What Does Genealogical Data Communication Mean?
Genealogical Data Communication (GEDCOM) is a data structure that holds genealogical information in a specific format for genealogy software dealing with such information. A special format for genealogical information is necessary for different applications to interact (store and exchange) with each other. A GEDCOM format has “.ged” as a file extension.
Techopedia Explains Genealogical Data Communication
Introduced in 1984 in its raw form, GEDCOM files are simple text files with headers and special fields that can be interpreted by Personal Ancestral File (PAF) or other genealogical software. The files are lightweight and can be easily emailed as an attachment and imported to a number of programs. This gives flexibility to the user to transfer useful data. GEDCOM files are text files that enclose the data and connections required to transfer genealogical data between two users.