* Delete unwanted Records

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vikingalchemy
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Delete unwanted Records

Post by vikingalchemy »

Hi all,
I have entered a spurious individual into my tree on FH along with several ancestors/siblings.

I am interested to know the neatest way to get rid of this branch and replace it with the correct relatives. As well as each individual's record, I am going to need to get rid of the associated source records.

What would be the advice for the "cleanest" way to do this?

Thanks in advance
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tatewise
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by tatewise »

As well as Individual & Source records, there will probably be Family & Media & Place records to delete too.

Have you a backup that predates the addition of that rogue branch?
Has no other data been changed in the Project since that backup?

If you can answer YES to both those questions then restore that backup.
Do you need advice on how to restore backups?

Even if you don't have a backup, is there a date that predates the rogue branch and no other data has been changed since?
In that case you can revert to an automatic Snapshot taken at that date.
Do you need advice on how to revert to a Snapshot?

If nether of those options are a possibility then ask again and I have another option using Export GEDCOM file.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Mark1834
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by Mark1834 »

I removed a small branch of about a dozen people recently. I couldn’t restore a backup as they were not a recent addition to the tree. However, I simply deleted the individuals one at a time, then deleted sources with no citations, and finally media records with no citations.
Mark Draper
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tatewise
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by tatewise »

Don't forget Place records!
It should be possible to use File > Export > GEDCOM File and Select all but the dozen Individuals in the branch.
Then ensure Unconnected Records is ticked and use Full File Paths for Media.
Create a new Project from the exported GEDCOM and you should be good to go.
When happy, delete the old Project.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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vikingalchemy
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by vikingalchemy »

Thanks for the replies Mike and Mark.

Sod's law dictates that my pre-rogue backups were recently deleted!

It looks like I will need to go down the other route you suggested (export GEDCOM file)

Are the instructions you have already posted Mike sufficient for me to do this? Is there anything else I need to be careful with?

My first thoughts were to follow the same procedure as Mark has done and painstakenly go through each individual
deleting sources as I went. However, it didn't occur to me that there would be family, media and place records to deal with as well.
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tatewise
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by tatewise »

First of all check File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot to see if any pre-date the rogue branch.

That offers the option of reverting the Project GEDCOM file back to the Snapshot GEDCOM file taken at the chosen date.
If that turns out to be unsatisfactory, you can try another Snapshot, or return to the current GEDCOM.

Otherwise, the Export > GEDCOM File command should work OK as I described.
The only caveat I can think of is how Media file folders get organised after creating the new Project.
If you have a structured Project Media folder with sub-folders they may get rolled up into just the Media folder.
But don't worry if that happens as there is a workaround using your current Project files, so don't delete that.

BTW:
The Revert to Snapshot and the manual record by record methods may need redundant Media files to be purged.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Mark1834
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by Mark1834 »

It probably depends on how many records there are and how your mind works as to which is the better method. The GEDCOM route is potentially quicker, but you will be picking names to delete off a list (unless there is a query that lists only the records to be deleted) and may have to do some recovery work afterwards. For the manual method, you can see how records relate to each other in either the focus window or a diagram/chart as you select and delete them so perhaps less likely to make an incorrect selection. Cleaning up unused sources, places and media afterwards is relatively trivial, as you simply order the records window by number of links or citations and delete records with a zero value.

Whichever route you take, make absolutely sure you make a backup copy of your database before you start, just in case it goes horribly wrong...
Mark Draper
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vikingalchemy
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Re: Delete unwanted Records

Post by vikingalchemy »

Hi Mike and Mark

I looked at the snapshots but none were suitable. (However I now know they exist and may prove useful in future)

I have used the export Gedcom method which looked complicated at first but went smoothly. I now have 2 project files in my window - the original and the amended one. I am pretty sure the amended one is exactly what I was after but I'm keeping the original for a while just in case!

I only had six rogue entries but I did a belt and braces approach and went through each individual's facts and noted the appropriate sources and which ones I hoped would disappear and those which should be kept. On checking afterwards, it seems that the export gedcom did everything I wanted and the sources relevant to "correct" individuals were in fact retained. I have looked at the media files also and they are all listed as one (I'm not too sure what I would be looking for though, but suffice to say I hadn't structured the media myself in any special way or folder structure so I think they are just in a default set up which suits me at the moment)

Thanks again for your help as usual - I would never have got to that method myself.
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