GDM: GRanDMA Database Manager software project

The Problem

Managing the GRanDMA database has been a challenge for decades. Sure, there are software packages out there for managing genealogical databases, but none that satisfies all of these GRanDMA needs:

• An efficient platform for manually entering or editing genealogical data;
• Capacity to manage over a million and a half records;
• Capability for more than one person to edit at the same time; the available packages were designed for the desktop with one user logging in at a time;
• A tool to merge in a submitted genealogical database.

Brother's Keeper is currently the platform for the master copy of GRanDMA. It's the best available but not up to the task.

• BK is a proven platform that has been used by our editors for decades to edit and add information.
• BK can handle millions of individual entries.
  However,
• BK cannot support multiple editors at the same time. Editors must schedule brief periods of online access. Consequently, individual editors are working on GRanDMA at almost any hour of the day.
• BK does not have effective merge capability. This is critical since a submitted database may have tens of thousand of individuals. It would be necessary to go through that submission, individual-by-individual, and see if each piece of information is already in the database.

The GDM Solution

An entirely new platform, the GRanDMA Database Manager, is in development by a professional programmer, Tony Isaac. Starting with a multi-user database platform with plenty of capacity, Tony has built and is testing editing tools and a powerful merge capability.
    This has also been an opportunity to make some database improvements. For example, there will be much better logging of "Last Change" data.

How will this work for GMOL, BK, and GEDCOM users?

Actually, that part will not change; the GDM will not have Reports capability beyond the searching needed by editors and is not a replacement for GMOL.
    The GDM will regularly generate a copy of the GRanDMA database in GEDCOM format (the standard for interchange of genealogical data.) That will be supplied to GMOL where it will be converted to an appropriate database, to BK where it will be converted to the BK format, and directly to users who need the GEDCOM format.

This is a huge task, but by making it possible for more volunteers to enter and edit data, the GDM will help build a bigger and more robust GRanDMA.