<html>
<head>
<title>Using the GEDCOM parser library</title>
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+
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
-<body>
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+ <body>
+
<h1 align="center">Using the GEDCOM parser library</h1>
- <br>
-
+ <br>
+
<h2>Index</h2>
+
<ul>
- <li><a href="#anchor">Overview</a></li>
- <li><a href="#Error_handling">Error handling</a></li>
- <li><a href="#Data_callback_mechanism">Data callback mechanism</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#anchor">Overview</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#Error_handling">Error handling</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#Data_callback_mechanism">Data callback mechanism</a></li>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#Start_and_end_callbacks">Start and end callbacks</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#Default_callbacks">Default callbacks</a></li>
+
+ </ul>
+ <li><a href="#Other_API_functions">Other API functions</a></li>
+
<ul>
- <li><a href="#Start_and_end_callbacks">Start and end callbacks</a></li>
- <li><a href="#Default_callbacks">Default callbacks</a><br>
- </li>
+ <li><a href="#Debugging">Debugging</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#Error_treatment">Error treatment</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#Compatibility_mode">Compatibility mode</a></li>
+
</ul>
+ <li><a href="interface.html">Interface details</a><br>
+ </li>
+
</ul>
-<hr width="100%" size="2">
+
+<hr width="100%" size="2">
<h2><a name="Overview"></a>Overview<br>
- </h2>
- The GEDCOM parser library is built as a callback-based parser (comparable
-to the SAX interface of XML). It comes with:<br>
-
+ </h2>
+ The GEDCOM parser library is built as a callback-based parser (comparable
+ to the SAX interface of XML). It comes with:<br>
+
<ul>
- <li>a library (<code>libgedcom.so</code>), to be linked in the application
-program</li>
- <li>a header file (<code>gedcom.h</code>), to be used in the sources of
-the application program</li>
-
+ <li>a library (<code>libgedcom.so</code>), to be linked in the application
+ program</li>
+ <li>a header file (<code>gedcom.h</code>), to be used in the sources
+of the application program</li>
+
</ul>
- Next to these, there is also a data directory in <code>$PREFIX/share/gedcom-parse</code>
- that contains some additional stuff, but which is not immediately important
-at first. I'll leave the description of the data directory for later.<br>
- <br>
- The very simplest call of the gedcom parser is simply the following piece
-of code (include of the gedcom header is assumed, as everywhere in this manual):<br>
-
+ Next to these, there is also a data directory in <code>$PREFIX/share/gedcom-parse</code>
+ that contains some additional stuff, but which is not immediately important
+ at first. I'll leave the description of the data directory for later.<br>
+ <br>
+ The very simplest call of the gedcom parser is simply the following piece
+ of code (include of the gedcom header is assumed, as everywhere in this manual):<br>
+
<blockquote><code>int result;<br>
- ...<br>
- result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");<br>
- </code> </blockquote>
- Although this will not provide much information, one thing it does is parse
-the entire file and return the result. The function returns 0 on success
-and 1 on failure. No other information is available using this function
-only.<br>
- <br>
-The next sections will refine this to be able to have meaningful errors and
-the actual data that is in the file.<br>
- <hr width="100%" size="2">
+ ...<br>
+ result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");<br>
+ </code> </blockquote>
+ Although this will not provide much information, one thing it does is
+parse the entire file and return the result. The function returns
+0 on success and 1 on failure. No other information is available using
+this function only.<br>
+ <br>
+ The next sections will refine this to be able to have meaningful errors
+and the actual data that is in the file.<br>
+
+ <hr width="100%" size="2">
<h2><a name="Error_handling"></a>Error handling</h2>
-Since this is a relatively simple topic, it is discussed before the actual
-callback mechanism, although it also uses a callback...<br>
- <br>
-The library can be used in several different circumstances, both terminal-based
-as GUI-based. Therefore, it leaves the actual display of the error
+ Since this is a relatively simple topic, it is discussed before the actual
+ callback mechanism, although it also uses a callback...<br>
+ <br>
+ The library can be used in several different circumstances, both terminal-based
+ as GUI-based. Therefore, it leaves the actual display of the error
message up to the application. For this, the application needs to register
