Genealogical Accounting Framework (GAF) - Record of Family Member individuals

FAM_MEMBER.DBF

• The FAM_MEMBER table
• serves to record basic demographic information for each family member
• for the Family Tree Data Base
• following GAF methodology
• All Fathers and Mothers from FAMILY.dbf
• and all Children
• should have a FAM_MEMBER.dbf record

• Each FAM_MEMBER.DBF record
• must have valid
1. FAM_ID
   • based on Family Tree diagram Navigation
   • based on a simple binary algorithm counting back through ancestral generations
   • and demonstrated in this chart
   • FamilyTree_Number_Scheme.jpg
2. IND_ID
   • The Individual ID ( IND_ID) uniquely identifies each family member and is based on
   • FAM_ID
     • forms the IND_ID value for left hand side of the decimal point
   • and Birth Order
     • forms value right of the decimal point
3. Given Name
   
   
• Each FAM_MEMBER record should include these attributes when available
1. Birth Date (BORN)
2. Image URL for "Passport Mug shot" (PHOTO)
3. If Deceased
• RIP Date
• Image or Document URL for obit_column



• Your mileage may vary, but the total number of records to track my family tree over 7 generations has approximately
• 650 records after accounting for first and second cousins.
• Most families should require less than a thousand FAM_MEMBER records to cover 7 generations.
• GAF methodology does not work well for families with more than 9 children
• There are 3 families with 10 or more children in my family tree.
• Three out of 200 families isn't bad. Minor kludges were used to make them fit.
• One possible solution to accommodate large families is to make FAM_ID hexadecimal instead of decimal.
• Chose not to do this for Gaffey-Dunn Family Tree because it would undermine simplicity of FAM_ID calculation
• to treat problem affecting less than 2% of the recorded families.

Fieldname	Type(Size)	Description	Example
FAM_ID	Numeric	Family ID follows binary ancestory branches see FamilyTree_Number_Scheme.jpg	2
IND_ID	C( 12)	Individual ID - Unique Number used to identify each family member IND_ID Format Left of decimal seperator Right of decimal FAM_ID decimal or dash 2.40 = 2-40 Assigned based on birth order 10 first child 20 second child 90 ninth child Assigned to identify people marrying into the family 01 first spouse 02 second spouse In the example provided, IND_ID value 2.40 is the fourth person born to Family # 2, my father's family which happens to be my father.	2.40
GIVEN	C( 52)	Given Name FirstName MI LastName	William F. Gaffey
BORN	Date	Date of Birth When only the Birth Year is known This value is recorded as the midpoint date of that year 07/01/YYYY	05/31/1931
DIED	Date	Date of Death Use 07/01/YYYY for imprecise Rest In Peace (RIP) dates	05/21/2012
NOTE	C(250)	A place to record random data associated with this individual. .e.g I gave the eulogy at Dad's funeral.
NICKNAME	C( 40)	By default this is a person's First Name. But sometimes can be quite different Cleaner to handle this as a seperate field instead of cramming it into GIVEN	Bill
DECEASED	Logical	Necessary to distinguish living and dead family members - False means Individual is alive Useful for stratifying family members between Birthday and memoriam calendars.	True
FAMSIDE	C( 1)	Filter and sort family members for different audiences (F)ather's Side = Family IDs (2,4,5,8,9,10,11) and their decendent families (e.g. 201,2011,...) Family Tree Diagram uses red nodes to distinguish Paternal families (M)other's Side = Family IDs (3,6,7,12,13,14,15) and their decendent families (e.g. 304,3091,...) Family Tree Diagram uses blue nodes to distinguish Maternal families (D)ecendents of Root Family (FAM_ID=1) Decendent families, after Root Family, have FAM_ID values that start with '10' (e.g. 101,1021,...) Family Tree Diagram uses purple nodes to distinguish Descendent families see Family Tree Diagram for demonstration of Family Side color convention Useful to sort Family Member records by Family Side when producing calendars and producing Family Tree Diagrams stratifying web pages to direct navigation sharing data with other family members	F/M/D
MALE	Logical	Data Entered though FAM_MEMBERLKUP.scx radio button True for boys False for girls	True
MSTATUS	C( 1)	Marital Status Single/Married/Divorced/Widowed	S/M/D/W
MARRIED	C( 52)	Need to address through FAM_MEMBERLKUP.scx update Married Name Leave Blank for men and unmarried women
AGE		Age of family member This value is no longer stored in the FAM_Member table. It is derived from a function called against FAM_Member.dbf fields in query to ensure currency AGE(BORN,DIED)	80
OBIT	C(100)	File name of obituary column image file. Use naming convention which includes Given Name and IND ID to provide intelligent and unique OBIT file names. Sometimes grave information is saved in place of unobtained Obituary column. Obit columns are imperfect biographies but they typically they best tool we have for an overview of a relative's life.	William_F_Gaffey_2-40_obit.jpg
PHOTO	C(100)	The ability to associate a face with each name is a powerful component of GAF methodology It makes it more real and more entertaining PHOTO field holds File name of face image ( jpg ) file for this family member. Use naming convention which includes Given Name and IND ID to provide intelligent and unique PHOTO file names. First_Last Name of GIVEN plus IND_ID Form a predictable filename root to use for jpg files associated with this family member.	William_F_Gaffey_2-40.jpg