gedcom4j

gedcom4j is a Java library that was developed in order to allow users to load and parse genealogy information. It will allow them to implement the functionality of the Genealogical Data Communication specification into their Java environment. Using this library, they will be able to write applications that can load data from a GEDCOM 5.5 or 5.5.1 file into a Java data structure.

The library is deployed as a single JAR file and in order to enable the it, users should insert the gedcom4j.jar file into their projects’ classpaths. The online documentation will assist novice users in setting up their environment and after adding the required code, one will be able to access the data by modifying the properties of the gp.gedcom structure.

Once the GEDCOM data has been migrated into a Java application, it can then be examined and manipulated according to users’ requirements. People must note the fact that they can also write GEDCOM files by using the same data model, without loading any files prior.

gedcom4J is comprised of three main components: a data model (containing all the new, version 5.5.1 components as well as the version 5.5, deprecated components), a parser (that can load UTF-8 files and other supported encodings) and a writer (that is also able to write in UTF-8 encoding, being less demanding as the parser).

If users are required to read files that have been produced by different systems and want to rewrite them using gedcom4j, they are advised to pay attention to the multimedia section. Ensuring that the data model is compliant with the version of GEDCOM that is being currently used is very important.