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FAQ
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**** This is Gramps Frequently Asked Questions ****
The questions below frequently come up in mailing list discussions and forums.
This list is by no means complete. If you would like to add questions/answers
to this list, please email your suggestions to [email protected]
**** Index ****
==General==
1. What is Gramps?
2. Where do I get it and how much does it cost?
3. Does Gramps exist in other languages?
4. How do I keep backups?
5. Does Gramps support Unicode fonts? In particular, does it support non-Roman Unicode fonts?
6. What is needed to install Gramps under Linux, Solaris, or FreeBSD?
7. Does it work with Windows (tm)?
8. Does it work with the Mac?
9. What are the Minimum Specs to run Gramps?
==Preferences==
10. Can I change the dates in reports to 'day month year'
==Collaboration-Portability==
11. Is Gramps compatible with other genealogical software?
12. Can Gramps read files created by GenApp X?
13. Can Gramps write files readable by GenApp X?
14. What standards does Gramps support?
15. How do I import data from another genealogy program into Gramps?
16. Can I install Gramps on a Linux Web Server and use it via a web browser? This would enable my relations worldwide to access and update it.
==Reports==
17. Can Gramps print a genealogical tree for my family?
18. In what formats can Gramps output its reports?
19. How can I change the default language in reports?
20. Is Gramps compatible with the Internet?
21. Can I create custom reports/filters/whatever?
22. Why are non-latin characters displayed as garbage in PDF/PS reports?
23. I would like to contribute to Gramps by writing my favorite report.
==Database - Gramps file formats==
24. What is the maximum database size (bytes) Gramps can handle?
25. How many people can Gramps database handle?
26. My database is really big. Is there a way around loading all the data into memory?
27. Can I run Gramps from a database on a NFS share?
28. Why is the database format not portable?
==Bugs and requests==
29. I found a bug and I want it fixed right now! What do I do?
30. Gramps should be a .... type of application
==Gramps Webhosting ==
31. How can I publish web sites generated by Gramps?
**** Questions and answers ****
==General==
1. What is 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.
2. Where do I get it and how much does it cost?
Gramps can be downloaded from http://sf.net/projects/gramps at no charge.
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.
3. Does Gramps exist in other languages?
Yes, at the moment Gramps is translated in 15 languages
4. How do I keep backups?
Use a recent version of Gramps! From 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 has a specific portable file format which is small, and human readable, denoted by .gramps. If you have allowed this in the preferences (In Edit menu->Preferences->General), Gramps will keep a backup of your database on exit. You can copy this backup file from time to time to a save location (eg a usb stick).
Note: The .gramps files are compressed. Clicking them will open Gramps. 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.
Do not keep backups in GEDCOM. Not all information Gramps stores can be written in the GEDCOM. Hence, an export/import operation Gramps --> GEDCOM --> Gramps, will mean you lose data. Use the .gramps file format for backups!
Do not keep backups in GRDB format. GRDB is a database, which might be computer dependent (read, not working on a different PC). Small damage to a GRDB file can also not be repaired. Use the .gramps file format for backups!
5. Does Gramps support Unicode fonts? In particular, does it support non-Roman Unicode fonts?
Yes. 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 openoffice.
==Installation==
6. What is needed to install Gramps under Linux, Solaris, or FreeBSD?
Gramps is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gtk GTK] application. 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 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 will have additional functionality. The Gramps project recommends version 2.8 or higher of GTK.
7. Does it work with Windows (tm)?
The Linux Genealogy CD can function as a live CD that you boot directly from. You can then run Linux and Gramps off the CD, even if your computer is entirely Windows.
An Windows installer is available for 32 and 64 bit versions of windows from Windows versions 7 through 10. As with all other support, we do do our best to solve windows related problems.
8. Does it work with the Mac?
The Fink project has ported some older versions of Gramps to OS X (tm). The Mac OS X port is not directly supported by the Gramps project, primarily because none of the Gramps developers have access to Mac OS X and because OS X is not Free Software.
This present version of Gramps (2.2.x) does not appear to have been ported by the Fink project. Please contact the Fink project for more information. However, some users had success in installing 2.2.x on Mac OSX either running in native mode or running on X11 using some of the fink packages.
9. What are the Minimum Specs to run Gramps?
We would recommend at least an 800x600 video display. For Gramps 5.x, Gramps can run quite efficiently on a 3GB memory system. A system with that much RAM should be able to hold more than 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.
==Preferences==
10. Can I change the dates in reports to 'day month year'
Yes, change in the preferences ("Edit->Preferences") the date for Gramps to the required format (eg YYYY-MM-DD or day mont year), and make the report. Your global date preferences will be used.
==Collaboration-Portability==
11. Is Gramps compatible with other genealogical software?
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 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 user feedback. Please feel free to inform us about any GEDCOM flavor not supported by Gramps, and we will do our best to support it!
12. Can Gramps read files created by GenApp X?
See above.
13. Can Gramps write files readable by GenApp X?
See above.
14. What standards does Gramps support?
The nice thing about standards is that there never is a shortage of them. 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.
