Gramps XML

Gramps XML is the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format designed for storing Gramps data. The goal is to have a fully portable, human- and machine-readable XML format so that the data can be read and written without any loss. In addition, XML format allows for smaller files (if compressed) and for using the version control system for tracking the changes (if uncompressed).

The reason XML is not used by Gramps as the working database ("internal") format is performance, specifically memory considerations.

Gramps XML Resources

Starting with Gramps XML 1.0 Each revision of Gramps XML has its own resource page, with references to that version's DTD and RELAX NG schema. The resource pages are listed at https://www.gramps-project.org/xml/.

Gramps release	XML schema	Imports XML schema	Database schema	Imports database schema	Example	Changes/Note
master	no change against 6.0 yet	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.7	21	13-21	Unreleased example.gramps	Unreleased

Note Commencing with Gramps 3.1.2 all official versions of Gramps XML files can be imported. However, a warning will be given on import of 1.0.0 XML.[1] Note: For versions of Gramps earlier than 3.1.1 refer to and the consult the table below to decide which version to use to import a specific version of the XML.

Gramps release	XML schema	Imports XML schema	Database schema	Imports database schema	Example.gramps	Changes/Note
6.0.x	1.7.2	>= 1.0.0 - 1.7	21	13-21	file (view)	Serialization format changed from pickled BLOBs to JSON.
5.2.x	1.7.0 - 1.7.1	>= 1.0.0 - 1.7	20	13-20	file (view)	Added citations to event references DB-API (SQLite) is default backend BSDDB only for conversions to SQLite
5.1.x	1.7.0 - 1.7.1	>= 1.0.0 - 1.7	19	13-19	file (view)	DB-API (SQLite) is default backend BSDDB is Legacy backend
5.0.x	1.7.0 - 1.7.1	>= 1.0.0 - 1.7	19	13-19	file (view)	Database backends become plugins BSDDB is default, convert default handle (metadata) to str DB-API (SQLite) is tested as viable replacement
4.2.x	1.7.0 - 1.7.1	>= 1.0.0 - 1.7	18	13-18	file (view)	Added PlaceNames (with Date and Language) Place
4.1.x	1.6.0	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.5.1	17	13-17	file (view)	added Tags to Event, Place, Repository, Source, and Citation Source/Citation.data became SourceAttributes added optional support for checksum on Media object added PlaceRef and Place Hierarchies
4.0.x	1.5.0 - 1.5.1	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.4.0	16	13-16	file (view)	-
3.4.x	1.5.0 - 1.5.1	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.4.0	16	13-16	file (view)	Citations support Gramps XML is now idempotent[2].4365 Exporter does not change records order any more, making it easier to look at differences between versions/revisions.
3.3.x	1.4.0	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.3.0	15	13-15 (3.3.1)	file (view)	Added new field "locality" to the Place schema Added surnames to the Name schema (surnames is a list of surnames / prefix and patronymic are moved to the surname) Replaced Markers with Tags ( marker removed from all / tags added to Person, Media, Family, and Notes) Transaction Merging Improvements on Import/Export file formats (vcard, gedcom, xml) Gramps_3.3_Wiki_Manual_-_What's_new?#Database Changes
3.1.x	1.3.0	>= 1.0.0 - best 1.1.0	14	13-14	file (view)	Added lat/long to places
3.0.x	1.2.0	>= 1.1.0	13-14 (depends on version)	9-14 (3.0.4)	file (view)	added newyear to Dates Replace plain text with StyledText in Notes
2.2.x	1.1.0-1.1.4	>= 0.0.0	9-12 (depends on version)	5-12 (2.2.10)	file (view)
2.0.6-10	1.0.0	>= 0.0.0	8	1-8	file
2.0.5	1.0.0	>= 0.0.0	7	1-7	file
2.0.1-4	1.0.0	>= 0.0.0	6	1-6	file
2.0.0	1.0.0	>= 0.0.0	5	1-5	file	* changed name formats
1.0.x	no official version (0.0.0)	-			file	(Install Gramps 2.2.10 to import and convert old beta Gramps XML backups - see Gramps_Old_database & issue 6129)
0.0.x	beta software (0.0.0)	Unsupported	Unsupported		Unsupported

Note: To convert an old Gramps XML file you could use VirtualBox or Vmware and the old lgenealogy images from: http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/gramps/

DTD generation

Tool like xml2dtd could help people not familiar with DTD grammar by generating a DTD file from a XML file. New content on Gramps XML could be tested with the tool and be merged on current Gramps DTD.

RELAX NG generation

Tools like trang or NekoDTD could help to convert a Gramps DTD file to a RELAX NG file. Some others tools and up-to-date informations are listed on this page.

Validating Gramps XML file

To validate the Gramps XML file against its DTD, use xmllint program (comes with the libxml2-utils package):

xmllint --noout filename.gramps

If the Gramps XML file does not validate this indicates an error in either the DTD or the XML Writer. Please file the bug report at https://gramps-project.org/bugs/ in that case.

Parsing Gramps XML file

• XSLT scripts: gramps exhibit (Michiel Nauta), Ancestors.xsl, Birthday.xsl (Gramps 1.x), Tellico scripts, lxml gramplet, Print Notes, etc ... see XPaths.
• A sample of standalone script (Adam Sampson) which parses a Gramps XML file for drawing a family tree.
• Gramps-php-exporter
• A Joomla! component/module for uploading the Gramps XML database and for showing genealogical information and overviews.
• PhpGedView supports simple output to Gramps XML file format for the Clippings Cart and has an option to download entire Gedcom in Gramps XML form as well as being able to retrieve raw data from the SOAP web service in Gramps XML format. Still a partial support on version 4.3.0.
• Greasemonkey scripts (Michiel Nauta)
• GrampsXMLview was a number of PHP scripts in combination with a Gramps XML database (Sjoerd van Staveren). 2012 www.gramps.van-staveren.net Internet Archive
• gramps2gource for blurring the line between Genealogy and Software Configuration Management visualisation.
• Betty generates a ready-to-publish static website from Gramps XML genealogy archives

See also

• grampsxml.dtd master branch file on GitHub (Document Type Definition)
• grampsxml.rng master branch file on GitHub (RELAX NG schema language in XML syntax)
• Auxiliary XML files in Gramps:

.gramps/:

• report_options.xml - report settings:
• books.xml - Books
• tool_options.xml
• holidays.xml - holiday sets or country calendars
• recent-files-gramps.xml -
• fan_chart.xml
• place_formats.xml

.gramps//gramps52/

• custom_filters.xml - filters

• Generate XML
• Tutorial: Customize reports with XML tool
• GEDCOM
• Gramps and GEDCOM
• Database_Formats
• wiki "Just Solve the File Format Problem" - Genealogical data file formats
• Gramps Old database
• Previous releases of Gramps