That's just so sad Bob. It must be very frustrating. I can't imagine why there was no participation from the software vendors I was aware of Gentech, although I didn't know it addressed many of the issues/requirements raised in these discussions, or was supported by so many bodies - I tried to read the spec a few months ago but my whole machine locked up in a very suspect manner (I didn't try again after that) What about a back-door approach... One of the biggest areas of software requirement is arguably for a cheap family tree (& history) viewer. The sort of simplified product that can be distributed freely on CDs/DVDs to members of one's family together with a file containing the data from all your hard research work. I know there are such viewers available now but what if there was a free one that used the GDM model, and supported all the bells-and-whistles associated with its enhanced specification. It may sound a brain-dead idea but if there were non-distributable tools to convert all those dumbed-down GEDCOM files to the format accepted by this new viewer then it wouldn't be long before that new format was all-pervasive, and not long after that before other products would support it natively. I expect to be shot down in flames here but it's happened before, in other industries, where market acceptance was dictated purely by how pervasive something was, rather than cost, or technical merits, etc. In fact this same argument already applies to the existing incumbent format: GEDCOM. Tony Proctor "Bob Velke" <bvelke@whollygenes.com> wrote in message news:mailman.579.1195131744.7651.gencmp@rootsweb.com... > Tony Proctor said: > > >Although there are several genealogical bodies around, I'm not aware of any > >that have taken this initiative [to design a data model], or feel > >any need to. > > The "Genealogical Data Model" (GDM) was started by GENTECH, now a > division of the National Genealogical Society, in _1996_ > (http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsgentech/projects/Gdm/Gdm.cfm). The > project was sponsored by the National Genealogical Society (NGS), > Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), New England Historic > Genealogical Societies (NEHGS), American Society of Genealogists > (ASG), Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and the Board > for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). I submit that you'll find > nothing closer to an authoritative body within the genealogical community. > > >If they did then would the people/companies with software interests > >respect their authority anyway? > > The design committee included professional genealogists, software > developers, and data modelers. I was a member of that committee as > was a representative of the LDS Church. > > Several of other developers of the most popular genealogy software > programs were invited to participate. None accepted. > > They were invited to attend planning meetings. None accepted. > > Upon release of the first draft of the GDM in 1998, their peer review > was solicited. To my knowledge, none was provided by them. > > Upon release of v1.1 in 2000, their peer review was solicited again > -- and again, none was provided. > > The "GDM" remains by far the most comprehensive and authoritative > effort that has every been made to model genealogical data -- and I'd > wager that few of the major genealogy software vendors have ever > _looked_ at it. As I said before, I believe that the reason is that > they perceive it to be against their interest to do so. Ten years of > so-called "market forces" seems to have validated their strategy to > ignore the problem. > > Bob Velke > Wholly Genes, Inc. > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.32/1131 - Release Date: 11/14/2007 4:54 PM > >

Tony said: >I can't imagine why there was no participation from the software vendors Can't you <g>? >I know there are such viewers available now but what if there >was a free one that used the GDM model, and supported all the >bells-and-whistles associated with its enhanced specification. It may sound >a brain-dead idea but if there were non-distributable tools to convert all >those dumbed-down GEDCOM files to the format accepted by this new viewer... As I said, by the time the data has been converted to GEDCOM, the damage has been done. The data that has been lost/corrupted can't be recovered/repaired by merely looking at the GEDCOM file. It isn't there. Bob Velke Wholly Genes, Inc. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.32/1131 - Release Date: 11/14/2007 4:54 PM