2012-03-01 TelGen Families Fan Value

Some Android Genealogy App Fan Values

Legacy limitation

TelGen: Families

TelGen's Families app for Android is a genealogy editor. Families does not support GEDCOM import or export, but relies on Legacy Family Tree for that. The Families Sync utillity for Windows synchronises between Legacy Family Tree and the Families app. You can import a GEDCOM into Legacy and then synchronise that database with the Families app. Conversely, you can synchronise the Families app with Legacy to export to GEDCOM.

TelGen Families performs GEDCOM import and export through Legacy Family Tree. Legacy may seem an odd choice, as Legacy is a technologically trailing application, that still doesn't support Unicode. Legacy is a code-page bottleneck between GEDCOM and the Families app, that limits character support to just a few hundred characters. The explanation for this situation is simply that TelGen did not choose Legacy as the desktop partner for Families, but developed Families as a mobile companion for Legacy.

The GEDCOM fan value of an application depends on its ability to import, handle and export a GEDCOM fan file. Families depends on Legacy Family Tree for GEDCOM import and export, so Families's fan value depends on Legacy Family Tree's fan value.

Legacy Family Tree

The latest version of Legacy Family Tree is Legacy Family Tree 7.5. Legacy Family Tree 7.5's fan value was determined in Legacy Family Tree 7.5 Fan Value. Sadly, Legacy's fan value is zero because Legacy's GEDCOM output is invalid. Therefore, Families's fan value is zero too.
If Millennia were to fix their GEDCOM output, Legacy's fan value would be 18, and that is only because Legacy exceeds its own documented limits when importing FAN19.GED. Legacy still manages to import FAN19.GED.

large databases

TelGen's original claim that Families users have successfully displayed and edited files containing over 300.000 individuals is consistent with a fan value of 19. That claim can still be found on their Android Market page, but TelGen's website makes an even stronger claim. Their Families app is available for both Android and iOS, and TelGen claims that Users have successfully displayed and edited files containing over 1 million individuals on an iPhone.. That claim suggests that the Families database is so efficient that Families has a fan value of 20 or more.

fan value

Alas, the rules for determining the GEDCOM fan value are as simple as they are strict. Applications need only handle the simple GEDCOM fan files, but they must handle these correctly. TelGen has decided to depend on Legacy Family Tree for GEDCOM input and output, and Legacy does not export the fan databases to valid GEDCOM files. Legacy's GEDCOM fan value is zero, therefore Families's GEDCOM fan value is zero too.