Rooty;

 

I'm finding that the windows management of RM7/Crossover makes trying to handle things in a Mac way to be very frustrating and sometimes results in hanging the program.

When that happens to me, I find using Escape returns focus to the top window and then closing that always allows me to continue. Fortunately, my keyboard has an Escape key, which I gather isn’t always the case with Mac keyboards.

What is "Community Preview"? Patiently aging Mac users want to know. 

I guess it’s another name for a beta that is almost ready for release and that everyone is then able to try if they so wish. But the final released version might have a few extra fixes applied.

Well, that is my interpretation of the phrase. No doubt others have a different view, but we will just have to be patient.

I know there still isn't an date for the RM8 release, but it's been months since "the end of the year". Any hints? Are we looking at the end of 2020?

 

Interesting question. For Mac users, we may be faced with ARM based Macs (“Apple silicon”) by then when it will be a good question as to whether RM8 will run in native mode or whether it will have to run under Rosetta 2, which is a sort of Intel translation function provided by the then latest version of MacOS, Big Sur. I guess it will depend to some extent on the development environment being used for RM8. Aren’t forums fun.

 

From Facebook

 

RootsMagic Genealogy & Family Tree Software

This will not affect RootsMagic 8. As others have pointed out,

1) The new ARM-based Macs won’t even be available until the end of the year,

2) Intel-based Macs will be available and usable for years to come, so the transition will be gradual, and

3) Apple’s “Rosetta 2” emulation layer ensures that all your existing 64-bit Mac software will run fine on the new Macs.

 

As I started this diversion, I thought I would expand a little on what Bob has correctly stated in a hope to close this off.

Having followed the link provided by TomH to the cross-platform development tool being used for RM8, the last stage of packaging the Mac version for distribution involves the use of an Apple provided development tool, Xcode  Running on a Mac. When using that tool, one specifies the target environment where the program is to execute - the tool is used generate/package iOS apps as well as Mac applications.

When generating Mac programs, it has been creating programs for the Intel architecture only. However, the latest version can generate programs for Intel, ARM, or “Universal”, the latter including code that can run on both Intel or ARM (Apple Silicon). By default, it will now generate Universal code, but can be set to generate Intel only or ARM only code. In the RM8 case, it may need some tweaking of the output from the development tool to successfully generate a Universal version that will run on ARM. These tweaks, which are expected to be minor, would be up to the developer of that tool, not RM development.

If RM8 for Mac isn’t initially shipped as a Universal program, then as Bob says it will still run on ARM by automatically invoking Rosetta2. This is more a translation tool rather than emulation or dynamic interpretation, and this usually occurs once at program installation time rather than at every program load. It involves scanning the Intel machine code and generating appropriate ARM code.

I hope that helps rather than muddying the water further.

Crossover is finishing up a new wrapper for RM7 that works on Big Sur. We will release it as soon as possible.

CrossOver has just announced that they have successfully run a number of Windows applications on an Apple Silicon Mac using the current CrossOver 20.0.2 and a beta of Big Sur 11.1.0, so it would seem that when the new RM7 for Mac wrapper is available, it is likely - BUT NOT PROVEN - to work on one of the new fancy and very fast Macs. I hope RM will be asking them to confirm that this will be / is true.

See https://www.codeweav...officially-cool

I thought the wrapper was to cover the jump from 32 to 64, I didn't know that it wouldn't cover anything coming afterwards. I haven't even found the wrapper to be all that good. I have run into too many issues to see the efficiency of this software. I need something that I know I can trust and don't have to fight with.

if you prefer RM, you could always pay for the full version of Crossover, which I have found very reliable and usable through various versions of MacOS up to Catalina, with very heavy use of the Family Search interface. RM stays up for days and just resumes with no problem when I wake the Mac from sleep. Though note that I have NOT YET tried in on Big Sur (and have no intention of doing so until until one or two updates have been released). I can’t vouch for it on Big Sur, but it has been tested on it, users of various Windows programs do seem to be using it OK, and a few initial bugs do seem to be being cleared fairly quickly.