15. How do I import data from another genealogy program into Gramps?
The best way is to create a new gramps database file, and select the import option in the file menu. Here you select the GEDCOM you generated with the other program, and import it.
16. Can I install Gramps on a Linux Web Server and use it via a web browser? This would enable my relations worldwide to access and update it.
While 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. However, you may wish to ask yourself the following questions:
* Do I really want relatives or other people to directly edit my genealogy database?
* Do I implicitly trust, without verification, any data that people may enter?
* Do these people have the same understanding of good genealogy practice that I have?
A better approach may be to provide a web form interface that allows others to enter data that is then held for your examination. You can then decide if the information should be entered into your database.
You may also want to consider the effects of possible downtime of your site if you cannot afford yourself a premium webhosting service.
==Reports==
17. Can Gramps print a genealogical tree for my family?
Yes. Different people have different ideas of what a genealogical tree is.
Some think of it as a chart going from the distant ancestor and listing
all his/her descendants and their families. Others think it should be a
chart going from the person back in time, listing the ancestors and their
families. Yet other people think of a table, text report, etc.
Gramps can produce any of the above, and many more different charts and
reports. Moreover, the plugin architechture enables users (you) to create
their own plugins which could be new reports, charts, or research tools.
18. In what formats can Gramps output its reports?
Text reports are available in HTML, PDF, ODT, LaTeX, and RTF formats. Graphical reports (charts and diagrams) are available in PostScript, PDF, SVG, ODS, and Graphviz formats.
19. How can I change the default language in reports?
The reports are in the language of your linux installation. You can change it by installing extra language packs, see [Howto: Change the language of reports] on wiki.
20. Is Gramps compatible with the Internet?
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 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 :-)
21. Can I create custom reports/filters/whatever?
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
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.
22. Why are non-latin characters displayed as garbage in PDF/PS reports?
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 gnome-print 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 Gramps).
If you only have Latin text, the PDF option will produce a smaller PDF compared to that created by gnome-print, simply because no font information will be embedded.
23. I would like to contribute to 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 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 tool, you will need to write your own plugin from scratch. Help is available on the [Developers Portal] on wiki, or on the 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 Gramps, create menu item, and so on.
If you are happy with your plugin and would like to contribute your code back to the Gramps project, you are very welcome to do so by contacting us at [email protected]
==Database - Gramps file formats==
24. What is the maximum database size (bytes) Gramps can handle?
Gramps has no hard limits on the size of a database that it can handle. Starting with 2.0.0 release, 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 should have no problem using databases with tens of thousands of people.
25. How many people can Gramps database handle?
See above. Again, this is dependent on how much memory you have, see [Gramps Performance] on wiki.
26. My database is really big. Is there a way around loading all the data into memory?
Starting with 2.0.0 release, Gramps no longer loads all data into memory, which allows it to work with a much larger database than before. The fileformat used is .grdb which means gramps database.
27. Can I run Gramps from a database on a NFS share?
Yes you can.
28. Why is the database format not portable?
The biggest issue with Gramps portability lies with 'transactions'. With
Gramps 2.2, we added support for atomic transactions to protect data.
With atomic transactions, multiple changes are committed as a single
unit. 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 side
benefit 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
needed 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.
In 2.2, we keep the log files under the ~/.gramps/ path directory,
creating a unique directory for each database. The problem is that your
GRDB file needs the log files, which are in a different directory.
Copying the GRDB file is only copying a portion of the database.
==Bugs and requests==
29. I found a bug and I want it fixed right now! What do I do?
The best thing you can do is to fix the bug and send the patch to
The next best thing would be to submit a good bug report. This can be done in
one of the two ways: (1) send your report to [email protected]
or (2) file your report with the bug tracker system at
https://gramps-project.org/bugs/ (this function is also
available by selecting "Help->Report a bug" from gramps main menu).
A good bug report would include:
(1) Version of gramps you were using when you encountered the bug
(available through Help->About menu item)
(2) Language under which gramps was run
(available by executing "echo $LANG" in your terminal)
(3) Symptoms indicating that this is indeed a bug
(4) Any Traceback messages, error messages, warnings, etc, that showed up
in your terminal or a in separate traceback window
Most problems can be fixed quickly provided there is enough information.
To ensure this, please follow up on your bug reports.
If the above explanations seem vague, please follow this link:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
30. Gramps should be a .... type of application
The surest way to see it happen is to get it done by yourself. Since 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 development. If you would like the 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 project to adopt your strategy, you would need to convince Gramps developers that your strategy is good for Gramps and superior to the present development strategy.
HINT: if Gramps developers are still not convinced after about three
messages sent to gramps-devel, maybe you are better off on your own
rather than with a company of retards who can't fully realize the
potential of your great idea :-)
==Gramps Webhosting ==
31. How can I publish web sites generated by Gramps?
Since Gramps generates HTML pages, you can upload the pages to your personal web site. If you do not have a personal web site, and still wish to have your pages available on the internet.
**** End of Gramps Frequently Asked Questions ****