Database Section

Overview

The Database Section includes properties related to the data file. Data files are GEDCOM files or databases from applications where Gedcom Publisher supports direct import.

Properties

Choose Data File...

Use the Choose Data File... button to select the GEDCOM file or TMG project to process.

When you click the button, Gedcom Publisher will open a standard Windows "open file" dialog window. Navigate to the folder that contains the GEDCOM file or TMG project you want to process, select it, and click the [Open] button. Gedcom Publisher will load the selected file.

If you save the Gedcom Publisher file after you choose a data file, the path to the data file is stored in the Gedcom Publisher file and it will be loaded automatically the next time you open the Gedcom Publisher file.

CHAR Value

This property only applies to GEDCOM files.

In most instances, Gedcom Publisher will detect the character encoding of GEDCOM files. Gedcom Publisher inspects the initial text in the file, and also uses the value of the GEDCOM CHAR record to decide which character encoding it should use.

In some cases, Gedcom Publisher will not be able to determine the character encoding, typically because the file's CHAR record does not match the actual encoding used for the file. In that circumstance, set the CHAR Value property to the encoding that works best.

Please see the Character Encoding help page for more information about character encodings.

Capitalize Properties

Gedcom Publisher has a built-in name capitalization routine that converts uppercase names to mixed-case names. You may enable or disable it for the following name parts:

• Title
• Given Name
• Surname
• Suffix

Gedcom Publisher capitalizes names according to a "Lower-Case-Following-Letter" (LCFL) algorithm. Using LCFL, any alphabetic character that follows an alphabetic character is lowercased. Other letters are uppercased. The usual result is to lowercase the 2nd through Nth letters in words.

Gedcom Publisher modifies the LFCL output to handle certain exceptions for surnames. For most names that begin with "MC" or "MAC", Gedcom Publisher will change the letters to "Mc" and "Mac", respectively. Gedcom Publisher also has special processing for words that occur in the middle of surnames such as "DE" and "VAN".

Lastly, Gedcom Publisher uses lists of exceptions to handle name parts that cannot be capitalized using the LCFL algorithm.

Use Global Sentences

A global sentence is Gedcom Publisher's terminology for a sentence defined for a tag type. Some programs call tags "events" or "facts".

Typically, global sentences are defined in the source application's definition window for a tag. Some applications support sentences that vary by role, and if so, a sentence template will be defined as part of a role.

Global sentences apply to all the tags of that type. Some genealogy applications allow the global sentence to be overridden for a specific tag. Gedcom Publisher calls those "local" sentences and they are described below.

When Use Global Sentences is checked, roles and sentences defined by Tag Type records in the GEDCOM file are used to render the output for tags rather than using sentences defined via Gedcom Publisher's Tag Types.

If the Database.Use Global Sentences property is unchecked, Gedcom Publisher will ignore the roles and sentences defined by Tag Type records in the GEDCOM file and use its own roles and sentences.

Use Local Sentences

A local sentence is Gedcom Publisher's terminology for a sentence template defined for a specific tag (name or event), rather than for a tag type. Your genealogy application may refer to such sentences as "customized" or use some other term.

When Use Local Sentences is checked, sentences included with specific events in the GEDCOM file are used to render the output for an event rather than using the default sentence defined for the Tag Type.

If the Database.Use Local Sentences property is unchecked, Gedcom Publisher will ignore the local sentence and use the default sentence for the Tag Type.

Sentence Limitations

There are several limitations associated with sentences passed to Gedcom Publisher from the source application's data file:

1. Some applications do not support sentences, or may not include either global or local sentences in their GEDCOM export files.
2. Source applications do not share a common definition for sentence templates. There are many differences in variable naming, syntax, etc.
3. Source applications vary in terms of the capabilities of their sentence templates. Gedcom Publisher may or may not be able to imitate all the capabilities of the source application.

If a source application provides a sentence template, Gedcom Publisher does its best to recognize that a template is present and import the template, and the Gedcom Publisher sentence engine includes extensions for reading sentence templates from several programs.

Global and local sentence templates are supported as follows as of Gedcom Publisher version 3.00: