* Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Importing from another genealogy program? This is the place to ask. Questions about Exporting should go in the Exporting sub-forum of the General Usage forum.
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LeslieP
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by LeslieP »

Just a reminder when you're working up the plugin code - for folks (like me) who keep media outside of the FH file structure, our duplicate media items will indeed link to the exact same filename, so while allowing for the (1) and (2) stuff, you'll need to include the exact duplicate as well.
Leslie P
Houston, TX
from TMG to RootsMagic to FH7
publish to web via TNG
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Mark1834
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by Mark1834 »

I've just had a quick look at this. If you maintain your media files externally and don't tell FH to copy to the project folder (both Leslie's and my preferred mode of working) it's very simple. The absolute file paths are preserved on input, there is no duplication, and the Media Records are identical.

If you tell FH to copy all the files into the project folder, it ignores any structure you may have had before, and just dumps everything in one folder. That creates duplicates, hence the suffixes and risk of files with the same name that were originally in distinct folders being mashed in together. Black mark to FH - it's a pretty crude input process. I've never followed that recommendation, so wasn't aware of its significant shortcomings.

That makes the quick and dirty approach even easier if we limit the scope to external media. Let's wait for Mike's verdict on modifying the store plugin. I took his earlier comment as being a showstopper for FH7, and proposed a quick and dirty as better than nothing. If there is an easy fix (say by not saving the results, which feels very much like a "nice to have" rather than essential), it is better to avoid proliferation if possible.
Mark Draper
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cwhermann
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by cwhermann »

You can add me to the list of recent RM converts who maintains media outside the FH files.
Curtis Hermann
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tatewise
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by tatewise »

Mark, FH can import Media files into the Project and keep the original folder structure.
The advice is now somewhat hidden in the FH Help system whereas before it was linked to the Project Window.
See Upgrading from Version 3 or Earlier under I have my own system for organising media files. If I create a new project and let Family Historian copy my media files into the new project folder, will it just copy them all into one subfolder?

Nevertheless, when the duplicate Media Records are created on import the Media file is also duplicated with (n) suffixes, even when the folder structure is replicated.

I got a quick and dirty update to the Plugin working last night without needing SQL but it needs a bit more testing.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Mark1834
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by Mark1834 »

That is well buried - it's under a different topic altogether!

Another minor update to KB required - we probably ought to warn people who want to keep media in the Project, so they can minimise the damage.

Purely as a learning exercise, I had a go at my own quick and dirty this morning. Loop through media records (no suffixes) to build a table of duplicates, then nested loops for record type, records and linked media to build new links to "master" copies and identify the redundant links for deletion, and finally delete the redundant links. Tricky bit at my stage of learning was making sure that I deleted the links and not actual records, but there were analogous examples in the plugin store to crib from. Processing the GEDCOM to change the links would have been easier, but I learned more by doing it properly. I wouldn't risk giving it to anybody else, but it seemed to work ok on my copy of the Sample Project exported to RM and then back again.
Mark Draper
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tatewise
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by tatewise »

That hidden advice is on my checklist of Help topics to report to CP one day as it should not be hidden away like that.

See Check for Possible Duplicated Media (19256) for a plugin to merge duplicated Media records.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Mark1834
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Re: Import RootsMagic 7 into Family Historian 7

Post by Mark1834 »

I've re-imported my RM copy of the Sample Project using FH 7.0.4, and everything went smoothly.

First import was without copying the media files into FH, and it simply kept all the old links without any duplication of records.

To test copying the media into FH, I copied the GEDCOM file from the RM export to the Sample Project Data folder (so one folder above where the original media files were located) prior to importing. That's much simpler than the method CP suggest. That also went as expected, with the media folder structure duplicated in my new project. I also had two copies of every file, the original one that RM used and the new copy in the FH project folder. Not ideal if you've got multi gigabytes of media!

RM does not try to manage the media for the user - all its media links are external. IMO, the simplest option for RM users is to NOT select copying of files, and FH will use exactly the same media files as RM. No corruption, no duplication, and you carry on managing the files yourself exactly as before.
Mark Draper
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