GENEALOGIX

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Standard Vocabularies ​

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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 by glx init and glx import.

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, adoption), religious events (baptism, confirmation, bar/bat mitzvah), legal events (annulment, probate, will), and migration events (immigration, emigration, naturalization).

vocabularies/event-types.glx

yaml

View Source: event-types.glx | See Also: Event Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Relationship Types ​

Defines relationships between people including marriage, parent-child (biological, adoptive, foster), sibling, and other family connections.

vocabularies/relationship-types.glx

yaml

View Source: relationship-types.glx | See Also: Relationship Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Place Types ​

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

vocabularies/place-types.glx

yaml

View Source: place-types.glx | See Also: Place Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Source Types ​

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

vocabularies/source-types.glx

yaml

View Source: source-types.glx | See Also: Source Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Media Types ​

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

vocabularies/media-types.glx

yaml

View Source: media-types.glx | See Also: Media Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Confidence Levels ​

Defines confidence levels for assertions, representing researcher certainty in conclusions.

vocabularies/confidence-levels.glx

yaml

View Source: confidence-levels.glx | See Also: Assertion Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Participant Roles ​

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

vocabularies/participant-roles.glx

yaml

View Source: participant-roles.glx | See Also: Event Entity Documentation | Relationship Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Repository Types ​

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

vocabularies/repository-types.glx

yaml

View Source: repository-types.glx | See Also: Repository Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

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.

View Source: person-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • name - Unified name property with optional structured fields (type, given, surname, prefix, suffix, etc.) (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, GEDCOM: OCCU)
  • title - Nobility or honorific title (temporal, GEDCOM: TITL)
  • residence - Place of residence (temporal, reference)
  • religion - Religious affiliation (temporal, GEDCOM: RELI)
  • education - Educational attainment (temporal, GEDCOM: EDUC)
  • ethnicity - Ethnic background (temporal)
  • race - Racial classification as recorded in historical documents (temporal)
  • nationality - National citizenship (temporal, GEDCOM: NATI)
  • caste - Caste, tribe, or social group (temporal, GEDCOM: CAST)
  • ssn - Social Security Number (GEDCOM: SSN)
  • external_ids - External identifiers from other systems (multi-value, GEDCOM: EXID)

See Also: Person Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Event Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for event entities.

View Source: event-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • age_at_event - Age of the person at the time of the event (GEDCOM: AGE)
  • cause - Cause of the event, e.g., cause of death (GEDCOM: CAUS)
  • event_subtype - Further classification of the event type (GEDCOM: TYPE)
  • description - Event description

Note: Event timing and location are handled by the date and place fields directly on events, not as properties. The notes field is a common entity field, not a property.

See Also: Event Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Relationship Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for relationship entities.

View Source: 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

See Also: Relationship Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Place Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for place entities.

View Source: 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
  • jurisdiction - Formal jurisdiction identifier or code
  • place_format - Standard format string for place hierarchy
  • alternative_names - Historical or alternate names (temporal, multi-value)

See Also: Place Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Media Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for media entities.

View Source: media-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • subjects - People or entities depicted/recorded (multi-value, reference)
  • width, height - Dimensions in pixels (for images/video)
  • duration - Duration in seconds (for audio/video)
  • file_size - File size in bytes
  • crop - Crop coordinates for images
  • medium - Physical medium type
  • original_filename - Original filename when imported
  • photographer - Person who captured the media (reference)
  • location - Location where media was captured (reference)

See Also: Media Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Repository Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for repository entities including contact information, access details, and holdings.

View Source: repository-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • phones - Phone numbers for the repository (multi-value)
  • emails - Email addresses for the repository (multi-value)
  • fax - Fax number
  • access_hours - Hours of operation or access availability
  • access_restrictions - Any restrictions on access (appointment required, subscription, etc.)
  • holding_types - Types of materials held (microfilm, digital, books, etc.) (multi-value)
  • external_ids - External identifiers from other systems like FamilySearch, WikiTree (multi-value)

See Also: Repository Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Source Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for source entities including bibliographic metadata from GEDCOM imports.

View Source: source-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • abbreviation - Short reference name or title (from GEDCOM ABBR)
  • call_number - Repository catalog or call number (from GEDCOM CALN)
  • events_recorded - Types of events documented (multi-value, from GEDCOM EVEN)
  • agency - Responsible agency (from GEDCOM AGNC)
  • coverage - Geographic or temporal scope
  • external_ids - External identifiers (multi-value)
  • publication_info - Publication details: publisher, place, edition (from GEDCOM PUBL)
  • url - Web address where the source can be accessed online

See Also: Source Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

Citation Properties ​

Defines standard and custom properties for citation entities including location, transcribed text, record-level links, and external identifiers.

View Source: citation-properties.glx

Standard Properties Include:

  • locator - Location within source where cited material can be found (page number, film number, image number, entry reference, etc.)
  • text_from_source - Transcription or excerpt of relevant text from the source
  • source_date - Date when the source recorded the information
  • accessed - Date when an online source or digital record was last accessed or retrieved
  • url - Direct web address for the specific cited material (e.g., a permalink to a record or image viewer)
  • original_place_name - Verbatim place name from the source before normalization to a place entity
  • external_ids - Identifiers from external systems for the specific cited record (multi-value; use provider-prefixed values to avoid collisions, e.g., fs:ark:/..., ancestry:record-id:...)

See Also: Citation Entity Documentation | Vocabularies Specification

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"

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
    participants:
      - person: person-john
        role: subject
    notes: "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
  • Map to GEDCOM - Include GEDCOM mappings when possible (use _TAG format for custom tags)
  • Keep Consistent - Use consistent naming conventions (lowercase with underscores)

See Also ​

Licensed under Apache License 2.0

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