SDF Conversion

Overview

GedSite creates web sites that are similar to web sites created by my program Second Site (SS).

Second Site works only with databases managed by The Master Genealogist™ (TMG). GedSite reads GEDCOM files, which can be exported from many genealogy programs, but GedSite also reads a TMG database directly. That is an important feature given TMG has many features that do not translate to GEDCOM.

Some Second Site users may want to switch to GedSite because GedSite is much faster and provides features that are not in Second Site. However, the reverse is also true: Second Site provides some features that are not in GedSite. In areas where both programs have the same or similar features, GedSite's features are usually easier to use and/or more flexible.

Second Site stores property settings in SDF files whereas GedSite uses gsfile files. As of version 5.02, GedSite will open a Second Site SDF file and automatically convert it to the GedSite format. This is a non-trivial task because SDF files are very different from gsfile files.

The conversion is unlikely to produce an exact replica of your site built by Second Site. For Second Site users who did not heavily customize the site, the resulting site may be acceptable without any further changes. For Second Site users who did customize their sites, the resulting site will probably require review and manual updates and customizations.

This help page describes the SDF conversion process.

Usage

To convert a Second Site SDF file to a GedSite gsFile, use the File > Open... command and select the SDF file you want to convert. GedSite will start its "new gsFile" process and ask you where you want to save the new gsFile and what name you want to assign to it, then it will open the SDF file and convert its contents to the GedSite gsFile format.

GedSite writes a conversion log file to the GedSite\Logs folder. You can open the file using the Utilities > Logs > Open SDF Conversion Log... command. The command is only available after opening an SDF file.

GedSite will also write messages to the Application Log. Those messages are the result of the conversion process performing standard GedSite operations such as setting the value of a basic property.

Basic Properties

Second Site and GedSite have similar main windows where sections are listed on the left and properties for a section are in a panel on the right. The properties that are edited directly in the main window might be considered "basic properties" in that there is only one value for the combination of the section name and the property name. In contrast, more complex properties may have multiple sub-items, like User Items, and there are often multiple occurrences of the same types of items.

Second Site and GedSite have many basic properties that serve the same purpose in both programs. For example, Second Site has a Title property in the Pages > Site section, and GedSite has a Site Title property in the Main section. GedSite converts 400+ Second Site basic properties to GedSite properties. This includes resolving differences in the property names, parent sections, and values.

In some cases, a single Second Site property determines the value of multiple GedSite properties. For example, the Sentence Ending Parenthesis property in Second Site's Body Tags section is copied to both the Period and Quote property and the Period and Paren property in GedSite's Format section.

Filters

Flag Filters

Several Second Site features support Flag Filters to select people. GedSite uses a more powerful, more general filtering capability. GedSite converts Second Site Flag Filters to GedSite filters.

GedSite filters support multiple terms. Second Site Flag Filters are converted to a single GedSite term.

Conversion details:

• Flag Filters that use TMG's Sex flag are converted to GedSite's Gender criteria term.
• Flag Filters that use TMG's Living flag are converted to GedSite's Living or Deceased criteria terms.
• Flag Filters that use TMG's other standard flags, or any custom flag, are converted to GedSite's Attribute Text criteria term. (GedSite converts TMG's custom flags to Attributes which encompass similar features found in other genealogy programs.)

The first screenshot below show a Second Site Flag Filter from the People section. The Flag Filter uses a TMG custom flag named "Bezanson". The second screenshot shows GedSite's People section after converting the Second Site Flag Filter.

When the Second Site Flag Filter specifies a single character in the Values property, GedSite uses the "Equals" operand ("Include" in SS) or "Not Equals" operand ("Exclude" in SS).

When the Second Site Flag Filter specifies multiple characters in the Values property, GedSite uses the "Matches" operand ("Include" in SS) or "Does not match" operand ("Exclude" in SS) to accept any of the characters in Values. For example, if a Second Site Flag Filter specified Values "ABC", people with the flag values "A", "B", or "C" would be selected. The GedSite version of that filter would use a comparand of "[ABC]": if the Attribute value matches any of three letters inside the "[" and "]", the result of the term is "true".

Tag Type Filters

Several Second Site features support filters to select Tag Types. GedSite uses a more powerful, more general filtering capability that includes the ability to select people or events based on the presence or absence of specified Tag Types. GedSite converts Second Site Tag Type Filters to GedSite filters. The GedSite filter will have multiple terms depending on the Second Site properties.

