Family Historian User Group

Hopefully others will not make the same mistakes as I did....

Visiting Suffolk recently, I took a day in the archives to search out some original Parish Registers as their on-line availability is relatively poor. Unlike some other record offices, they do not permit scanning to USB, so it was a case of either transcribing with pencil and paper as we have done for decades, or enter the data directly into a laptop copy of FH.

Naturally, I chose the latter, but most of my work on FH is on my twin-monitor desktop setup, and it was the first time that I had used the laptop copy in anger, and two things didn't go as planned -

1. I had omitted to update the laptop copies of the Program Data and AppData folders, so did not have all my plug-ins or custom queries available.

2. Potentially more seriously, I had made some minor changes to my database on the desktop just before the visit in order to prepare some printed reports, and for some reason OneDrive did not fully synchronize the changes to the laptop, so I unknowingly spent a whole day entering data into an out of date database!

Luckily, I was able to salvage the situation afterwards by comparing and merging the two database copies, but a little more preparation would have saved a lot of time and stress.........

I don't use One Drive so I don't know why it would not sync.

With regard to the Program data folder. If having all your settings available you can use Mike's Backup and Restore FH Settings plugin, or use fhugdownloads:contents:windows_directory_junctions|> Utility ~ Windows Directory Junctions to redirect where Family Historian looks for it's settings to use a folder in one drive.

Yes, the concepts are all covered in how_to:family_historian_migration_guide|> Family Historian V5 & V6 Migration Guide.

Depending on the size of the changes you have to give OneDrive enough time to upload from PC and download to laptop with both online together.

@Mike
Did you ever manage to work out what the synchronisation rules are for OneDrive? eg.

• does a newer file always overwrite an older file, regardless of direction, size, read-only, and which file date does it use (created, modified, accessed)
  if a file exists on one device but not on the other device, how does it decide whether to copy the file or delete it.

These days I use SyncBack** on my PC to copy (and zip with a password) files to my OneDrive folder, then just allow OneDrive to update itself, so I have that as a backup (in addition to two other backup places).
** SyncBack allows you to define what happens to files based on date, name, size etc, so that you can understand exactly what it's doing.

Thanks Jane, I wasn’t familiar with junctions, so could be useful. It’s a pity that FH doesn’t permit the user to specify where program data are stored, as it seems an odd omission for what is otherwise a very flexible program.

Another option could be a utility such as FreeFileSync to mirror the program data folders to a location that is backed up or copied automatically. It creates second copies rather than links, which is never ideal, but would be very flexible in how it is configured (two way sync, or one way master/slave). I suspect it is only worth it if you are using two copies regularly. For the annual visit to the archives it is probably over-engineered!

My understanding of OneDrive is that it works on the principle of “most recent change”. So if you have three copies of a file (one in the cloud, and two on different local systems), any change to one of these is pushed automatically to other copies. This holds for both file modifications and deletions.

I haven’t tested the more complicated scenario of multiple copies being opened simultaneously on different systems, as I never work that way for just my individual personal use.

Yes, OneDrive uses most recent change, and I guess treats files deleted to Recycle Bin as a file move just like any other file move.

Unfortunately, FH keeps many customisation settings in the Windows Registry and NOT just the ProgramData folders.
e.g. All the standard core Diagram settings are in the Windows Registry.
See how_to:move_settings|> Move Family Historian Settings and Projects and how_to:understanding_scope_of_features|> Understanding the Scope of Features for full details.

The Backup and Restore FH Settings Plugin copes with all those.

OneDrive is a little opaque about its rules. I do use it, though for Family Historian I sync to my own Cloud hosted on my NAS and available over the internet. I like this way of working as my sync client is a bit noisy and makes it clear when it is syncing. I do find it helps to power up my laptop before I go and work in (eg) the library to make sure I'm fully up to date.

Sync Back is a great piece of software with lots of options. Well featured and the free version should do more than enough for most people

tatewise wrote:you have to give OneDrive enough time to upload from PC and download to laptop with both online together.

They don't both have to be online together. I now use OneDrive to sync between desktop PC and laptop. Most data entry is done on the desktop PC which syncs with OneDrive. Next time the laptop is switched on it updates from OneDrive. The only potential catch is that while entering data I 'pause' the sync. This is because I have a large thumbnail cache which is slow to sync every time I add a new media image, and this can interfere with autosave. If I forget to start the sync again when I have finished, it starts automatically next time the PC is switched on. However if I use the laptop before that, obviously the laptop will not update. Could this be the cause of the original problem?

Yes, they don't have to be online together, but that is the easiest rule to follow.

Delete the ThumbCache.dat file occasionally as per Media Problem: 'an error has occurred - unable to load object' (16152).

I have never found that deleting the ThumbCache.dat file helps unless you have the Tools>Preferences>General>Advanced>Thumbnail option set to Load When Needed. With the default Auto-cache (recommended) option the file just gets recreated. On one occasion the newly created file was larger than the one I had deleted!

I find that pausing the sync while entering data works well. Just a personal preference.