Digging into segments - in the absence of reports from My Heritage

I have long been a fan of segment analysis to find your common ancestor.  The last couple of years have been particularly frustrating since DNA companies have turned off their downloads for segment data.  

Having downloaded most of my matches regularly to the Genealogical DNA Database Tool (GDAT) this issue was manageable in what I thought would be the 'short term' as I had plenty of matches to explore and could easily look at isolated segment data on some sites.  AncestryDNA's release of Enhanced Shared Matching late last year also kept my interest up for a time and is proving to be invaluable, but I find myself exploring and building family groups for matches that are not my priority.  Was this the best use of my time in finding my nemesis ancestor, my 2nd great grandfather George Courtney!

Using Visual Phasing techniques I have identified all the likely segment areas that have come from the 'Courtney line'.  Two sets of siblings, my mother and three of her siblings (RM siblings), plus another four siblings, children of Mums paternal first cousin (RR siblings).  How can I interrogate new matches in these segment areas without downloadable lists?  

4 RM Siblings: Segments by Grandparent on Chromosome 4  

There are bound to be new matches in these locations, but how do I find them?  Continually visiting known matches in each segment location for the 10 kits relevant to the search was a long winded and laborious exercise, always hoping for a miracle.  The relevant matches are not likely to be 'big' unknown matches, the key ones are more likely to be buried in the smaller matches, much harder to find.

Whilst GEDmatch and FTDNA have segment reports, there are few new matches and few trees.  The My Heritage site was my best bet, providing segments, triangulation tools and many trees.  Using tools like Pedigree Thief it is possible to obtain match lists providing Total cMs, this has helped find new larger matches, but it is difficult to identify specific ones that might be paternal matches of interest for me.  I had to work through each one by one, extract the segment data and then compare to my Visual Phasing output.  On most occasions it turned out the match was not in the segment area of interest.  I tried to consider how this could be a more productive process.

I have never been a big user of the label (dots) system at My Heritage given there are so many false positives appearing in the shared match list.  This being mainly due to the small match threshold of 6cMs and at times imputation.  At AncestryDNA many of these old population segments have been eliminated by their Timber algorithm.  At My Heritage, I always prefer to add matches to an 'ancestral couple' label ONLY when there is a triangulated segment.  This way, poor label allocation doesn't lead to new matches being incorrectly labelled in the future.  It was time to revisit my process.

I started to consider how Pedigree Thief, the new fabulous Genealogy Assistant (chrome extension) and Labels at My Heritage could help me to better identify and prioritise key matches for segment analysis.

Starting with Labels

My current labels were already organised by ancestral couples.  For my Courtney project, I have 10 primary kits (plus 4 descendants) at My Heritage that need analysing in a priority order, shared segments between kits, then each kit needs examining for segments that were only inherited by them.  The Courtney line is on Mum's paternal side, so I started with her matches and the 4 sibling kits of the children of her paternal first cousin (RRS) who share the Roberts-Courtney line.  I decided to create labels for each of the RR siblings and then another label for matches who triangulate with one or all of them, as these matches would be my priority.  As we are talking large numbers of shared matches, I recommend loading the Genealogy Assistant.  These cousin siblings each had between 551-772 shared matches with my Mum.  As both sets of Roberts siblings have mostly Irish maternal sides, there are a lot of shared matches that are old population segments and false positives that need to be 'weeded out' to be left with only valid Roberts-Courtney matches.

1. Navigate to the shared match page for the tester (in my case Mum) and the key match (RRS, sibling 1);
2. Go to the bottom of the shared match page and use the field shown for auto-load pages and put in an estimate of the number of pages needed (Genealogy Assistant must be loaded).
3. Navigate back up to the top of the list and slowly scroll through to the end of the match list. You will know when you are at the end when the 'Show more DNA Matches' disappears.
4. Once again, navigate up to the top of the list.  Click on the 'select all matches' button (Genealogy Assistant).  Before choosing a label watch the 'Manage Labels' count and let it get to the maximum number of matches selected.
5. Select an existing label or 'Create a new label'.  Click Apply'.  If you have large numbers of matches, then you may get a spinning wheel for a while and the page appears to have hung.  Wait a decent length of time for it to finish.  I have found that if you open the shared match page in another window and check if the last person has been labelled, it has usually completed the process.
6. While all the matches are selected we are next going to identify all the triangulated matches to add to our combined 'Matches TG - RRS' label.  If your results are like mine there are more triangulated matches than un-triangulated matches.  If so, remove the tick from everyone who does not have the triangulated group symbol.  Otherwise, do the reverse.  If you wait until later to do this part, when you 'select all matches' again, make sure to wait and watch the 'Manage Labels' count before selecting the new label.
7. Add the reduced number of matches to the 'Matches TG - RRS' label.
8. Repeat the process for other key matches (in this example the next 3 RR siblings), adding triangulated matches to the same 'Matches TG - RRS' label.

My mother had 16,566 matches at My Heritage when undertaking this exercise.  After this process, the total number of shared matches for the RR siblings was 1463 and of those, 1043 were triangulated.  

