Larger Merges (Matbe)

[DuaneSmith 0]

Two other persons have asked me to participate in a new (to me) and older (to them) project. They both use FTM 2009, I sent them a detailed descendant report from my grandparents (lots of new information for them and they didn't want a GEDCOM file) and they will enter the info on one person's database and send the output to the other. Howsoever, after they get it entered, they would like me to verify the data I sent. There will also be information that I don't have. They'd like me to tell them if I want a report or a GEDCOM file (by email).

 

Now for the challenge. If I ask for a GEDCOM file and I try to merge, how do I get rid of the exact duplicates easily?

 

This project will likely go on for a few months, and I will likely have to do the merge more than once. I will need to send them great-grandparents descendants down to my grandparents and then my GG-g'parents down to my g-g'parents. That's how they want it. Seems they didn't want a 40 page report all at once.

 

Thanks a bunch in advance for you help.

Edited August 20, 2009 by DuaneSmith

[Jim Byram 0]

I wouldn't do a merge until the project is completed.

 

You might do this...

 

1) Copy your project and use this for your analysis.

 

2) Import the data received and create a custom flag and set the flag for these people.

 

3) Merge the new data set into your existing data set. Delete the import data set.

 

4) Now accent the people with the flag setting identifying them as from the import.

 

You can now look through the list of people using the Project Explorer and see the added individuals accented and compare them to existing people. That lets you see the result of what came from the import.

[Michael Hannah 0]

I would strongly recommend not asking for a GEDCOM file. Much information is likely to be lost by using that format. Instead, why not have them simply send you an FTM Backup file (*.FTMB) from their project? TMG can import that file type directly. You could import it as a seperate dataset in your project and then be able to copy/paste or merge as appropriate. However, before you do any merging activities I highly recommend first reviewing the suggestions concerning merging projects and datasets in Terry's Tips here.