Robert Melson wrote: > After all the early drum-pounding and huzzahs, it seems the > proposed gedcom 6 standard, based on xml, has died aborning. I will admit to not having read every single word of that standard, but my impression was that it solved nothing. From as much as I did read, it seemed to me that there was as much _practical_ difference between 5.5 and 6.0 as there is between English and "pig latin" -- Wes Groleau Expert, n.: Someone who comes from out of town and shows slides.

In article <9Kdni.12915$LH5.785@trnddc02>, Wes Groleau <groleau+news@freeshell.org> writes: > Robert Melson wrote: >> After all the early drum-pounding and huzzahs, it seems the >> proposed gedcom 6 standard, based on xml, has died aborning. > > I will admit to not having read every single word of that > standard, but my impression was that it solved nothing. > From as much as I did read, it seemed to me that there was > as much _practical_ difference between 5.5 and 6.0 as there > is between English and "pig latin" > As I understand it, though, XML permits you to add/delete entities locally while still preserving the "universal" entities defined elsewhere. If that's true, then you should be able to add a "hippie marriage" entity in your local DTD that would satisfy your requirements. I'm not Mormon, so in that respect I don't have a dog in this fight. The Mormons are the ONLY group I know of that has stepped forward with a broadly useful data exchange standard for genealogical data. If that standard is so deficient, as many seem to think, then maybe it's time to pound on the software vendors to come up with a better standard for data exchange and get the LDS out of the picture as the standard setter. However, unless that new standard takes into account the needs of that very large body of "genealogists" represented by the LDS, it's going to fall flat on its ass. Bob Melson -- Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas ----- "People unfit for freedom---who cannot do much with it---are hungry for power." ---Eric Hoffer