Outline Of The GRAMPS Data Model

Record Types

Event Records

• ID (optional; required) – Every Gramps record has two identifiers: a short, possibly non-unique, optional string that users can see and modify; and a long, required, permanent, unique string that the user cannot change and that other records use to refer to this record. The unique identifier (called a "handle" in Gramps vocabulary) is currently not as long as a typical UUID, but plays the same role that a UUID would. However, turning the handle into a proper UUID is under consideration.
• Event Type (required) - One of a preset collection of types, or a user-define, custom, type.
• Date (optional) – Date when the event occurred. Gramps has a specific format for writing dates, and can convert many calendars into this format. Gramps also has a method for representing years with alternate New Year days, and other date variations.
• Place (optional) – Place where the event occurred. Note that Gramps has stand-alone Place records, but this field seems to be a way of placing a full Place directly inside the Event record, rather than having the Event record refer to a Place record. TODO: Ask why this is so. => Maybe because there is no internal place database, place is a new object, which can be shared. So we share, or if need, to edit (there is a button for adding a new place on place list).
• Description (optional) – Text that describes the event.
• Attributes (any number) – Key and value pairs the user can add to describe any pertinent attribute of the event. User defined keys allow any number of custom attributes.
• Note references (any number) – References to Gramps Note records that provide information about the Event. Unlimited attached records.
• Source references (any number) – References to Gramps Source records that provide information about the source of the Event. Only one reference but unlimited attached records.
• Object references (any number) – References to external files that contain information, e.g., images, about this Event. Only one reference but unlimited attached records.

Person Records

Gramps Person records represent persons. Gramps does not explicitly distinguish between Person records taken directly from evidence versus Person records built up through research to hold a combination of information from many sources. Gramps Person records can exist anywhere along the evidence/conclusion continuum, and can move back and forth in this continuum based on user actions. The format of the Gramps Person record is:

• ID – see Event record.
• Gender (required) – M, F or U.
• Name (required) – Person’s name. Gramps has a specific sub-structure format for writing names.
• Event references (any number) – These are references to Event records that this Person plays a role in. An event reference has its own internal structure:
  • Id (required) – the index value of the Event record referred to.
  • Priv (optional) – a value that is either 0 or 1 (1 means the record is private, 0 public)
  • Role (optional) – the role this Person has in the Event. All types are either one of a predefined set, or a custom, user-defined type.
  • Attributes (any number) – see Event record.
  • Note references – See Event record.
• LDS Ordinations (optional) – See the NG Relax specifications for more information.
• Object references – See Event record.
• Addresses (any number) – Address values have their own internal structure. They are used to specify different places the Person has lived and the time they lived there. Other models treat this concept differently, dealing with it as another kind of event usually called Residence.
• Attributes – see Event record.
  
• URLs (any number) – URL values are simple structures that refer to URLs that have information pertaining to the person.
  
• Child-of references (any number) – References to Family records this Person is a child of.
  
• Parent-in references (any number) – References to Family records this Person is a parent in.
  
• Person references (any number) – References to other Person records. Person references have a relationship tag to specify the relationship between this Person record and the the referenced Person record.
  
• Note references – See Event record.
  
• Source references – See Event record.
  
• Tag references (any number) – Tags are user-defined strings that can be assigned to records for any purpose. They do not appear in reports or GEDCOM exports.

Family Records

• ID – See Event record.
• Rel (optional) – This is a tag that indicates the type of relation between the parent/spouse people.
• Father (optional) – This is a reference to a Person record that has the father role for the Family.
• Mother (optional) – This is a reference to a Person record that has the mother role for the Family.
• Event References – See Person record. These are events of the family (such as marriage).
• LDS Ordinances – See Person record.
• Object References – See Person record.
• Child References (any number) – These are the references to the Persons who are children in the family.
• Attributes – See Event record.
• Note References – See Event record
• Source References – See Event record.
• Tag References – See Person record.

Source Records

• ID – See Event record.
• Title (optional) – Title of the source.
• Author (optional) – Author of the source.
• Publishing Info (optional) – Publication information about the source.
• Abbreviation (optional) – Abbreviation for the source.
• Note References – See Event record.
• Object References – See Event record.
• Data Items (any number) – Data items are key/value text pairs, allowing any number of attributes be given to the Source record.
• Repository references (any number) – A Repository reference points to a Repository and can contain additional information, including a call number code and medium code for the source.

Place Records

• ID – See Event record.
• Title (optional) – A title/short description of the place.
• Coordinates (optional) – The latitude and longitude of the place.
• Locations (any number) – A location is a value with a substructure that can include values for any of the following location components:
  • Street
  • City
  • Parish
  • County
  • State
  • Country
  • Postal Code
  • Phone Number
• Object References – See Event record.
• URLs – See Person record.
• Note References – See Event record.
• Source References – See Event record.

Object Records

Gramps refers to information outside the model through Object records. Each Object record refers to a file on the local computer. The format of an Object record is:

• ID – See Event record.
• File (required) – Name of the file, presumably in a full path representation, so it can be found on the local machine.
• Type (required) – The MIME type of the file.
• Description (required) – A description of the file.
• Note References – See Event record.

Repository Records

• ID – See Event record.
• Name (optional) – Name of the repository.
• Type (optional) – The type of the repository.
• Addresses – See Person record.
• URLs – See Person record.
• Note References – See Event record.

Note Records

• ID – See Event record.
• Format (optional) – A code with value of 0 or 1 representing whether the note is preformatted.
• Type (required) – An indication of the type of this note.
• Styled Text (required) – The text of the note itself. Note that Gramps has the notion of styled text that allows basic level of text formatting including font, font size, color and so on.
• Tag References – See Person record.