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Hint: To set the Gedcom converter to use the coding method of a specific genealogy program, start by determining whether the genealogy program is capable of managing preferred given names and, if so, how they are coded. Export a test Gedcom file with the genealogy program that contains a test person with several defined given names and one preferred given name. This file will be opened in FamilyTreeFactory. Look at the display list of the individual record to determine which method is used for coding. Based on the known names of the test person, you can easily determine which of the four methods shown in the dialog is correct. You can then specify the tag and the tag content, the GIVN type, the attribute type or the special characters. The tag or type is then entered into the corresponding data field. Special characters can be activated with the appropriate checkbox and selected from the Special characters dropdown list.

1.) Open the test Gedcom file and look for the individual record for John Otto Emilius Samplefam in the list on the left (highlighted in yellow).

2.) In the individual record, look to see if the preferred given name 'Otto' is shown separately or highlighted. This is the case in the line '2 _PGNAME Otto' (highlighted green). In this example, '_PGNAME' is the tag. Another word could be in this position; only the structure is relevant. In general, user-defined tags usually start with an underline character so that they can be easily differentiated from Gedcom standard tags.

3.) Click on the button Change Gedcom Options... to open the dialog Gedcom Options. Select the Preferred Given Name Coding tab:

4.) Select the coding method of the four that contains the preferred given name with the same structure as in the test Gedcom file. In this case, the method is user-defined tag. This is because there is a line '2 [entry field] GN2' with GN2 = preferred given name (highlighted in green). Now enter the tag in the entry field that was used in the test Gedcom file, in this case '_PGNAME'.

5.) This is only valid if the tag content radio button Preferred given name is selected (highlighted in red). Otherwise, the line would contain '2 [entry field] 2' with 2 = number of the preferred given name in the list of all given names (see 2nd configuration example).

6.) Finally, the method determined must be selected for import (highlighted in blue).

7.) Click the button OK to save the Gedcom Options and close the dialog.

8.) In the converter dialog, click the button New Conversion.

9.) In the right display list for FamilyTreeFactory records, you can now see the preferred given name with the angle bracket markings used in FamilyTreeFactory (highlighted in blue).

1.) Open the test Gedcom file and look for the individual record for John Otto Emilius Samplefam in the list on the left (highlighted in yellow).

2.) In the individual record, look to see if the preferred given name 'Otto' is shown separately or highlighted. This is not the case. However, there is a line that contains the tag '_PGNAME'. This allows us to assume that it contains the preferred given name. This is the line '2 _PGNAME 2' (highlighted in green). The tag is followed by the number 2, which corresponds to the number of the preferred given name 'Otto' in the list of all given names (another number could be present here based on the given names of a different person). The tag in this line is '_PGNAME'. Another word could be used here; only the structure is important. This type of preferred given name coding not found very often.

3.) Click on the button Change Gedcom Options... to open the dialog Gedcom Options. Select the Preferred Given Name Coding tab:

4.) Select the coding method of the four that contains the preferred given name with the same structure as in the test Gedcom file. This is the case for the method user-defined tag. There, you can see the row '2 [entry field] 2' with 2 = number of the preferred given name GN2 in the list of all given names (highlighted in green). The "2" included here is part of the example data of this dialog and only happens to be equal to the "2" in the configuration example. Now enter the tag in the entry field that was used in the test Gedcom file, in this case '_PGNAME'.

5.) This is only valid if the tag content radio button Number is selected (highlighted in red). Otherwise, the row would contain '2 [entry field] GN2' with GN2 = preferred given name (see 1st configuration example).

6.) Finally, the method determined must be selected for import (highlighted in blue).

7.) Click the button OK to save the Gedcom Options and close the dialog.

8.) In the converter dialog, click the button New Conversion.

9.) In the right display list for FamilyTreeFactory records, you can now see the preferred given name with the angle bracket markings used in FamilyTreeFactory (highlighted in blue).

1.) Open the test Gedcom file and look for the individual record for John Otto Emilius Samplefam in the list on the left (highlighted in yellow).

2.) In the individual record, look to see if the preferred given name 'Otto' is shown separately or highlighted. This is the case in the line '2 GIVN Otto', because the additional tag '3 TYPE PGName' is assigned (highlighted in green). The assignment is determined by the initial number being greater by 1: 3... is assigned to 2... In the line '3 TYPE PGName', 'PGName' refers to the preferred given name type. Another word could be used here; only the structure is important. In Gedcom files, it is often the case that a TYPE tag is assigned to a tag in the next line that more closely describes the type of data: In this case, the TYPE tag with the word 'PGName' describes the word 'Otto' in the parent GIVN tag as a preferred given name.