Items

Second Site and GedSite have many compound properties that appear in lists, such as User Items, Person Entry Items, etc. There are some similarities between these items, but there are also many, many differences. GedSite converts as many items as possible.

Site Icon

Second Site's Site Icon feature is not suppoirted in GedSite. You may add a User Style to imitate it.

Styles

Second Site and GedSite use different CSS selectors. For many of the CSS styles used by either program, the selector difference won't matter because GedSite converts many of the Second Site Stylesheets sections and that avoids selector issues. However:

• GedSite does not convert all Second Site Stylesheets sections.
• GedSite does not detect the use of CSS classes/selectors in HTML that you added manually to a Second Site SDF file.

For those and other reasons, you should review the gsFile after the conversion and adjust Second Site CSS classes to the equivalent GedSite CSS classes.

Script Functions

Second Site supports scripting in various text properties. The scripts provide a similar capability to Text Codes in GedSite.

GedSite will convert the following popular script functions:

Limitation

The scripts listed above will be converted to Text Codes when used in their most common form where the function call is the complete script expression.

Will be converted:

<%=Page.PersonHref(17)%>

Will not be converted:

<%
Dim id
id = 17
Page.PersonHref(id)
%>

Item Class

Several Second Site User Items include an Item Class property where the user chooses either "Page" or "Content". Choosing Page creates a page for the User Item's content whereas choosing Content adds the content to the User Item's parent page.

Second Site charts are examples of User Items with Item Class properties and charts can be either Page Items or Content Items. The reason for this is mostly historical. When the original chart features were added to Second Site, charts were Page Items and restricted to one chart per page. The Item Class property was added in a subsequent enhancement where charts could create a page of their own or be added to a Custom Page. The enhancement allowed multiple charts to be placed on a single page and allowed other Content Items to appear on the same page as a chart.

GedSite User Items do not have an Item Class property. Any User Item that is eligible to be a Content Item is a Content Item and cannot make a page on its own. The Content Item must be placed on a Page User Item.

When GedSite converts a Second Site User Item where the Item Class is set to Page, GedSite creates two User Items: a Page User Item and a content User Item. The title of the content item is assigned to the Page.

Page Options

Several Second Site User Items include Page Options properties, including the Custom Page User Item:

Properties in the Page Options panel change the page associated with the current item. For the Custom Page item, the associated page is itself. For a Descendant Chart, the Page Options modify the parent Custom Page Item (if the Item Class is "Content Item") or the chart page (if the Item Class is "Page Item").

GedSite does not have User Items with a Page Options panel. I believe they were lightly used in Second Site, and GedSite's solution is to provide User Items that replace the individual Page Options properties. That approach was simpler to implement and expands the places where users can add the properties.

When GedSite converts a User Item that includes non-empty Page Options properties, it converts them to the associated GedSite User Item and adds the User Item to the appropriate Page User Item.

For the Second Site Custom Page shown above, GedSite will convert Second Site's Custom Page into two User Items: a Page User Item, and a Head Tags User Item on that page.

Virtual Witnesses

Second Site and GedSite have Virtual Witness features. You can read the GedSite help page for the feature to understand its purpose.

The Second Site and GedSite features work very differently.

• Second Site requires users to edit Tag Types in TMG and add several Roles to any Tag Type where the user wants Second Site to add Virtual Witness entries. The Roles are where users enter TMG Sentence Structures to determine the content of Virtual Witness entries. Virtual Witnesses are enabled by event type. When enabled, Virtual Witness events are created prior to filtering events for Person Entry Tag Groups and must be selected or deselected in each Tag Group.

  Overall, the Second Site Virtual Witness feature is cumbersome to use.

• GedSite provides Sentence Templates via its Strings feature. Users can customize the templates, but that's usually not necessary. Virtual Witnesses can be enabled or disabled in any Tag Set.

GedSite's Virtual Witness feature is simpler, easier to use, and more flexible than the Second Site version of the feature. The only GedSite limitation is that Virtual Witness templates cannot be customized per role or per Tag Type. That's unlikely to be an actual limitation in practice, and in exchange for losing that ability, the GedSite feature is nearly effortless to use because there is no setup work required.

