Gedcom Reader for C#

Question

Does anyone know of a good class to read in .ged files

Gedcom is a file format that is used to store genealogical information.

My goal is to write something that would let me import a ged file and export a .dot file for graphviz so that I can make a visual representation of a family tree

thanks if you can help

Jetpropelled

Typo: geological instead of genealogical – Sideway

@Joel C. (tags): GEDCOM is a genealogical file format, not geology or geolocation. (The statement "visual representation of a family tree" may have helped too...) – Runofthemill

Answer 1

Heres my best attempt so far.

It seems to be working for what i need though its defiently not full proof ( then again my family tree is rather large and that adds some complexity)

please let me know if you think i could make anything more elequient

struct INDI
        {
            public string ID;
            public string Name;
            public string Sex;
            public string BirthDay;
            public bool Dead;


        }
        struct FAM
        {
            public string FamID;
            public string type;
            public string IndiID;
        }
        List<INDI> Individuals = new List<INDI>();
        List<FAM> Family = new List<FAM>();
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string path = @"C:\mostrecent.ged";
            ParseGedcom(path);
        }

        private void ParseGedcom(string path)
        {
            //Open path to GED file
            StreamReader SR = new StreamReader(path);

            //Read entire block and then plit on 0 @ for individuals and familys (no other info is needed for this instance)
            string[] Holder = SR.ReadToEnd().Replace("0 @", "\u0646").Split('\u0646');

            //For each new cell in the holder array look for Individuals and familys
            foreach (string Node in Holder)
            {

                //Sub Split the string on the returns to get a true block of info
                string[] SubNode = Node.Replace("\r\n", "\r").Split('\r');
                //If a individual is found
                if (SubNode[0].Contains("INDI"))
                {
                    //Create new Structure
                    INDI I = new INDI();
                    //Add the ID number and remove extra formating
                    I.ID = SubNode[0].Replace("@", "").Replace(" INDI", "").Trim();
                    //Find the name remove extra formating for last name
                    I.Name = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "NAME")].Replace("1 NAME", "").Replace("/", "").Trim(); 
                    //Find Sex and remove extra formating
                    I.Sex = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "SEX")].Replace("1 SEX ", "").Trim();

                    //Deterine if there is a brithday -1 means no
                    if (FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") != -1)
                    {
                        // add birthday to Struct 
                        I.BirthDay = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") + 1].Replace("2 DATE ", "").Trim();
                    }

                    // deterimin if there is a death tag will return -1 if not found
                    if (FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 DEAT ") != -1)
                    {
                        //convert Y or N to true or false ( defaults to False so no need to change unless Y is found.
                        if (SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 DEAT ")].Replace("1 DEAT ", "").Trim() == "Y")
                        {
                            //set death
                            I.Dead = true;
                        }
                    }
                    //add the Struct to the list for later use
                    Individuals.Add(I);
                }

                // Start Family section
                else if (SubNode[0].Contains("FAM"))
                {
                    //grab Fam id from node early on to keep from doing it over and over
                    string FamID = SubNode[0].Replace("@ FAM", "");

                    // Multiple children can exist for each family so this section had to be a bit more dynaimic

                    // Look at each line of node
                    foreach (string Line in SubNode)
                    {
                        // If node is HUSB
                        if (Line.Contains("1 HUSB "))
                        {

                            FAM F = new FAM();
                            F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "PAR";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 HUSB ", "").Replace("@","").Trim();
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                            //If node for Wife
                        else if (Line.Contains("1 WIFE "))
                        {
                            FAM F = new FAM();
                            F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "PAR";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 WIFE ", "").Replace("@", "").Trim();
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                            //if node for multi children
                        else if (Line.Contains("1 CHIL "))
                        {
                            FAM F = new FAM();
                             F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "CHIL";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 CHIL ", "").Replace("@", "");
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private int FindIndexinArray(string[] Arr, string search)
        {
            int Val = -1;
            for (int i = 0; i < Arr.Length; i++)
            {
                if (Arr[i].Contains(search))
                {
                    Val = i;
                }
            }
            return Val;
        }

Jetpropelled

Answer 2

There is a very pretty one at Codeplex: FamilyShow (a WPF showcase). It imports/exports GEDCOM 5.5 and there is source.

Vibraharp

family show is pretty cool. Im working on something to help visualize everything similarly to that – Jetpropelled

I have spent a few days with family show now. and to be honest it sucks @#$@$. Its very pretty don't get me wrong but its also very bugy ( at least in xp ) and doesn't handle a lot of things well the least of which is gedcom import – Jetpropelled

Answer 3

I would actually have been surprised if there wasn't at least the beginnings of one. I found Gedcom.NET (sourceforge) quite easily

Fed

I found that too. this could also be my complete lack experience but the class structure seems pretty complex. – Jetpropelled

Would have been helpful to mention that in your question, and perhaps what you find complex. It's probably better to try to see if you can understand this (perhaps contact the author or ask another question here) than reinvent a simpler version that will gradually become more complex. – Fed

@Matthew Flaschen I found it after posting the question – Jetpropelled

It is (was) developed under Monodevelop and so any errors are possibly due to differences in VS / .NET and Monodevelop / Mono. They will be small problems only that shouldn't take much fixing. – Anallese

Answer 4

I'd be fairly surprised if there was a C# reader for this format available on the web, given that it's a fairly specialized format. On the upside, the format looks to be pretty straightforward to read if you need to create your own reader. I would suggest going down that path and coming back to SO if you have specific questions about the implementation. Take a look at the System.IO.StreamReader class; it's trivial to read in a file line-by-line that way, and parsing the individual lines should be simple as well.

Good luck!

Gnaw

I know that's probably whats going to happen. I would like to avoid that if possible ( no need to re-invent the wheel). – Jetpropelled

I think I may have a idea how I want to do this --- each individual is delimited. then each family is delimited with a pointer to the individuals that are involved. I think if just read that info in ill be fine. I do wish they would go xml like the rest of civilized formats. – Jetpropelled

Answer 5

I found a fresh project GedcomParser.

Pelagi