Bob Velke

The Master Genealogist (TMG) was genealogy software for Microsoft Windows first released in 1993 by Bob Velke. Data entry was customized through the use of user-defined events, names, and relationship types. Official support for TMG ceased at the end of 2014.

Features

• Designed for both normal users and genealogy professionals
• Flexibly displays information.
• Has elaborate database-oriented support for source and citation information
• Supports the inclusion of media files
• Supports DNA information
• Allows the user to record conflicting evidence
• Allows a "Surety" of a given piece of evidence to be recorded
• Supports elaborate chart-making
• Supports smart importing of genealogy files. Its GenBridge recognises many common genealogy data format files from other programs and imports genealogical data directly into TMG. This minimizes the loss of data when transferred from other software and avoids some of the problems caused by transferring files through the limited but universal GEDCOM format.

• "GenBridge Update". Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. 30 August 2004. 

Source types

The default source types in the standard edition are based on Wholly Genes' interpretation of Elizabeth Shown Mills's Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. Source templates based upon Wholly Genes' interpretation of the source types in Richard S. Lackey's Cite Your Sources are also provided. The source templates in the UK edition are based on designs by Caroline Gurney for sources commonly encountered in the United Kingdom.

Platforms

TMG was designed to run on the Windows platform but can be run on Macintosh and Linux machines using a Windows emulator.

Limitations

• TMG did not support Unicode, which limits data entry to the Western European (Latin) character set.
• Before TMG version 8, reports generated on computers with 64-bit operating systems (only) were limited to "txt", HTML, and PDF output, although popular word processor reporting formats were supported on 32-bit platforms. The print routine was rewritten for the current version of the program eliminating this restriction.
• Some users have complained about the limitations in the program's multilingual support in narratives. This issue is focused on personal pronoun and other individual word replacement resulting in output that may have minor grammar errors.

TMG version history

Please press show for more information on past versions.

File format

TMG's underlying database engine is Visual FoxPro v9 and does not support Unicode.

1. File Structures for (TMG) for v9 - Last updated July, 2014
2. TMG File Structure - Applicable to TMG v3.x, v4.x, v5.x, v6.x, v7.x

Migration from TMG

TMG has elaborate and detailed support for sources in a database format where a source can be referred to by any other record. In the GEDCOM database specification, sources can only refer to either a single individual or single family. Because of GEDCOM's limitation, exporting a TMG database involves duplicating the sources into each place where a given source is used. All of the information is exported, but the structure of each source is lost permanently.

An example of this limitation of GEDCOM is when there is a census or ship's record that lists many members of an extended family. TMG allows each individual's entry to refer to a common source record, which can itself have an elaborate description. The structure of GEDCOM forces the user to duplicate all mention of and information contained in that source. The duplication of records, makes the source information in the exported GEDCOM file (and all GEDCOM files) hard to maintain.

Non GEDCOM exports of TMG

The following advanced options, apart from GEDCOM transfer are available:

• tmg2gramps Converts TMG 6 datafiles to a GRAMPS v2.2.6 XML - by Anne Jessel.
• Forays Into Genealogy Data Base Modelling - Details how Leif Biberg Kristensen moved his data out of TMG into a program of his own creation [1].

• Modified versions of the script to use with TMG v8 and v9 databases

Companion products

Several software developers have created companion products specifically for TMG that enhance its functionality. These products include:

• Second Site, advanced web publishing and data review application for TMG - by John Cardinal
• PathWiz!, TMG exhibit file management product - by BeeSoft
• GedStar Pro, for Android smartphones display application - by GHCS Software.
• GenSmarts, research advisor that analyzes users' genealogical data and offers suggestions

TMG data output is compatible with a range of geographical mapping and genealogical reporting applications that support the GEDCOM format.

Significant freeware and shareware utility applications, as well as independently published user guides and manuals, also support TMG's installed user base.