As the 1043 matches were all triangulating with Mum and at least one RR sibling we know each of them must have inherited the segment from the same common ancestor.  As a result, we can be confident that the segment shared between the two sets of siblings (RM and RR), was inherited from their shared MRCA being the 'Roberts-Courtney' couple - Edward Roberts (Baker/Dye) and Abigail Courtney.  How each of the 1043 matches are related is yet to be determined, but it will be back on one of either the Roberts OR Courtney lines.  These 1043 can now also be labelled to the 'Roberts-Courtney' ancestral group (NOTE:  The Roberts-Courtney group is an existing label for the 'ancestral couple'.  It will contain other matches already identified through DNA analysis and may be larger than the newly created  'Matches TG - RRS' label). 

1. Navigate back to the main match page and select 'Filters'.  Go to 'Labels' and select the consolidated TG group - 'Matches TG - RRS'. 
2. With the Genealogy Assistant 50 matches will appear on each page in this view.  With 1043 matches we have 21 pages to process.  Starting on page 1 navigate to the top of the match list to 'select all matches'. Then choose the appropriate label (in this case  'Roberts-Courtney'), select 'Apply'.
3. Repeat the process with the remaining pages.  Firstly, navigate to the bottom of the list to select the next page number, then navigate to the top to 'select all matches', 'select label', 'apply'.  

If you would like a spreadsheet generated as a list of these matches, enter the total number of pages and click the 'Download CSV' button.  You must have the Genealogy Assistant loaded for this option to appear.  You will need to wait for each page to populate and process all the pages before the CSV will be ready to download to your computer.

The spreadsheet contains the match name, estimated relationship, shared Total cMs, number of shared segments, largest cMs segment, tree size and the location of the match.  Matches are listed in Total cMs order, but can also be sorted by largest cMs segment to identify priority matches for review.  When reviewing the filtered Label of 'Matches TG - RRS', you can select the 'Sort By - largest segment' to achieve the same result.  

Whilst at this point we have identified 1043 priority matches, we have no way of telling which of them have shared segments in the Courtney grandparent location (Figure: Chromosome 4).

My aim is to isolate all the George Courtney segments.  The next challenge will be to analyse all matches in the 'Matches TG - RRS' group and split them into one of the 4 paternal great grandparent lines: Roberts PGGF (Dye), Laundon PGGM (wife of Edward Roberts), Paice PGGM (wife of George) and finally our mystery PGGF - Abigails father  'George Courtney'!  

The remaining 420 shared matches who do not triangulate with our RR siblings will need additional analysis further down the track.  They may share additional segments not inherited by the RM siblings or they may be false positives or old population segments. At this point we are only prioritising the 1043 triangulated matches as we know they are valid segments and should be reviewed first.

Getting segment data via Pedigree Thief

In the absence of downloads from My Heritage, Pedigree Thief is the only tool I know that can help extract specific segment data at the moment.  It can prove to be difficult at times, as the site imposes limits and sometimes suggests we are doing too much, what it calls 'scraping'.  This can sometimes lead to being temporarily barred from using the site, so we need to minimise each query as much as possible.

We can obtain segment data from My Heritage using Pedigree Thief in two ways:

1. From the main match page, where options are 'with DNA' or 'without DNA'.  I would recommended extracting data here first using 'no DNA' to maximise the number of matches you are adding to the Pedigree Thief database.
2. From the shared match list, you can extract shared matches, ICW and trangulations.  It will not work if the selected match is not already in the database and you will be directed back to the main match page.

My suggested process is aimed at gathering as much segment data as possible for the priority matches identified as triangulated with the RR Siblings, accessed via the filtered Label of 'Matches TG - RRS'.

1. Firstly, navigate back to the main match page and select 'Filters'.  Go to 'Labels' and select the consolidated TG group - 'Matches TG - RRS'. 
2. Navigate up to the ribbon toolbar (next to the search bar) and select the 'Pedigree Thief' icon (you must have already downloaded Pedigree Thief from the Chrome store for this to appear).
3. You can only read 5 pages of matches at a time, select 5 and Read Matches (no DNA).  When the first 5 pages are finished, continue to select the next 5 pages until all are done.
4. Click the 4 'save boxes', these should produce the following files downloaded to your computer:
• MyHeritage Matches for XXX;
• MyHeritage Shared DNA for XXX;
• MyHeritage ICWs for XXX; and 
• MyHeritage Triangulations for XXX.

These files can be imported into GDAT using the approved templates.  Don't be fooled by the names,  "Read Matches (no DNA) means no 'segment' DNA - it includes Total cMs for all matches.

