Gedcom Reader for C#

Question

Does anyone know of a good class to read in .ged files

Gedcom is a file format that is used to store genealogical information.

My goal is to write something that would let me import a ged file and export a .dot file for graphviz so that I can make a visual representation of a family tree

thanks if you can help

Answer 1

Heres my best attempt so far.

It seems to be working for what i need though its defiently not full proof ( then again my family tree is rather large and that adds some complexity)

please let me know if you think i could make anything more elequient

struct INDI
        {
            public string ID;
            public string Name;
            public string Sex;
            public string BirthDay;
            public bool Dead;


        }
        struct FAM
        {
            public string FamID;
            public string type;
            public string IndiID;
        }
        List<INDI> Individuals = new List<INDI>();
        List<FAM> Family = new List<FAM>();
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string path = @"C:\mostrecent.ged";
            ParseGedcom(path);
        }

        private void ParseGedcom(string path)
        {
            //Open path to GED file
            StreamReader SR = new StreamReader(path);

            //Read entire block and then plit on 0 @ for individuals and familys (no other info is needed for this instance)
            string[] Holder = SR.ReadToEnd().Replace("0 @", "\u0646").Split('\u0646');

            //For each new cell in the holder array look for Individuals and familys
            foreach (string Node in Holder)
            {

                //Sub Split the string on the returns to get a true block of info
                string[] SubNode = Node.Replace("\r\n", "\r").Split('\r');
                //If a individual is found
                if (SubNode[0].Contains("INDI"))
                {
                    //Create new Structure
                    INDI I = new INDI();
                    //Add the ID number and remove extra formating
                    I.ID = SubNode[0].Replace("@", "").Replace(" INDI", "").Trim();
                    //Find the name remove extra formating for last name
                    I.Name = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "NAME")].Replace("1 NAME", "").Replace("/", "").Trim(); 
                    //Find Sex and remove extra formating
                    I.Sex = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "SEX")].Replace("1 SEX ", "").Trim();

                    //Deterine if there is a brithday -1 means no
                    if (FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") != -1)
                    {
                        // add birthday to Struct 
                        I.BirthDay = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") + 1].Replace("2 DATE ", "").Trim();
                    }

                    // deterimin if there is a death tag will return -1 if not found
                    if (FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 DEAT ") != -1)
                    {
                        //convert Y or N to true or false ( defaults to False so no need to change unless Y is found.
                        if (SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 DEAT ")].Replace("1 DEAT ", "").Trim() == "Y")
                        {
                            //set death
                            I.Dead = true;
                        }
                    }
                    //add the Struct to the list for later use
                    Individuals.Add(I);
                }

                // Start Family section
                else if (SubNode[0].Contains("FAM"))
                {
                    //grab Fam id from node early on to keep from doing it over and over
                    string FamID = SubNode[0].Replace("@ FAM", "");

                    // Multiple children can exist for each family so this section had to be a bit more dynaimic

                    // Look at each line of node
                    foreach (string Line in SubNode)
                    {
                        // If node is HUSB
                        if (Line.Contains("1 HUSB "))
                        {

                            FAM F = new FAM();
                            F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "PAR";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 HUSB ", "").Replace("@","").Trim();
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                            //If node for Wife
                        else if (Line.Contains("1 WIFE "))
                        {
                            FAM F = new FAM();
                            F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "PAR";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 WIFE ", "").Replace("@", "").Trim();
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                            //if node for multi children
                        else if (Line.Contains("1 CHIL "))
                        {
                            FAM F = new FAM();
                             F.FamID = FamID;
                            F.type = "CHIL";
                            F.IndiID = Line.Replace("1 CHIL ", "").Replace("@", "");
                            Family.Add(F);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private int FindIndexinArray(string[] Arr, string search)
        {
            int Val = -1;
            for (int i = 0; i < Arr.Length; i++)
            {
                if (Arr[i].Contains(search))
                {
                    Val = i;
                }
            }
            return Val;
        }

Answer 2

There is a very pretty one at Codeplex: FamilyShow (a WPF showcase). It imports/exports GEDCOM 5.5 and there is source.

Answer 3

I would actually have been surprised if there wasn't at least the beginnings of one. I found Gedcom.NET (sourceforge) quite easily

Answer 4

I'd be fairly surprised if there was a C# reader for this format available on the web, given that it's a fairly specialized format. On the upside, the format looks to be pretty straightforward to read if you need to create your own reader. I would suggest going down that path and coming back to SO if you have specific questions about the implementation. Take a look at the System.IO.StreamReader class; it's trivial to read in a file line-by-line that way, and parsing the individual lines should be simple as well.

Good luck!