Changes

 Also consider having a look atthe following Categories on the Gramps wiki:

*[[:Category:Tutorials|GRAMPS Gramps Tutorials]]  [[Category:Documentation]]

=== What is GRAMPSGramps? ===GRAMPS Gramps is the Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Program System. In other words, it is a personal genealogy program letting you store, edit, and research genealogical data using the powers of your computer, see [[GRAMPS:About|About]].

GRAMPS Gramps can be [[Installation|installed]] at no charge. GRAMPS Gramps is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License. You have full access to the source code and are allowed to distribute the program and source code freely.

===Does GRAMPS Gramps exist in other languages?===Yes, at the moment GRAMPS is release of Gramps 3.3 it has been translated in 23 into 28 languages, see [[GRAMPS translations]].

Use a recent version of GRAMPSGramps! From version 2.2.5 onwards there is an automatic backup utility.

It is extremely important to keep backups of your data, and keep them in a safe place. GRAMPS Gramps has a specific portable file format which is small, and human readable, denoted by <code>.gramps</code>. See [[Gramps_3.3_Wiki_Manual_-_Manage_Family_Trees#Backing_up_a_Family_Tree]].

[Note: The .gramps files are compressed. Clicking them will open GRAMPSGramps. To see the XML select them and open them with a decompressing utility (like ark, gunzip), after which you can extract the XML file which is human readable, see [[Generate_XML#How_do_I_uncompress_the_file?|details]].

GRAMPS Gramps does a quick hidden binary backup to allow restore if an error is noted. If the correct package is installed you can use a revision system.

'''Do not keep backups in GEDCOM'''. Not all information GRAMPS Gramps stores can be written in the GEDCOM. Hence, an export/import operation GRAMPS Gramps --> GEDCOM --> GRAMPSGramps, will mean you '''lose''' [[Gramps_and_GEDCOM|data]]. Use the <code>.gramps</code> file format for backups!

In particular, does it support non-Roman Unicode fonts? Yes. GRAMPS Gramps works internally with Unicode (UTF-8), so all alphabets can be used on all entry fields. All reports fully support this, although for PDF/PS you need to work with gnome-print or [http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/ LibreOffice].

===What is needed to install GRAMPS Gramps under Linux, Solaris, or FreeBSD?===

GRAMPS Gramps is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gtk GTK] application. GRAMPS Gramps needs to have the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygtk pygtk] libraries installed on the system. As long as these libraries are installed, GRAMPS Gramps should function. It will operate under the GNOME desktop, KDE desktop, or any other desktop. If the GNOME bindings for Python are installed on the system, GRAMPS Gramps will have additional functionality. The GRAMPS Gramps project recommends version 2.8 or higher of GTK.

===Does GRAMPS Gramps work on Windows?===

Yes, many people use it on Windows. Probably the easiest thingis to [[Download]] the [[All In One Gramps Software Bundle for Windows|GrampsAIO]] software "bundle" for Windows,as that is an all-in-one package of GRAMPS Gramps with the other programs it needs, and somay be installed very trivially.

See [[GRAMPS and Windows]] for a summary of hints to use GRAMPS Gramps on a Windows PC.

Also, the [[Linux Genealogy CD]] can function as a live CD that you boot directly from(If you have a CD/DVD-ROM Drive). You can then run Linux and GRAMPS Gramps off the CD, even if your computer is entirely Windows.

A [[Windows installer]] is available, for ===Does Gramps work on the technically sophisticated.Mac?===

===Does GRAMPS work on the Yes, Mac?===is a community supported platform for Gramps.

Yes, Mac is a supported platform for GRAMPS.See [[Using GRAMPS on Apple MacOS X:Application package|here]].

===What are the Minimum Specs to run GRAMPSGramps?===

We would recommend at least an 800x600 video display. For GRAMPS Gramps 3.3, the memory requirements have been reduced, and GRAMPS Gramps can run quite efficiently on a 256MB system, holding considerably more people. A system with 512MB should be able to hold around 200,000 people. Disk space requirements for databases are however considerably larger, with a typical database being several megabytes in size. For 120.000 people you must consider already 530Mb for the database. Pictures are stored on disk separately, so a large harddisk is necessary.

