simple-gedcom 1.0.1

A Python module for parsing and analyzing GEDCOM files.

Simple GEDCOM Parser

A simplified Python library for extracting genealogy data from GEDCOM files, focused on two primary use cases:

1. Extract basic person data - Get a clean list of people with vital information and family relationships
2. Extract person-source relationships - Map people to their documentary sources

Features

• Parse GEDCOM 5.5 files
• Extract person data: names, birth/death dates and places, parents
• Extract source citations linked to individuals
• Simple, clean API designed for data analysis
• Easy integration with pandas DataFrames

Quick Start

from gedcom import GedcomParser
import pandas as pd

# Parse GEDCOM file
parser = GedcomParser()
parser.parse_file('family_tree.ged')

# Get list of all people
people = parser.get_person_list()
people_df = pd.DataFrame(people)

# Get person-source relationships
person_sources = parser.get_person_sources()
sources_df = pd.DataFrame(person_sources)

API Reference

GedcomParser

parse_file(file_path, strict=False)

Parse a GEDCOM file.

Parameters:

• file_path (str): Path to the GEDCOM file
• strict (bool): If True, raise exceptions on parse errors

get_person_list()

Returns a list of dictionaries containing person data:

[
    {
        'Person ID': '@I1@',
        'First Name': 'John',
        'Last Name': 'Doe',
        'Birth Date': '1990',
        'Birth Place': 'New York',
        'Death Date': '',
        'Death Place': '',
        'Father First Name': 'Robert',
        'Father Last Name': 'Doe',
        'Mother First Name': 'Jane',
        'Mother Last Name': 'Smith'
    },
    # ... more people
]

get_person_sources()

Returns a list of dictionaries with person-source relationships:

[
    {
        'Person ID': '@I1@',
        'Source ID': '@S1@',
        'Source Title': 'Birth Certificate',
        'Source Author': '',
        'Source Publication': 'City Records',
        'Source Repository': 'City Hall'
    },
    # ... more person-source combinations
]

Example Usage

Basic Person Data

from gedcom import GedcomParser

parser = GedcomParser()
parser.parse_file('my_family.ged')

# Get all people
people = parser.get_person_list()

# Print summary
print(f"Found {len(people)} people in the family tree")

# Look at first person
if people:
    person = people[0]
    print(f"Name: {person['First Name']} {person['Last Name']}")
    print(f"Born: {person['Birth Date']} in {person['Birth Place']}")

With Pandas

import pandas as pd
from gedcom import GedcomParser

parser = GedcomParser()
parser.parse_file('my_family.ged')

# Create DataFrames
people_df = pd.DataFrame(parser.get_person_list())
sources_df = pd.DataFrame(parser.get_person_sources())

# Analyze the data
print("Birth places:")
print(people_df['Birth Place'].value_counts())

print("\nSource types:")
print(sources_df['Source Title'].value_counts())

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• No external dependencies for core functionality
• pandas (optional, for DataFrame examples)

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Attribution

This project is derived from python-gedcom by Nicklas Reincke and contributors. The original project provided the foundation for GEDCOM parsing, which has been simplified and focused for specific genealogy data extraction use cases.

Original Copyright (C) 2018-2019 Nicklas Reincke and contributors
Simplified version Copyright (C) 2025 [mcobtechnology]

Contributing

This is a simplified, focused library. If you need additional GEDCOM functionality, consider using the full-featured python-gedcom library.

For bug fixes and improvements to the core functionality, feel free to open issues or submit pull requests.