Gramps is a genealogy program that is both intuitive for hobbyists and feature-complete for professional genealogists. It is a community project, created, developed and governed by genealogists.
There is a diagram which shows the core objects in the model.
Further information is available on the Gramps website:
Primary objects are top-level entities.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| handle | Primary key. | ID | REQUIRED. |
| change | Last modification time. | timestamp | REQUIRED. |
| id | Human readable unique identifier. | string | OPTIONAL. |
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
Extends: Primary
Person objects hold information about an individual.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| gender | The gender of this person. | string | REQUIRED. M=Male, F=Female or U=Unknown. |
| name | A list of personal names. | Name[] | OPTIONAL. |
| eventref | A list of event references. | EventRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| lds_ord | A list of LDS ordinances. | LdsOrd[] | OPTIONAL. |
| objref | A list of media references. | MediaRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| address | A list of addresses. | Address[] | OPTIONAL. |
| attribute | A list of attributes. | Attribute[] | OPTIONAL. |
| url | A list of Urls. | Url[] | OPTIONAL. |
| childof | Links to families where this person is a child. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| parentin | Links to families where this person is a parent. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| personref | A list of person references. | PersonRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| tagref | A list of tag handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
Extends: Primary
Family objects are used to define the relationship between a mother, father and their children.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| rel | Family relationship. | FamilyRelType | OPTIONAL. |
| father | Link to father. | ID | OPTIONAL. |
| mother | Link to mother. | ID | OPTIONAL. |
| eventref | A list of event references. | EventRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| lds_ord | A list of LDS ordinances. | LdsOrd[] | OPTIONAL. |
| objref | A list of media references. | MediaRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| childref | A list of child references. | ChildRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| attribute | A list of attributes. | Attribute[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| tagref | A list of tag handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
Extends: Primary
Event objects are used to record something that happened at a particular time and place.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| type | Type of event. | EventType | REQUIRED. |
| date | Date that the event occurred. | Date | OPTIONAL. |
| place | Place that the event occurred. | ID | OPTIONAL. |
| description | Additional information describing the event. | string | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| objref | A list of media references. | MediaRef[] | OPTIONAL. |
| tagref | A list of tag handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
A Date object can hold an exact date or a date range.
See also: Events in Gramps
The LdsOrd object is used to record LDS ordinances. They are similar to events, but specific to the LDS church.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
| type | Ordinance. | LdsOrdType | REQUIRED. |
| date | Date. | Date | OPTIONAL. |
| temple | LDS temple. | string | OPTIONAL. |
| place | Place. | ID | OPTIONAL. |
| status | Status. | string | OPTIONAL. |
| sealed_to | Family sealed to. | ID | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
Attribute objects are used to record facts or permanent characteristics.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
| type | Type. | AttributeType | REQUIRED. |
| value | Value. | string | REQUIRED. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
See also: Attributes in Gramps
The EventRef object is used to store information about how a person participates in the referenced event.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| hlink | Link to an event. | ID | REQUIRED. |
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
| role | Role in the event. | EventRoleType | OPTIONAL. |
| attribute | A list of attributes. | Attribute[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
ChildRef objects are used to store information about the relationship between a child and their parent family.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| hlink | Link to a child. | ID | REQUIRED. |
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
| mrel | Relationship to mother. | ChildRefType | OPTIONAL. |
| frel | Relationship to father. | ChildRefType | OPTIONAL. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
The relationship to the mother and father are stored separately.
PersonRef objects are used to define an association between two people.
| name | description | data type | constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| hlink | Link to a person. | ID | REQUIRED. |
| priv | Privacy flag. | boolean | OPTIONAL. |
| rel | Relationship. | string | REQUIRED. |
| citationref | A list of citation handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
| noteref | A list of note handles. | ID[] | OPTIONAL. |
Associations are directional.
Used for relationships such as godparent or friend.
A Gramps XML version of the Use Cases has been created to illustrate the Gramps data model.
Henry VIII is represented as follows:
<person handle="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f" change="1417130770" id="I0000">
<gender>M</gender>
<name type="Birth Name">
<first>Henry</first>
<surname></surname>
<suffix>VIII</suffix>
</name>
<eventref hlink="_ce38165640876127041967c66fa" role="Primary"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce38174668148a43c7652db17d1" role="Primary"/>
<childof hlink="_ce38186327c42337a3fa247869b"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce381e4301328c459673aad75ab"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce3829283e77b3ba0a6887b9bde"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce382da3cf044ff834233b551e3"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce3831cd3fd6dd11faacf8452c6"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce383596cbf3d0f13bea341c37c"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce38375826b51c1646d2571ed70"/>
<parentin hlink="_ce383a1cf5368e13af7d5c454e"/>
</person>Gender can be either M=Male, F=Female or U=Unknown. There is a feature request and enhancement proposal relating to better handling of LGBT data.
