I thought GEDcom was for uploading DNA, not ancestral trees.

Question

Hi, my name is Casey Glenn Mason. Parents Lee Roy Glenn and Josephine Grace Bowring Casey. I’m quite new to WikiTree and am just learning the ropes here. I’ve read a lot about GEDcom and thought it was for retrieving DNA, not the tree, from certain genealogy stews such as 23 and me or Ancestry. It sounds like it is the tree, from what others have been saying.

Comments

Thank you everyone for your quick replies! Now it makes sense.

Answer 1

I guess your confusion comes from two similar sounding things:

GEDmatch and GEDCOM

Is that possible? GEDmatch is a site where you can upload your DNA after downloading from 23andme or Ancestry DNA or the like. A GEDCOM file is a file type for storing genealogy information -- names, dates, places, etc.

Comments

My heavens, yes, Barry, where two words sound somewhat alike and both are associated with some field of interest, you will have confusion ... what is it that is said about contracts? Read the fine print carefully? I find it helps to read it 3x and slowly

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Actually, a GEDCOM file is a standard file format for the exchange of genealogical data between different programs.

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You are right -- although many people, including myself, I guess, use "file type" and "file format" interchangeably, they are not.

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Oh, George, I LIKE that definition, lacking one myself.

I used to have an LDS paf program (discontinued by them now) and with some difficulty and only a few times learned to export a gedcom. Sadly, I had no where to "put" it, but ... and my skill level was 1 + 1 = -3 at times, or 0, anyway ... I don't have the software of any kind now, it's all "by hand" onto WT and I've forgotten most of the few (very few) bits I did learn

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I still like and use PAF. It does run on Windows 10. I thought it was a real shame when the decision was made to no longer support it. The combination of PAF and PAF Companion was just excellent. PAF Companion does not run on Windows 10, but there is an update, Charting Companion, which is almost as good, but there are a few things the programmers missed.

RoorsMagic is a good alternative. There are somethings the narrative reports do not do, but you can work around those shortcomings with custom fields. The RootsMagic Publisher is actually quite sophisticated. I often help others, and I always present them with a finished, bound report from either PAF or RootsMagic at the conclusion of the project.

Both PAF and RootsMagic deal very nicely with gedcom files.

There are other good programs out there, but these are my favorites.

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George, if I ever get a desk-top I can utilize (of my own) I shall look at both programs -- thanx for the info

Answer 2

There's no place for DNA test results in genealogy unless there is a lineage, a family tree -- in short the genealogy of a particular individual -- themselves, their parents, grandparents and etc as far back into time as the records in various archives will permit  

Comments

In fact, that particular confusion about GEDcom and GEDmatch is strong. The other ones I have noted have to do with tags, stickers, categories, template and that ilk, and which is which and used where and when. Then there's the confusion about what exactly is a source (and a citation)

Comes from having a loosely tied committee without (it seems) a strong leader who can impose a direction and decision on the others. Been on a few committees and spent a lot of time confused, as were the others.

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Your answer is not a fair, or accurate, statement. Either that, or your point has been severely lost on me.

Genealogy is literally the study of families, family histories and lineages. By default, every person on earth has a lineage (ancestors). DNA can play a very important role in that research no matter what you have documented based on paper sources.

"Written genealogy" has been in the past, and can be now, very wrong even under the best circumstances and intentions. That is where DNA can help to corroborate those written records. The fun part about DNA is that it doesn't care about what you think you know, or what other sources may say - it tells you the facts:

Each year, according to Ancestry’s calculations, approximately 7,000 people find out they are someone else's biological child, not their father’s.*

For examples, see:

• Switched at Birth revealed 75 years later
• How a DNA test led one woman to uncover that her father was switched at birth
• Family sues doctor who 'used his sperm' to impregnate patient

*Source:
"Irish American Shocked As DNA Shows She’S 50 Percent Jewish - Century-Old Secret Revealed". 2019. Irishcentral.Com. Accessed December 19 2019. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/genealogy/alice-collins-plebuch-dna-test. 

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My point was severely lost on you.

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Care to try and explain it again?

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Yes, Steve, again ... AND THIS IS NOT A NEGATIVE CRITICISM OF YOU KEEP THAT IN MIND ... so long as you don't leap into the air shouting at me ... again ... LOL ... Okay?

 Also I think it was the syntax that threw you into a hissy.   And  possibly I could add another few words ... dunno.  

 There's no place for DNA test results in genealogy unless there is a lineage, a family tree -- in short the genealogy of a particular individual -- themselves, their parents, grandparents and etc as far back into time as the records in various archives will permit  

JUST strictly from the WT position without the profiles, one connecting parents and child(ren) DNA test results posted have not value.  And we have seen a few cases like this come through G2G where they did their own profile and posted their DNA and ... nothing happened, why not? That's often because they have no other profiles created.

The lineage can't be verified without test results. Now, you CAN get along without having the tests and tracking the Y-DNA and mtDNA. You cannot be certain on the other hand that there is not a NPE floating round in there 

We see this often enough in G2G forum, descended from a notable or royal but ... they do not have the DNA to confirm it. Or they do have the DNA results and now discover Uncle Max, their grandfather's illegitimate son, is also THEIR father or half-brother or whatever. (Always seems to be a shocker) 

I did not and do not speak to the "outside" uses and value of DNA testing, meaning I am speaking only from the WT point

Answer 3

 There's no place for DNA test results in genealogy unless there is a lineage, a family tree -- in short the genealogy of a particular individual -- themselves, their parents, grandparents and etc as far back into time as the records in various archives will permit  

JUST strictly from the WT position without the profiles, one connecting parents and child(ren) DNA test results posted have not value.  And we have seen a few cases like this come through G2G where they did their own profile and posted their DNA and ... nothing happened, why not? That's often because they have no other profiles created.

The lineage can't be verified without test results. Now, you CAN get along without having the tests and tracking the Y-DNA and mtDNA. You cannot be certain on the other hand that there is not a NPE floating round in there 

We see this often enough in G2G forum, descended from a notable or royal but ... they do not have the DNA to confirm it. Or they do have the DNA results and now discover Uncle Max, their grandfather's illegitimate son, is also THEIR father or half-brother or whatever. (Always seems to be a shocker) 

I did not and do not speak to the "outside" uses and value of DNA testing, meaning I am speaking only from the WT point