* Retaining Individual record ID's

[NigelSomerset]

Hi
Not sure if I should ask this question in General Usage or the Importing and Exporting thread ?

If possible I would like to keep using FH as my main database, as it manages chart creation well and Calico are kindly currently looking into an issue with how FH deals with large jpg file sizes linked to individuals in diagrams. And abandon use of FTM in a few months, after completing my use of Ancestry.

I am not sure though from reading various posts if under a combination of FH v6.2 and FH 2014 it is impossible, with reasonable ease/reliability, to now do the following in FH 6.2 and force the retention of the individual record numbering that FH assigns to individuals?

My motivation to do so is two fold. Firstly, nearly all ie +3000 of my citations etc, and linked Media (eg copies of censuses etc) emanated from Ancestry/FTM. The "hint feature" in FH to my Find my Past subscription does not take account of me already having a citation and media for eg 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, or BMD and It would take me hours to review and cancel/accept reject all the FH/FMP "hints" . Secondly, it feels a more cumbersome/time consuming process than in Ancestry/FTM to follow up on a hint and for eg lots of households of 5 or so individuals to add that citation and linked media to an existing or new Individual.

So what I have trialled is that I :
(a) exported a UTF-8 GEDCOM with media from a copy FH Tree named FH Version 2;
(b) imported FH Version 2GEDCOM into a new project in FTM 2014 I called FTM Version 3; All data fields and media, including FH face link images, seemed to display OK in correct fields. Total of 5400 individuals/3600 media items.
( In future I would then carry on and upload to Ancestry, complete census research and sync back to FTM with the benefit or more census data/media etc all linked to existing and new individuals. Hopefully , the new individuals being numbered from eg 5401 onwards. But before doing that. I progressed to (c) below
(c) exported a ASC1 GEDCOM, with Media, from an FTM folder back into a new FH folder FH Version 3
(d) opened FH and using the New Project grey tab, imported the FTM Version 3 GEDCOM, saving as FH Version 3. All data etc seemed to transfer back and work OK, exactly as in FH Version 2, except for Saved Charts.
(e) So I then copied from my FH Version2 file folder, the Charts folder into my FH Version3 folder

When a Saved Chart ( in my trial an imported Saved Chart) is then called up, the names all appear in the list but FH warns it may not load correctly. And it doesn't. The underlying reason I guess is that although no data changed the ID number for the 5400 individuals changed between the two Versions.

Is there a way of forcing the retention of record numbering as part of the export/import /export process so that charts moved between substantially cloned projects are more likely to work? Or is it a hopeless quest, others have also tried ?

Another option, which would part solve my dilemma is if there a solution to push the FH "hint process" into still displaying the media and record hints from FMP, but FH itself ignoring the Census and that I already have on around 3000 Ancestry citations.

Thanks as always for hints and help

Nigel




portable

[tatewise]

I am afraid to say that your quest is almost certainly doomed to failure.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts to migrate Saved FH Charts from Project to Project.
They included trying to preserve the Record Id.
Except for a few trivial cases involving only a tiny handful of Individuals they all failed.

Also migrating backwards and forwards between FH and FTM gets complex for all but the most trivial cases.
The same is true for virtually every genealogy product I have looked at.
See how_to:exchanging_data_with_ancestry_ftm|> Exchanging Data with Ancestry and FTM.

Don't get hung up on FMP 'hints' as there other ways of researching missing records.
See how_to:internet_data_matches|> Internet Data Matches and investigate the Plugins Lookup Missing BMD Records and Lookup Missing Census Facts.

As for the tedium of capturing Census households I am surprised you have not discovered Ancestral Sources.
See ancestralsources:index|> Ancestral Sources that simplifies capturing many BMD & Census records.

When you first posted last November it was suggested that as a newcomer you worked through how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers and following up its links to get a bigger picture of the capabilities of FH. That would have introduced Plugins and Ancestral Sources.

[NigelSomerset]

Mike

Thanks for the heads up, and prognosis.

I did as you would expect earlier today work through the Knowledge posts I could find re importing/exporting etcbefore raising a question, and the guidance, which from memory I think included use of one of your plugins. But as much of the discussion seemed to predate v6.2, I was not clear if the added functionality in 6.2, outwith the use of plugins, released pre 6.2 had resolved a way forward.

Certainly I have worked through the various online tutorials and videos for Newcomers, all generally very useful, and actually in December had downloaded the two BMD/Census plugs that you highlight. Just forgot that I had them and what they could do... so thanks for the pointer & reminder of these two.

Again, I had also I see downloaded and remember trying in January to use Ancestral Sources as it sounded a good way forward, and also I think a You Tube clip I found. But I couldn't see myself mastering creation of templates which the tutorial suggested. I see now though that there are actually another suite of Ancestral Plugin Templates available that will enable easy use of Ancestral Sources.

So will give that a go, with the various plugins.

As an aside, re my other post re Objects not Displaying in the General Questions I will post an update on that thread in due course. Calico are investigating the problem further, have a copy of my large size tree and have managed to replicate the issue. From my contact with them I am confident they are keen to ensure that the FH software is able to manipulate the data associated with large size jpg without triggering this problem. All sounds very positive.

Thanks again for your reminders and prognosis.

Nigel

[tatewise]

Just to confirm there is nothing significant in FH V6.2.2 or the latest Plugins that improve exchanging data with FTM compared with how_to:exchanging_data_with_ancestry_ftm|> Exchanging Data with Ancestry and FTM. When the demise of FTM was announced by Ancestry all work on that topic stopped. Nobody (until now) has shown any further interest.

Also you do not need to create any Templates for Ancestral Sources to capture most standard types of document.
Many Templates are pre-installed as standard, and others are in fhugdownloads:ancestralsources|> Downloads and Links ~ Ancestral Sources. The tutorials on Templates are only if you want to customise AS further, in the same way as you can customise the FH standard features

[NigelSomerset]

Mike

Thanks

Nigel