Tiny Tafel

The Tiny Tafel format [tye-nee tahf-uhl] provides a compact way of describing the main surnames found in a family genealogy, which can be read by humans and matched by computers using a Tafel Matching System. The Tiny Tafel lists the Soundex encoded representation of each surname (to allow for matching surnames with spelling variations), accompanied by a corresponding range of dates and locations associated with the surname. Many genealogy programs can produce Tiny Tafel reports. Tiny Tafels were traditionally posted to public forums, such as a BBS (Bulletin Board System) and are still regularly used today with a number of internet sites that provide a Tafel Matching System, in order to indicate whether two genealogical databases have a probable connection or overlap.

Paul Andereck, former editor of Genealogical Computing magazine, proposed the idea and the specification was developed by Commsoft in 1986.