* Problem uploading gedcom saved in FH 6.0 to websites

[tbennett54]

Hello. Has anybody got this problem? I have just upgraded to FH 6.0 and have found that I cannot upload my gedcom to WorldConnect and Ancestry. The latter says my file does not seem to be a valid gedcom format. Yet I have done nothing different, merely saved my file as a Gedcom in the normal way via Family Historian. It always used to upload ok before I got FH 6.0.

[tatewise]

FH V6 adds several new FH custom GEDCOM tags for Witness Roles and the new Place Records. I suspect it is those that they are objecting to. Could also be the UTF-16 Unicode encoding.

The Place Records get created automatically for every unique Place field inyour database.

Try the Export Gedcom File Plugin that has a specific option for RootsWeb WorldConnect and try the Standard Gedcom 5.5 option for Ancestry.

[tbennett54]

Thanks Mike, the plugin worked a treat.

[RogerF]

Just to confirm: it's the FH6 UTF-16 character encoding that Ancestry can't handle. Until (if ever) Ancestry supports Unicode input, you probably won't be able to upload your regular project GEDCOM; you'll have to export from FH a version of the GEDCOM specifically for the upload.

[tatewise]

Roger, in many cases even that does not work well, especially with the new custom Place Records.

In FH V6, you cannot even File > Export GEDCOM in a format compatible with FH V5 for friends and relations who have not upgraded.

That is why I have extended the Export Gedcom File Plugin with predefined options for many popular genealogy programs, including Family Historian 5, and with options for ANSI, ISO, UTF-8 & UTF-16 with or without BOM, plus options to handle Multimedia in various formats.

[Valkrider]

Mike

Next time you are altering the plugin any chance of adding Notepad++ to the list of open with buttons?

[tatewise]

I am a little uncertain about doing that.
It could open the floodgates for any number of text editors, which may or may not be installed on the PC.

I would have to check if each one was installed before offering it, otherwise users would complain that clicking an uninstalled option did nothing.

I chose FH, Notepad & Explorer because they are guaranteed to exist, and from Explorer any program (such as Notepad++) can be used to open the GEDCOM or media files.

Is there any particular reason why you need to use Notepad++?

[Valkrider]

Mike

Excellent plain text editor that has a Gedcom plugin and has extensive Search and Replace functionality and also REGEX. Correcting some of the TMG problems would be dead easy with it.

No problem it was just a suggestion.

[tatewise]

Now you have confused me Colin.

Why would anyone be using the Plugin to export GEDCOM to TMG (which is being discontinued)?

The problems being reported with TMG are for direct import into FH.

[Valkrider]

Mike

I was meaning that Notepad++ is a good Gedcom editor to change anything before importing to any other programme.

I wasn't suggesting exporting to TMG.

It could work on the TMG gedcom before putting it into FH.

[tatewise]

I still think the Windows Explorer option is sufficient to allow users who are advanced enough to know about editing GEDCOM to open the file with the editor of their choice.

Most imports from TMG are direct from the TMG database not via GEDCOM, because far more is captured that way (when all the bugs are ironed out).