GENEALOGIX Glossary

This glossary defines key terms used in the GENEALOGIX specification and documentation.

A

Archive

A complete GENEALOGIX repository containing family history data organized in a Git repository with standardized directory structure and validation.

See Also: For archive organization details, see Archive Organization

Assertion

A discrete, evidence-backed claim about a person, event, place, or relationship. Assertions separate conclusions from evidence, allowing multiple claims about the same fact with different supporting evidence.

See Also: For complete specification, see Assertion Entity

C

Chain of Custody

The documented path that evidence has taken from creation to current location, ensuring authenticity and reliability.

Claim

A specific property or attribute being asserted about a subject in an assertion (e.g., "born_on", "occupation", "died_in").

Citation

A specific reference to a location within a source document, including quality assessment and optional transcription. Citations link evidence to assertions.

See Also: For complete specification, see Citation Entity

Created At

A timestamp field indicating when an entity record was originally created.

Created By

A field indicating which researcher or system originally created an entity record.

Conflicting Evidence Resolution

The process of evaluating multiple sources with different conclusions and determining which to accept based on quality and corroboration.

Confidence Level

An assessment of how certain a conclusion is based on available evidence. Common levels include: high, medium, low, disputed.

See Also: For controlled vocabularies, see Standard Vocabularies

Corroboration

Supporting evidence from multiple independent sources that agree on a conclusion.

D

Derivative Evidence

Copies, transcriptions, or compilations of original evidence.

Direct Evidence

Evidence that explicitly states the fact you're trying to prove without requiring inference.

Directory Structure

Common organizational pattern for GENEALOGIX files (not required). Files can be organized in any structure. Common patterns include:

• persons/, relationships/, events/, etc. - Dedicated directories per entity type (recommended for collaboration)
• Single file - All entities in one .glx file (good for small archives)
• Hybrid - Mix of directories and multi-entity files based on logical groupings

What matters: entity type ID prefixes must be correct (person-, event-, etc.)

E

Entity

A typed record in a GENEALOGIX archive representing a person, event, place, relationship, source, citation, repository, assertion, or media file.

Event

A life event or biographical fact such as birth, marriage, death, occupation, or residence. Events have participants, dates, places, and descriptions.

See Also: For complete specification, see Event/Fact Entity

Event Type

Classification of life events including birth, marriage, death, occupation, residence, education, military service, etc.

Evidence Chain

The complete path from physical repository through source and citation to genealogical assertion. A complete chain includes repository → source → citation → assertion.

Evidence Evaluation

The process of assessing source quality, analyzing content, and determining reliability for genealogical conclusions.

Evidence Hierarchy

The four dimensions used to evaluate evidence quality: primary vs secondary, direct vs indirect, original vs derivative, and information vs evidence.

Evidence Integration

The process of combining evidence from multiple sources and resolving conflicts through Git merge operations.

F

Feature Branch

A Git branch used for developing new features or researching specific topics in isolation.

G

GENEALOGIX (GLX)

An open standard for version-controlled family archives using Git-native workflows, human-readable YAML files, and evidence-first data modeling.

Git Workflow

The process of using Git version control for collaborative genealogy research, including branching strategies, merge conflict resolution, and evidence integration.

.glx Extension

The file extension used for all GENEALOGIX entity files. Pronounced "gl-ex" (genealogical exchange).

GRO

General Register Office (UK birth, marriage, death records).

H

HO107

UK Census series identifier (1841-1911 census returns).

I

ID (Identifier)

A unique identifier for each entity in the format {type}-{8hex} where type is the entity type (person, event, etc.) and 8hex is 8 lowercase hexadecimal characters.

Examples:

• person-a1b2c3d4
• event-b2c3d4e5
• place-c3d4e5f6

ID Pattern

The regular expression pattern {type}-{8hex} used for all entity identifiers.

Indirect Evidence

Evidence that requires interpretation or additional information to support a conclusion.

L

Living Status

A field indicating whether a person is alive or deceased, used for privacy and research considerations.

Locator

A specific reference to a location within a source document, such as page number, entry number, film number, or URL.

