A fix to Free Form sources exported via GEDCOM to Ancestry.com (and other programs)

[Dan Kangley]

I have used Free Form sources in Reunion since I began using the program. I do not plan to spend hours editing them (almost 3000) to templates. Exporting a GEDCOM from Reunion to another program, and especially uploading a GEDCOM to the ancestry.com site, presents a challenge getting the information into a readable and accessible format. Some programs do this ok and others do not. The ancestry.com site is one that will not.

A few years ago I discovered the following SCRIPT that converts the sources in a GEDCOM from Free Form to a GEDCOM that will clearly display the free form text. I believe it places the text in the TITLE of the source and does not bury it elsewhere, if not discard it all together.

Screen shots from a GEDCOM uploaded to ancestry.com.

Before converting:

Clement Lieurance before.jpg

After converting:

Clement Lieurance after.jpg

After conversion the source details appear without having to click down deep into the "unsourced citation."

Here is the SCRIPT within a zip file:



I cannot remember where I found this to give credit to the author. I thought is was on Reunion Talk but can’t find it. Thank you to the author!

I usually do not send GEDCOMs and use PDFs to share information with others. I never import GEDCOMs into my master file, but will import one into a new file to evaluate the information. The reason i use the conversion script is to upload to ancestry.com. Maybe someone else will find this useful.

[Dan Kangley]

The zip file did not upload as far as I can tell. Here is the script which can be copied and then pasted into a new Script Editor window. Copy from: try to display dialog "Processing Completed Successfully!"



try

set theFile to (choose file with prompt "Select the Reunion GED file to convert:")

on error

return

end try

try

open for access theFile

on error

display dialog "File open failed!"

return

end try




try

set newFile to (choose file name with prompt "Where should I save the output GED file?")

on error

return

end try

try

open for access newFile with write permission

on error

display dialog "File open failed!"

return

end try




set fileRemaining to (get eof theFile)

set eof of newFile to 0

set mode to 0

set recordCount to 0




repeat while fileRemaining is greater than 0

set fileRecord to (read theFile until return as string)

set fileRemaining to fileRemaining - (count fileRecord)

set recordCount to recordCount + 1

if recordCount mod 1000 is 0 then

beep

beep

end if



if last character of fileRecord is not (ASCII character 13) then

set fileRecord to fileRecord & (ASCII character 13) as text

end if

if first character of fileRecord is (ASCII character 10) then

-- strip line feeds from Windows files

if (count fileRecord) ≤ 1 then

set fileRecord to (ASCII character 13) as text

else

set fileRecord to characters 2 through (count fileRecord) of fileRecord as text

end if

end if



if first character of fileRecord = "0" then

set mode to 0

set foundFirst to 0

if characters ((count fileRecord) - 4) through ((count fileRecord) - 1) of fileRecord as text = "SOUR" then

set mode to 4

end if

end if



if (mode is 4) and (characters 1 through 1 of fileRecord as text) = "1" then

if foundFirst = 0 then

set foundFirst to 1

set fileRecord to "1 TITL" & (characters 7 through (count fileRecord) of fileRecord as text)

else

set fileRecord to "2 CONT" & (characters 7 through (count fileRecord) of fileRecord as text)

end if

end if



if (count fileRecord) > 1 then

write fileRecord to newFile

end if

end repeat




close access theFile

close access newFile

display dialog "Processing Completed Successfully!"