FamilySearch's official stance and behaviour regarding the status of the GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification are inconsistent with each other.
When FamilySearch released GEDCOM 5.5.1 (late 1999), they claimed it was just draft,
through the text It must not be used for programming of genealogical software while in draft
on its front page.
Thus, they told other vendors that they should not implement GEDCOM 5.5.1,
yet they themselves immediately implemented GEDCOM 5.5.1 in PAF 5.0, which they released late in 2000.
That FamilySearch did not have the expertise to build a Windows application, and that PAF 5.0 wasn't developed by them, but developed for them by Incline Software, does not matter here. What matters is that they acted inconsistently; while their brand new GEDCOM specification told other vendors that they should not implement it, they themselves rushed to implement it in their own product.
FamilySearch wasn't, and still isn't, upfront about PAF 5.0 using GEDCOM 5.5.1.
FamilySearch wasn't, and still isn't, upfront about PAF 5.0 using GEDCOM 5.5.1. PAF 5.0 and later write GEDCOM 5.5.1, but the GEDCOM header that even the latest version of PAF creates claims it is a GEDCOM 5.5 file.
Why PAF does that, why PAF lies about the version number, is another story.
FamilySearch's deception of other vendors may be a minor additional reason for it, but sure isn't the major reason.
After all, although not being upfront about the usage GEDCOM 5.5.1 does not draw attention to it, it does not hide it either.
Anyone who takes a few seconds to look further than the version number, will notice the usage of GEDCOM 5.5.1 tags.
PAF 5.0 and later support UTF-8 and even default their GEDCOM export to UTF-8, while UTF-8 is only legal in GEDCOM 5.5.1 and later.
If the user entered an email address, the mandatory submitter record that immediately follows the header record contains an EMAIL record,
one of the record types introduced in GEDCOM 5.5.1.
And so on.
Anyone who takes a few seconds to look further than the version number, will notice the usage of GEDCOM 5.5.1 tags - and vendors who suddenly get complaints from many users that they experience problems importing their PAF GEDCOM file, something that used to work perfectly, will take a good look at those GEDCOM files.
The front page of the FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification tells vendors that itmust not be used, but FamilySearch PAF uses it anyway.
The release of PAF 5.0 using GEDCOM 5.5.1 created a clearly inconsistent situation;
The front page of the FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification tells vendors that it must not be used
, but FamilySearch PAF uses it anyway.
This inconsistent situation continues today.
After PAF version 5.0, FamilySearch released a few minor updates to PAF,
but never took the trouble to either update the version number PAF writes, or that must not be used
text on the GEDCOM 5.5.1 front page.
FamilySearch never publicly released another version of GEDCOM at all but started working on several GEDCOM alternatives instead (the GEDCOM 5.6 draft which contains GEDXML, their first alternative, was privately distributed to a few vendors, not publicly released).
The latest publicly released version of the FamilySearch GEDCOM specification, GEDCOM 5.5.1, still says it is a draft that must not be used. The latest publicly released version of Family PAF, PAF 5.2.18, continues to use GEDCOM 5.5.1, and continues to lie it is using GEDCOM 5.5.
Actions speak louder than words, and FamilySearch's release of PAF 5.0 was their loudest PAF release ever.
That FamilySearch PAF uses the GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification is more important than the specification saying it should not be used. Actions speak louder than words, and FamilySearch's release of PAF 5.0 was their loudest PAF release ever.
That FamilySearch uses GEDCOM 5.5.1 does merely only provide other vendors with a good excuse to take advantage of all the new encoding and new records introduced in GEDCOM 5.5.1 too. The reality of the genealogy software market is that, by using GEDCOM 5.5.1, FamilySearch but practically forced other vendors to start using it. FamilySearch knew very well that the moment they started to support GEDCOM 5.5.1 in PAF, other vendors would have to follow suit.
FamilySearch PAF is not some minor application that other vendors can ignore. FamilySearch PAF was (and still is) one of the most popular genealogy applications. Genealogy software users do not just expect, but practically demand the ability to import PAF GEDCOM files. When PAF started to export UTF-8 GEDCOM files containing GEDCOM 5.5.1 records, other vendors had to update their applications to make sense of these files.
