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Dennis Norton

Merge Locations

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I recently downloaded The Master Genealogist and love it so far. (I also purchased FTM, which is very weak compared wit TMG.) I had been using Ultimate Family Tree, but decided to upgrade to a more versitile program.

 

Due to importing of GEDCOM files for many years while in UFT, many duplicate/similar places are in the database. How can I merge the place names/cities/counties/states? Is there a way similar as with merging people?

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Welcome Dennis,

 

As a user for several years I agree that one of the best aspects of TMG is its versatility and ability to be customized.

 

Duplicate places are easy to merge in TMG. First, TMG is a true relational database, so a place name is only stored once. Multiple event tags all link to the same single entry in the Master Place List. If you modify an existing place in the Master Place List the change is immediately reflected in all the events that link to that place entry. If you change one place entry to become identical to another existing place entry, when next you run the Optimize function the identical places are automatically merged to a single entry.

 

Merging people is also as easy, but there are lots of extra things associated with a person, like events and sources, that may themselves have to be merged. Terry Reigel, the author of the TMG Primer, has a number of valuable web pages, especially about merging. His main site is here. I highly recommend reviewing his explanation of TMG's basic concepts here and the issues about merging people here.

 

There are lots of us friendly users who contribute to this Forum, so if you have questions don't hesitate to ask.

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Dennis,

 

Welcome to TMG.

 

Check out the Tools, Master Place List, option from the main menu. You can sort the list in whatever order seems most logical to you and then start the clean up. There really isn't a merge function. You have to edit the spelling / capitalization to be consistently applied. If you need to see events associated with a place during this process, there is an events button at the right side. In the MPL, you can use the Ctl-arrow keys to move an entry to the left or right so that you can get everything in the right "bucket". Sometimes things get messed up in the import.

 

When you are done, I believe you have to go to File, Maintenance, Optimize and run that function in order to actually get the duplicate places to combine so that the MPL again lists only unique places.

 

Finally, when doing data entry there are two tricks to help keep you consistent in your entry. You can use the F3 key to recall the last 10 entries in a field or you may use the F2 key to choose from a list of places. To use the F2 key, be sure you have your cursor in the most detailed level of the location.

 

This is my understanding, but perhaps others will have other input.

 

Best wishes,

 

Jane Neuman

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Just to be clear...

 

To merge identical place records:

File / Maintenance / Optimize

 

To merge people, you need to use:

Tools / Merge Two People

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Thanks so much!!! What a great place :) This program looks great , so far. I am excited about learning its seemingly endless options, etc. I'm sure it will take me a while to get the hang of things, but so far it is very encouraging. This program knocks the socks of FTM.

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Thanks so much!!! What a great place :)
Happy to provide pointers. I think one of the best aspects of TMG is its great user community. While this is the official WhollyGenes site where members of the company are pledged to monitor posts and provide official answers if required, it is primarily run by volunteer users (like myself). You might want to also subscribe to the TMG e-mail list (see info here). The e-mail list is run strictly by and for users, and also has many users that can offer suggestions on how to accomplish what you want to do in TMG. When you have a question about TMG I suggest first looking in three places:
  1. the TMG documentation which includes its embedded Help, and the Primer and GTMOTMG books,
  2. this WhollyGenes forum with its search facility, and
  3. the archives of the TMG e-mail list using the RootsWeb search facility.

This program looks great , so far. I am excited about learning its seemingly endless options, etc. I'm sure it will take me a while to get the hang of things, but so far it is very encouraging. This program knocks the socks of FTM.
While I think TMG is completely usable and easy to use "straight out of the box", I think some of its best capabilities come when you customize and think "outside" that box. ;) As for learning its "seemingly endless options", good luck! :lol: I have been using TMG for five years and there are options and features I have never even tried! However, that is one of TMG's best characteristics, you only have to use those advanced features or customized options if and when you find the need.

 

Good luck, and keep the questions coming,

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