Push to GDAT EAP

Overview

Push to GDAT copies what you have gathered for a kit into a GDAT database: the kit's matches, shared matches, chromosome segments and the trees gathered for the matches. There are no CSV files to make or import. Two things use that database:

• the People pages in the Client, which keep their people there, and
• the Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool (GDAT), if you use it.

The page is in the Client under Data > Push to GDAT, and is also reached from the Push to GDAT button on the People list. Pushing is free; it does not need a subscription level.

Before You Start

• Gather first. The Client can only push what it has gathered. Shared matches, segments and trees are pushed only if you gathered them.
• If you use GDAT, use 2026r03.2 or later. Older versions of GDAT, including 2026r02, cannot open a database the Client has written to. The People pages need 2026r03.3 or later.
• Keep both files on your own drive. Don't keep your DNAGedcom database or your GDAT database in OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or a network folder. Syncing locks the files and can damage them.
• Back up your GDAT database before your first push into it.

Which GDAT File

• You do not use GDAT. Leave Push into GDAT blank. The first push creates a file named DNAGedcomGDAT.db in your DNAGedcom data folder and uses it from then on.
• You already have a GDAT database. Click Browse… beside Push into GDAT and choose it. The first time, the Client makes a backup copy beside the file, then adds the few tables it needs. Nothing of yours is removed.

Pushing Kits

1. Open Data > Push to GDAT. The kits in your current DNAGedcom database are listed. To push from a different DNAGedcom database, set Gather from and click Refresh kits.
2. Tick the kits to push in the Push column. Select all and Select none tick or clear every kit at once.
3. Check Push into person for each kit (see below).
4. Click Push selected kits to GDAT. The Client first checks the GDAT file for damage, which can take half a minute for a large file. Progress is then written to the log at the bottom of the page, ending with Push complete. A kit with tens of thousands of matches takes around a minute.

Column	What it shows
Vendor	The testing company.
Kit	The kit's identifier at that company.
Owner (gathered)	The tester's name as it was gathered.
In GDAT	Where the kit stands (see below).
Push into person	The person in GDAT this kit belongs to. You can type a different name.

In GDAT	Meaning
Not in GDAT	Never pushed.
In GDAT, not pushed yet	GDAT has this kit from its own import, but it has not been pushed.
Out of date	You have gathered this kit again since the last push, or it was pushed by an older version of the Client. Push it.
Up to date	Nothing new to push.

Push Into Person

Kits with the same name under Push into person are pushed into one GDAT profile. If the same person tested with A*, FTDNA and GEDmatch, give all three kits the same name and their matches arrive on one profile, which is how GDAT expects a person with several tests to be kept.

One person can hold only one kit from each company. If two kits from the same company have the same name, the push stops and asks you to give one of them a different name.

If you push two kits of one person under different names by mistake, you do not need to start again: open either person in People and link the other kit to them. The two are merged.

What Goes Where in GDAT

From the Client	Where you see it in GDAT
Matches: name, shared cM, segments, longest segment, side, sex, haplogroups, email, surnames	Relative List and the relative's page
Date the match was added, and a relationship from the shared cM	Relative List: Date and Relationship
Your notes at the company	MRCA Note
Heritage (A*, 23andMe) and family locations (23andMe)	Relative page: Heritage, Family Locations
Link to the match's tree	Relative page: Links Available to All Profiles
Link to the match at the company	Relative page: Links Specific to the Current Profile
Shared matches (ICW)	ICW Analysis
Chromosome segments	Chromosome Browser and Segment Map
Match trees	Ahnentafel

What each company provides:

Company	Matches	Shared matches	Segments	Trees
A*	✓	✓	—	✓
FTDNA	✓	✓	✓	✓
MyHeritage	✓	✓	✓	✓
GEDmatch	✓	✓	✓	—
23andMe	✓	✓	✓	—

Pushing Again

Push a kit again whenever you have gathered more for it. Pushing again is safe:

• Existing matches are refreshed, never duplicated.
• What you have done in GDAT is kept: sides you set, segment groups, confirmed and hidden segments, MRCA notes, relationships you typed, and trees you locked. Pushing only fills a field that is still blank.
• People you merged in the Client stay merged.

Keeping GDAT Up to Date Automatically

With Keep GDAT up to date automatically after each gather ticked, the Client pushes kits that are new or have changed a little while after a gather finishes. It is on by default when the Client created the GDAT file for you, and off by default when you chose a file of your own. It never creates a GDAT file by itself; the first push is always one you start.

Using GDAT at the Same Time

You can have GDAT open on the same file while the Client pushes. Until you are on GDAT 2026r03.3 or later, GDAT may show a “database is locked” message if you do something in it at the moment the Client is writing. Nothing is lost; wait a few seconds and repeat what you were doing. On Windows it is simplest to close GDAT before you push.

Check It Worked

1. Open the database in GDAT and pick the profile from the list at the top left.
2. Open Profile › Relative List and choose the company under DNA Source (A* is listed as Archived). The count at the bottom should match the number of matches you gathered. Each row should have a Date and a Relationship.
3. For FTDNA, MyHeritage, GEDmatch or 23andMe, open Profile › Chromosome Browser. Every segment should have a bar, with start and end in millions of base pairs (for example 0.7 to 249.2 on chromosome 1).
4. Open a match with a tree and press F2 for the Ahnentafel.

What Is Not Pushed

• Kits from LivingDNA and Genomelink are not pushed yet.
• Your uploaded GEDCOM files stay in your DNAGedcom database. A person from one of them is added to the GDAT file only when you link them to somebody in People.

If Something Looks Wrong

What you see	What to do
There is no GDAT file at …	The file in Push into GDAT does not exist. Browse to your GDAT database, or clear the box and the Client makes one.
… has two FTDNA kits (or another company)	One person can have only one kit at each company. Give one of the kits a different Push into person.
GDAT can't open the database, or asks for a database in the Documents folder	Your GDAT is older than 2026r03.2. Install the current GDAT.
This GDAT database is damaged, so nothing was pushed into it	The file is damaged, even if GDAT still opens it. Nothing was changed. Restore your GDAT database from a backup, or clear the Push into GDAT box to push into a new file.
… uses an interim schema. Open it once in GDAT 2026r03.2 or later	Open the database in the current GDAT once, close GDAT, then push.
Matches have no Date or Relationship, or the Chromosome Browser shows no bars	The kit was pushed by an older version of the Client. Update the Client: the kit then shows Out of date. Push it again. Your groups and sides are kept.
A kit is missing from the list	Click Refresh kits. A kit appears only once it has gathered matches.
A match has no segments	Chromosome data was not gathered for that kit, or the company does not provide it (A*, and 23andMe since 2024). Turn on chromosome gathering and gather again.
No shared matches or trees	They were not gathered. Turn them on in the gather options, gather again, then push.
The same person appears as two profiles	Their kits were pushed under different names. Link the kits in People, or give them the same Push into person and push again.
Anything else	Use Send Logs to Support in the Client and tell us which kit and what you expected to see.

Related Pages

• People — the people your pushed kits bring in.
• DNAGedcom Extract — the older CSV route into GDAT.
• GDAT documentation.
• Manage DNAGedcom Files — copy kits between DNAGedcom databases.
• Database — where the Client keeps its data.