Once this is loaded we can go back to the shared match page:

1. Navigate to the shared matches of your tester and the key match (for my example, Mum and an RR sibling);
2. Use the Auto-load page feature again (Genealogy Assistant) and keep scrolling down the list until all the shared matches have loaded and you have one page of matches;
3. Scroll up to the toolbar and click on the Pedigree Thief icon.  As I have 695 in this list I am going to start by selecting 'Read matches (no DNA)' to extract more data into the Pedigree Thief database.  The tool collected 695 ICW and Triangulations and says 530 are queued for triangulation.  The output is a downloadable ICW file, which can be loaded into GDAT.
4. Next I want to Read Matches (and DNA) but this is where we need to be conscious of potential system overuse.  The system will only review a certain number of these matches, mine stopped at about 100.  The tool now says it has collected 695 ICW, 38 Triangulations and that 432 are queued for triangulation.  The output now includes a downloadable chromosome data file, which can be loaded into GDAT.  The chromosome data is the DNA shared between your tester and the key match (for my example, Mum and RR sibling 1).  Using this process on more distant known cousins would provide a much more manageable number, but these matches are critical for my research project.
5. The ICW file is the same as the one earlier, but the triangulation file is also able to be downloaded and added to GDAT.  It contains chromosome data from the 38 matches it has collected already.  We can now target any of these matches that have segment data in the target segment areas (ie. Courtney segments).

Next we have two options, continue to complete the remaining 432 matches queued for triangulation or to work with the chromosome data we have collected so far (eg the 38 matches).  My preference is to load all the data so I can identify all the matches in the likely segment locations, but MH system constraints may require you to do just one page at a time. 

1. Return to Pedigree Thief to continue gathering the triangulation data - go to the triangulations queued and click 'read'.  You may get a message that you have reached your limit for the day.  If this is the case stop gathering and review the matches you have so far.  Come back later, you don't want to have your subscription suspended.  If you are using GDAT you should be able to review the triangulated matches and see who else is ICW on the segment given that file has already been loaded, even though you don't have all their chromosome data yet.  Make sure to hit the down arrow and you have the option to click 'ALL' - matches, segments, in common with and triangulation files.
2. Pedigree Thief also allows you to gather data for just one match.  The chromosome data spreadsheet for the 38 matches included 7 who were in the 'Courtney' segment location on chromosome 4.  Unfortunately the chromosome data spreadsheet downloaded from Pedigree Thief does not contain match names, just a My Heritage Relative ID.  You can search for the match in GDAT using the 'Search Match Key' option and entering the My Heritage Relative ID.  
3. Once you have found the match in GDAT use the hotkey to navigate back to the match at My Heritage.  Select the Pedigree Thief icon and extract the data using 'Read Match (and DNA)'.  This will produce 4 files to be downloaded - match, chromosome data, ICW and triangulation.  We already have the match and shared DNA in the GDAT database so we don't the first two, but upload ICW and triangulations to GDAT.
4. As you investigate your matches in the priority segment areas in GDAT, make sure to also add a note on the match's page in your consolidated TG label at My Heritage (eg. 'Matches TG - RRS') so that your can monitor your progress on all the triangulated matches.  
5. Continue in this way until all those in the TG label have been reviewed and have segment data in the priority groups are uploaded to GDAT.  
6. Where Visual Phasing or other segment analysis processes have identified the likely ancestral couple for each segment location, review each match in the consolidated TG label at My Heritage (eg. 'Matches TG - RRS') make a note to that effect, then add another label for the known ancestral couple and remove the match from Roberts-Courtney label.  For my tree these would be Dye-Laundon (Roberts side) or Paice-Parker (wife of George Courtney).  Even if we don't know the name of our MRCA with a match, the aim is to move all 1043 matches over time from the grandparent label (Roberts-Courtney) into the correct ancestral couple label (one of the 4 great grandparent lines).
7. As I review each TG (ideally removing it from the Robert-Courtney group), I update the label for the match and mark all the TG matches to their new ancestral group at the same time.  This reduces rework when reviewing new triangulated matches down the track.  
8. Matches who can't be allocated to a new 'ancestral couple' label should remain in the 'Roberts-Courtney' group.  You may wish to create an additional label for those that have been reviewed, but were unable to be allocated to a new label.
9. If you are reviewing multiple kits, it is a good idea to get all kits to the 'Matches TG - RRS' stage, then use the Genealogical Assistant to download a csv of each kits matches.  Combining them into an alphabetical .csv will give you an idea of the total number of matches needing review, plus you can keep track of those already reviewed as you progress further through all kits. Whilst I make notes in My Heritage and GDAT as I go, a paper list can sometimes be easier to manage in terms of checking back when working on subsequent kits.
10. Continue to review the Roberts-Courtney label for all matches who also have the label 'Matches TG - RRS' (sadly labels at MH do not cater for a sort of matches with both these labels) until all those matches have ben moved to an ancestral group label or the best case scenario - the number of matches in the group is exhausted. When reviewing the matches with this label, sort them using largest segment, so that priority segments are reviewed first ie.  a person with a single 35cMs segment is likely to be a better match to review that someone sharing 35cMs over 4 segments.
11. Repeat the process for the other key testers (ie. the remaining 3 RM siblings) and other associated kits.
12. Always remember when reviewing shared matches to check if your key match cousins or siblings have larger segments than your main tester (in my case Mum).  If they have larger segments make them the key kit for the analysis of that Triangulated Group as their shared matches will be in a larger segment location, ie. there will be a broader pool of triangulated matches to assist in identifying the MRCA for that group.