Being forewarned of this would have stopped me from downloading Big Sur. I thought we were usually warned bout this. We waited months for the last wrapper and even then I haven't found it to be that great! I am seriously considering a different software since this is becoming a huge nuisance. I can't do what I need to do without the software to put it into. Roots Magic is quickly on it's way to my do not use list, which is growing weekly these days. I guess technology just isn't what it used to me.

Given that there was a long wait last time, I am a little surprised that you didn’t draw the obvious conclusion.

CrossOver 20.0.0 (available 13 October) is required for Big Sur, but given that it is pretty new and exposes a few new rough edges when I use it with RM7 on Catalina, then a wait of some duration before there is a wrapper for RM7 seems not unreasonable to me.

(The rough edges I have observed and reported seem to have been fixed, but I am staying away from my iMac at the moment, so haven’t yet had a chance to try the very latest version 20.0.2, available 11 November, though my fix seems to be in 20.0.1, available 10 November. So, changing rapidly at the moment, and maybe not yet stable enough for the wrapper.)

Does anyone know why Rootsmagic won't open on Big Sur?

 

Which version? Have you followed the instructions to fully uninstall and then do a complete re-install? See the previous appends under this topic.

To work under Big Sur, the “wrapper” must be a 64-bit program and the previous version is 32-bit, so won’t run under Big Sur. Big Sur just won’t open it and in fact the Big Sur install should have isolated it.

 

I don't regret purchasing a RM8 key today to see the full power of the preview... but I do want to express my disappointment in that I have the very last 2013 mac that CAN'T UPGRADE to Big Sur since it is not one that has the retina in it.  Catalina is by no means an old operating system... but I am going to be totally left behind on my macbook pro that does 99% of my genealogy.

 

Allen

Have you seen something that says RM8 is Big Sur only? I would have expected it to run on Catalina - it does at the moment and I would expect that to continue. (Though I know nothing definite.)

Since I have not updated my RootsMagic 7 for Mac since updating to MacOS Catalina, do I still need to uninstall my RootsMagic 7, Version 7.0.1?  I'm wondering if it got deleted or removed automatically when I updated to MacOS Catalina.  I don't want to run through the steps to delete it until I have the new update license code from RootsMagic.  Guess I can run through the remove steps and see if it is necessary.

 

Any advice on these questions?  

 

Thanks, Veehb

You will need to follow the instructions to remove and cleanup the version you have installed before installing the updated version. Assuming your data folders are somewhere in your “standard” Mac data, say within Documents, you should be fine. Without using a license code, you will be running RM Essentials with it’s limitations.

Will it be backward compatible with what were running now (Catalina)?

It should be as it will be a stripped down version of the full version of CrossOver 20, which is the only version that supports Big Sur. I am quite happily using RM7 under the full version of CrossOver 20 on Catalina (currently 20.0.2). It is supposed to support all versions of MacOS as far back as High Sierra.

Now that the Community Preview for RM8 is available to anyone who wishes to try it, could we please have a forum for us to comment, complain and discuss various aspects of it.

I am sure I am not alone in never wanting anything to do with Facebook, and without such a forum, I feel somewhat left out despite being a regular and hopefully constructive user of the forums for rather more years than I wish to recall.

The directions may be found at https://www.rootsmagic.com/App/FAQ/  This says you have to use either Dropbox or iTunes. I have a vague recollection that the iTunes technique no longer works due to changes in iTunes, but if so then I haven't been able to find that announcement. Maybe iTunes still works. Except for once in the beginning where I did it with iTunes just to see how it works, I have always done it with Dropbox. Maybe someone else on this forum who has done it more with iTunes can speak to the iTunes approach.

If iTunes still works, that might be the easiest way to do it because all your relatives with iPhones and iPads are probably already using iTunes with their device. I went the Dropbox route in the first place because I was already a Dropbox user. I have the RM app on both my iPad and my iPhone, but I use it mostly on my iPhone despite the small screen simply because that's the device I always have handy.

