* multiple projects open?

[Danielbaker2]

Can I have two projects open at the same time? I have one major one for my mothers line and another major one for my fathers line, and I'm finding a frequent need to go back and forth.... love to have them open and make the switch in the View menu like some programs do in their windows menu.

[tatewise]

You can open FH twice, with one Project in one copy, and the other Project in the other copy.
Why do you need to go back and forth?

BUT an even better solution is to merge the two Projects into one and thereby eliminate the problem.
It is highly recommended that your parent's lines are merged in this way as it has several advantages.
Firstly their children (including you) & grandchildren only need be entered and updated once.
Secondly it is not uncommon to discover that your mother's line and father's line are ancestrally inter-related at some point.

[E Wilcock]

Mike, I too have been wondering about this.

For instance is it possible to have several different projects open (ideally 4) and to run the same query on each of them.
One could then quickly compare the results sets from several projects. Rather than have to make a lot of notes.
But I will post a new query about exporting results

[tatewise]

Yes, you can open as many copies of FH as you like on different Projects as long as your PC can cope.

But avoid opening multiple copies of FH on the same Project as there is a risk that any of the shared files may get upset.
That includes the GEDCOM file, Snapshot files, and Internet Data Matches Cache files.

[E Wilcock]

Thank you Mike. I will back up the projects and see whether it can cope.
The answer is that it can.
Note, I am not running queries simultaneously on two or more projects. I am simply looking through the query results.
I have all four Place projects open and minimised. If I hover the mouse over the fh icon in the lower tool bar an icon shows for each minimised Project meaning that I can pick the one I want and switch very easily from one to another, each with the query results remaining on view. I have never tried this before and it is lovely.
In case others want to do the same: when Windows 7 was ended, we bought a new, expensive computer with a big screen.
I have 8 GB Ram and each fh project is taking only 16 MB.

Thank you all for the advice. Being able to keep multiple projects open will be very convenient too when examining DNA matches as I can never remember which surnames my husband has where.

[Mark183]

Hello Mike.
I have opened FH6 twice (in 2 separate windows) per your advice - I want to create a new project with records from the two separate projects. I do not want to merge the projects as data from each is incorrect plus I want a new Record ID order. I want to copy records from the two different projects into a new (updated) project. I cannot find the answer.... is there a way to just copy and paste individual records from one project to another? Thank you. Mark

[ColeValleyGirl]

No, you can't copy and paste between projects.

[tatewise]

Mark, what you will have to do depends on exactly what needs amalgamating from the two Projects.

1. If necessary, use File > Project Window > More Tasks... > Copy Project... to create copies of your original Projects.
   In both Project's delete the records & facts & media you don't want and purge records with no links.
2. Alternatively, use File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File on both your original Projects to select only the records you want to keep and exclude unconnected records.
   Create a new Project from both of the exported GEDCOM files and review the record details.
3. Use File > Merge/Compare File to merge the two edited Projects into one.
   You can use the Merge dialogue to include/exclude particular details where necessary from either Project.
4. Renumber the Record Id if necessary.

The best way to renumber records depends on your objectives.
Please explain what types of records you want renumbered and why so we can best advise a solution.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Mike,

it sounds to me as if Mark is undertaking a 'do-over' and doesn't want to include any data automatically, but want to build up his new project a record at a time. There might be some records he's happy to reuse without change (hence the request for copy-and-paste) but removing incorrect data won't usually be as simple as moving/excluding/purging records.

[Danielbaker2]

I have a slightly related issue.

I put my FH data on my dropbox - for a purpose. So I could access it, work on it, from both my lan connected desktop computer and my wifi connected laptop.

This proves to be some sort of Dropbox issue, not FH, but seeking insight about it.

The issue is that what I did on the laptop didn't show up as changes within the same database when I returned to open it from the desktop. I'm looking for someone who really knows what is happening here, no guesses.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Did you check that Dropbox had finished synchronizing on the laptop before you turned it off? And that the desktop had completed synchronising before you attempted to access the files?

Did you take care not to have the same project open on both PCs at the same time? When you look in Dropbox, are you seeing anything with 'conflicted copy' in the file name, which usually means you had the project open in two places at once?

[Danielbaker2]

That may be the answer, and I will pursue that in a while, thanks for quick reply. I have some doubts, because one was shut down for hours before using the other, but I will go through it again with those factors.