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The GEDCOM X Web services extension (i.e. "GEDCOM X RS") defines a standard interface to genealogical data applications for the World Wide Web. A GEDCOM X RS application is defined in terms of application states. You can think of an application state as a resource, such as a person, relationship, or source. Each application state is defined in terms of the following:

• the available transitions to other states (i.e. "links")

• the HTTP operations that are applicable to those resources

  and

• the media types that are used to read or update application state.

Getting Started

First of all, you're going to need a pretty solid understanding of REST, especially the principles of Hypermedia APIs.

Naturally, you'll also need to understand the principles and practices that drive GEDCOM X. A good place to start might be with the Developers Guide. GEDCOM X RS also uses the Atom media type to drive some of the application state.

Finally, GEDCOM X RS defines a set of extensions to the GEDCOM X and Atom media types which are needed to meet the requirements of a Web-based application. These extensions include the representation of hypermedia links, display properties, and a JSON-based media type for Atom. To find out more about these, start with the RS Developers Guide.