9 replies to this topic

[dht1@bellatlantic.net]

When i import my database from Family Tree Maker to Roots Magic, RM (7.5.2.0) loses all the built-in links between the digital images and each person in the database.  The images all show up in RM's media folder, but most of the images are are no longer linked to a person.

 

A while ago I inquired about this to RM Tech Support, who told me I would have to individually go into RM person-by-person, image-by-image, to re-establish the correct links.  This seems like an insurmountable task.

 

Comments?

[zhangrau]

Have you tried going to Lists > Media Gallery > [Tools] > Fix broken media links ?

[dht1@bellatlantic.net]

Yes, that is one of the first things I tried, several times.  Each time the message came back that "there are no broken media links".  It's sort of like standing in the rain getting wet, while your friend keeps telling you it's not raining!

[zhangrau]

And you did a direct import from FTM to RM, not via GEDCOM?

 

I'm not an FTM user, so I'm just probing, hoping to find a point of helpfulness . . .

[dht1@bellatlantic.net]

Yes, I did a direct import, not via GEDCOM.  And for good measure, later on I did another direct import, just in case the first one was corrupted somehow.   The RM Tech person stated that this failure to retain the links is just the way RM works, although it seems like a serious issue and not just for me.  Because of this issue, I continue to use FTM as my primary genealogical database program.

 

I do appreciate and thank you for your thoughts, especially as you are not a FTM user.

[TomH]

What version of FTM? What operating system?

[dht1@bellatlantic.net]

Family Tree Maker 2005, service pack 1, which Roots Magic specifically states it does a direct import.  (I have FTM 2012 & 2014, but neither of those versions are satisfactory when compared to 2005.)

 

Windows 10, always currently updated.

[TomH]

You might try migrating your FTM 2006 database to FTM 2012 or 2014 and import from the later version.

 

But I wonder if your media items are linked to the primary Name in RM and have thus become unavailable except in the Media Gallery (same issue as for citations). Thus the link between database and media file is unbroken but you cannot see the item via Edit Person.

 

A simple SQLite query would confirm that is the case and another would transfer them to Person to make them available. Are you up to that? Else send me your file.

[alanmon]

Family Tree Maker 2005, service pack 1, which Roots Magic specifically states it does a direct import.  (I have FTM 2012 & 2014, but neither of those versions are satisfactory when compared to 2005.)

 

Windows 10, always currently updated.

 

 

If I remember from when I used FTM2005, the images are stored with the .img filename extension but that is misleading as they are actually in JPEG2000 format which is not the same as jpg format. Very few programs can handle them. I found that using a program like IrfanView to do a batch conversion worked for me at the time. Have you checked to see if the media files do exist somewhere on your computer but with extension ".img" or ".j2k"? There was a program from FTM that was supposed to convert FTM2005 to the new FTM format, extracting the media files -but with my aging memory I may be completely wrong....

 

I've just checked using an old FTW file (might be FTM2006) and the files are exported by RM as .jpg but they are actually Jpeg2000 when opened by Irfanview.

I renamed a "*.jpg" to "*.jp2" and RM opened it so RM can handle jpeg2000. However, the easiest way is batch convert the files to proper jpg using a suitable program, not irfanview which seems to have problem on my Windows 7.

Hope this helps.

 

AlanMon

[TomH]

If the images appear in the Media Gallery as thumbnails, then RM has properly imported them. Select an image in the Gallery and look at the pane below the Tag buttons. If a tag reads Person Name-RIN "(name)", then I have identified the problem and it can be fixed with a SQLite script. It would be a variant of Citations Invisible - Reveal and Revert. At the time I developed it, I was unaware that Ancestry and FTM attached media to the Name fact. All that had been reported was the disappearance of citations. TreeShare has exposed the media and citations gulf to many more people.