6 replies to this topic

[tcostin]

When RM 5 imports from a GEDCOM, it appears to be dropping source citations for the first name fact of an individual. This is the source citation for the fact that is displayed as "person". RM displays "no sources" for the person so I assume the source citation is lost. I do see the source itself in the master source list, so the source was imported, but there is no citation. The problem does not extend to any additional name facts for the same individual. RM displays this as "alternate name".

Except from an example of a single individual file:

1 DATE 11 NOV 2012
1 CHAR ANSI
1 FILE C:\Users\Tim\My Genealogy\lyons_mary_ellen_2012-11-11.ged
1 SUBM @SUBM@
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
0 @I849@ INDI
1 NAME Mary Ellen /Lyons/
2 SOUR @S727@ <------ this is the source for the "primary" name that is lost upon import
...
1 NAME Mary E. /Lyons/
2 SOUR @S944@ <----- these sources for the alternate name were not lost
2 SOUR @S732@
2 SOUR @S731@
2 SOUR @S750@
2 SOUR @S738@
2 SOUR @S656@
2 SOUR @S7@
3 DATA
4 TEXT born July 1897 in Illinois. age 3 in 1900.
...
0 @S727@ SOUR
1 AUTH City of Chicago
1 TITL LyonsMaryEllen1912DeathCertificate
1 PUBL Name: dec 12, 1912;
1 REPO @R66@
1 NOTE
2 CONC Source Medium: Internet
2 CONT

Regardless of the cause, I have thousands of lost sources, so this is a showstopper for using RM at all. I had converted from FTM recently. Hopefully, there is a fix or workaround or I am missing something.

Tim in Chicago

[Paul Harris]

Tim,

I am not where I can reference my materials at this time, but this sounds like a similar problem that I had that was resolved with an SQL update query from TomH on this forum. Perhaps he will chime in here with some ideas. As I recall, the citations may actually be in your database, but they are 'linked' to a Name record that does not exist in RM. They may be able to be re-linked to the appropriate Person record. Don't give up, just yet.

Paul

[tcostin]

Paul:

Thanks. A workaround would be encouraging.

However, I wonder if the root cause may be the lack of a NAME fact. I would prefer to see RM treat a NAME just like any other fact, and not a special case of PERSON or a special case of ALT NAME. RM handles alternative facts using the same label just fine. PERSON should be just a record in a database used to tie facts about a person together. If RM needs something to label a person with, it should borrow the value from the first or primary NAME fact. If there are multiple names for a person, I prefer to see multiple NAME facts, not a PERSON fact that cannot have multiple entries and a set of ALT NAME facts. RM does not treat any other facts this way. There is no ALT BIRTH, ALT DEATH, ALT MARRIAGE, for example so why is it necessary for names?

Tim

[TomH]

Tim, prior discussion and a workaround described here. This should be on Renee's tracking list for consideration by the RootsMagician.

[Paul Harris]

Tom,

Thanks for digging that up before I could get to it, and again, thank you for your assistance with that.

I do have one question, though. For the last year I have been watching many items get entered INTO the "Tracking System." Does anyone know the last time an item came OUT of the "Tracking System?"

Paul

[tcostin]

Tom

I was able to restore 3801 missing citations by running your queries. Excellent. It saved me from giving up on RM. Your SQLite Tools WIKI for Roots Magic is an excellent resource. Thanks for the help and for sharing your tools.


Tim

[TomH]

Glad to hear the wiki was helpful. I feel very strongly that RM's use of an open database system is an exceptional virtue, albeit a risk in some ways. I don't know of another genealogy software with a decent front end that is so accessible through the back.