If facts are time-dependent, they are modelled as events, otherwise they are modelled as attributes. The eventref objects contain links to top-level events.
Relationships are modelled by links to family objects. The childof elements link the person to families in which they are a child. The parentin elements link the person to families in which they are a parent.
The relationship between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon is represented as follows:
<family handle="_ce381e4301328c459673aad75ab" change="1417128523" id="F0001">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce381b3bc8015c6cea433ecb1dd"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce381ec286ee802889fe2de4d" role="Family"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce381f4fdf874fc507cd68a8918" role="Family"/>
<childref hlink="_ce38228582d6feb9a0d8fdc10c"/>
<childref hlink="_ce38232f50862dacb9cc7d8e2cd"/>
<childref hlink="_ce3823bc1d447910bf1e2070043"/>
<childref hlink="_ce3824204a1686fa9a8f464c85b"/>
<childref hlink="_ce3825591e83e2f56213ae3c79b"/>
<childref hlink="_ce3826111542ef68cf26e35eac8"/>
</family>Common relationship types are: Married, Unmarried and Civil Union.
The father and mother elements link to the two people in the relationship. These people can be both the same gender.
The eventref objects contain links to top-level family events such as marriage, divorce and annulment.
The childref objects can contain the relationship to the mother and father separately. The pre-defined types are: None, Birth, Adopted, Stepchild, Sponsored, Foster and Unknown, but users are allowed to define custom types. The default is Birth, so it is not shown in this example.
Each marriage of Henry VIII is reresented by a separate family object:
<family handle="_ce3829283e77b3ba0a6887b9bde" change="1417129216" id="F0002">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce3828043d52217a6b9797e069"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce382a227ab5e6f0fdfea90ea6a" role="Family"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce382a4bf6b6b6d304d9bed2bc8" role="Family"/>
<childref hlink="_ce382bbcfcc2369895f80775870"/>
<childref hlink="_ce382cb8e6420fbe214c1ef32"/>
<childref hlink="_ce382d4117054205c4b59b6780f"/>
</family>
<family handle="_ce382da3cf044ff834233b551e3" change="1417129587" id="F0003">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce382e109ba4ed0a92d0a2c5271"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce382f8a1a51b816ea3a3ce647" role="Family"/>
<childref hlink="_ce38302e7ac2873f00308368890"/>
</family>
<family handle="_ce3831cd3fd6dd11faacf8452c6" change="1417133807" id="F0004">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce3832889af5613432fb5fa3154"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce38335625a2bdd6c0426055ef" role="Family"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce383388a795d5a3b8ce29ec099" role="Family"/>
<attribute type="No Children" value=""/>
</family>
<family handle="_ce383596cbf3d0f13bea341c37c" change="1417133825" id="F0005">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce383642951a5775e35ed9c84f"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce3837257e0537d8c925c253038" role="Family"/>
<attribute type="No Children" value=""/>
</family>
<family handle="_ce38375826b51c1646d2571ed70" change="1417133836" id="F0006">
<rel type="Married"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce3838585e32cb0983f15af4ae5"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce383917d92395ee008becccd22" role="Family"/>
<attribute type="No Children" value=""/>
</family>Elizabeth I is represented as follows:
<person handle="_ce382bbcfcc2369895f80775870" change="1417133738" id="I0011">
<gender>F</gender>
<name type="Birth Name">
<first>Elizabeth</first>
<surname></surname>
<suffix>I</suffix>
</name>
<eventref hlink="_ce382b7e4a21f3ab39439176363" role="Primary"/>
<eventref hlink="_ce382bb968e372830b28ddfd2fc" role="Primary"/>
<attribute type="Never Married" value=""/>
<childof hlink="_ce3829283e77b3ba0a6887b9bde"/>
</person>Here an attribute is used to explicitly state that Elizabeth I was never married.
The relationship between Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount is represented as follows:
<family handle="_ce383a1cf5368e13af7d5c454e" change="1417130770" id="F0007">
<rel type="Unmarried"/>
<father hlink="_ce381362115ba4cd7dc2d22d6f"/>
<mother hlink="_ce383b2541e7b4ee6965321bbb"/>
<childref hlink="_ce383c22ca6533a4487a5024d35"/>
</family>In this example, the child is clearly illegitimate because the relationship type is set to unmarried and there is no link to a marriage event.