The missing link

This process does not help get to those 'likely Courtney segment areas' that the RR siblings do not share with the RM siblings or other associated kits.  The time poor method of looking at known matches and their ICW's in existing segment locations seems the only way to get there at this time.  Some may be buried in the 420, potentially matching on different segments.  If anyone can suggest other methods, please let me know.

Hopefully by the time I've finished reviewing all the matches in my TG Group Label we will have downloads back!

Veronica Williams

First published 7 April 2025

Last updated 25 April 2025

ADDENDUM: 16 April 2025  Following discussion with the developer of Genealogy Assistant, a new button has been introduced to 'Load all' pages, this helps enormously. The blog will be updated soon to streamline the affected steps.  We are also discussing ways to get another sort to reduce the list to just TG matches, more soon, fingers crossed.

Genealogical Database Analysis Tool (GDAT) - Part 4: SAG User Group Meeting Summary and Resources

This post is the fourth in a series developed to support the GDAT (Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool) Chromosome Analysis Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG).  It does not replace the extensive user guide and help video tutorials already developed by the GDAT team.  Members of the User Group should always consult those resources first.

This page will be updated after each meeting, with links to various resources for the topic discussed.  

If you wish to join our group, you need to be a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG).  Refer to the SAG Events Calendar for more information.

2026 Meetings (to be confirmed)

• 10th January - Watch the 4 Becky videos, then participate in a round table discussion
• 16th May - Extract Tool in Part II video (about 13.30 minutes in); Parental Confirmations.
• 18th August
• 21 November - date subject to change

See details of all our previous sessions at the end of this post.

Case Studies presented to date

• Visual Phasing and GDAT (partitioning) December 2025
• Pedigree Thief for MH Imports, November 2024 (Posted in FB Group)
• What can we do without downloads? June 2024 (Posted in FB Group)
• Add Relative (new feature), January 2024
• Creating Templates, July 2023
• Using Phased Kits, April 2023
• Exploring Key Segments, January 2023
• Allocating sides, December 2022
• New FTDNA import, October 2022
• New large match, October 2022

Other GDAT items of Interest

• Don't forget the GDAT User Guide
• Becky Mason Walker - You Tube Channel
• ISOGG Wiki, 2021
• Forums @ Geneanet, 2022
• Join the GDAT Facebook Group
• Join our SAG GDAT User Group - Facebook Group
• Getting Started with GDAT - Webinar by Veronica Williams, Sep 2023 
• Plus, many of the videos under GMP Analysis Tools are still relevant.

2025 Meetings

• 15th March - Issues with MH/PT; Sneak peak R2025r03
• 22nd August - 
• New Version  2025 r04.  Discussion on F5 and F12 (Windows only) features.  
• Genealogical Assistant Template for importing My Heritage matches and total cMs (not segment data) into GDAT.  See Veronica's Blog for more info, Digging Into Segments and Genealogy Assistant, Pedigree Thief and GDAT.
• 13th December 2025 - 
• Visual Phasing and GDAT (partitioning)
  
• GEDmatch - Autosegment split and GDAT
  
• MRCA notes field options

2024 Meetings

• 27 January 2024 - Updates re releases/current issues.  New Feature:  Add Relative 2024r01.
• 29 June 2024 - Updates re releases/current issues.  What can we do without downloads? (Posted in FB Group)
• 2 November 2024 - Importing MH data without downloads, using Pedigree Thief (needs chrome extension enabled).

2023 Meetings

• 21 January 2023 - Allocating Sides

• See GDAT User Guide - Assigning Sides
• You Tube- Assign MRCA

• 15 April 2023 - Using Phased Kits with GDAT (Contact Veronica for more info)

• 29 July 2023 - Release r03/04; Pedigree Thief for My Heritage segment data and creating custom templates.
• GDAT Release Notes
• See GDAT User Guide - Importing My Heritage data
• Pedigree Thief Facebook Group
• See GDAT User Guide - Import Templates

• 21 October 2023 - Round Table Discussion.  Most useful features of GDAT; What I'd like to know more about.

2022 Meetings

• 24th September 2022 - Overview of GDAT site

• Genemonkey Explains - Getting Started
• You Tube - Navigate GDAT pages
• You Tube - Use the Search Tool
• Download the Program

• 29th October 2022 - Using Genetic Tools

• Genemonkey Explains - Genetic Tools 
• You Tube - Assign MRCA
• You Tube - Merge Relatives

• 3rd December 2022 - 

• Genemonkey Explains - Genealogical Tools
• You Tube - MRCA Menu

First Published:  23 September 2023

Last updated:  15 May 2026

Genealogical Database Tool (GDAT) - Part 3: Genealogical Tools

 

This post is the third in a series developed to support the GDAT (Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool) Chromosome Analysis Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG).  It does not replace the extensive user guide and help video tutorials already developed by the GDAT team.  Members of the User Group should always consult those resources first.

You can access Parts 1 and 2 by clicking the links below, or the user guide for more specific information.

* Part 1: Getting Started

* Part 2: Genetic Tools 

* GDAT User Guide.

