(registered 2021-10-27, last updated 2021-12-07) Media type name: text Media subtype name: vnd.familysearch.gedcom Required parameters: (none) Optional parameters: charset: As specified in RFC 2046, section 4.1.2. The parameter is not used when payload is present because the charset information is transported inside the payload. However, should charset negotiation be needed, and no Accept-Charset header or equivalent is supported, it may be used in a media range used in a request, such as in an Accept header. Many earlier versions of GEDCOM specified an "ANSEL" character set, which does not have an assignment in the IANA Character Sets registry and so cannot be used by either the charset parameter or Accept-Charset. Since UTF-16 support was added in 1993, UTF-8 has been supported in GEDCOM since 1999, and the latest version of GEDCOM only supports UTF-8, it is not expected that ANSEL would need to be requested. version: The GEDCOM specification version. The parameter is not used when payload is present because the version information is transported inside the payload. However, should version negotiation be needed, it may be used in a media range used in a request, such as in an Accept header. The version parameter uses the Semantic Versioning 2.0 (https://semver.org/) syntax. Encoding considerations: Text in a specified character set. Some earlier versions of GEDCOM permitted UTF-16 to be used, but UTF-16 cannot be used with a "text/*" media type. As such, if a GEDCOM file is stored in UTF-16, it must be first converted to UTF-8 before being used with the text/vnd.familysearch.gedcom media type (this can be done without any GEDCOM-specific logic). Security considerations: Can contain directives to read files on the local hard drive and send GET requests to HTTP and HTTPS URLs. No active content, no file modification directives, no information-sharing directives. Commonly used to store genealogical information, which may include personal and sensitive information as well as information commonly used to create security questions. This information is not encrypted or otherwise protected by GEDCOM itself; hence, it falls on the software and persons managing the files to ensure they are kept confidential if they contain such information. Interoperability considerations: The GEDCOM version is encoded in the content, and an algorithm is provided for detecting the version. Published specification: https://github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/blob/main/version-detection/version-detection.md which internally includes the references to the various versions of the GEDCOM specification over time. Applications which use this media: GEDCOM is used by family history and related applications, including family trees, one-place and one-name studies, and historical analysis of interrelated individuals. Fragment identifier considerations: not used Restrictions on usage: none Additional information: 1. Deprecated alias names for this type: none 2. Magic number(s): See table at bottom of link under Published specification. 3. File extension(s): .ged 4. Macintosh file type code: none 5. Object Identifiers: none General Comments: Dave Thaler is a member of the GEDCOM Steering Committee and is submitting this request on behalf of the committee, chaired by Gordon Clarke. The GEDCOM file format is well over 30 years old and has been implemented by dozens of applications and websites that use this format for interoperability, so it has been recognized by the genealogical industry as the de facto standard for decades. FamilySearch acted as the central organization that maintained the specification, but this year FamilySearch opened spec maintenance via a public github repository, and formed a GEDCOM Steering Committee with technical members across the genealogical software industry. The GEDCOM Steering Committee now serves as the body maintaining the specification and the https://gedcom.io/ site. Person to contact for further information: 1. Name: Gordon Clarke 2. Email: gedcom&familysearch.org Intended usage: Common Used for exchanging and storage of computerized genealogical data. Primary use is for inter-operable software products to assist genealogists, historians, and other researchers. Secondary use is as a long-term storage format for preserving genealogical information. Author/Change controller: GEDCOM Steering Committee