[Phpgedview-talk] Some general questions from a newbie

[=James B. <j.b...@ve...>]

I've just started to consider a php-based GEDCOM solution for a couple of 
different uses. One is a normal "share my data with my family" use. The 
other is quite a bit on the other extreme of pushing the envelope.

At first I wasn't going to consider PGV, as the first material that I found 
lauded it as not requiring mySQL, but I see that mySQL is an option.

In brief, I'd like to provide a service much like the One Great Family 
website, but either for free or for almost free. Also, I don't care for 
their merging interface, nor their free-for-all merging resolution. It 
seems like they allow pairs of submitters to merge against each other and 
to modify that pair's data. I'd like to have a master file and have 
submitters's data merged against it. Merge disputes would be arbitrated.

OK, that said, and knowing that if I knew how really difficult this would 
be to implement, I'd give up the silly idea in a second, I'd still like to 
ask those who know the software to fast track me about the obvious 
obstacles. I am a programmer, but not too advanced with php and still 
pretty clueless about OOP. I've learned just enough to build a dynamic site 
with some authentication, session control, etc. I've recently installed 
mediaWiki (same as used by WikiPedia) which uses php/mySQL, and have been 
able to use it's "extension" markup tags to call php functions which pass 
back HTML containing tables of data from my main site's mySQL. But let's 
pretend that I have a team of competent php gurus in my back pocket. How 
suitable is PGV as a starting place for modifying into what I describe? How 
close is it already? I'll install it and play with it during the next month 
regardless, but it would help if I knew in advance some of the boundaries.

Here are some of my initial fears:
1) there is a practical limit to the amount of data that can be managed.
2) there are too many fundamental design structures that would have to be 
changed to allow the extra features
3) GEDCOM upload is manual? (If so, a module would have to be developed to 
allow grandma to submit.)
4) robustness issues with importing GEDCOMs from every possible source and 
export scenario. If so, an import filter would need to be developed. I 
believe that this is already an issue, with a common solution to run the 
file through a dependable application like Brother's Keeper to massage the 
data into a more troublefree form?
5) I would probably need to add data in a non-GEDCOM form. I assume that 
uploading it directly into the mySQL tables wouldn't be too difficult? It 
depends on how much the data is spread around in different tables, and how 
relationships are managed. This data would probably be mostly events, 
without much connection to other records, like a list of births from a 
church book, eg.

TIA,

James Birkholz
admin, Posen-L mailing list and website
http://www.Posen-L.com

To see what I've done, I suggest these as a sample:
http://www.posen-l.com/SrnmLst.php
http://www.posen-l.com/CatholicDbBrowse.php
http://www.birchy.com/GenWiki/index.php?title=Protestant_parish_of_Margonin