After setting up and importing your data, as you work with the genetic tools you will want to explore the genealogical tools GDAT has to offer.  Depending on what data you have imported and from where, will determine the results available in GDAT under each of the tools.  Remember GDAT is a database, using loaded DNA segment and pedigree information.  Be conscious of when your GDAT system can/cannot provide this, it may not be possible for all DNA sources at all times.  Again, be aware that the third party tools for extracting this information are constantly subject to change.  

Maximising the amount of pedigree information for your relatives (matches) within GDAT will greatly increase your success when using the genealogical tools.  Remember that the product allows for additional data to be entered manually, plus you can always import GEDcoms generated from your own research to add pedigree information to a relative.

Tree Completeness and DNA Confirmation

There are two things you need to focus on if you want to be successful in working with the GDAT product to analyse your results using chromosome analysis.  Firstly, you must have built your pedigree out as far as you can - the more complete your tree the more chance you will have of being able to identify shared ancestors with your matches.  Secondly, you must be working on a solid DNA base.  What I mean by that is - not only do you know who your ancestors are out to the second great grandparent level, but your DNA results also confirm them as genetic ancestors.  The segments you share with your close cousins are the foundation of what you need to be able to 'walk back your segments' over time to more distant ancestors.

My aim is to identify and DNA confirm all my ancestors out to 5th great grandparents (254 ancestors).  Chromosome analysis is essential for this exercise because as we go back in time, there is also a much greater chance that we are genetically related to our matches in multiple ways.  These second relationships may well be back much further than we have researched for our own pedigrees or our matches.  Due to the process of recombination past 3rd cousins, we don't always share DNA with all our genealogical cousins.  This does not mean our tree is incorrect, it may just be that the DNA from that ancestor has not survived.  However, in some circumstances our genealogical research may be correct according to the records but there is a genetic mismatch, where DNA reveals the parents may be someone completely different!  Telltale clues for these cases are often that you have no matches on those lines.

I regularly take time to document my progress and monitor my results and this helps me to focus on priority areas.  My progress for my own genealogy can be found on this page.

Before embarking on the resource intensive process of verifying your pedigree past 2nd great grandparents with chromosome analysis make sure you have:

• identified all your ancestors out to at least the 2nd great grandparent level;
• identified DNA cousin matches up to 3rd cousins that confirm that your 2nd great grandparents (P1-8 and M1-8) are also your genetic ancestors.  These relationships can be confirmed provided you and your match share the appropriate cMs for the predicted relationship.  Ideally, as many as possible of these close matches should have their results on a chromosome analysis site to enable you to build on these confirmed relationships and 'walk back the segments' to more distant ancestors using GDAT;
• used your DNA results to identify any unknown ancestors closer than 2nd great grandparents using the total cMs approach, if traditional research techniques have previously been unsuccessful;
• identified DNA matches for all your lines, with shared ancestors back to each of the 8 sets of ancestral couples at the 2nd great grandparent level.  If not, reconsider whether the ancestors you have identified are actually the right ones?  This will not always be the case, there are many reasons why you might have no matches, but more often than not it may be an indicator that either your research is wrong or the parent of your ancestor may be someone completely different;
• extended your pedigree out as far as you can - the more complete your tree the greater your chance of success in finding connections with your DNA matches!

Relevant Workspaces and Tools

As you work with the genealogical tools you will be predominately working in the following three GDAT workspaces, accessible from the main menu.  

1. Relative - views relevant to your DNA matches;
2. Profile - views relevant to people whose DNA you are monitoring;
3. MRCA - tools to assist your research.

The function keys in GDAT are very useful for navigation within the database.  The most useful functions for genealogical analysis are:

• F2 - Relative Ahnentafels.  To maximise your productivity, it is best to load pedigree information for your matches via a 'bulk import' from a third party tool as DNAGedcom.  The F2 function provides the ability to add pedigrees manually via GEDcom import, Pedigree Thief and One2Tree (Windows only), plus you can also update details on existing ahnentafels already loaded to GDAT.   Don't forget you can also upload GEDcoms extracted from your own family history program if you have researched your relatives ancestry, or just fill in the blank page!

• F3 - Family comparisons.  This screen compares genealogical information between the profile and matches, identifying any common surnames.  Highlighting the surname gives more information about your ancestor, so you can compare them to your matches ancestor list.  If no surnames show for your match but they have an ancestor list, go back to the F2 screen, choose Update, then 'set relative lists to Ahnentafel values' and the missing surnames should populate.

• F5 - Merging.  There are two main pathways I use for merging duplicate profiles.  If you identify them in the F7 chromosome browser, highlighting the matches then right clicking will lead you to the F5 page.  Or you can access the same F5 page via the Relative Menu.  To complete the merge you need to remember to have the relative information you want to keep on the right.  Tick boxes on the left if you want to retain that information.  Things to keep an eye out for when deciding which relative to choose are - where Ahnentafel value = true, segments or status of MRCA are already assigned or if there are research notes.  Always back up before a merge, so you can revert the database if the merge does not behave how you expected.  In the case of duplicates, select the 'same person' radio button, then merge.  There is also an option to select 'other' - this option can be used for combining relative records for closely related relatives.  Check the user guide for more information.

