On 2011-05-28 05:03, Wes Groleau wrote: > On 05-27-2011 22:28, Bob Melson wrote: >> So, will SOMEbody please 'splain me this thing called a >> globally/universally unique ID and its place in the grand scheme of >> things? > > UUID / GUID were not created by genealogists to identify multiple > definitions of a person. They were created by computer types to > distinguish between two things that can't be told apart any other way. > ..... But lots of programs will fail to create a > new UUID when the item ceases to be a copy of the other. That, in my > opinion makes them useless for genealogy. But they were never intended > to be some magic way of automatically identifying independently > generated records as being representations of the same entity. ..... I have never used UUIDs (which are not the same as mere gedcom ids) but I have always regarded them as a sort of Export Id so that for instance you can send a bunch of records all marked with UUIDs, let the recipient edit them as they see fit, and then send them back to you. The point is that they can edit anything they like except the UUIDs, so that data-wise the returned records could be difficult to identify except that you have those unique ids matching those in your original records. So basically the ids let you recognise records that you had generated, and also recognise records that were not generated by you. And also records that, although data-wise are now different, started out as the same record. It does not matter if programs mess around with gedcom ids as long as the uuids are unaltered. The uuids are not for identifying different instances of the same person as such, although they may achieve this in practice. The idea that these ids are for uniquely identifying every individual throughout history seems to me pointless and unworkable. Probably the only way to obtain truely unique ids is to have them generated by one central worldwide server. Failing that, unique ids across a restricted community such as two individuals may be obtained by having some sort of computer or personal id incorporated into the unique id. You need this arrangement because that other person might also be similarly sending you records for attention. As I said I have never used them, but the above seems to cover the essential points. Peter