Product decision
A GEDCOM transfer is a rehearsal, not a leap of faith
Why a careful migration records provenance, checks familiar relationships and preserves the original file before anyone calls it complete.
Portability begins before import
A GEDCOM file is useful because it can move core genealogical structure between applications. But a transfer should begin by recording where the file came from, when it was exported and its checksum. Those details make the source identifiable if several versions later appear.
Keep the original file unchanged and private. Work from a copy, and check whether the source application stores photographs, documents or other context outside the GEDCOM.
Counts are a checkpoint, not a verdict
Person, family and relationship counts can reveal an obvious loss, but matching totals do not prove that every link, note or source arrived correctly. A careful rehearsal also checks a few familiar branches: a direct ancestral line, a household, a complex remarriage and a person whose name uses the family’s preferred script.
Known examples turn an abstract import result into something a steward can judge.
Preserve what does not map cleanly
Applications interpret extensions and unsupported fields differently. The responsible response is not to pretend every field has a perfect destination. It is to report what mapped, what was retained as provenance and what needs human review.
Uncertainty should remain visible. A transfer that honestly lists its boundaries is safer than a visually tidy tree that silently dropped context.
Rehearse before changing the trusted record
Import into an isolated space, inspect the report, compare known paths and create a fresh export after review. Only then should the family decide whether the migrated record is ready to become the working version.
This makes migration reversible. The original remains available, the review has evidence and the family is not forced to trust a one-way operation.