* Exporting Source Media to GedStar Pro

[mitcheip]

I have recently started using Ancestral Sources to enter some data into FH and I thought I would check how the data looks in Gedstar Pro, the app I use on my mobile devices.

It turns out that I can't get the exhibits attached to sources to show up in Gedstar. My current Gedstar database has about 1200 images but they are attached to facts. Using a very small sub set of my data with one fact image and one source image I can get the fact image to import into Gedstar but not the source image.

At first I thought this was a Gedstar problem but now I am beginning to think it's an FH issue.

Gedstar doesn't support Embedded images, (although every export I have done from FH seems to include them by default no matter what options I choose), so I always use "full path".

On looking at the resultant GEDCOM file I only get one line with FILE and a file path. Using some options I get _FILE for the file path but the underscore preceeded FILE is not supported by Gedstar but again it's only for the fact images.

I have tried many different options using the standard FH export and I have tried the Export Gedcom plugin but to no avail.

Gedstar is no longer being developed, although they have help me look at this issue, (roll on a mobile version of FH). Has anyone come across this issue of no source images in a Gedcom file and know how to solve it?

[tatewise]

I'm not sure how you previously got your Media images into GedStar Pro, but let me clarify a few things.
I'm the author of the Export Gedcom File Plugin and worked with the author of GedStar Pro to agree the export options.

Your understanding of Media image GEDCOM structures appears somewhat mistaken.
These days FH never uses Embedded images, they are always in files external to the GEDCOM.
The file path link can either be an absolute full path, or a relative path within the Media folder.
For exporting to another product such as GedStar Pro the absolute full path option is essential.

FH usually employs Media records with the non-standard _FILE link tag in GEDCOM 5.5 format.
GedStar Pro does support Media records, but with the FILE tag in GEDCOM 5.5.1 format, and prefers what are known as Local Media Objects with the FILE tag.

So the File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File command will not supply Media to GedStar Pro unless you have specifically added Local Media Objects. They can only be added via the All tab, so I guess you added Media to Facts using that option. If not, then how did those Media on Facts get created and migrate to GedStar Pro?

Instead, use the Export Gedcom File Plugin with Export Mode for (GSP) GedStar Pro for Android.
By default that will set Media Conversion to (PART~LMO) Part Frames via Local Media Objects.
Howver, any of the Media Conversion options should work satisfactorily.
You may wish to experiment between the (+) Full Data and (-) Brief Data options top left.
See plugins:help:export_gedcom_file:gsp_gedstar_pro_for_android|> Export Gedcom File ~ (GSP) GedStar Pro for Android for further details.

[LornaCraig]

tatewise wrote:

...unless you have specifically added Local Media Objects. They can only be added via the All tab, so I guess you added Media to Facts using that option. If not, then how did those Media on Facts get created?

I think mitcheip migrated from TMG so I am guessing they were created there. And I would guess that the 1200 (approx) images in his Gedstar database are just those that were imported from TMG.

[tatewise]

Lorna, that was my first thought, but TMG Exhibits are always imported as FH Media Records.
So perhaps the current GedStar Pro database was uploaded directly from TMG a while ago.

(BTW: This is an issue I'm discussing with Calico Pie, where any importing or merging unconditionally and silently converts Local Media Objects to Media Records. This is not only bad practice and contrary to most FH behaviour, but has a disastrous impact on LMO Sort Dates if you Merge Projects/Records that use them.)

[mitcheip]

Hi Mike, Thanks for your reply.

With regard to your comment "Your understanding of Media image GEDCOM structures appears somewhat mistaken. These days FH never uses Embedded images...."

I mistakenly thought that BLOB's in Gedcom files were embedded images and all of the exports I have done from FH have BLOB statements with 100's, if not 1000's, of CONT lines after them. All of the FH Gedcom exports are 600K plus, some over a megabyte. There's only one person in the file and 2 facts, a birth and baptism. All the different options of FH export I have used produce files that contain BLOB statements. If I open these file in FH the source images are there. This is what made me think that FH embedded images

The file exported using your Plugin is 2kb with no BLOB statements.

I did import virtually all of more images from TMG with probably one of the first releases of the FH TMG import facility. My Gedstar database is less than twelve months old and definitely came from FH. So I'm not sure what's going on there but I definitely have a lot of images in Gedstar. They may not be all there but there's a lot.

Back to my real problem, I used your plugin with, I hope, exactly the settings you mentioned. The single image attached to the fact came through but not the image attached to the source. Looking at the Gedcom file there is only one image FILE path in there.

Any other ideas?

[Jane]

Probably the first thing I would do is to create a new Project from your existing one, and that should convert all those blobs to media records.

[tatewise]

As Jane says, you need to get rid of those BLOB tags. I have no idea where they came from.
Ensure that Tools > Options > General tab, Advanced button, Enable Multimedia GEDCOM Embedding in Project Mode is NOT ticked.

Then we need to investigate which of your Media use Media Records and which are Local Media Objects.
I suspect it will be best to convert all Local Media Objects to Media Records, for which there is a Plugin.

After that, the migration to GedStar Pro is more likely to succeed.

[mitcheip]

Thanks Jane, I think you have solved my problem. Its my lack of knowledge about how FH works that has caused the problem.

I had exported a single person and their facts/sources etc for this test and created a gedcom file which I then clicked on and it opened in FH.

What I hadn't realised was this was not a Project as such, although it looked and behaved like a project to me. It was this file that I was then using the FH export for Gedstar and was getting all my problems.

I went into the Project Window and my very simple file wasn't there, which confused me somewhat. So I did a "New" project using the Gedcom I had exported and that created a new Project.

When I exported from Project for Gedstar the images for the source appeared in the new file and imported correctly into Gedstar.

So I think I'm now sorted. I'll do a big export from my main project file and see how this imports into Gedstar.

Thanks again.

[tatewise]

Apart from being listed in the Project Window another distinguishing feature is whether FH says Family Historian Project or Family Historian Gedcom at the top of the main window. Subsequently you would find that several commands do not work for Family Historian Gedcom as explained in how_to:v4:understanding_projects#project_benefits|> Project Benefits.

Once an exported GEDCOM has been produced for another product, do NOT open it in FH as that will disrupt the GEDCOM.

I advise you use the Export Gedcom File Plugin as described earlier.