2013-04-21 ZEDCOM

The GEDCOM file inside a ZEDCOM file does not have extension *.GED, but *.TXT, and does not have GEDCOM form LINEAGE-LINKED but ZEDCOM.

MyGEDCOM

ZEDCOM file

ZEDCOM is an abbreviation of Zipped GEDCOM. A ZEDCOM file is a zipped GEDCOM file, but not just any zipped GEDCOM file. A random GEDCOM file in a ZIP file isn't a ZEDCOM file. A real ZEDCOM file is a MyHeritage Family Tree Builder database.

.ZED & .UZED

MyHeritage Family Tree Builder (FTB) stores its database in a file with extension *.ZED or *.UZED.
Family Tree Builder version 1 through 6 use file extension *.ZED, Family Tree Builder 7 introduced *.UZED. The extra U in the file extension stands for Unicode.

The GEDCOM file within a *.ZED file is an ANSI GEDCOM file, the GEDCOM file within an *.UZED file is an UTF-8 GEDCOM file.

encoding

Family Tree Builder 7, released 2013 April 17, is the first version of FTB to support Unicode. The GEDCOM file within a *.ZED is encoded using the Windows ANSI code page, while the GEDCOM file within a *.UZED file is a Unicode file, using the UTF-8 encoding.
The GEDCOM file within a *.ZED file is an ANSI GEDCOM file, the GEDCOM file within an *.UZED file is an UTF-8 GEDCOM file.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<metadata>
	<SyncRevision value="0"></SyncRevision>
	<SyncTransactionsOffset value="0"></SyncTransactionsOffset>
	<ProjectLastSaveTime value="1353419518"></ProjectLastSaveTime>
</metadata>

metadata.xml

A *.ZED contains just a GEDCOM file. A *.UZED file contains an additional file, metadata.xml, which appears to contain synchronisation information. The inset shows the metadata.xml file for the Sample.UZED database included with Family Tree Builder 7.

XML and GEDCOM

That the ZIP file contains both an XML and a GEDCOM file is a bit odd. GEDCOM and XML are quite similar, and it makes more sense to stick with one or the other than to use both.
This is not an ideal file format, but a real-world file format. It uses XML for a new feature, while it continues to use GEDCOM for the database.

*.TXT

The common file extension for GEDCOM files is *.GED. The GEDCOM file within a ZEDCOM file does not use file extension *.GED, but *.TXT.
It is not clear why, perhaps simply because that makes it easy to load the GEDCOM file into an editor. Fact is that the file extension used hardly matters, as third party application will typically only see the *.ZED or *.UZED extension. A third party application that does look into *.ZED files files would notice a *.TXT file instead of a *.GED file, and that may be a good thing, because a third party genealogy application is unlikely to understand that GEDCOM file.


0 HEAD
1 GEDC
...
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
1 CHAR UTF-8
...
1 SOUR MYHERITAGE
2 NAME MyHeritage Family Tree Builder
2 VERS 7.0.0.7099
2 _RTLSAVE RTL
...

ZEDCOM

Most GEDCOM files, including the GEDCOM files that Family Tree Builder reads and writes, are LINEAGE-LINKED GEDCOM files.
GEDCOM files have a so-called GEDCOM form, specified in the GEDCOM header, and its value is usually LINEAGE-LINKED.

The GEDCOM form of a GEDCOM file is the vocabulary used within that GEDCOM file; it specifies a collection of tags, syntax and meaning. The LINEAGE-LINKED form is the only GEDCOM form specified in the GEDCOM specification itself. The GEDCOM file inside a ZEDCOM file does not have extension *.GED, but *.TXT, and does not have GEDCOM form LINEAGE-LINKED but ZEDCOM.

0 HEAD
1 GEDC
...
2 FORM ZEDCOM
1 CHAR UTF-8
...
1 SOUR MYHERITAGE
2 NAME MyHeritage Family Tree Builder
2 VERS 7.0.0.7046
2 _RTLSAVE RTL
...

The ZEDCOM form isn't some GEDCOM dialect. The LINEAGE-LINKED GEDCOM files that Family Tree Builder exports are in Family Tree Builder's GEDCOM dialect. The GEDCOM files within the FTB databases it reads and writes aren't LINEAGE-LINKED GEDCOM files. Most genealogy applications can only read and write LINEAGE-LINKED GEDCOM files, and are not able to make sense of GEDCOM files in any other GEDCOM form.

undocumented

The ZEDCOM form is a proprietary GEDCOM form that MyHeritage uses inside ZEDCOM files. MyHeritage has not published any documentation for the ZEDCOM form.
Browsing through a GEDCOM file in ZEDCOM form, it soon becomes obvious that the ZEDCOM form is different from yet quite clearly inspired by and similar to the LINEAGE-LINKED form. It does not seem hard to figure out the meaning of the various tags used, but, unless you want to read or write FTB databases directly, that does not matter. Family Tree Builder uses GEDCOM files in ZEDCOM form inside its ZEDCOM files, but it still imports and exports LINEAGE-LINKED GEDCOM files.