* Media File Issues

[jeremyhills]

Thanks very much. I am now going to have to plod through 3 pages of unlinked media! - so it will be a little while before I can get to the next stage. Again, many thanks Jeremy

[tatewise]

Jeremy, why do you have to plod through pages of unlinked Media?
Do you know FH V6 has an unlinked Media repair feature?

[jeremyhills]

Mike, I am now returning to my labours, and have a question - I have 3 pages of "Files in Media Folder and not linked to project" BUT when I go to an individual record within FH, and go to the citation, I can pick up the image of the source record with no problem - any idea why the image is shown as not linked when I know it is!? The only clue I can give is that it is a ".gif" file - could this be the problem? Thanks, Jeremy

[tatewise]

Jeremy, how is this Media problem related to exporting from FH and importing to GedStar Pro as posted in Gedstar (15190)?
Did my advice solve the original Line#1 in GEDCOM file... error message problem?
If so, then this Media problem needs to be in another posting.

The unlinked Media files are nothing to do with the file type.
I presume you are running the Check for Unlinked Media Plugin with the List Unlinked Media option and getting a large Result Set giving the full file path of each Media file, as shown below.
The fact that one or two Source record Media you have inspected are OK does not mean every Media file is OK.
Use the Tools > External File Links and check the Work with External File Links dialogue.
Is every entry listed within Project Data Folder - Media as shown below?
Do any entries have an X instead of a normal icon - showing the Media file link is broken?
Don't try to fix anything until we have clearer understanding of the problem and how it has arisen.

ExternalFileLinks.png (59.38 KiB) Viewed 9775 times

[jeremyhills]

Yes, it did work, thanks. You are correct that I was using that plugin, and got the output exactly as you showed. I have now just run the "work with external file links" programme, and it says there are 3 broken links it is unable to repair, but there are no "x"s - thanks for your help. Jeremy

[jeremyhills]

Sorry, I have just found some 'x's which I will investigate. Just 2 so far, and I think I know why they are there! Jeremy

[tatewise]

I have started a new thread for this new problem.
Have you tried the Auto Repair Links button shown in my earlier screenshot?

Do you mean you have run the Check and Repair Media Links Plugin?

Does the Check for Unlinked Media Plugin still list many files?
If so, they really are Media files NOT currently linked to your Project.
There are only two options for each file:-

1. Link it to a Media record.
2. Delete it via the above Plugin after all the above linking has been completed.

[jeremyhills]

OK, I have run Work with external file links, and there are now no X's. Check and repair shows 'no problems'. Check for unlinked media still shows a long list, minus the few that I have been able to link - I assume that means I will have to plod through them all. I don't know how that would have happened, but there we are! Thanks for your support, Jeremy

[AdrianBruce]

... Check for unlinked media still shows a long list, minus the few that I have been able to link - I assume that means I will have to plod through them all. I don't know how that would have happened, but there we are! ...

Maybe I've missed something in the previous posts - but why is this a problem? It might be, but it depends on the way that you work. In my media folder, I have plenty of images, etc, that I simply haven't got round to processing. I've downloaded them from Ancestry or FMP but haven't created a source record within FH for them or a fact or person or whatever that links to them. For me, I'd only use the "Check for unlinked media" if I wanted to create a to-do list.

If, on the other hand, you only download an image immediately before using it in FH by creating a source record for it, or whatever, then the "Check for unlinked media" does suggest that you downloaded and forgot to use the image itself in FH. Or even had it in FH once but lost it. You may work like this, which is fine, but just in case - and particularly for anyone else coming new to this thread - I'd just like to emphasise that "Check for unlinked media" only finds problems if you are working in a specific way. If you're not, then at most it's a To-Do list.

[tatewise]

Jeremy, what sort of images are in the long list of unlinked Media files?
Are they personal photos that should have been linked to Individual records?
Are they document images that should have been linked to Source records?
Are they non-image files such as PDF or DOC files?

Usually for every Media file there would be a Media record linking to it.
Have you in the past been in the habit of deleting redundant/unwanted Media records?
If so, then that would explain all those unlinked Media files, because they do not get deleted when the record is deleted.
Or have you split your Project into two sub-Projects using the Split Tree Helper, which can also discard unwanted Media records and leave unlinked Media files behind.

[jeremyhills]

Thanks to both Adrian and Mike. Looking at the list in more detail - there are a lot of census images that I might have downloaded on spec, and I think the rest are small discrepancies in the title (and I can see some) or, as Adrian puts it - they are a to do list. I will go quiet now while I work on them. Thanks again, Jeremy

PS Do you know any way of exporting the list of unlinked files to, say, Excel, or Word? J.

[tatewise]

Yes, use the Save Query To File option in toolbar top right and choose PDF, CSV or Text file.

[jeremyhills]

Thanks, Jeremy