M

Media

Supporting files such as photos, documents, audio recordings, or videos that provide evidence or context for genealogical assertions.

See Also: For complete specification, see Media Entity

MIME Type

Media type identifier (e.g., "image/jpeg", "application/pdf") that specifies the format of a media file.

O

Original Evidence

First-hand, eyewitness accounts or documents created at the time of the event.

P

Participant

A person involved in an event with a specific role such as subject, witness, officiant, parent, or spouse.

Participant Role

The specific function or relationship a person has in an event (e.g., bride, groom, witness, officiant).

Person

An individual human being with biographical information including name, dates, places, and relationships.

See Also: For complete specification, see Person Entity

Place

A geographic location with hierarchical organization, including coordinates, alternative names, and type classification.

See Also: For complete specification, see Place Entity

Place Type

Classification of geographic locations including country, county, city, address, cemetery, church, etc.

Preponderance of Evidence

When conflicting evidence exists, the conclusion supported by the majority of higher-quality sources.

Primary Evidence

Information created at the time of the event by someone with direct knowledge (birth certificates, contemporary letters).

Primary Name

The preferred or most commonly used name for a person in genealogical records.

Provenance

The complete history of how information came to be known, including source attribution, chain of custody, author identification, and research context.

Q

QUAY

GEDCOM quality indicator (0-3 scale), replaced by structured quality ratings in GENEALOGIX.

Quality Rating

A 0-3 scale indicating the reliability of evidence:

• 3: Primary, direct evidence (birth certificates, contemporary records)
• 2: Secondary, direct evidence (census records, indexes)
• 1: Primary, indirect evidence (family Bibles, letters)
• 0: Secondary, indirect evidence (published genealogies, oral history)

R

Reference Integrity

The requirement that all entity references (person IDs, place IDs, etc.) must point to existing entities.

Relationship

A connection between people such as parent-child, marriage, adoption, or other family/social connections.

See Also: For complete specification, see Relationship Entity

Relationship Type

Classification of connections between people including parent-child, marriage, adoption, guardianship, etc.

Repository

A physical or digital archive, library, church, or institution that holds genealogical sources.

See Also: For complete specification, see Repository Entity

Required Fields

Fields that must be present in every entity file: id, version, and type.

Research Branch

A Git branch dedicated to investigating a specific research question or time period.

Research Notes

Documented analysis and decision-making process for genealogical conclusions, including conflicting evidence resolution and future research plans.

S

Schema

JSON Schema definitions that specify the structure, validation rules, and data types for each GENEALOGIX entity type.

Schema Compliance

Conformance to JSON Schema definitions that specify valid structure and data types for each entity.

Subject

The entity (person, event, place, etc.) that an assertion makes a claim about.

Secondary Evidence

Information created later, often compiled from primary sources (census records, published indexes).

Source

An original document, record, publication, or material containing genealogical information.

See Also: For complete specification, see Source Entity

Source Analysis

Examining original documents for content, context, and credibility to extract genealogical information.

Source Type

Classification of original materials including vital_record, census, church_register, newspaper, letter, etc.

Structural Validation

Checking that files are in correct directories, have proper extensions, and follow naming conventions.

T

Transcription

The text content of a source document, especially when the original is not directly accessible or when specific text is relevant to an assertion.

V

Validation

The process of checking GENEALOGIX files for syntax correctness, schema compliance, reference integrity, and structural consistency using the glx validate command.

Value

The specific data or content of a claim in an assertion (e.g., "1850-01-15" for a birth date, "blacksmith" for an occupation).

Vocabularies

Controlled lists of valid types and categories used throughout a GENEALOGIX archive, stored in the vocabularies/ directory.

See Also: For standard vocabularies, see Standard Vocabularies

W

WGS84

World Geodetic System 1984 - standard coordinate system used for geographic coordinates in GENEALOGIX.

Y

YAML

YAML Ain't Markup Language - the human-readable data serialization format used for all GENEALOGIX entity files. Features include indentation-based structure, support for complex data types, and comments.

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This glossary provides a comprehensive reference for understanding GENEALOGIX terminology and concepts. Terms are organized alphabetically.