===How do I upgrade GRAMPSGramps?===

The Windows port of GRAMPS Gramps needs to be updated manually.

Yes, change in the preferences ("Edit->Preferences") the date for GRAMPS Gramps to the required format (eg YYYY-MM-DD or day month year), and make the report. Your global date preferences will be used.

===Is GRAMPS Gramps compatible with other genealogical software?===

GRAMPS Gramps makes every effort to maintain compatibility with [[GEDCOM]], the general standard of recording genealogical information. We have import and export filters that enable GRAMPS Gramps to read and write GEDCOM files.

It is important to understand that the GEDCOM standard is poorly implemented -- virtually every genealogical software has its own "flavor" of GEDCOM. As we learn about new flavor, the import/export filters can be created very quickly. However, finding out about the unknown flavors requires [[Contact|user feedback]]. Please feel free to inform us about any GEDCOM flavor not supported by GRAMPSGramps, and we will do our best to support it!

===Can GRAMPS Gramps read files created by other genealogy programs? ===

===Can GRAMPS Gramps write files readable by other genealogy programs? ===

===What standards does GRAMPS Gramps support?===

The nice thing about standards is that there never is a shortage of them. GRAMPS Gramps is tested to support the following flavors of GEDCOM: GEDCOM5.5, Brother's Keeper, Family Origins, Family Tree Maker, Ftree, GeneWeb, Legacy, Personal Ancestral File, Pro-Gen, Reunion, and Visual Genealogie.

===How do I import data from another genealogy program into GRAMPSGramps?===

===Can I install GRAMPS Gramps on a Linux Web Server and use it via a web browser? ===

 While GRAMPS Gramps can generate web sites, it does not provide a web interface that allows for editing. If this is a requirement, then [http://geneweb.org GeneWeb] or [http://phpgedview.sourceforge.net PhpGedView] are programs more likely to meet your needs. Also have a look at experimental [[GEPS_013:_GRAMPS_Webapp|gramps-connect]]. However, you may wish to ask yourself the following questions:

===Can GRAMPS Gramps print a genealogical tree for my family?===

GRAMPS Gramps can produce any of the above, and many more different charts and reports. Moreover, the plugin architecture enables users (you) to create their own plugins which could be new reports, charts, or research tools.

===In what formats can GRAMPS Gramps output its reports?===

===Is GRAMPS Gramps compatible with the Internet? ===

GRAMPS Gramps can store web addresses and direct your browser to them. It can import data that you download from the Internet. It can export data that you could send over the Internet. GRAMPS Gramps is familiar with the standard file formats widely used on the Internet (e.g. JPEG, PNG, and GIF images, MP3, OGG, and WAV sound files, QuickTime, MPEG, and AVI movie files, etc). Other than that, there is little that a genealogical program can do with the Internet.

 Yes. There are many levels of customization. One is creating or modifying the templates used for the reports. This gives you some control over the fonts, colors, and some layout of the reports. You can also use GRAMPS Gramps controls in the report dialogs to tell what contents should be used for a particular report. In addition to this, you have an ability to create your own filters -- this is useful in selecting people based on criteria set by you. You can combine these filters to create new, more complex filters. Finally, you have an option to create your own plugins. These may be new reports, research tools, import/export filters, etc. This assumes some knowledge of programming in Python.

This is a limitation of the built-in fonts of PS and PDF formats. To print non-Latin text, use the Print... in the format selection menu of the report dialog. This will use the <code>gnome-print</code> backend, which supports PS and PDF creation, as well as direct printing. (Note: you might need to install gnome-print separately as it is not required for GRAMPSGramps).

===I would like to contribute to GRAMPS Gramps by writing my favorite report. How do I do that? ===

The easiest way to contribute to reports, filters, tools, etc. is to copy an existing GRAMPS Gramps report, filter, or tool. If you can create what you want by modifying existing code -- great! If your idea does not fit into the logic of any existing GRAMPS Gramps tool, you will need to write your own plugin from scratch. Help is available on the [[Portal:Developers|Developers Portal]], or on the [[Contact|Developers mailing list]]: [email protected].

