Thanks Tom. I am glad you posted a clear and more complete explanation. I have used FTM, Legacy, PAF, TMG, and RM 4-5. I would not go back to the old ways of the other programs. Bruce does such an outstanding software that I can't always wrap my brain around it. He certainly understand what we want and how to make it happen. Thanks again. Kate Redford Salem, Oregon, USA -----Original Message----- From: rootsmagic-users-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:rootsmagic-users-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Tom Holden Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 12:41 PM To: rootsmagic-users@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [RMagic] Shared Facts vs. Shortcuts for Individual entries Kate, your understanding may not be technically accurate but the result is much the same. GEDCOM is a standard defining a protocol for interchange of genealogical data among disparate software applications. The last official one was 5.5 and there was a draft 5.5.1. Like most standards, there can be ambiguity and various interpretations among different software developers resulting in loss or corruption of data even for 'standard' GEDCOM, even if both applications purportedly support the same standard. What's worse is that the standard allows for some degree of customisation that is ideally transported between different applications but may not. And then there are proprietary extensions which only one program develops and others simply ignore. Such is the case with RM's Shared Facts, Source Templates, DNA and maybe some other things I forget. There have been and there are ongoing efforts to develop an industry-wide successor to the GEDCOM standard to address its many deficiencies. When and if it is approved by key developers, we should see many of these interchange problems resolved. Tom -----Original Message----- From: Kate Redford Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 2:41 PM To: davemassie@btinternet.com ; rootsmagic-users@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [RMagic] Shared Facts vs. Shortcuts for Individual entries It is my understanding that the problems with GedCom files are the GedCom capabilities with exporting files to them. Until that "old, old" program is upgraded and rewritten, RM5 or any third part program cannot make changes and avoid the way GedCom files are handled when they are imported. If that is not correct, someone please let me know. =================================== RM list Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ROOTSMAGIC-USERS/ http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=ROOTSMAGIC-USERS WISH LIST: http://www.rootsmagic.com/forums/ BLOG: http://blog.rootsmagic.com/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTSMAGIC-USERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message