• F7 - Analysis Tools.  When reviewing matches in the F7 chromosome browser, highlighting the matches then right clicking will bring up a menu.  The compare ahnentafel groups option will identify any shared ancestror couple names between the highlighted matches.  Similarly, the compare ahnentafel surnames will identify any shared surnames within the match group.  This can assist in finding possible connections between your matches.

The MCRA menu has some great genealogical tools that enable you interrogate the database in different ways and can be very useful in finding more genealogical connections.

• Segment MRCA's - This tool identifies matches whose status has been set to MRCA and lists them under the name of the MRCA group allocated to individual segments.  It provides a good summary of each of the 'family group' names you have listed in the profile ancestor list (F6) and all your confirmed matches;

• Groups associated with MRCA's -This tool aims to find you more possible connections to your MRCA.  For each of your family groups, it lists the group names of your identified and confirmed relatives back to the shared ancestors.  Often these can be names little known to you.  Investigating matches with these surnames in their trees can often lead to other descendants from these same ancestor groups.  Because the group name is the same however, it does not always mean they are the same people, you need to do the research to confirm or reject them.   

• ICW profile group - This tool lists relatives who have the same group names in their tree as the profile person, but have not yet been given the status of MRCA.  These require investigation and can lead to identifying more shared ancestors.  Whilst many of those with common names or listed as Unknown or MNU can be misleading, if you regularly use the MRCA notes field, the process can often bring to light other matches you may have previously investigated that should be revisited.

• Region clusters - This tool lists places names in common with the profile and their matches.  Group name formatting needs to be consistent so not all your places will be listed if your match describes the place name differently.  Can be useful for identifying matches from particular localities of interest.

There are Ahnentafel Routines under the Preferences menu that can be run to assign group names and locations to maximise the effectiveness of these tools.  Some are quite resource intensive - refer to the user guide for more information.

The GDAT database won't find every connection, at times you will need to do research on your matches trees to find your shared ancestors.  Remember to add new surnames and additional pedigree information to your relatives pages to maximise the effectiveness of the genealogical tools. 

To get help:

* Make sure you first consult the extensive GDAT User Guide;

* Join the Facebook Group for GDAT and search the site to see if the question has been asked before.  If not, ask the question there;

* SAG members can join the 'private' SAG GDAT User Group on Facebook for general collaboration between members.

Remember, as you work with the software:

* Back up regularly (under File);

* Use the available Help resources (under Help);

* If imports or views aren't behaving as you would expect, you probably need to adjust some of the defaults (under Preferences)

* Keep notes, one of the great features of GDAT is being able to easily pick up where you left off last time!

Finally....

GDAT is a complicated product, understanding how to use the product will take time and if you don't understand the principles of chromosome analysis then you will struggle mastering it.  

Follow the 'Research Methodology' and make sure you have a solid 'DNA confirmed' base for your pedigree before you attempt to extend your confirmations past 2nd great grandparents using chromosome analysis.  Genealogical and genetic research go hand in hand, just as we move from the known to the unknown using our traditional paper research methodology, the same applies with genetic research where we need to 'walk back the segment' over time.

If like me, you are looking to confirm your pedigree out to at least your 5th great grandparents then you will amass a great deal of genetic and genealogical data along the way.  I started my genetic journey in 2010 and it's easy to forget some of that early research.  I like to think of GDAT as my 'one stop shop', an easy way to manage all the data and minimise the amount of duplicated research.  What I like most of all is being easily able to pick up where I left off if I haven't looked at a particular part of the family for a period of time.  No research is wasted or lost and continues to build as more clues emerge, after all if you are into DNA chromosome analysis then you are in it for the long haul.

Thanks Becky Walker for providing this fabulous tool!

Veronica Williams

GDAT Group Convenor

2nd December 2022

Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool (GDAT) - Part 2: Genetic Tools

  

This post is the second in a series developed to support the GDAT (Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool) Chromosome Analysis Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG).  It does not replace the extensive user guide and help video tutorials already developed by the GDAT team.  Members of the User Group should always consult those resources first.

You can access Part 1 by clicking on the link below, or the user guide for more specific information.

* Part 1: Getting Started

* GDAT User Guide.

After setting up and importing your data you will want to start exploring the genetic tools within GDAT.  Depending on what data you have imported and from where, will determine the results that will be available in GDAT under each of the tools.  Remember GDAT is a database, using loaded DNA segment and pedigree information.  Whilst it has a triangulation feature, unless you have loaded the relevant ICW and triangulation reports it cannot provide a result.  Be conscious of when your GDAT system can/cannot provide this, it may not be possible for all DNA sources at all times.  Again, be aware that the third party tools for extracting this information are constantly subject to change.

DNA Research Methodology

To get the most out of your DNA results you need to apply the DNA Research Methodology, first published in 2021.  GDAT caters for working on both sides of the DNA Framework:

* Broadly - via Total cMs (F8) and tree triangulation; or

* Specifically - by chromosome (F7) using both segment triangulation and tree triangulation.  It is at the segment level that GDAT provides the most benefit.