To test your work in progress, you may save your plugin under $HOME/.gramps/plugins directory and it should be found and imported on startup. The correctly written plugin will register itself with GRAMPSGramps, create menu item, and so on.

If you are happy with your plugin and would like to contribute your code back to the GRAMPS Gramps project, you are very welcome to do so by contacting us at [email protected]

==Database - GRAMPS Gramps file formats==

===What is the maximum database size (bytes) GRAMPS Gramps can handle?===

GRAMPS Gramps has no hard limits on the size of a database that it can handle. Starting with 2.0.0 release, GRAMPS Gramps no longer loads all data into memory, which allows it to work with a much larger database than before. In reality, however, there are practical limits. The main limiting factors are the available memory on the system and the cache size used for BSDDB database access. With common memory sizes these days, GRAMPS Gramps should have no problem using databases with [[GRAMPS Performance|tens of thousands of people]].

===How many people can GRAMPS Gramps database handle? ===

Starting with 2.0.0 release, GRAMPS Gramps no longer loads all data into memory, which allows it to work with a much larger database than before. The fileformat used is <code>.grdb</code> which means gramps Gramps database.

===Can I run GRAMPS Gramps from a database on a NFS share?===

A GRAMPS Gramps 3 database (and any .grdb file) is very dependent on the software versions that created it. For example, you can't just move your GRAMPS Gramps data in these formats to a different operating system (or even a different version of an operating system) and expect that you will be able to read your data. The data is not "portable". Therefore, you can't just rely on backups of these formats, but you should also occasionally export into a format that is portable. There are two possible portable formats: GEDCOM and GRAMPS Gramps XML (.gramps or .gpkg). But only GRAMPS Gramps XML is recommended, as it faithfully saves all of your data.

The biggest issue with GRAMPS Gramps portability lies with 'transactions'. WithGRAMPS Gramps 2.2, we added support for atomic transactions to protect data.With atomic transactions, multiple changes are committed as a singleunit. Either all the changes make it, or none of the changes make it.You are never left in a situation with a partial set of changes. A sidebenefit of using transactions is that database access (reads and writes)are faster. The problem with transactions (at least using BSDDB) is that it does not allow all the data to be stored in a single file. Logging files are fasterneeded to keep track of things. These logging files are kept in a DB Environment directory. We need a separate directory for each file, otherwise the log files can interfere with each other.

The problem with transactions (at least using BSDDB) is that it does notallow all In 2.2, we keep the data to be stored in a single file. Logging log files areneeded to keep track of thingsunder the ~/. These logging files are kept in a DBEnvironment gramps/<path> directory. We need , creating a separate unique directory for each database. The problem is that your GRDB file,otherwise needs the log files can interfere with each other, which are in a different directory.

# Version of gramps Gramps you were using when you encountered the bug (available through Help → About menu item).# Language under which gramps Gramps was run (available by executing <code> echo $LANG</code> in your terminal).

*GRAMPS Gramps should be a .... type of application

It is obvious that GRAMPS Gramps absolutely needs to become a (client-server/web-based/PHP/weblog/Javascript/C++/distributed/KDE/Motif/Tcl/Win32/C#/You-name-it) application. When is this going to happen?

The surest way to see it happen is to get it done by yourself. Since GRAMPS Gramps is free/open source, nobody prevents you from taking all of the code and continuing its development in whatever direction you see fit. In doing so, you may consider giving your new project another name to avoid confusion with the continuing GRAMPS Gramps development. If you would like the GRAMPS Gramps project to provide advice, expertise, filters, etc., we will gladly cooperate with your new project, to ensure compatibility or import/export options to your new format of a project.

If, however, you would like the GRAMPS Gramps project to adopt your strategy, you would need to convince GRAMPS Gramps developers that your strategy is good for GRAMPS Gramps and superior to the present development strategy.

Children can be moved in the [http://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gramps_3.3_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_Editing_Data:_Detailed_-_part_1#Editing_information_about_relationships|Family Editor] by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop dragging and dropping] or using the {{man button|up}} and {{man button|down}} buttons.