* Import of V6 gedcom file into V4 fails

[fardeau@gmx.co.uk]

I am trying to import a GEDCOM file my sister created in FH V6 into my copy of FH V4. The process fails, throwing up a message box saying something like, " Imported file is in an unrecognised format" and some other stuff which is related to copying images etc.
I understood GEDCOM to be a universal standard so am perlexed as to why this import of a file created within FH should not work. Are GEDCOM files not backward compatible between FH versions? Or is it probable my sister's file is somehow corrupted (although sh has not reported any problem in using it on her PC within her copy of FH V6?
My PC is running Win10 latest build, and my sister's PC, which is newer, is also on Win10.

Any suggestions and advice offered would be greatly appreciated.

[Valkrider]

She has probably just copied the gedcom file from her computer. She needs to export it from her version of FH6 as the FH6 native version of the gedcom won't be compatible with your FH4. Tell her to do you an ANSI format export chosen from the drop down top right of the export dialog. The utf8 export (the default option) may or may not work I can't remember whether FH4 accepted that or not but I am sure the ANSI one will be ok for you..

[ColeValleyGirl]

A few comments:

Your sister may have saved her Gedcom file in UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding; from memory FH4 can't cope with either of those, and she will need to export it as ANSI or ASCII. Try this first.

There are also record types in V6 (notably the Place records) that FH4 won't recognise -- it will read them but (I suspect) save them as unrecognised data. There may be other changes that affect you -- see What's new in Version 5 and What's new in Version 6

[tatewise]

GEDCOM is not as universal a standard as you think because every product adds allowed customisations including FH.
FH V6 is two versions later than FH V4 and adds many new features, all valid GEDCOM, that FH V4 is not designed to support.

Your sister should use the Export Gedcom File plugin in (FH5) Family Historian 5 export mode with Character Encoding set to (ANSI) ANSI/Windows Code Page 1252.
That should also be compatible with your FH V4 and avoid your import problems.

[fardeau@gmx.co.uk]

Just a note to say thank you to those who responded to my help request last Sunday. My sister went down with post vaccination side effects for a time shortly after receiving a copy of this thread and was not up to navigating through your very helpful guidance until today. Anyhow, between us over the phone we have managed to succeed and I now have a Gedcom file that I can use in my FH4. The only drawback is that the export process threw up a large exceptions file so the readable data may not be complete, but from a cursory look through I think the information I wanted from her has come though OK.

So, thanks again to you all!

[tatewise]

FYI: I suspect the 'large exceptions file' you mention is the standard Result Set from the Export Gedcom File plugin that lists the conversion rules used to convert from FH V6 to FH V5. That is perfectly normal.