GEDCOM 7 date modifier

[m...@rr-nm.net]

John,

I note that in T2G v2 set for GEDCOM 7 any TMG irregular date now automatically uses the PHRASE subtag with a blank date.  Most of the time this is great.  However is there a way to customize how T2G converts TMG irregular dates, such as with some options?  For example could a TMG irregular date which begins with the modifier "CAL" followed by a valid date text be output unchanged in the GEDCOM DATE tag?  For example:

   n DATE CAL 01 Jan 2024

Likewise could there be an option for GEDCOM 5 export to avoid T2G adding the enclosing parentheses on a TMG irregular date, especially when I already enclosed the irregular date value with them in TMG ?  I know that GEDCOM 5 requires them when a date phrase is on the DATE tag itself, but now my getting double parentheses when exporting with T2G is annoying.

One of the (probably very few) nice features of the TMG native export was that it would output irregular dates unchanged on the GEDCOM DATE tag.  Thus for GEDCOM 5 in TMG one could carefully enclose a date phrase in parentheses, or prefix the date with a valid GEDCOM modifier which was unrecognized in TMG (such as CAL).  Then either of these TMG irregular date values would get exported as a valid GEDCOM date value.

Since GEDCOM 7 has removed the 5.5 date modifier of INT, I think the only remaining valid GEDCOM modifier not recognized in TMG is CAL.  Thus I am hoping you would consider two T2G options: one which would recognize a TMG irregular date which is a valid date format but with a "CAL" modifier as valid for either GEDCOM export versions, and one which would avoid adding the parentheses for GEDCOM 5 export.

I know this is a picky point, but your T2G program is so very capable in other ways that I hoped you might consider these options/enhancements.

Michael

[m...@rr-nm.net]

By the way, if you are willing to modify this area of code, you might also consider exporting a TMG irregular date with the new GEDCOM 7 valid suffix of "BCE" as a valid GEDCOM date value.

[Sorry, I never seem to be satisfied, do I?  :-) ]

[John Cardinal]

Michael,

 

1. T2G does not support irregular date customization so there’s no way to convert an irregular date that starts with “CAL” into a regular date and thus “n DATE CAL …”.

 

I will consider some way to handle this, but not for a while. The next release of T2G will be built on .NET 8 whereas the current version is built on .NET Framework 4.7.n. That’s a major conversion and I’ve done some of it. However, T2G uses a custom component that is not supported by the new UI components I am using and it will take time for me to implement a replacement. In short, I don’t expect to release a new version of T2G any time soon.

 

2. The parentheses that T2G adds to create a text date when exporting an irregular date are not part of the date’s text value. They are delimiters required by the spec to indicate a text date. If you have parentheses in the value, those parentheses are not delimiters in the GEDCOM sense, they are part of the value and should end up in the target programs text only date input field. Perhaps this is a simpler way to put it: the target program should remove the parentheses that are delimiters and leave the parentheses that remain. What program is your target? Is it not removing the outer parentheses?

 

John Cardinal

 

Products: ORA, GedSite, Gedcom Publisher, Second Site, TMG Utility, TMG to GEDCOM

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[m...@rr-nm.net]

John Cardinal replied:

1. T2G does not support irregular date customization so there’s no way to convert an irregular date that starts with “CAL” into a regular date and thus “n DATE CAL …”.

I will consider some way to handle this, but not for a while. The next release of T2G will be built on .NET 8 whereas the current version is built on .NET Framework 4.7.n. That’s a major conversion...

I understand and completely agree that the conversion to .NET8 is way more important and much higher priority than this very minor "wish list" item.  However to be clear, my primary focus is to enter in TMG a date format which TMG (unfortunately) treats as irregular but is defined as valid in one or the other or both of the GEDCOM specifications.  At minimum I would "wish" that T2G would recognize at least the prefix "CAL" and the suffix "BCE" on a regular date format as valid GEDCOM and not treat the text as a date phrase.  But this is a very low level wish.  In fact since for GEDCOM 7 T2G places them unchanged in the PHRASE tag, I could postprocess (either manually or with a custom PERL script) the GEDCOM file and move the text of these few cases from the PHRASE tag to its empty DATE tag.

 

2. The parentheses that T2G adds to create a text date when exporting an irregular date are not part of the date’s text value. They are delimiters required by the spec to indicate a text date.

I agree that GEDCOM 5.5 requires a "date phrase" to be enclosed in parentheses.  Again it is just a "wish" that T2G would recognize the entry is already enclosed in parentheses and not add another set.  Since the T2G export to GEDCOM 7 does not add these extra parentheses this is even lower priority. 

2. ...What program is your target? Is it not removing the outer parentheses?

My target is the actual GEDCOM file.  I enclosed the TMG date phrase of an intentionally irregular date in parentheses since TMG's export to GEDCOM 5.5 left it untouched.  Thus that produced a valid GEDCOM 5.5 DATE tag.  Again this "wish" is minor.  As I change to exporting with T2G I can go back and remove the TMG parentheses, but I admit I am lazy and would prefer T2G simply not add an extra set.  Again, very low priority.

Thank you, John, for even considering these low priority "wish list" items.

Michael