Error importing gedcom into FTM

Nor should you expect it to. The leading _ means that this is a
nonstandard entry and no nonstandard entry should ever cause any problem
with family structure or individuals. It is ancillary information. As
stated in this thread there is a MARR tag that can be used to indicate
that the pair of individuals were married. The _stat tag seems to be
short for status and probalbly indicates that they are still married.
Whether this information is useful is up to you. Some import programs
place unrecognized tags in the notes and some just throw them out.

When trying to import a GEDCOM file into FTM 2005, I get the following
error...

Source: AncestQuest
Destination: Ancestry Family Tree
Creation Date:
Original File:
Character Set: ANSEL

Line 1615 : Tag: _STAT, unknown custom tag, line ignored.

This is the relevant section from the file...

1614 0 @F1@ FAM
1615 1 _STAT MARRIED
1616 1 HUSB @I2@
1617 1 WIFE @I3@
1618 1 CHIL @I1@
1619 1 CHIL @I29@
1620 1 CHIL @I30@
1621 1 CHIL @I31@

Can I safely allow this line to be ignored, or can I somehow edit the
file to make it compatible?

T.M. Sommers...

You might want to replace it with a line saying

1 MARR Y

which is GEDCOM's way of saying that a marriage took place.

Thanks, Mark.

Herman Viaene...

Just addition to what others already answered:
I know from the little experience I have that different programs or even
versions of programs, support different versions of GEDCOM.
GEDCOM is defined by the Mormons as they are called here in Belgium and you
can find the definition of the standard in their website.

Unfortunately, even in sub-versions of the standard (I know between 5.3 and
5.5) they have structural changes in the records so that importing GEDCOM's
from a different source than your own program may involve some loss of info
that you have to correct yourself afterwards, unless you're capable of
writing an ad-hoc program to rectify what went wrong.

Herman Viaene

Robert Heiling...

Elsewhere in that file you will find lines that begin like
0 @I2@ INDI
where the next line gives an individual's name. I think you'll see that
pattern there and that will identify that couple and their children to
you. Your guess is as good as anybody's as to what was meant, but it
seems to simply mean that their Status was Married and only you can
judge whether that can be ignored or not. I wouldn't modify the file,
just note and deal with any errors.

singhals...

IMO: you can ignore it if FTM imports the family and the marriage.
_STAT is simply FTM's way of saying there's a marriage record in the
file. Line 1614 covers it.

Assuming, of course, that FTM correctly imported and linked the family.
If not, come on back. (g)