I want to bounce something off you guys, especially those who are familiar with RootsMagic. This is the situation. I have three different genealogy databases for my family tree. Way back when I started, it made sense. One database for my Dad’s side, one for the Jones Jackson line, and one for the massive Pacheco de Braga clan.
I should have listed this under Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post last week. Because if I knew then what I know now, I would not have created three separate databases. I would have created only one.
Sure, at the time it made sense. God only know what logic I used at the time! Maybe it was because it was around 1988-1990 when I got my first genealogy sofware, The Leading Edge (a program I loved, by the way) It could be that it had limits on the amount of people in a database or maybe it was easier to navigate by separate the different sides of my tree. At any rate, it makes no sense now.
I will combine the databases using GEDCOM files (unless there is a better way). All of my databases have custom fields. They are more or less consistent on place names.
This is what I’d like feedback on. What problems will I encounter by combining these three databases? I know that I will have some duplicate people because I input parts of the ancestral line into all the databases mainly for reports. I plan to make the Pacheco-de Braga database my base and delete duplicate family members from the other two prior to importing. That should cut down on the amount of people I need to merge.
I know that my biggest problem will be with any duplicates that I have to merge. Once I merge them I may have to clean up duplicate custom fact fields.
What will happen to my custom fact fields? Will I lose any when I do the import?
Is there anything else I should consider prior to combining the three databases?
I will work off a new database rather than importing into an existing one. That way if I screw up, I won’t mess up the work I have. I will make backups but this will be an extra way to ensure that I can go back if the whole thing doesn’t work right.
If anyone has tips for me I will appreciate it! Thanks for any and all help!
I have no idea about your custom facts, you may have to re-invent the ones not present in the data base that becomes your Main Squeeze. You should be able to pretty much copy and paste that kind of thing, maybe in a word processor just to have it all in one place. Go from one data base to the wp to the next data base. (Does that make sense?? It does to me! LOL)
I have always blended data bases from inside RM, not with GEDCOMS.
Open two data bases in RM at the same time, they will appear side by side, then do the merge, there are a lot of questions about what you want and don’t want to merge, it has been AGES since I did one, so, I am not going to try to write a tutorial on it.
Suggest you read some of the RM help boards and anything else you can find via their postings.
Good luck, take your time, do make a GEDCOM and backups of each data base before you start. If it were me, I might make the new database have a brand new name to keep it separate from the other 3 old ones.