a callback before parsing the GEDCOM file, which will be called by the library
-on errors, warnings and messages.<br>
- <br>
-A typical piece of code would be:<br>
+ on errors, warnings and messages.<br>
+ <br>
+ A typical piece of code would be:<br>
+
<blockquote><code>void <b>my_message_handler</b> (Gedcom_msg_type type,
-char *msg)<br>
-{<br>
- ...<br>
-}<br>
-...<br>
- <b>gedcom_set_message_handler</b>(my_message_handler);<br>
-...<br>
-result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
- </blockquote>
-In the above piece of code, <code>my_message_handler</code> is the callback
-that will be called for errors (<code>type=ERROR</code>), warnings (<code>
-type=WARNING</code>) and messages (<code>type=MESSAGE</code>). The
+ char *msg)<br>
+ {<br>
+ ...<br>
+ }<br>
+ ...<br>
+ <b>gedcom_set_message_handler</b>(my_message_handler);<br>
+ ...<br>
+ result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ In the above piece of code, <code>my_message_handler</code> is the callback
+ that will be called for errors (<code>type=ERROR</code>), warnings (<code>
+ type=WARNING</code>) and messages (<code>type=MESSAGE</code>). The
callback must have the signature as in the example. For errors, the
- <code>msg</code> passed to the callback will have the format:<br>
+ <code> msg</code> passed to the callback will have the format:<br>
+
<blockquote><code>Error on line</code> <i><lineno></i>: <i><actual_message></i><br>
- </blockquote>
-Note that the entire string will be properly internationalized, and encoded
-in UTF-8 (see "Why UTF-8?" <i>LINK TBD</i>). Also, no newline
-is appended, so that the application program can use it in any way it wants.
- Warnings are similar, but use "Warning" instead of "Error". Messages
-are plain text, without any prefix.<br>
- <br>
-With this in place, the resulting code will already show errors and warnings
-produced by the parser, e.g. on the terminal if a simple <code>printf</code>
- is used in the message handler.<br>
- <hr width="100%" size="2">
+ </blockquote>
+ Note that the entire string will be properly internationalized, and encoded
+ in UTF-8 (see "Why UTF-8?" <i>LINK TBD</i>). Also, no newline
+ is appended, so that the application program can use it in any way it wants.
+ Warnings are similar, but use "Warning" instead of "Error". Messages
+ are plain text, without any prefix.<br>
+ <br>
+ With this in place, the resulting code will already show errors and warnings
+ produced by the parser, e.g. on the terminal if a simple <code>printf</code>
+ is used in the message handler.<br>
+
+ <hr width="100%" size="2">
<h2><a name="Data_callback_mechanism"></a>Data callback mechanism</h2>
-The most important use of the parser is of course to get the data out of
-the GEDCOM file. As already mentioned, the parser uses a callback mechanism
-for that. In fact, the mechanism involves two levels.<br>
- <br>
-The primary level is that each of the sections in a GEDCOM file is notified
-to the application code via a "start element" callback and an "end element"
-callback (much like in a SAX interface for XML), i.e. when a line containing
-a certain tag is parsed, the "start element" callback is called for that
+ The most important use of the parser is of course to get the data out of
+ the GEDCOM file. As already mentioned, the parser uses a callback
+mechanism for that. In fact, the mechanism involves two levels.<br>
+ <br>
+ The primary level is that each of the sections in a GEDCOM file is notified
+ to the application code via a "start element" callback and an "end element"
+ callback (much like in a SAX interface for XML), i.e. when a line containing
+ a certain tag is parsed, the "start element" callback is called for that
tag, and when all its subordinate lines with their tags have been processed,
the "end element" callback is called for the original tag. Since GEDCOM
-is hierarchical, this results in properly nested calls to appropriate "start
-element" and "end element" callbacks.<br>
- <br>
-However, it would be typical for a genealogy program to support only a subset
-of the GEDCOM standard, certainly a program that is still under development.
- Moreover, under GEDCOM it is allowed for an application to define its
-own tags, which will typically not be supported by another application.
- Still, in that case, data preservation is important; it would hardly
-be accepted that information that is not understood by a certain program
+ is hierarchical, this results in properly nested calls to appropriate "start
+ element" and "end element" callbacks.<br>
+ <br>
+ However, it would be typical for a genealogy program to support only a
+subset of the GEDCOM standard, certainly a program that is still under development.
+ Moreover, under GEDCOM it is allowed for an application to define
+its own tags, which will typically not be supported by another application.
