there is more than one.

For consistency, I always sort any parent families and more than one spousal families in chronological order. So Birth parents are always listed first.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaveSch](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/davesch/32/40_2.png) [@DaveSch](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/DaveSch)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951/3 "2025-12-19T17:16:51Z")

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> [@HontoniKawaii](#):
>
> When I generate a Family Lines Graph and have a direct ancestor who was present both in her biological parent’s family unit and in another with a step-parent, the graph will add the extra spouse with an oval for the marriage pointing to the child as well. It makes the child seem to have two mothers, for example.

The Family Lines Graph does not make a distinction between types of families. The [Relationship Graph](https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_6.0_Wiki_Manual_-_Reports_-_part_5#Relationship_Graph) uses a solid line connecting a child to the Birth parents and uses a dotted line to connect a child to a non-birth family (step, adopted, etc).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HontoniKawaii](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/hontonikawaii/32/7667_2.png) [@HontoniKawaii](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/HontoniKawaii)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:27pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951/4 "2025-12-19T18:27:17Z")

</div>

> [@DaveSch](#):
>
> To reorder the parents list go to the menu Edit \>\> Reorder or the ![view-sort-ascending-symbolic](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/2X/7/7c2ed50f466d7e2d50cd5316f370a3a2035f3652.png) icon in the toolbar. The icon will also appear next to a family if there is more than one.

Thanks! That solved it for the Pedigree Chart. I’m not sure _why_ there were in the wrong order for that particular family member, as that relationship was added later, and very few in my DB were ordered incorrectly.

> [@DaveSch](#):
>
> The [Relationship Graph](https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_6.0_Wiki_Manual_-_Reports_-_part_5#Relationship_Graph) uses a solid line connecting a child to the Birth parents and uses a dotted line to connect a child to a non-birth family (step, adopted, etc).

This is more confusing to the end user ex. one of my direct ancestors had three wives. We get another marriage oval without the step-parent for the child and ancestors who were married to other people outside the direct line get another oval without that spouse being displayed. In the Include tab for both graph types, could we get an option like Dates/Places have wherein we can choose what relationship types to include ex. all, birth, birth-adopted-step, etc?

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/1X/2ac1e712b7adf612e31ca08a55419f4cf37c0158.png) [@system](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-in-family-lines-graph-and-pedigree-chart/8951/5 "2026-01-18T18:27:52Z")

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