Re: [Gramps-devel] Next release wishlist

[Don A. <don...@ho...>]

On Tue, 2001-11-13 at 03:09, Jesper Zedlitz wrote:
> > 4) Better gedcom import/export - export to specific platforms
> >
> Does that help? I know a lot of programs with nice features but extremly
> low gedcom import/export quality. So it won't be much help if we can
> produce very good gedcom data and the others don't understand it...
> Most programs use quite simple dbf-files. It would be great if we could
> find some volunteers to write 'native' import for some programs.

What I have been thinking about is trying to target the GEDCOM that
these programs accept. For example, Family Tree Maker uses non-standard
tags to indicate child to parent relationships (_FREL and _MREL). PAF,
on the other hand, does not support separate parent/child relationships
- in other words, you cannot say that Timmy is the natural child of
Martha and the adopted child of Bert.

If we could compile a list of these quirks, we can generate a GEDCOM
file that could be understood by the target program. Similarly, we can
make sure we understand GEDCOMs from other programs.

If we had native readers, that would be great. However, living in the
US, I get kind of nervous that someone may come after us trying to use
the DMCA if we reverse-engineer a file format.

> > 5) Attempt to import pictures from GEDCOM - map Windows file system?
> >
> Is there any program that includes pictures in a gedcom file?

From what I've read, no program embeds images in a gedcom file, even
though it is supported. On the other hand, quite a few of the gedcoms I
have seen include the filenames of the images. 

Many people are dual booting, and have expressed the desire for gramps
to somehow be able to import the images on the Windows file system. This
would require a converstion of the Windows drive letter to a mount
point.

I was thinking of searching the /etc/fstab file for file types of FAT,
VFAT, or NTFS, and building a search path. 


-- 
Don Allingham
don...@ho...

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