+ Still, in that case, data preservation is important; it would hardly
+ be accepted that information that is not understood by a certain program
is just removed.<br>
- <br>
-Therefore, the second level of callbacks involves a "default callback". An
-application needs to subscribe to callbacks for tags it does support, and
-need to provide a "default callback" which will be called for tags it doesn't
-support. The application can then choose to just store the information
+ <br>
+ Therefore, the second level of callbacks involves a "default callback".
+ An application needs to subscribe to callbacks for tags it does support,
+and need to provide a "default callback" which will be called for tags it
+doesn't support. The application can then choose to just store the information
that comes via the default callback in plain textual format.<br>
- <br>
-After this introduction, let's see what the API looks like...<br>
- <br>
+ <br>
+ After this introduction, let's see what the API looks like...<br>
+ <br>
+
<h3><a name="Start_and_end_callbacks"></a>Start and end callbacks</h3>
+
<h4><i>Callbacks for records</i> <br>
- </h4>
-As a simple example, we will get some information from the header of a GEDCOM
-file. First, have a look at the following piece of code:<br>
+ </h4>
+ As a simple example, we will get some information from the header of a
+GEDCOM file. First, have a look at the following piece of code:<br>
+
<blockquote><code>Gedcom_ctxt <b>my_header_start_cb</b> (int level,
-Gedcom_val xref, char *tag)<br>
-{<br>
- printf("The header starts\n");<br>
- return (Gedcom_ctxt)1;<br>
-}<br>
- <br>
-void <b>my_header_end_cb</b> (Gedcom_ctxt self)<br>
-{<br>
- printf("The header ends, context is %d\n", self); /* context
-will print as "1" */<br>
-}<br>
- <br>
-...<br>
- <b>gedcom_subscribe_to_record</b>(REC_HEAD, my_header_start_cb, my_header_end_cb);<br>
-...<br>
-result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
- </blockquote>
- Using the <code>gedcom_subscribe_to_record</code> function, the application
-requests to use the specified callbacks as start and end callback. The end
-callback is optional: you can pass <code>NULL</code> if you are not interested
-in the end callback. The identifiers to use as first argument to the
-function (here <code>REC_HEAD</code>) are described in <i>TBD (use the header
-file for now...)</i>.<br>
- <br>
-From the name of the function it becomes clear that this function is specific
-to complete records. For the separate elements in records there is
-another function, which we'll see shortly. Again, the callbacks need
-to have the signatures as shown in the example.<br>
- <br>
-The <code>Gedcom_ctxt</code> type that is used as a result of the start callback
-and as an argument to the end callback is vital for passing context necessary
-for the application. This type is meant to be opaque; in fact, it's
-a void pointer, so you can pass anything via it. The important thing
-to know is that the context that the application returns in the start callback
-will be passed in the end callback as an argument, and as we will see shortly,
-also to all the directly subordinate elements of the record.<br>
- <br>
-The example passes a simple integer as context, but an application could
-e.g. pass a <code>struct</code> that will contain the information for the
-header. In the end callback, the application could then e.g. do some
-finalizing operations on the <code>struct</code> to put it in its database.<br>
- <br>
-(Note that the <code>Gedcom_val</code> type for the <code>xref</code> argument
-was not discussed, see further for this)<br>
- <br>
- <h4><i>Callbacks for elements</i></h4>
-We will now retrieve the SOUR field (the name of the program that wrote the
-file) from the header:<br>
- <blockquote><code>Gedcom_ctxt <b>my_header_source_start_cb</b>(Gedcom_ctxt
-parent,<br>
-
- int
- level,<br>
-
- char*
- tag,<br>
-
- char*
- raw_value,<br>
-
- Gedcom_val parsed_value)<br>
-{<br>
- char *source = GEDCOM_STRING(parsed_value);<br>
- printf("This file was written by %s\n", source);<br>
- return parent;<br>
-}<br>
+ Gedcom_val xref, char *tag)<br>
+ {<br>
+ printf("The header starts\n");<br>
+ return (Gedcom_ctxt)1;<br>
+ }<br>
<br>
-void <b>my_header_source_end_cb</b>(Gedcom_ctxt parent,<br>
-
- Gedcom_ctxt self,<br>
-
- Gedcom_val parsed_value)<br>
-{<br>
- printf("End of the source description\n");<br>
-}<br>
+ void <b>my_header_end_cb</b> (Gedcom_ctxt self)<br>
+ {<br>
+ printf("The header ends, context is %d\n", self); /* context
+ will print as "1" */<br>
+ }<br>
<br>
-...<br>
- <b>gedcom_subscribe_to_element</b>(ELT_HEAD_SOUR,<br>
-
- my_header_source_start_cb,<br>
-
- my_header_source_end_cb);<br>
-...<br>
-result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
+ ...<br>
+ <b>gedcom_subscribe_to_record</b>(REC_HEAD, my_header_start_cb,
+my_header_end_cb);<br>
+ ...<br>
+ result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
</blockquote>
-The subscription mechanism for elements is similar, only the signatures of
-the callbacks differ. The signature for the start callback shows that
-the context of the parent line (e.g. the <code>struct</code> that describes
-the header) is passed to this start callback. The callback itself returns
-here the same context, but this can be its own context object of course.
