Importing/Exporting GedCom files How to read files created in one program (e.g. Legacy) in another program (e.g. The Master Genealogist)

Export to GEDCOM File

Tell it what you want to export.. All or part? Do you want to import all records in the file or selected redords (i.e. those you have selected and created a “focus group” comprised of the records) or those with certain tags?

Give it a name that you will recognize and save it Note it will be a .ged file All Gedcom files will end in .ged Can you figure out where it will be saved? You’ll want to notice that.

You mail the gedcom file to your cousin, who has The Master Genealogist.

IMPORT A FILE He clicks “import a file” and a Wizard runs that will take him through the steps.

TMG is very smart… it can import directly from some programs. But you didn’t know that and went to all the trouble to create a GedCom file. So he’ll select GEDCOM v.4.0, v5.5 (*GED)

Your cousin knows where he put the file you sent him! Smart cousin. He’ll navigate to where the file is stored and select It to open it up in TMG. The program will take a few minutes to process it. Once completed, he has the file in his software.

There will be errors The error list tells you what the program did with the errors.

The fields don’t always import correctly... She died of consumption, but when I imported this file, it put cause of death in the education field. Go figure. The fields don’t always import correctly... In the one, the “cause of death” came through as an “education” event…

When all else fails…