Glossary

This glossary defines key terms used in the GENEALOGIX specification.

A

Approximate Date

A date with uncertainty or imprecision, expressed using keywords like ABT (about), BEF (before), AFT (after), or BET (between). Part of GENEALOGIX's fuzzy date support.

See Also: Date Format Standard

Archive

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

See Also: Archive Organization

Archive-Level Validation

Validation performed across all files in an archive, checking for duplicate entity IDs, broken cross-references, and undefined vocabulary types. Generates both errors (hard failures) and warnings (soft failures).

See Also: Validation Levels

Archive-Owned Vocabularies

Controlled vocabulary definitions stored in each archive's vocabularies/ directory, allowing archives to customize and extend type systems while maintaining validation and consistency.

See Also: Archive-Owned Vocabularies

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: Assertion Entity

C

Citation

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

See Also: Citation Entity

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: Confidence Levels Vocabulary

Corroboration

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

Cross-Reference

A reference from one entity to another entity in the archive (e.g., event referencing a place, assertion referencing a citation). Cross-references are validated to ensure they point to existing entities.

See Also: Reference Integrity

D

Date Keywords

Keywords used in GENEALOGIX date formats to express uncertainty or ranges: ABT (about), BEF (before), AFT (after), BET (between), FROM, TO, CAL (calculated), INT (interpreted).

See Also: Date Format Standard

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

E

Entity

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

See Also: Entity Types

Entity ID

A unique identifier for each entity, used as the YAML map key. Format: 1-64 alphanumeric characters with hyphens. Can be descriptive (john-smith-1850) or random (a1b2c3d4).

See Also: ID (Identifier), ID Format Standards

Event

A discrete occurrence in time and place such as birth, marriage, death, baptism, or burial. Events have participants, dates, places, and descriptions. Note: attributes like occupation and residence are represented as temporal properties on Person entities, not as events.

See Also: Event Entity

Event Type

Classification of life events including birth, marriage, death, baptism, burial, military service, immigration, naturalization, etc. Note: attributes like occupation and residence are temporal properties on Person entities, not events.

See Also: Event Types Vocabulary

Evidence Chain

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

See Also: Evidence Chain

Evidence Evaluation

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

Evidence Hierarchy

Classification system for evaluating evidence quality, including dimensions such as primary vs secondary, direct vs indirect, and original vs derivative 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.

Fields

Structured components within properties that break down complex values into named parts (e.g., name property has fields: given, surname, prefix, suffix).

See Also: Structured Properties

File-Level Validation

Validation performed on individual GLX files, checking for valid YAML syntax, proper entity type keys, schema compliance, and properly formatted entity IDs.

See Also: Validation Levels

Fuzzy Date

A date with imprecision or uncertainty, such as "about 1850" or "between 1880 and 1890". GENEALOGIX supports fuzzy dates through date keywords.

See Also: Date Format Standard, Approximate Date

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.

H

Hard Failure

A validation error that must be fixed before the archive is considered valid. Examples include broken entity references, duplicate IDs, and undefined vocabulary types.

See Also: Archive-Level Validation

I

ID (Identifier)

A unique identifier for each entity, used as the map key in YAML. Format: 1-64 alphanumeric characters with hyphens.

Examples:

• person-a1b2c3d4 - random hex format
• person-john-smith - descriptive format
• event-birth-1850
• place-leeds
• abc12345 - simple format (no prefix)

Note: Examples use prefixes (e.g., person-) for readability. Prefixes are not required.

See Also: ID Format Standards, Entity ID

Indirect Evidence

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

L

Locator

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

M

Map Key

The YAML map key used to identify entities. In GENEALOGIX, entity IDs serve as map keys in the entity type collections (persons, events, etc.).

See Also: Entity ID

Media

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

See Also: Media Entity

MIME Type

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

Multi-File Archive

An archive organization strategy where each entity is stored in a separate file, recommended for collaborative projects due to better Git diff granularity and merge conflict resolution.

See Also: One Entity Per File

Multi-Value Property

A property that can have multiple values, either as a simple list or as temporal values with associated dates (e.g., multiple occupations or residences over time).

See Also: Temporal Property

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).

See Also: Participant Roles Vocabulary

Person

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

See Also: Person Entity

Place

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

See Also: Place Entity

Place Type

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

See Also: Place Types Vocabulary

Primary Evidence

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

Property

A vocabulary-defined attribute of an entity (e.g., born_on, occupation, residence). Properties are defined in property vocabularies and used in the properties field of entities.

See Also: Property Vocabularies

Property Vocabulary

A special vocabulary type that defines available properties for each entity type, including property names, data types, whether they're temporal, and whether they have structured fields.

See Also: Property Vocabularies

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). When importing GEDCOM files, QUAY values are preserved in citation notes for reference.

R

Reference Integrity

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

Reference Type

A property value type that indicates the value is an entity ID reference rather than a literal value. Reference types specify which entity collection the reference points to (persons, places, events, etc.).

See Also: Reference Types

Relationship

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

See Also: Relationship Entity

Relationship Type

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

See Also: Relationship Types Vocabulary

Repository

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

See Also: Repository Entity

Required Fields

Varies by entity type. Common required fields include title (sources), name (places, repositories), and entity-specific fields. See individual entity specifications for details.

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.

See Also: Schema Reference

Schema Compliance

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

Secondary Evidence

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

Single-File Archive

An archive organization strategy where all entities are stored in a single GLX file, recommended for personal research and small family trees.

See Also: Single File Archive

Soft Failure

A validation warning that indicates a potential issue but doesn't prevent the archive from being valid. Examples include unknown properties not defined in property vocabularies.

See Also: Archive-Level Validation

Source

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

See Also: 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.

See Also: Source Types Vocabulary

Structural Validation

Checking that files are valid YAML, have proper entity type keys at the top level, and pass JSON Schema validation.

Structured Property

A property with structured fields that break down complex values into named components. The value field preserves the original form while fields provide structured access.

See Also: Structured Properties

Subject

In assertions, the typed reference to the entity the assertion is about. The subject field specifies both the entity type and entity ID.

See Also: Assertion Entity

T

Typed Reference

A reference that specifies both the entity type and entity ID, used in assertion subjects (e.g., person: person-john-smith rather than just person-john-smith).

Temporal Property

A property that can change over time (e.g., residence, occupation, name). Temporal properties support date ranges and multiple values representing changes over a person's life.

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 property in an assertion (e.g., "1850-01-15" for a birth date, "blacksmith" for an occupation).

Value Type

The data type specification for a property value: string, date, integer, boolean, or a reference type pointing to entities.

See Also: Data Types

Vocabularies

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

See Also: Vocabularies, 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.