If you have to do it with Dropbox, you will have to create an account. A basic free Dropbox account should be plenty big enough for your RM database.

 

Jerry

 

Things have moved on in Apple land and once one upgrades MacOS to Catalina, iTunes is no more. If you are on an earlier version of MacOS, then the iTunes method should work.

On Catalina, the function has moved to the Finder app, and it is still possible to use this to transfer an RM data file - not a backup file - to the RM app on iOS or iPadOS.

The first thing that is required is to ensure the Finder view options include the display of iOS devices. (I had to enable that.) Connect the device - you probably need to attach it via cable the first time, but WiFi attached should/will probably work subsequently. Select the device in the left hand column and one can view considerable detail about the device. Selection of the Files tab shows all the apps that support file transfer - RootsMagic appears in this list and it shows any files that have already been transferred to the device. The way to transfer a new file is not as flexible as before as there doesn’t seem to be a Browse option to select a file to be transferred. Instead one has to drag a file over the RootsMagic entry in the list of apps that support file transfer and the transfer just happens. (I pasted a copy of the file I wanted to transfer onto the desktop and then dragged that across to the Finder window and over the RootsMagic entry. I find drag and drop from a Finder window to another Finder window somewhat troublesome with a trackpad, so use a simple approach even if it requires an extra step.) If one displays the list of files that have been transferred to the RM app, the only action you can initiate from the list is to delete a selected file.

So, still possible, but in a different place, and a little less flexible (in my opinion)

Renee;

 

When the new wrapper is released, is it intended to be a universal replacement for the current one or just intended to work on Catalina? If it is not a universal wrapper, I trust it tests the O/S version prior to trying to install. Based on what I've read, I hope it will also halt installation, if there is an existing installation of the wrapper.

Just to put a slightly different perspective on this. I use the full version of Crossover, and updated to V19, which is the 64-bit version, a month or so ago whilst still on High Sierra. RM7 worked just fine on that for me, which involves very heavy use of the Family Search interface. I have left RM running for many days, with my Mac sleeping at times, particularly overnight, but the FS interface picks up every time when I return to it. At the beginning of this week, I finally decided to update to Catalina, and RM has worked just fine since then. That suggests to me that the new wrapper should work equally well on previous versions of MacOS, not just Catalina.

Did the full crossover version fix the source and place list fonts? RM7 lets you change to big fonts in three other areas in program tools but not those.

 

Was it difficult to set up RM7 manually?

Yes, at least it did for me.

In RM I have all the display options set to Microsoft Sans Serif 12 point normal. Then within CrossOver, I have the DPI setting used by the Windows “virtual machine” set to 150. I seem recall that the default for the latter was set to 96 (but I made this change long ago, so I may be incorrect on the 96). You can play games with this value and the font sizes you select in RM, but they above seem fine to me. The DPI value affects the fonts you choose in RM as well as the ones you can’t modify. The higher you have the DPI setting, the lower you need the font size specified in RM.

Now, to add to the complication/confusion, I find the default font sizes used by Mac applications a little small for my old eyes when the 5K iMac is set to the default scaled size of 2560x1440, so I always have it set to 2048x1152. Clearly this affects how large the fonts in RM appear (it makes them larger).

You asked about the difficulty of installing RM under full CrossOver. I found it pretty easy, though, remember, this was now some time ago. They offer a 14-day free trial, so you could try it. Just beware that if you search for RM on the “what runs” part of their website, you will be pointed at downloading RM for Mac.

Having installed CrossOver, select Configure from the menu bar, search for Rootmagic, and then follow the prompts to install RM7. When finished, select the RM7 bottle on the base CrossOver window and then use the Wine Configuration control panel and then the Graphics panel to change the dpi setting. Note that at the time I did all this, I had to flip the Windows version - set on the Wine Configuration panel - to Windows 7 to allow me to successfully point the RM Folders at my Mac files and then back to Windows XP when I had successfully set the folders. (These were probably CrossOver bugs at that long ago time, but I needed to do this.)