- The end callback is called with both the context of the parent and
-the context of itself, which will be the same in the example.<br>
- <br>
-If we look at the other arguments of the start callback, we see the level
-number (the initial number of the line in the GEDCOM file), the tag (e.g.
-"SOUR"), and then a raw value and a parsed value. The raw value is
-just the raw string that occurs as value on the line next to the tag (in
-UTF-8 encoding). The parsed value is the meaningful value that is parsed
-from that raw string.<br>
- <br>
-The <code>Gedcom_val</code> type is meant to be an opaque type. The
-only thing that needs to be known about it is that it can contain specific
-data types, which have to be retrieved from it using pre-defined macros.
- Currently, the specific types are (with <code>val</code> of type <code>
-Gedcom_val</code>):<br>
+ Using the <code>gedcom_subscribe_to_record</code> function, the application
+ requests to use the specified callbacks as start and end callback. The end
+ callback is optional: you can pass <code>NULL</code> if you are not interested
+ in the end callback. The identifiers to use as first argument to the
+ function (here <code>REC_HEAD</code>) are described in the <a href="interface.html#Record_identifiers">
+ interface details</a>.<br>
<br>
- <table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" border="1" width="100%">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td valign="top"><br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><b>type checker</b><br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><b>cast operator</b><br>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td valign="top">null value<br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><code>GEDCOM_IS_NULL(val)</code><br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top">N/A<br>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td valign="top">string<br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><code>GEDCOM_IS_STRING(val)</code><br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><code>char* str = GEDCOM_STRING(val);</code><br>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td valign="top">date<br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><code>GEDCOM_IS_DATE(val)</code><br>
- </td>
- <td valign="top"><code>struct date_value dv = GEDCOM_DATE(val)
-;</code><br>
- </td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
+ From the name of the function it becomes clear that this function is specific
+ to complete records. For the separate elements in records there is
+another function, which we'll see shortly. Again, the callbacks need
+to have the signatures as shown in the example.<br>
<br>
-The null value is used for when the GEDCOM spec doesn't allow a value, or
-when an optional value is allowed but none is given.<br>
- <br>
-The string value is the most general used value currently, for all those
-values that don't have a more specific meaning. In essence, the value
-that is returned by GEDCOM_STRING is always the same as the raw_value passed
-to the start callback, and is thus in fact redundant.<br>
+ The <code>Gedcom_ctxt</code> type that is used as a result of the start
+callback and as an argument to the end callback is vital for passing context
+necessary for the application. This type is meant to be opaque; in fact,
+it's a void pointer, so you can pass anything via it. The important
+thing to know is that the context that the application returns in the start
+callback will be passed in the end callback as an argument, and as we will
+see shortly, also to all the directly subordinate elements of the record.<br>
<br>
-The date value is used for all elements that return a date. (<i>Description
-of struct date_value TBD: look in the header file for the moment</i>).<br>
+ The example passes a simple integer as context, but an application could
+ e.g. pass a <code>struct</code> that will contain the information for the
+ header. In the end callback, the application could then e.g. do some
+ finalizing operations on the <code>struct</code> to put it in its database.<br>
<br>
-The type checker returns a true or a false value according to the type of
-the value, but this is in principle only necessary in the rare circumstances
-that two types are possible, or where an optional value can be provided.
