Merging files.

[Richard Rozon]

MERGING FILES.
Simple questions.
Haven't used this kind of software for many years.
Need to merge two files.
They share 108 individuals.
Question does the software indicate duplicate individuals?
Or would I have to scroll through?.
Which file should I export the larger, newer (177) one or the smaller, older one (108)?
Does make any difference?

[John Nairn, Developer]

Merging files is complicated and depends a lot on where you got the two files. The challenge is merging duplicate individuals (or other records) with challenge in genealogy is knowing when two are duplicates (the same name is certainly not enough). In brief:

1. If both copies came from common GEDitCOM II file, merging is smooth (and can use record UUIDs that GEDitCOM II adds to tell which records are duplicates)

2. If one or both files are not from same GEDitCOM II file, the initial merge will create duplicates and you have to manually fix them. The "Merge Records" extension can help a lot. I have merged two files with about 7000 duplicates. It worked (but not much fun). If only 108, should not be too bad.

3. The merge process can create an album listing the merged records, but you need the "Merge Records" extension to locate possible duplicates.

4. It is better to merge the smaller file into the larger one, but only for speed and won't matter much with fairly small files.

You  can also find a lot of information (including all the above) in the help window. Open help window, click on "Opening, Saving, and Merging" and then when that opens, click on "Merging Data from Different Files."

Hope that helps