Compare or Synchronize two TMG Projects

[GeoEng51 0]

My apologies if this topic has been addressed already, but I could not find any reference to it by searching the forum.

 

My daughter and I have both been working on my wife's genealogy at the same time. That's the good news. The bad news is that she's been "updating" an old version of my wife's TMG7 project file that I sent her, without checking with me first, so now we have two versions of this file - the one my daughter has been working on, and the one I've been working on.

 

Is there some way to compare and/or synchronize two similar but not identical TMG project files?

 

I don't see access to this kind of function in the TMG menus, nor is it mentioned in the help files.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

Cheers.....GeoEng51

[Michael Hannah 0]

This topic does come up regularly. The most recent example is the topic here.

 

Hope this gives you ideas,

[GeoEng51 0]

This topic does come up regularly. The most recent example is the topic here.

 

Hope this gives you ideas,

 

 

Thanks for the feedback, Michael. I had a look through the other threads, and they were all about as I expected - the simple answer being you have to set up some rules about who maintains the database and makes the changes.

 

I did find a program on Cindi's list called GENMatcher (see http://www.mudcreeksoftware.com/), which lets you compare two genealogical database files. They can be two TMG files, or a selection of files of any of the following formats: GEDCOM, PAF 3- 5, TMG 4, 5, 6 and 7, Family Tree Maker, Legacy 3-7 files and RootsMagic. I've tried the program out and it works quite well, but you still have to go through the files person by person, which might be a slow go, if you have a lot of names, or aren't sure which names have been changed.

[jnickel 0]

I think trying to maintain two file sets in sync at two different locations is so fraught with potential for human error you're just asking for trouble. The discipline required to pull it off is not something you'll find in many people. First principle. You're human and you're daughter is human and with that comes all the frailties.

 

Having one person as master of the file and entering all edits isn't all that appealing to me. It just seems a waste of effort for one person to write down [in an e-mail] what changes need to be made and the master copying that into the database. It solves control issues that for certain, but it just seems a waste of human effort.

 

I might be inclined to looking at a solution where there is one database that multiple people can access and change. One person at a time. In the same household it's easy. TMG installed on multiple PCs and the TMG project on a shared network drive. Different locations complicates the problem significantly. If you can arrange to have a shared network drive in the cloud that would be great, but I don't know of any free service to do that.

 

Alternately, you could use one of the online backup services to store the project. When one person wants to edit the project they "restore" it to their PC, edit and then back it up to the on line service when finished. There are two issues with that approach.

 

1. Restoring a project implies a path. For two people on different PCs to use the same project restored from a backup service indicates the operating paths must be identical. Not an insurmountable problem. The easiest approach would be for both parties to set up a logical drive [e.g. Drive M:] where the Project files are stored.

 

2. The other issue is avoiding simultaneous editing. You and your daughter each restore the file to your PCs and happily edited the project. You backup the file, then she backs up her files overwriting your updates. It would be nice if the service only allowed a single log-in at any one time. I just checked the service I was for backup and it allows me in to the storage area from two different PCs in my household at the same time. The other approach requires a bit of discipline. If I intend on updating the Project I start by sending an e-mail notification that I'm about to do that and will follow up with an additional e-mail notification when I'm finished and have backed up the files. Even if one person fails to notify the other and the second person should notify them when they are about to edit the file. A two person failure at the same time is unlikely. And if it does occur, it will probably be the last time it occurs.

 

All this is subject to who you're doing the project with. I was tried a collaborative project with three people in the group. Within two weeks I knew that at least two people did not have the discipline to pull it off and I pulled the plug. You're always going to have some level of risk when you give up control of your file. You have to be the judge of what you're willing to let go of.

[GeoEng51 0]

I think trying to maintain two file sets in sync at two different locations is so fraught with potential for human error you're just asking for trouble. The discipline required to pull it off is not something you'll find in many people. First principle. You're human and you're daughter is human and with that comes all the frailties.

 

Having one person as master of the file and entering all edits isn't all that appealing to me. It just seems a waste of effort for one person to write down [in an e-mail] what changes need to be made and the master copying that into the database. It solves control issues that for certain, but it just seems a waste of human effort.

 

I might be inclined to looking at a solution where there is one database that multiple people can access and change. One person at a time. In the same household it's easy. TMG installed on multiple PCs and the TMG project on a shared network drive. Different locations complicates the problem significantly. If you can arrange to have a shared network drive in the cloud that would be great, but I don't know of any free service to do that.

 

Alternately, you could use one of the online backup services to store the project. When one person wants to edit the project they "restore" it to their PC, edit and then back it up to the on line service when finished. There are two issues with that approach.