GedSite's SDF Conversion does not attempt to convert an SDF file's Virtual Witness configuration to the GedSite format. If desired, users should enable the Virtual Witness feature after the conversion.

Strings Comparison

Second Site and GedSite both use string properties to customize the words and phrases the program uses when making a site. For example, the program needs to know the string values for the months of the year so it can format dates using the month names or abbreviations appropriate for the current site language.

Second Site adds string properties to every new SDF file using strings defined in "Defaults" files.

GedSite has language configuration files that are stored in the program folder, and includes a Utilities > Edit Strings menu to create custom files to replace any or all of the default values.

Most Second Site and GedSite users do not modify the default string values, or only modify a few.

During a conversion, it's not practical for GedSite to use the strings in the SDF file to create a custom language file as required by GedSite. To assist you in modifying the GedSite strings, GedSite includes a "Strings Comparison" section in the SdfConversion.log file which lists the string values in the SDF file that do not match the values in the Second Site "Defaults" file that GedSite assumes was used to initialize the SDF file.

GedSite only assumes it knows which "Defaults" file was used to initialize the SDF file because there are complicating factors related to custom "Defaults" files and other factors. In most cases, GedSite's assumption will be correct.

Use the Strings Comparison report in the SdfConversion.log file to guide you in making changes via GedSite's Utilities > Edit Strings command.

Unsupported Features

GedSite does not support the following Second Site features.

DNA Features

Second Site provides two features that are tied to DNA-related features in TMG, the DNA Grid User Item and the DNA Overlay Chart. At the present time, GedSite does not support either of those features.

Second Site's DNA Grid User Item depends on the way DNA test results are stored in TMG project databases, which is a proprietary format, and the DNA Grid User Item is limited to Y-DNA test results. While the DNA Grid User Item is useful, the current trend is to use autosomal DNA testing. It's unlikely a DNA Grid User Item will be added to GedSite.

Second Site's DNA Overlay Chart also depends on the way DNA test results are stored in TMG project databases, and it's unlikely an equivalent DNA Overlay Chart will be added to GedSite. However, a future version of GedSite may have a more general overlay chart where the user could overlay various event details, including but not limited to an event memo that contains a sumarry of an autosomal DNA test result.

Framed Sites

Second Site implements framed sites (Layouts > Default Layout > Frames) via the HTML FRAMESET element. The FRAMESET element was deprecated many years ago, and while it is still supported in all browsers, it did not make sense to implement framed sites in GedSite.

The HTML FRAMESET element was deprecated to avoid usability and security issues inherent in its design.

Notes

1. GedSite does not have a Custom Index User Item. GedSite converts a Second Site "List based on flag values" Custom Index to a List of People User Item that produces a similar result.
2. GedSite does not have a Custom Index User Item. GedSite converts a Second Site "List based on last edited date" Custom Index to a List of People User Item that produces a similar result.
3. GedSite does not have a Custom Index User Item. GedSite converts a Second Site "List based on person's events" Custom Index to a Person Events User Item.
4. GedSite does not support the DNA Grid User Item or the DNA Overlay Chart.
5. GedSite does not create a master index. Master indexes are a relic of the early design of genealogy sites and have been replaced by search features.
6. GedSite does not support a place index. It may do so in the future.
7. GedSite does not have a Table Row User Item. GedSite converts Second Site's Table Row User Item to HTML in a Text User Item.
8. GedSite does not support Timeline Charts.
9. GedSite does not support VCF Charts.
10. GedSite does not support Flag Events. In some cases, you may be able to use an Attribute Person Entry Item. For example, to insert literal text when a person has a particular Attribute value, you can use an Attribute Person Entry and set its Person Filter property to select people with that Attribute value.
11. GedSite does not support web fonts.
12. Second Site has two types of User Styles, Structured and Free Form. GedSite only has one User Style, and both types are converted to it.
13. GedSite's Person References Person Entry Item is a general-purpose replacement for Second Site's Chart Membership and Index Membership Person Entry Items.
14. GedSite's Attribute Person Entry Item is a general-purpose replacement for Second Site's Reference Field Person Entry Item.
15. Second Site has one Tag Group Person Entry Item with sub-types like "Body" and "Table Panel". GedSite has equivalent Tag Sets, one for each Second Site Tag Group.
16. GedSite automatically adds a citation list to any page that uses the Cite Text Code