What is a .ZED file?
A .ZED file is a type of compressed file specifically used for storing genealogy data. It is essentially a .GEDCOM file, which is a standard format for genealogy files, that has been zipped (compressed) to reduce its size. This file format is used by a program called MyHeritage Family Tree Builder, which is a free application designed to help people build and maintain their family trees.
The .ZED file contains text information about an individual's family tree, including details about relatives and their connections within the family tree. This text is encoded in ANSI format, which is a type of text encoding standard.
To open a .ZED file, you can use the MyHeritage Family Tree Builder software. This program specifically supports versions 1 through 6 of the software. In these versions, the .ZED file format was commonly used.
However, it's important to note that with the release of version 7 of MyHeritage Family Tree Builder, the .ZED file format was replaced by the .UZED file format. The .UZED files are similar in that they are also zipped GEDCOM files, but they differ because they contain UTF-8 encoded text, which supports a wider range of characters, and they include an additional file called metadata.xml that stores extra information about the family tree.
Both .ZED and .UZED files are part of what is known as the ZEDCOM format, a term that combines "Zipped" and "GEDCOM" to describe these types of compressed genealogy files.
By the time version 8 of MyHeritage Family Tree Builder was released, the software moved away from using .ZED and .UZED files to using .FTB files, which are based on the SQLite database format, offering more advanced features and capabilities for handling genealogy data.
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