Hope that helps.

 

It turns out despite display settings of Helvetica 16, the source & place list, source edit and new source screens use a tiny fuzzy font about size 4. Also Websearch with the internal browser locks up RM7 due to a crossover bug. Nonstarters on my macbook pro 13" retina screen.

 

The font size problem was why I switched to using the full version of CrossOver. That allows you to change the DPI setting used by windows, so you can make those font sizes you can’t change in RM appear a sensible size. Or certainly on my 5K iMac.

The internal browser problem is a very old one and even before the problems it now seems to cause, most websites refused to allow its use because it was based on an obsolete version of IE and therefore considered unsafe.

There has been a tightening up of where programs have access in Catalina, so I wonder - do not know - whether you will need to allow access to wherever the template is intended to be stored. If it isn’t somewhere under Documents, Catalina may be stopping you writing to that location, though one would have expected a pop-up. Where are the “Windows” files - the equivalent of the C disk - located, as it may be trying to save it there. Somewhere under Library or something like that, maybe. Will investigate as I’’ve never tried saving templates.

Interesting.

I’m using RM under full CrossOver - I haven’t yet tried re-installing RM for Mac - but if I look in System Preferences/Security & Privacy/Privacy, under Files and Folders, I see CrossOver has access to my Documents folder and RootsMagic 7 has access to Network Volumes, Downloads Folder, Documents Folder and Desktop Folder. Under Full Disk Access, RoomsMagic 7 is in the list but not enabled.

When I create a copy of a source template and try to Export it, I get a pop-up window asking where I want to save it, with 3 high-level starting places - Desktop, My Documents and My Computer. The middle one is my Mac Documents, the last is to my “Windows” volumes, and the first seems to allow me to go anywhere. Quite what Catalina will allow me to access is an interesting question.

Not sure if this helps, but it may give you something to investigate.

The steps: open RootsMagic (7.6.3) in a MacBook running Catalina 10.15.4.  This opens my production .rmgc database.

 

I open Lists>Source Templates and navigate to one of the templates I created. I select that and check I can open it in RM.

 

I then click Cancel to get back to the list of Source Templates with my template highlighted, and click the Export button.

 

After a delay of 15-20 seconds I receive the error dialog box per my original post.  There are no Wine errors or other indicators or any variety.  I am not presented with any opportunity to select the export location.

 

P.S. this is Mac and there is quite a bit of traffic on the net reporting this same issue for a number of other apps after upgrading to Catalina.  I'm tempted to reinstall RM but wanted to check first.

There has been a tightening up of where programs have access in Catalina, so I wonder - do not know - whether you will need to allow access to wherever the template is intended to be stored. If it isn’t somewhere under Documents, Catalina may be stopping you writing to that location, though one would have expected a pop-up. Where are the “Windows” files - the equivalent of the C disk - located, as it may be trying to save it there. Somewhere under Library or something like that, maybe. Will investigate as I’’ve never tried saving templates.

Continuing my investigations.

Downloaded and installed RM for Mac, and got exactly the same result as yourself.

Looked in the Files and Folders settings for RM, but nothing there; nor in Full Disk Access. There is no way of adding RM to the Files and Folders settings - the plus and minus signs are greyed out - so tried adding RM to Full Disk Access. This requires a restart of RM to take effect, but has no effect on the base problem - export of a template doesn’t work because it can’t connect to the Save dialog. 
 

Continuing .......

The problem is the formation of the filename for the saved template file.

 

The suggested name is Untitled.* and the '.*' can result in a malformed filename and that causes the error.

 

Simply overwrite the entire suggested filename with your filename. For example change the 'Untitled.*' to 'Test'. Do not leave the hanging '.*'

 

Example of the problem... The suggested file name is Untitled.*. You change only the 'Untitled' part to 'Test. The resulting malformed filename will be 'Test.*.rmst' and saving that will result in the error.

