Standard Vocabularies

GENEALOGIX includes a comprehensive set of standard vocabularies that define controlled types for events, relationships, places, sources, media, and more. These vocabularies are automatically copied to new archives during initialization with glx init.

Overview

Standard vocabularies provide:

Consistency - Ensures all researchers use the same terminology
Validation - The glx validate command checks all types exist
Customization - Archives can extend with custom definitions
Interoperability - Maps to GEDCOM and other formats

Vocabulary Files

Event Types

Defines lifecycle events (birth, death, marriage), religious events (baptism, confirmation), and attribute facts (occupation, residence, education).

vocabularies/event-types.glx

yaml

Relationship Types

Defines relationships between people including marriage, parent-child, sibling, adoption, and other family connections.

vocabularies/relationship-types.glx

yaml

Place Types

Defines geographic and administrative place classifications from countries down to buildings.

vocabularies/place-types.glx

yaml

Source Types

Defines categories of genealogical sources including vital records, census, church registers, military records, newspapers, and more.

vocabularies/source-types.glx

yaml

Media Types

Defines categories of media objects including photographs, documents, audio recordings, and video.

vocabularies/media-types.glx

yaml

Quality Ratings

Defines the 0-3 quality rating scale for citation evidence quality, compatible with GEDCOM 5.5.1 QUAY values.

vocabularies/quality-ratings.glx

yaml

Confidence Levels

Defines confidence levels for assertions, providing an alternative to citation quality ratings.

vocabularies/confidence-levels.glx

yaml

Participant Roles

Defines roles that people play in events and relationships (principal, witness, officiant, spouse, parent, child).

vocabularies/participant-roles.glx

yaml

Repository Types

Defines categories of institutions that hold genealogical sources (archives, libraries, churches, online databases).

vocabularies/repository-types.glx

yaml

Property Vocabularies

Property vocabularies define the custom properties available for each entity type. These enable flexible, extensible data modeling for person, event, relationship, and place entities.

Person Properties

Defines standard and custom properties for person entities (birth date, occupation, residence, etc.). Supports temporal properties that change over time.

File: vocabularies/person-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

given_name, family_name - Name components (temporal)
gender - Gender identity (temporal)
born_on - Date of birth
born_at - Place of birth (reference)
died_on - Date of death
died_at - Place of death (reference)
occupation - Profession (temporal, reference or string)
residence - Place of residence (temporal, reference)
religion, education, ethnicity, nationality - Additional biographical attributes

Event Properties

Defines standard and custom properties for event entities.

File: vocabularies/event-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

occurred_on - When the event occurred
occurred_at - Where the event occurred (reference)
description - Event description

Relationship Properties

Defines standard and custom properties for relationship entities.

File: vocabularies/relationship-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

started_on - When the relationship began
ended_on - When the relationship ended
location - Location of the relationship (reference)
description - Relationship description

Place Properties

Defines standard and custom properties for place entities.

File: vocabularies/place-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

existed_from - When the place came into existence
existed_to - When the place ceased to exist
population - Population count (temporal)
description - Place description

Customizing Vocabularies

Complete Syntax Reference

For detailed field requirements, validation rules, and exact syntax for each vocabulary type, see the Vocabularies Specification.

Adding Custom Types

Extend standard vocabularies by adding custom entries:

yaml

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  # ... standard types ...
  
  # Custom types
  apprenticeship:
    label: "Apprenticeship"
    description: "Beginning of apprenticeship training"
    category: "occupation"
    custom: true

Using Custom Types

Once defined, use custom types in your entities:

yaml

# events/event-apprenticeship.glx
events:
  event-john-apprentice:
    type: apprenticeship  # Custom type from vocabulary
    date: "1845-03-10"
    place: place-leeds
    value: "Apprenticed to blacksmith"

Validation

The glx validate command ensures all types are properly defined:

bash

$ glx validate
✓ vocabularies/event-types.glx
✓ events/event-apprenticeship.glx
  - event type 'apprenticeship' found in vocabulary (custom)

Best Practices

Use Standard Types First - Standard types ensure GEDCOM compatibility and interoperability
Document Custom Types - Provide clear labels and descriptions for custom types
Mark Custom Types - Always include custom: true for non-standard types
Map to GEDCOM - Include GEDCOM mappings when possible (use _TAG format for custom tags)
Keep Consistent - Use consistent naming conventions (lowercase with hyphens)

Standard Vocabularies ​

Overview ​

Vocabulary Files ​

Event Types ​

vocabularies/event-types.glx

Relationship Types ​

vocabularies/relationship-types.glx

Place Types ​

vocabularies/place-types.glx

Source Types ​

vocabularies/source-types.glx

Media Types ​

vocabularies/media-types.glx

Quality Ratings ​

vocabularies/quality-ratings.glx

Confidence Levels ​

vocabularies/confidence-levels.glx

Participant Roles ​

vocabularies/participant-roles.glx

Repository Types ​

vocabularies/repository-types.glx

Property Vocabularies ​

Person Properties ​

Event Properties ​

Relationship Properties ​

Place Properties ​

Customizing Vocabularies ​

Adding Custom Types ​

Using Custom Types ​

Validation ​

Best Practices ​

See Also ​

Standard Vocabularies

Overview

Vocabulary Files

Event Types

Relationship Types

Place Types

Source Types

Media Types

Quality Ratings

Confidence Levels

Participant Roles

Repository Types

Property Vocabularies

Person Properties

Event Properties

Relationship Properties

Place Properties

Customizing Vocabularies

Adding Custom Types

Using Custom Types

Validation

Best Practices

See Also