The day FamilySearch released PAF 5.0, it became clear that GEDCOM 5.5.1 isn't a just draft.
Despite the fact that FamilySearch's use of GEDCOM 5.5.1 practically forced other vendors to follow suit,
and all leading genealogy application vendors are using GEDCOM 5.5.1 today, some people still insist that GEDCOM 5.5.1 is just a draft.
They say GEDCOM 5.5.1 is just a draft because it says it so - and oh, because of that, GEDCOM 5.5 is still the current standard.
That position was defendable until we knew that FamilySearch is using GEDCOM 5.5.1 themselves.
The day FamilySearch released PAF 5.0, it became clear that GEDCOM 5.5.1 isn't a just draft.
In fact, the day FamilySearch released PAF 5.0, it became clear that GEDCOM 5.5.1 never was a draft. FamilySearch released PAF 5.0 complete with GEDCOM 5.5.1 support on 2000 Dec 12. That is the release date. Development of that new version started months before that.
Adding GEDCOM 5.5.1 support meant adding the new GEDCOM 5.5.1 record types and a new encoding. It involved adding new record types to the PAF database and then updating the GEDCOM reader and GEDCOM writer to support these records. Adding a new encoding involved creating and updating conversion tables. PAF 5.0 did not just add support for UTF-8, but even changed over to a new database format that uses UTF-8 internally. Changing the database format involved updating existing import of old database formats, adding import for the previous format, and updating the backup & restore. It involved testing it the changes and updating the help files, and taking the administrative steps to get the new version approved and released. All of that took say about a year…
The release of PAF 5.0 complete with GEDCOM 5.5.1 support about a year after the release of GEDCOM 5.5.1 is not just a public statement that GEDCOM 5.5.1 isn't just a draft anymore, it also implies that FamilySearch never really considered GEDCOM 5.5.1 to be just a draft in the first place. It reveals that FamilySearch decided to use GEDCOM 5.5.1 in PAF the moment the GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification became available.
FamilySearch first told other vendors to not use GEDCOM 5.5.1, then made them use it anyway.
FamilySearch first told other vendors to not use GEDCOM 5.5.1, then made them use it anyway.
When FamilySearch released PAF 5.0 and other vendors found out that GEDCOM 5.5.1 isn't just a draft, but the new standard,
those other vendors might have felt deceived by FamilySearch.
There's probably more than one reason why those other vendors did not vocally demand more ethical behaviour from FamilySearch.
The most obvious reason is that it was nothing new, PAF had always enjoyed a competitive advantage.
Since the early years of PAF and GEDCOM, FamilySearch had developed PAF and GEDCOM together.
Back then, that was just how things were, how the industry had developed, how it had always
been.
FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5.1 never really was a draft, because FamilySearch itself never treated it as a draft.
Whether FamilySearch's left hand did not know what the right hand was doing, whether they made an honest mistake when they released a GEDCOM specification that says it is draft while it should not say that, or they deliberately did so to gain a perceived competitive advantage over their competition does not matter here.
What matters is that, no matter what its front page says, FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5.1 never really was a draft, because FamilySearch itself never treated it as a draft. FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5.1 is the GEDCOM specification that replaced FamilySearch GEDCOM 5.5 as the standard.
You can find FamilySearch's 1999 July 7 Future Directions document (Gedfmstr.pdf)
on the FamilySearch GEDCOM Specifications page,
but it is also still available via FTP from ftp://ftp.ldschurch.org/genealogy/GEDCOM/Future.
There are two files in the GEDCOM/Future directory, README.TXT and GXedfmstr.pdf.
The complete text of the README.TXT file, dated 2000 Feb 16, is:
This folder contains documentation describing a relatively complete genealogical data model defined in the format used to describe GEDCOM 5.5 Standard. This model may or may not be adopted by the Family History Department. It is presented for your interest only. For at least the near future, the Family History Department is using The GEDCOM Standard version 5.5.1.
Added note about 1999 Future Directions README.TXT.
Thanks to Louis Kesller for spotting this.
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.