 

1. Restoring a project implies a path. For two people on different PCs to use the same project restored from a backup service indicates the operating paths must be identical. Not an insurmountable problem. The easiest approach would be for both parties to set up a logical drive [e.g. Drive M:] where the Project files are stored.

 

2. The other issue is avoiding simultaneous editing. You and your daughter each restore the file to your PCs and happily edited the project. You backup the file, then she backs up her files overwriting your updates. It would be nice if the service only allowed a single log-in at any one time. I just checked the service I was for backup and it allows me in to the storage area from two different PCs in my household at the same time. The other approach requires a bit of discipline. If I intend on updating the Project I start by sending an e-mail notification that I'm about to do that and will follow up with an additional e-mail notification when I'm finished and have backed up the files. Even if one person fails to notify the other and the second person should notify them when they are about to edit the file. A two person failure at the same time is unlikely. And if it does occur, it will probably be the last time it occurs.

 

All this is subject to who you're doing the project with. I was tried a collaborative project with three people in the group. Within two weeks I knew that at least two people did not have the discipline to pull it off and I pulled the plug. You're always going to have some level of risk when you give up control of your file. You have to be the judge of what you're willing to let go of.

 

 

JNickel,

 

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback. I know it takes a bit of time to marshall one's thoughts and get them down in a sensible manner, so I appreciate you doing so.

 

I'm hoping this mixup "event" is a one-off, i.e., I had always intended that only one person work on our TMG databases at a time (easy enough to do when I was the only one at it), and that there was always clear notification when this was going to happen. However, I think my daughter got a bit carried away despite our "agreement". The fact that we have to figure out what she did, and recover from it, will (I hope) impose a little of that needed discipline into the process.

 

My kids and wife and I do all access www.myfamily.com, to keep in touch - I think that would be a useful place to regulary archive backup copies of our TMG databases, so that if we have future problems, it is even easier to recover. And we could also use it as a place to give notification of when we are working on a particular database (we have in common) - so before anyone started making any changes, they'd check on the myfamily web site, to see if anyone was already changing that database. If not, they could post a note saying they were. If so, they could contact the other person and arrange to get the latest version. Something like that would work.

 

I think I was the architect of my own downfall here - I was so keen on my daughter using the same genealogy program as I did, that I even bought her a copy of TMG! But I'm just as happy to have a young, ethusiastic person working on my genealogy - I've been neglecting it recently in favour of getting some of my wife's side done.

 

Life progresses - not always at a steady pace, but in fits and starts, with a few dead ends and retractions

[GeoEng51 0]

Just a follow-up comment on GenMatcher - I've worked with it some more, and want to revise my statement about how long it takes to compare files. While it is true that the program makes a comparison on a person-by-person basis, finding differences is very quick. For each person, there might be a list of 5 or 10 lines of information (name, birth, marriage, death, spouse's name, children's names, etc.) Each line is colour coded - green for identical information, red for changed information, yellow for added information. So, if all entries under a particular name are identical, then its "green across the board". If any red or yellow lines show up, there is some difference. So, its pretty easy to just scroll down through each name and quickly look for red or yellow lines - a file with 350 names only took me a couple of minutes. So, this program is a very good, fast way to compare two similar TMG database files.

[joanmc 0]

Thanks so much for posting this info on GenMatcher! I too have 2 TMG databases with variations though unfortunately, I have no one but myself to blame . I had my desktop become unavailable for 4 months last year so used my laptop for that period, updating my db during that time. When I again had access to my desktop, like an idiot, I entered a number of changes before restoring from my laptop!!!! I will now get that program and try and fix my stupidity

 

Joan

[GeoEng51 0]

Thanks so much for posting this info on GenMatcher! I too have 2 TMG databases with variations though unfortunately, I have no one but myself to blame . I had my desktop become unavailable for 4 months last year so used my laptop for that period, updating my db during that time. When I again had access to my desktop, like an idiot, I entered a number of changes before restoring from my laptop!!!! I will now get that program and try and fix my stupidity

 

Joan

 

Joan,

 

Good to hear that it will help out! I entered the second set of comments on GenMatcher, as I didn't want people thinking I was being a bit negative about it. The more I use it, the more I like it! Its going to become a regular in my stable of genealogy programs, as our family progresses in genealogy work, and we have more and more people working on it. I've had the luxury of doing all of it myself, for many years, and then having my daughter get enthusiastically involved about a year ago. I must say I'd rather deal with these problems, than continue doing all the research on my own.