- In most cases, the type is fixed for a specific tag (<i>types per tag
-to be described</i>).<br>
+ (Note that the <code>Gedcom_val</code> type for the <code>xref</code> argument
+ was not discussed, see further for this)<br>
<br>
-Some extra notes:<br>
+
+ <h4><i>Callbacks for elements</i></h4>
+ We will now retrieve the SOUR field (the name of the program that wrote
+the file) from the header:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>Gedcom_ctxt <b>my_header_source_start_cb</b>(Gedcom_ctxt
+ parent,<br>
+
+ int
+ level,<br>
+
+ char*
+ tag,<br>
+
+ char*
+ raw_value,<br>
+
+ Gedcom_val parsed_value)<br>
+ {<br>
+ char *source = GEDCOM_STRING(parsed_value);<br>
+ printf("This file was written by %s\n", source);<br>
+ return parent;<br>
+ }<br>
+ <br>
+ void <b>my_header_source_end_cb</b>(Gedcom_ctxt parent,<br>
+
+ Gedcom_ctxt self,<br>
+
+ Gedcom_val parsed_value)<br>
+ {<br>
+ printf("End of the source description\n");<br>
+ }<br>
+ <br>
+ ...<br>
+ <b>gedcom_subscribe_to_element</b>(ELT_HEAD_SOUR,<br>
+
+ my_header_source_start_cb,<br>
+
+ my_header_source_end_cb);<br>
+ ...<br>
+ result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ The subscription mechanism for elements is similar, only the signatures
+of the callbacks differ. The signature for the start callback shows
+that the context of the parent line (e.g. the <code>struct</code> that describes
+ the header) is passed to this start callback. The callback itself
+returns here the same context, but this can be its own context object of
+course. The end callback is called with both the context of the parent
+and the context of itself, which will be the same in the example. Again,
+the list of identifiers to use as a first argument for the subscription function
+are detailed in the <a href="interface.html#Element_identifiers">interface
+details</a> .<br>
+ <br>
+ If we look at the other arguments of the start callback, we see the level
+ number (the initial number of the line in the GEDCOM file), the tag (e.g.
+ "SOUR"), and then a raw value and a parsed value. The raw value is
+just the raw string that occurs as value on the line next to the tag (in
+UTF-8 encoding). The parsed value is the meaningful value that is parsed
+from that raw string.<br>
+ <br>
+ The <code>Gedcom_val</code> type is meant to be an opaque type. The
+ only thing that needs to be known about it is that it can contain specific
+ data types, which have to be retrieved from it using pre-defined macros.
+ These data types are described in the <a href="interface.html#Gedcom_val_types">
+ interface details</a>. <br>
+ <br>
+ Some extra notes:<br>
+
<ul>
- <li>The <code>Gedcom_val</code> argument of the end callback
-is currently not used. It is there for future enhancements.</li>
- <li>There is also a <code>Gedcom_val</code> argument in the start
-callback for records. This argument is currently a string value giving
-the pointer in string form.</li>
+ <li>The <code>Gedcom_val</code> argument of the end callback
+ is currently not used. It is there for future enhancements.</li>
+ <li>There is also a <code>Gedcom_val</code> argument in the
+start callback for records. This argument is currently a string value
+giving the pointer in string form.</li>
+
</ul>
+
<h3><a name="Default_callbacks"></a>Default callbacks<br>
- </h3>
-TO BE COMPLETED<br>
- <hr width="100%" size="2">$Id$<br>
- $Name$<br>
- <br>
-
- </body>
- </html>
+ </h3>
+ As described above, an application doesn't always implement the entire
+GEDCOM spec, and application-specific tags may have been added by other applications.
+ To preserve this extra data anyway, a default callback can be registered
+by the application, as in the following example:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>void <b>my_default_cb</b> (Gedcom_ctxt parent,
+int level, char* tag, char* raw_value)<br>
+ {<br>
+ ...<br>
+ }<br>
+ <br>
+ ...<br>
+ <b>gedcom_set_default_callback</b>(my_default_cb);<br>
+ ...<br>
+ result = <b>gedcom_parse_file</b>("myfamily.ged");</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ This callback has a similar signature as the previous ones, but
+it doesn't contain a parsed value. However, it does contain the parent
+context, that was returned by the application for the most specific containing
+tag that the application supported.<br>
+ <br>
+ Suppose e.g. that this callback is called for some tags in the header that
+are specific to some other application, then our application could make sure
+that the parent context contains the struct or object that represents the
+header, and use the default callback here to add the level, tag and raw_value
+as plain text in a member of that struct or object, thus preserving the information.
