Note: GEDitCOM has been replaced by GEDitCOM II
GEDitCOM Product Page
Publisher: John Nairn
Type: Genealogy Application
License: Commercial/Download ($49.95, includes free future upgrades)
Last Updated – Beta Release: 3.8.2 (February 2008)
Last Updated (General Release): 3.72 (20 March 2005)
GEDCOM Support: Yes Software Auto-Update: No
Languages: English, other languages available (Format Downloads)
Unofficial Forums: www.macgenealogy.org
Hardware Requirements: Power Macintosh or better
MacOS Requirements: Mac OS 8.1+ (with CarbonLib) -> Mac OS X
Download: GEDitCOM 3.72 at GEDitCOM.com
Demo Limitations: Can only browse GEDCOM files.
Official Description:
GEDitCOM is the customizable genealogy application for the Macintosh (including MacOS X) for editing and viewing GEDCOM genealogy files. Using the GEDitCOM customization features, you can design your own genealogy user interface. Or, if you prefer, you can use the Default Format that comes with GEDitCOM and provides a powerful, user-friendly interface with 100% access to all features of the GEDCOM standard. GEDitCOM was written by John A. Nairn.
Official Notes:
You can read The philosophy of GEDitCOM at GEDitCOM.com. You can also view a Standard Generated Website or a Generated Pedigree Website.
Technical Notes: (Acrobat/.PDF Format) Customizing Search Window, Always Displaying Certain Events in the Default Format, Adding Custom Events and Attributes to the Default Format
Screenshot Gallery:
Reviews: (If you’d like to contribute one, Contact us)
– Family Tree Magazine – Dec 2001 (Excerpt below)
GEDitCOM isn’t for everyone, especially if you don’t want to spend the time to explore all its features. But since it’s free to use as a file browser, it’s great for swapping and downloading GEDCOMs. And if you want a way to document every scrap of research or want total control over how your file operates, this program is for you. It’s also a welcome additional choice for Mac users, whose only real software option has been Reunion.
– Family Tree Magazine – Apple Picking (July 2008) (Version 3.8):
Best For: Do-it-yourselfers who want maximum control over their files and how their software looks and works, and those still using “classic” Macs.
Other Products/Older Versions by John Nairn:
GEDitCOM 2.9.6 – Older, non-Carbon version of GEDitCOM, for systems older than MacOS 8.1, at GEDitCOM.com (Direct Download, 1 MB)
GEDitCOM Formats at GEDitCOM.com
Export Styles at GEDitCOM.com
GEDCOM Date Calculator – shareware application for many date and time calculations and conversions.
Calendar – free Cocoa application for MacOS X. It acts as a graphical user interface for the Unix cal command. In brief, this command can generate a Gregorian calendar for any year or for any single month in a year. The calendar can be for any year from 1 AD to 9999 AD. The Calendar application lets you customize the appearance of the calendar output and lets you print it.
Version History:
Changes in 3.82 (Feb 2008)
Changes in 3.80b1
* Many internal changes were done (regarding resources) that address two issues. First, GEDitCOM can now fully be run by users without administrative privilidges. Second, the internal changes may evenutally lead to a universal binary version of GEDitCOM (more on this subject later).
* A new command for export styles permitted addition of a new export style (called “Fix INDI to FAM Links”) that can repair files downloaded from Ancestry.com that are lacking all the required individual links. The new export style is in the download, but may move to a downable export style once this version is complete.
* Fixed bugs dealing with scrolling in dialog boxes when more than 32767 individuals and not allowing detaching of association links to non-individual records.
* Besides the above changes, you can look for other changes in the What’s New help topic accessible through the help menu.
Here are some expected changes to be made before the final version is ready:
* More internal resource changes.
* Fix any bugs that are found.
* More updating and proof reading of the on-line help.
* Implementing possible suggestions from users.
GEditCOM 3.72 (User requested (Mar 2006).
* Do a better job with name suffixes in exports.
* Make use of new “unmarried” option in some reports where it was not used.
GEDitCOM 3.71 (Oct 2005)
*This upgrade tries to work around a MacOS 10.4 (Tiger) bug in Spotlight that prevented GEDItCOM from removing temporary files. If you have Tiger and had problems with temporary files while saving, this version might fix it.
GEDitCOM 3.70 (May 2005)
* This upgrade has many new features and interface improvements.
* All new icons and many interface improvements, especially in MacOS X.
* Many new options for working with multimedia files.
* See What’s New help topic in GEDitCOM for a full listing.
Version 3.7b4
- * There is a new Attach->Marital Status menu command that lets you indicate if the father and mother in a family record were never married. Custom formats have been updated to look for this new option and change “Husband” and “Wife” to “Father” and “Mother” if a couple were not married.
* Updated GEDitCOM to allow linking to Multimedia files with long file names (>31 letters). Mac OS X allows longer file names while Mac Classic does not.
* New option in General Preferences to “Hide Alternate Multimedia Link Option.”
* Changed “Julian Only” to “Non-Gregorian Only” in Date Entry Preferences. When this selection is chosen, escape codes will be added to Julian, Hebrew, and French repulic dates. This approach works better for all-numeric date formats.
* You can use nmbr as an expression when Customizing the index Window to have the record number appear in a column in the index.
* Fixed bug that would cause export to crash if there were deleted records in the file (see Exporting a File in the help).
* Fixed bug that did not restore the preference to use abbreviated words (see Date Entry Preference in the help) between runs.
* Fixed bug that could crash when working on GEDitCOM Log file when there was no GEDCOM file option.
* A new Marked Records Option lets you mark records associated with currently marked records (i.e. records linked by associatin or alias links).
* Web site exporting styles have been updated to support the new multimedia options (i.e. mlutimedia in records), to support the new unmarried option, to support links to multiple family records of children (if needed), and to limit the size of multimedia for better display in web sites.
Version 3.7 Beta
* Beta 5: posted 29 NOV 2004. Fixed bug in 3.70b4 that prevented creation of new family or note records.
* Beta 4: posted 27 NOV 2004. Support for long file names in multimedia file links, method to make couple as never married, several bug fixes, updating of web site exporting, and more.
* Beta 3: posted 25 AUG 2004. Major new feature is new option to make the new icons smaller. Other minor features are documented in the “What’s New” help topic (now accessible with easy menu command).
* Beta 2: posted 13 APR 2004. Beta 1 had a severe slow down when running in MacOS 9.x and when opening large files. The problem turned out to be style of graphics created using Adobe Photoshop and the problem did not affect MacOS X. It should be fixed in beta 2.
* Beta 1: posted 5 APR 2004
Work In Progress for 3.70
Here are some expected changes to be made before the final version is ready:
* Fix any bugs and resolve issues listed below.
* More updating and proof reading of the on-line help.
* Implementing suggestions from users
Version 3.6 (Nov 2003)
* Trees can be larger and oversize trees shrink to fit better.
* Misnamed nieces and nephews in Relationship… command fixed.
* Fixed bug when saving changes to a file on a UFS disk (not common disk format for Mac user).
* See What’s New help topic for other minor changes.