Identifying shared ancestors via tree triangulation requires work.  You need to build out your own tree to at least 5th great grandparents, where possible.  In working with your DNA matches you will often need to also need to build out their trees and analyse the results to identify the shared ancestors.

Always work on your largest matches first.  When using the broad approach we focus on shared matches and clusters to identify the common ancestor.  Past 2nd great grandparents we utilise the specific approach using chromosome analysis to identify triangulated segments and groups.  Whether you are working with shared match clusters or triangulated groups, the methodology is the same to identify the common ancestor through tree triangulation. 

When there are no privacy concerns (particularly people who were born over 100 years ago), don't hide all that extra research in private trees - add them to a 'free' one world tree such as Wikitree to assist other researchers.  

Relevant Workspaces and Tools

As you work with the genetic tools you will be predominately working in the following three GDAT workspaces.  When you first start using GDAT it can be difficult to navigate the site and to be clear about the different perspectives you need to apply when working in each of these areas.  

1. Relative - views relevant to your DNA matches;
2. Profile - views relevant to people whose DNA you are monitoring;
3. MRCA - tools to assist your research.

Make sure you know whether you are looking at something from the point of view of your DNA match (Relative) or from the perspective of the DNA Tester whose results you are monitoring (Profile).  

To work effectively, it is also critical that you understand and can apply, chromosome analysis theories when using each tool.  In particular:

• Overlapping segments;
• In common with (ICW) on the same segment;
• Triangulation - what it is and when it shows data on GDAT.

The function keys in GDAT are very useful for navigation within the database.  The most useful functions for genetic analysis are:

• F8 - Relative List: This page is best for viewing all matches by total cMs.  It also has many useful search and filtering functions; 

• F1 - Relative Page:  This is where all the data about your DNA match (Relative) is stored.  It has an extensive notes field and quick links to DNA match pages, pedigrees and email;

 

• F7 - Chromosome Browser: There is a separate chromosome page for each of the 23 chromosomes for every profile.  This is where you identify matches who may belong to the same shared ancestor group.  It can be sorted and filtered in different ways;

• F4 - DNA Comparison Page: if you have loaded sufficient data, this is the engine room for your analysis.  You can often make decisions about matches without the need to go back and forth to the DNA testing site, saving research time.

Lastly, the chromosome analysis view is aimed at helping identify gaps and identify areas for further research.  It is most useful when you have been working with GDAT for a while.  When you first start there will be limited information in this view.

To get help:

* Make sure you first consult the extensive GDAT User Guide;

* Join the Facebook Group for GDAT and search the site to see if the question has been asked before.  If not, ask the question there;

* SAG members can join the 'private' SAG GDAT User Group on Facebook for general collaboration between members.

Remember, as you work with the software:

* Back up regularly (under File);

* Use the available Help resources (under Help);

* If imports or views aren't behaving as you would expect, you probably need to adjust some of the defaults (under Preferences)

* Keep notes, one of the great features of GDAT is being able to easily pick up where you left off last time!

Finally....

As we always say, GDAT is a complicated product, but we are dealing with a complicated subject matter.  Understanding how to use the product will take time and if you don't understand the principles of chromosome analysis then you will struggle mastering it.  

Follow the 'Research Methodology'.  Be proficient in applying the broad approach and use that first.  Then move on to the specific approach utilising the more complex chromosome analysis techniques that GDAT is able to manage so well.

Veronica Williams

GDAT Group Convenor

29th October 2022

Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool (GDAT) - Part 1: Getting started

 

When I first started undertaking DNA analysis back in 2011, I would often duplicate my effort by revisiting key matches, running queries and would sometimes spend many hours before I realised I had gone down the same rabbit hole, again.  I started many 'master' spreadsheets, often deciding to start again as I kept wanting to view the data in different ways.   Jim Bartlett blogged about his spreadsheet method in 2014 and I once again adapted my process to try and get some order into my data management, but I still had so much other information, email folders, pedigrees and notes in different places.  I was in a mess.  The spreadsheet method suits many but the volume of data can make it unmanageable particularly if you are not used to manipulating large amounts of data.  

I had heard about a database called Genome Mate Pro (GMP) but hadn't been able to use it as it only ran on Windows.  It was developed by Becky Walker and was free!  In 2015 a version that worked on a Mac was released and I started using the product, I've not looked back since.  I was delighted as it gave me order and structure, plus I immediately saw results.  Being specifically built to support DNA analysis it had all the views I wanted.  I was able to capture text and pedigree information and it gave me a 'one stop shop' for storing all my information with the ability to also record my progress with notes and status settings.

Fast forward to today, we now have the new and improved Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool (GDAT)  with separate Windows and Mac versions.  Back in 2011, I was only dealing with data from FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch.  In 2022 we have many more testing companies and as a result many more thousands of DNA matches.  I really don't know where I would be without GDAT!  I use it to manage other kits as well as my own and you can see from my latest stats that I now have nearly half a million DNA relatives in my database.  How I could have ever done that in a spreadsheet is beyond me!  Thank you Becky Walker for all you do!!  