 

Make sure that the file is saved where you want it. I tested saving in Documents and that worked fine.

No, this isn't the problem. I don't get as far as being able to set a file name and a location - that panel doesn't appear, which is what the error message is complaining about.

I've played around with the Files and Folders settings for my RM under full CrossOver but I can't recreate the problem with that. If one deselects all the options listed against my RM7 bottle (virtual machine), then I can't get at any of my RM files and need to enable at least access to Documents. RM for Mac seems to be able to access Documents without needing any such settings in Privacy.

I've run out of things to try, I'm afraid, but it would seem that this may well be nothing to do with the Privacy settings. Sorry tohave raised what appears to be a red herring.

JP wrote:-

The other issue I have come across is related to sites like Ancestry that have country specific variations - US, UK, Australia, etc - to which individual accounts are tied. In my case (UK based), it’s no use coming across a UK census source, say, on Family Search with a URL tied to Ancestry.com when I can only access it via Ancestry.co.uk. Yes, I can edit the “com” to “co.uk” and then see the source, but that soon gets very tedious. So, URLs are a problem from several or many angles.

 

I am subscribed to Ancestry.co.uk but can sign in and use the .com site with my 'uk' sign in - I have world subscription, wonder if access might not be the same with all levels?

Well, you learn something every day. I don’t have world-wide access but the middle level (for a UK user) and it turns out that I also can login to ancestry.com with my “UK” user Id and password, and at least access the same things I am supposed to be able to access as when I use the UK site. How many years have I been working at this ? 
 

MANY THANKS for the clarification.

In general I don’t save URLs for my source information for reasons as Jerry points out.

 

I always find a way to capture an image or copy of the source material from the site and add-it to my database.  Anything other than that runs the risk of not being supported in the future.

The other issue I have come across is related to sites like Ancestry that have country specific variations - US, UK, Australia, etc - to which individual accounts are tied. In my case (UK based), it’s no use coming across a UK census source, say, on Family Search with a URL tied to Ancestry.com when I can only access it via Ancestry.co.uk. Yes, I can edit the “com” to “co.uk” and then see the source, but that soon gets very tedious. So, URLs are a problem from several or many angles.

I currently run the Mac version of RM under Catalina.

 

I'm planning to take my .rmgc database over to the Windows version of RM installed in a Windows (under Bootcamp) environment, where I plan to do some editing and changes.

 

Will there be any compatibility issues with bringing the .rmgc file edited under RM-Windows back to RM under Catalina?  Seems a silly question but I'm interested in whether anyone has seen differences between the two versions of RM.  What got me thinking is that the button shortcuts (Alt+E for the Edit button etc.) are different between the two versions.

 

TIA ... John.

The RM program that works on the data is exactly the same Windows code, so there is no difference in the data interpretation, and so the data files - both data - rmgc - and backup - rmgb - files may be exchanged between a PC and a Mac. The limitations in function on the Mac are restrictions because the Windows simulation provided by the wrapper does not have all the capabilities of a Windows system. But most users on the Mac get by OK. Do be sure to use the same version of RM on both, though.

Is there a way to download a RootsMagic data file from my iPhone to a RM file on my laptop? I unfortunately had to reformat my hard drive and I now only have all my data files on my iPhone.

Is the laptop a Mac or PC?

If a Mac, connect the iPhone to the Mac with a lightning to USB cable, and then in Finder, under Locations in the left hand column, look for the iPhone. (Ensure iOS devices are enabled under Locations in the Finder Preferences.) Select the iPhone and then the Files tab. Select Rootsmagic in the resulting list of applications and drag and drop the file you are interested in from the list of RootsMagic files onto the Desktop, and then move to wherever you want.  

I had no problem when upgrading under full CrossOver on Catalina (all latest versions). Just followed the usual prompt from the news panel that there was a new version and it just downloaded and installed as per a normal RM update. Don’t see why the wrapper should be any different.