+ The application can then write this out when the data is saved again
+in a GEDCOM file. To make it more specific, consider the following example:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>struct header {<br>
+ char* source;<br>
+ ...<br>
+ char* extra_text;<br>
+ };<br>
+ <br>
+ Gedcom_ctxt my_header_start_cb(int level, Gedcom_val xref, char* tag)<br>
+ {<br>
+ struct header head = my_make_header_struct();<br>
+ return (Gedcom_ctxt)head;<br>
+ }<br>
+ <br>
+ void my_default_cb(Gedcom_ctxt parent, int level, char* tag, char* raw_value)<br>
+ {<br>
+ struct header head = (struct header)parent;<br>
+ my_header_add_to_extra_text(head, level, tag, raw_value);<br>
+ }<br>
+ <br>
+ gedcom_set_default_callback(my_default_cb);<br>
+ gedcom_subscribe_to_record(REC_HEAD, my_header_start, NULL);<br>
+ ...<br>
+ result = gedcom_parse_file(filename);</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ Note that the default callback will be called for any tag that isn't specifically
+subscribed upon by the application, and can thus be called in various contexts.
+ For simplicity, the example above doesn't take this into account (the
+ <code>parent</code> could be of different types, depending on
+the context).<br>
+
+ <hr width="100%" size="2">
+ <h2><a name="Other_API_functions"></a>Other API functions<br>
+ </h2>
+ Although the above describes the basic interface of libgedcom, there are
+some other functions that allow to customize the behaviour of the library.
+ These will be explained in the current section.<br>
+
+ <h3><a name="Debugging"></a>Debugging</h3>
+ The library can generate various debugging output, not only from itself,
+but also the debugging output generated by the yacc parser. By default,
+no debugging output is generated, but this can be customized using the following
+function:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>void <b>gedcom_set_debug_level</b> (int level,
+FILE* trace_output)</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ The <code>level</code> can be one of the following values:<br>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>0: no debugging information (this is the default)</li>
+ <li>1: only debugging information from libgedcom
+itself</li>
+ <li>2: debugging information from libgedcom and
+yacc</li>
+
+ </ul>
+ If the <code>trace_output</code> is <code>NULL</code>, debugging information
+will be written to <code>stderr</code>, otherwise the given file handle is
+used (which must be open).<br>
+ <br>
+
+ <h3><a name="Error_treatment"></a>Error treatment</h3>
+ One of the previous sections already described the callback to be registered
+to get error messages. The library also allows to customize what happens
+on an error, using the following function:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>void <b>gedcom_set_error_handling</b> (Gedcom_err_mech
+mechanism)</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ The <code>mechanism</code> can be one of:<br>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><code>IMMED_FAIL</code>: immediately fail the parsing
+on an error (this is the default)</li>
+ <li><code>DEFER_FAIL</code>: continue parsing after
+an error, but return a failure code eventually</li>
+ <li><code>IGNORE_ERRORS</code>: continue parsing after
+an error, return success always</li>
+
+ </ul>
+ This doesn't influence the generation of error or warning messages, only
+the behaviour of the parser and its return code.<br>
+ <br>
+
+ <h3><a name="Compatibility_mode"></a>Compatibility mode<br>
+ </h3>
+ Applications are not necessarily true to the GEDCOM spec (or use a different
+version than 5.5). The intention is that the library is resilient to
+this, and goes in compatibility mode for files written by specific programs
+(detected via the HEAD.SOUR tag). This compatibility mode can be enabled
+and disabled via the following function:<br>
+
+ <blockquote><code>void <b>gedcom_set_compat_handling</b>
+ (int enable_compat)</code><br>
+ </blockquote>
+ The argument can be:<br>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>0: disable compatibility mode</li>
+ <li>1: allow compatibility mode (this is the default)<br>
+ </li>
+
+ </ul>
+ Note that, currently, no actual compatibility code is present, but this
+is on the to-do list.<br>
+
+ <hr width="100%" size="2">
+ <pre>$Id$<br>$Name$<br></pre>
+ <pre>
+ </pre>
+
+ </body>
+ </html>
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