* Migrating to a New PC

[David Potter]

Hi Forum

I have successfully managed to migrate my FH database and all settings to my new Laptop.

However when running the Backup and Restore FH Settings Plug-In. I seem to have created a new folder 'Family Historian' on the Old PC and now on the New PC. It is one level below the folder I set in The Plug-In. Looking into the folder contents it looks like the Plug-In Back Up data.

I have run the restore and all looks good. Can I now delete that folder from the new Laptop?

BR

David

[tatewise]

Yes, the Family Historian folder holds all the FH settings for the Plugin to Backup to and Restore from.

I would advise you keep the folder, and use the Plugin from time to time to keep it up-to-date, and include it in your standard PC backup regime. Then when your PC/Disk crashes you can recover without losing to much customisation.

It is one level below the Plugin chosen Backup folder, because it is possible to have more than one version of FH installed.
e.g. You can install the free FH V3 and in the past FH Beta Test versions can be installed and their Plugin backups sit alongside the Family Historian folder.

[David Potter]

Okay - Mike

Understood. Many thanks.

[RogerF]

With 20:20 hindsight, might that folder have been better named FH Config Backup, or similar?

[David Potter]

Yes - that would help. I followed the migration instructions explicitly and they didn't mention it will create an addition folder below the path I entered in the Plug-In settings. So I wasn't expecting to see a new folder appear. But the naming might help a little going forward.

[tatewise]

Agreed with hindsight the folder may be better named, but it would be tricky to change that now, especially since long-time users may have archive backups using the current naming convention.

I will add some extra advice to the Plugin Help & Advice and the Migration Guide regarding the folders created by the Plugin.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

Yes - I can see that could cause issues renaming the file. Thanks for updating the instructions.

[RogerF]

It may well be more trouble than it's worth, Mike, but you might consider an opt-in config option to actively switch to the more meaningful name.

[tatewise]

If I were to do it, would be easier to code the Plugin to handle both old and new style folder names automatically.
e.g. Family Historian versus Family Historian Settings Archive
It would continue to use the old style folder if it already existed, but use the new style when starting afresh.
Users could delete the old style folder when wanting to switch to the new style.

Coding a GUI option is always a more difficult alternative, and too reliant on the user getting the option correct ! ! !
New users often complain that there are too many options to choose from.
Expert users ask for more options to suit their way of working.
Simon Orde, Nick Walker, and I can never win

[David Potter]

Hi All

Since working with the newly migrated FH installation on my New laptop. I have noticed an issue with practically all Witnessed Events.
On my Old laptop - witnessed events would be quite descriptive, EG, Informed Birth of... Or Witnessed Baptism of...


With the New FH installation I have the basic Event 'label' but not the details, any ideas how this can be fixed?

This issue is affecting all what I would call Vital Witnessed Facts - not just one Individual. Although Marriage Witness events appear okay?
You can see Facts like 'Mourner' and 'Named as Beneficiary' also appear okay.

Many thanks.

[tatewise]

That suggests that either all customisations, or at least your Custom Fact and Custom Fact Witness definitions, have not migrated from old PC to new PC.

The Fact Witnesses that are displayed correctly, such as Marriage Witness and Cremation Mourner, are predefined in the FH Installation Settings, whereas your custom Witness Roles such as Birth/Death Informant and Probate Executor are not.

On Monday you said you ran the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings Plugin to Restore all your customisations on the new PC, so something appears to have gone awry with that restore process, at least for Witness Roles.

Can you confirm that all the other customisations such as custom Facts, Reports, Diagrams, etc, have migrated OK.

I wonder if the Plugin presented you with messages saying that some existing customisations in FH were dated differently than the Backup and you chose to keep the FH customisations rather restore the Backup set. In the case of the Standard.fhf Fact Set if the Backup did not overwrite the FH file then your custom Witness Roles on the Standard Facts (Birth, Baptism, Death, Probate) would not have migrated.

Try repeating the Restore using just the Program Data Files button, and that should fix it as long as you ensure the Backup always overrides the FH settings.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

I do recall seeing something along the lines of a number of buttons during the Restore process (4 I think) that mentioned something to do with keep this or not. I must admit I got a bit confused at that point because it was a fresh backup of settings from the old machine. I'll check out the other things to look for and report back.

Problem is I have made a number of updates to this new install. It was only today that I noticed this issue when keying in newly arrived Death Certs. If I rerun the Program Data Files part only I guess I will lose these updates - correct along with other updates made yesterday.
I could rekey it all after this is fixed but if there's a quicker way? What's best to solve that compare and merge ?

Many thanks

David

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

Custom reports are there in the new FH database, Saved and Custom Diagrams are working, Custom Queries look okay. Facts including Custom Facts are all present.

I think I'll key these updates into the Old FH DB and run the migration again, and then recheck - as I may have lost other things due to my ignorance of what it was asking me to decide upon.

What do you think?

BR

David

[tatewise]

What do you mean by updates?
Do you mean you have updated database Facts & Witnesses in Individual records?
Do you mean you have used Tools > Fact Types to customise Fact & Witness definitions?

If only the former then using the Plugin Restore for Program Data Files has NO affect on your database.

Try and keep a clear distinction between Fact & Witness data entered via the Property Box and Fact & Witness customisation definitions entered via Tools > Fact Types.

The data is different for each person, different Dates, different Places, different Source citations.

The definitions apply globally to all Facts & Witnesses in all Projects.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

Updates as in I have entered new facts for Individuals - like Death facts following newly received Death Certs today. Yesterday I added some Probate information for a number of Individuals.

I have not updated the Fact Types at all since migrating.

In that case I'll try to Restore once again the Program Data Files and see if this fixes the issue on the new laptop.

David

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

That last Restore has worked on the new laptop Things look to be back to normal. I'll make a few more check and compares against the old laptop tomorrow. But certainly looks promising.

Many thanks indeed. Saved me a lot of rekeying.

[tatewise]

OK, that is good.
The Plugin saves the date-time stamp against each saved customisation file, so when restored that can be compared against the date-time stamp of the current customisation file. Then it offers the user the choice between either version, and normally the latest dated one would be the obvious choice, but not always.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

Thought I would just say a big thank you for your help. Things are fine now with the new laptop.