(+) Selecting an Appropriate Database Program for Genealogy Uses

I often receive e-mails asking questions about converting genealogy databases. The questions usually are more or less like this example:

"My organization has been entering data for a long time in a general-purpose database program, not a genealogy program. We use Microsoft Access (or FileMaker Pro or SQL or some other general-purpose database program or Excel spreadsheets). We have thousands of entries in our database. We now want to put this information on the Web (or on CD-ROM or in a book), and we want to use the report generation capabilities of the Brand X genealogy program. Can we convert our Access (or other) database to GEDCOM and import it into the genealogy program?"

The quick answer is, "Yes, if you have enough time and money. However, you will undoubtedly find that it is not practical."