Note: The GIVN tag usually contains all given names from the NAME tag without a TYPE tag that follows.

3.) Click on the button Change Gedcom Options... to open the dialog Gedcom Options. Select the Preferred Given Name Coding tab:

4.) Select the coding method of the four that contains the preferred given name with the same structure as in the test Gedcom file. This is done with a line '2 GIVN...' and a second line '3 TYPE...'. In this case, the method is user-defined GIVN tag. This is because there is a line '2 GIVN GN2' with GN2 = preferred given name and a second line '3 TYPE [entry field]' (highlighted in green). Now enter the type in the entry field that was used in the test Gedcom file, in this case 'PGName'.

5.) Finally, the method determined must be selected for import (highlighted in blue).

6.) Click the button OK to save the Gedcom Options and close the dialog.

7.) In the converter dialog, click the button New Conversion.

8.) In the right display list for FamilyTreeFactory records, you can now see the preferred given name with the angle bracket markings used in FamilyTreeFactory (highlighted in blue).

1.) Open the test Gedcom file and look for the individual record for John Otto Emilius Samplefam in the list on the left (highlighted in yellow).

2.) In the individual record, look to see if the preferred given name 'Otto' is shown separately or highlighted. This is the case in the line '1 EVEN Otto', because the additional tag '2 TYPE PGName' is assigned (highlighted in green). The assignment is determined by the initial number being greater by 1: 2... is assigned to 1... In the line '2 TYPE PGName', 'PGName' refers to the preferred given name type. Other words could be used here; only the structure is important. In Gedcom files, it is often the case that a TYPE tag is assigned to a tag in the next line that more closely describes the type of data: In this case, the TYPE tag with the word 'PGName' describes the word 'Otto' in the parent EVEN tag as a preferred given name.

3.) Click on the button Change Gedcom Options... to open the dialog Gedcom Options. Select the Preferred Given Name Coding tab:

4.) Select the coding method of the four that contains the preferred given name with the same structure as in the test Gedcom file. This is done with a line '1 EVEN...' and a second line '2 TYPE...'. In this case, the method is user-defined attribute. This is because there is a line '1 EVEN GN2' with GN2 = preferred given name and a second line '2 TYPE [entry field]' (highlighted in green). Now enter the type in the entry field that was used in the test Gedcom file, in this case 'PGName'.

5.) Finally, the method determined must be selected for import (highlighted in blue).

6.) Click the button OK to save the Gedcom Options and close the dialog.

7.) In the converter dialog, click the button New Conversion.

8.) In the right display list for FamilyTreeFactory records, you can now see the preferred given name with the angle bracket markings used in FamilyTreeFactory (highlighted in blue).

1.) Open the test Gedcom file and look for the individual record for Jon Otto Emilius Samplefam in the list on the left (highlighted in yellow).

2.) In the individual record, look to see if the preferred given name 'Otto' is shown separately or highlighted. This is the case in the lines '1 NAME John "Otto" Emilius /Samplefam/' and '2 GIVN John "Otto" Emilius'. The preferred given name 'Otto' is indicated there in quotation marks (highlighted in green). As the second of these lines only repeats the given names from the first line, it is ignored.

3.) Click on the button Change Gedcom Options... to open the dialog Gedcom Options. Select the Preferred Given Name Coding tab:

4.) Select the coding method of the four that contains the preferred given name with the same structure as in the test Gedcom file. In this case, the method is 1 or 2 special characters in the NAME tag. This is because there is a line '1 NAME GN1 "GN2" GN3 /SN/' with GN2 = preferred given name (highlighted in green).

5.) As there are also Gedcom files that use this method with a single special character before or behind the preferred given name, the checkboxes Before the preferred given name and Behind the preferred given name must be marked in accordance with the number and position of special characters (highlighted in red). As other characters can also be used for marking the name, you will also need to select the actual special characters that are used from the dropdown lists (an underline character is also used often for this).

6.) Finally, the method determined must be selected for import (highlighted in blue).

7.) Click the button OK to save the Gedcom Options and close the dialog.

8.) In the converter dialog, click the button New Conversion.

9.) In the right display list for FamilyTreeFactory records, you can now see the preferred given name with the angle bracket markings used in FamilyTreeFactory (highlighted in blue).