Pre requisites

To be able to use the GDAT database you first need to understand the DNA Analysis Framework and the underlying concepts of chromosome analysis.  You must also be computer literate and adept with handling spreadsheets and large amounts of data.

You can find more information about the DNA Framework and chromosome analysis on this page.  If you are unfamiliar with these concepts I suggest you revisit the posts included in the 'DNA Research Framework Modules - Chromosome Analysis' section before attempting to use the GDAT product.

SAG GDAT User Group

This new series of GDAT posts have been developed to support the new user group we are establishing at the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG) for members using the GDAT product.   It does not replace the extensive user guide and help video tutorials already developed by the GDAT team.  Members of the User Group should always consult those resources first.

To get started:

* Watch the video and undertake all the tasks in the Quick Start Guide (Setting up);

* Read how the developer (Becky) approaches her DNA analysis, recognising the tool allows for multiple variations.

To get help:

* Make sure you first consult the extensive GDAT User Guide;

* Join the Facebook Group for GDAT and search the site to see if the question has been asked before.  If not, ask the question there;

* SAG members can join the 'private' SAG GDAT User Group on Facebook for general collaboration between members.

Remember:

* GDAT is a database

* You need to constantly feed it information

* Without loading the relevant report - it can’t tell you anything

* You need to understand chromosome analysis to be able to use it

* Avoid re-work: before you start, decide how you are going to mark groups, use status settings and standardise notes. 

Site overview

The GDAT site is divided into workspaces, the key areas highlighted in the following chart.  Points 1-6 were the focus of our first meeting as these are needed to get started.  Follow the instructions in the User Guide to set up, including the video tutorials.  

The following are some key things to remember as you work with the software.

1. File - open, close, back-up, restore.  Back up regularly!
2. Help - lots of resources, use them;
3. Preferences - check this area if things aren't behaving as you would expect, you probably need to adjust some of the defaults;
4. Edit - this is where you set up profiles and activate import templates.  Profiles are people whose DNA results you are tracking.  It is important to ensure you have set up 'match keys' for each DNA source you want to import.  Before you can get any data into the database, you must also tell GDAT the type of imports you will do and activate the relevant templates;
5. Utilities - alternative way to import gedcom, plus ability to set standard surname and variations;
6. Import Data - this is where you load DNA data.  Remember to set up your import templates before attempting to import your data files (see 4).

When you first start using GDAT it is best to trial it with one profile and one DNA data source.  When you are comfortable with how the software is working, branch out with more profiles or new data sources.

Before you start analysing and marking segments

Once you have set up your profiles and imported data you have the information you need to start your analysis.  However, before you start reviewing your relative list or chromosome browser views (F8 - total cMs; or F7 - cMs by chromosome), make sure you have also loaded a pedigree for each profile.  

Once the pedigree is loaded, it is important to review your group names and make amendments to the ancestral couple names if needed.  As you mark segments to ancestral groups GDAT has a number of tools that use these MRCA group names, including database interrogation tools, chromosome maps, etc so it's important they are consistent.  These tools will be discussed in more detail in future meetings.

As indicated earlier, the more data you feed into GDAT the more useful it will be to you.  You should focus on importing as many pedigrees for your matches as possible if you want to use the GDAT software to work to its fullest extent.   The following chart may assist in deciding how to import pedigree information for your matches.  DNAGedcom can be extremely slow to generate reports, but the advantage is you can import trees in bulk, whereas most other methods are one at a time.  Be aware that these third party tools can be subject to change.

Not all methods of extracting DNA segment data from the source company are the same.  Some are more time consuming than others.  It may depend on the platform you are using.  Many GDAT users use different approaches, you need to decide what works best for you.  Remember whilst GDAT has a triangulation feature, unless you have loaded the relevant ICW and triangulation data it cannot provide accurate reports. Be conscious of when your GDAT system can/cannot provide this, it may not be possible for all DNA sources at all times.  Again, be aware that the third party tools for extracting this information are constantly subject to change.

The last three workspaces will be the focus of future meetings when the genetic and genealogical tools of the GDAT software will be discussed in more detail.

1. Relative - views relevant to your DNA matches;
2. Profile - views relevant to people whose DNA you are monitoring;
3. MRCA - tools to assist your research.

GDAT is a complicated product, but we are dealing with a complicated subject matter.  It has many benefits in increasing your productively when reviewing your DNA results.  It is of particular benefit when managing multiple kits.  If used regularly it provides a 'one stop shop' and makes it much easier to quickly pick up where you left off.  Don't keep re inventing the wheel, it might be time consuming to start but bear with it.  If you are serious about your analysis and plan to be in it for the long haul it will definitely be worth it!

Veronica Williams

GDAT Group Convenor

23rd September 2022

Other GMP references:

There are some other documents that may be useful when learning about GDAT that were developed for the old GMP system.  Whilst not exactly applicable, many of the concepts are the same.  Most I know about have been collated onto the DNA Sydney blogsite, you can access them via this page.