This is covered in the manual Getting the Most From Family Historian in either Chapter 14 – Merging, Comparing and Splitting Tree Files or in later editions Chapter 15 – Compare, Merge, Split, Copy and Export GEDCOMGEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is a specification for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogy software. It is a file format that most genealogical programs and online trees recognise. Files.
The How To Use Split Tree Helper animated tutorial below is based on Family Historian Version 3. Some details are no longer correct for Version 4 and later versions, which do have a GEDCOM Export feature, and Projects should use File > Project Window > More Tasks > Copy Project instead of File > Save As.
A common requirement is to split a tree into smaller parts. For example, suppose a cousin of yours expresses interest in the research you have done on his side of the family, you might wish to send him a GEDCOM file containing only material that would be of interest to him. The way to do this is to make a copy of your original file, and then delete the unwanted records from the copy.
To copy a Family Historian file, you could use Windows Explorer. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can copy the GEDCOM file by using the Save As… facility via the File menu to save the file under a new name. If you have adopted Projects, then use File > Project Window > More Tasks > Copy Project to create a duplicate ProjectA Project is a Windows folder, created by Family Historian, which contains all your Family Tree information recorded in Family Historian. Normally located in the Documents\Family Historian Projects folder.. If you have just been making any changes that you wish to keep in your normal file, make sure you save these, in the normal way, before using either of the above.
The way you delete the unwanted records is to use the Split Tree Helper: Delete Unwanted Data facility. Although designed to be used as part of the tree-splitting process, this facility can be used at any time, to delete unwanted records. However, it should be used with care, for obvious reasons.
In recent versions of Family Historian the File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File feature has been added that offers an alternatively technique for creating subsets of your data, but with similar options for selecting records.
Individual Records
You can opt to delete all Individual recordsEvery person in your tree will have a single Individual Record, which holds all the information about that individual that you have entered. You can view and edit Individual records in the Property Box Dialogue. found by a given Query, all records not found by a given Query, or no Individual records.
An Individual Query is a Query where the Query Type is Individual. The Query Type is specified in the General tab of the Query Window. In an Individual Query, every Row in the Result Set corresponds to one Individual record. A given Individual record never has more than one Row in the Result Set. The Columns in a Query show data relating to the Individual record – usually, tags belonging to it. When used as a means of identifying records to delete, however, the Columns of a Query are immaterial. It is useful to have a Column which clearly identifies which Individual Record is in question; however, so that you can run the Query and check before hand exactly which records will be deleted.
When installed, a sample query Relations – Simple List is provided as an example of a Query you might want to use for deleting unwanted records. When run, it will prompt you for a Starting Person, and then find all the relatives of that root person. It only has one Column, to identify the Individuals found.
As this example shows, some queriesQuerying is a very powerful feature that allows you to specify and save criteria for identifying a set of records of a given record type. prompt you to specify details when they are run. If you have selected a Query of this kind, the prompt dialogue will appear when you click the Delete button in the main dialogue. You will be able to Cancel at this point, if you wish.
Tip ~ Use the Has Flag query to select records with a given flag. Use the Named ListNamed Lists are a way in FH to group related items — which can be records of any type(s) — so that you can easily find them to work with. Members query to select members of a named list.
Other Records
The Delete Unwanted Data facility will start with Individual records. Once it has done this, there may be other records, such as Source recordsSource: "where information was found". This could be anything from an archive in a county records office, a book, or even a relative's recorded recollection. Citing your Sources helps to show how you reached a particular conclusion about an Individual. or Multimedia recordsWhen you add a picture, video, sound recording, document file etc into a Family Historian project, a Media record is created to represent that media item within the project; the Media record includes a link to the actual Media file., that no longer have any links to them. Depending on why you are splitting the tree, you may wish to consider deleting records if they have no links to them. In some cases you may even consider deleting all records of a given type.
Note: You never have to worry about deleting Family recordsFamily records store information about families, and links to all the Individual Records for those individuals who make up a family. You can view and edit Family records in the Property Box Dialogue., as Family Historian takes care of removing unused Family records automatically.
Tip ~ If some of the record types are not familiar to you, you can view them in the Records WindowThe Records Window provides a comprehensive view of all the information stored within a Family Historian project., providing they are enabled via the Tools > Records Window Options dialogue, or the Tools > Preferences > Records Window ~ Record Type Display Options dialogue.