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Archiver > TMG > 2003-02 > 1044811880


From: Lee Hoffman <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] GECOMs
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 12:31:20 -0500
In-Reply-To: <5.2.0.9.0.20030209101127.009ed470@extremezone.com>


Linda Lambert wrote:
>At the risk of sounding like a real ditz, I'd like some help/feedback on
>something I'm proposing to do. I need some devils' advocates to tell me
>what mess I could be considering getting myself into.
>
>Until recently, I've resisted the idea of importing GEDCOMs to my data,
>but I've been given one that is quite sizeable and I don't want to do all
>the data entry manually.
>
>My concern is this......some of the individuals may be the same as what I
>have. Will TMG overwrite my data (with the sources and all) with the new
>information? Will it accept two people with the same names so that I do a
>manual merge later on?
>
>What am I looking forward to? Should I do this? What is the best way to
>assimilate this information into my database without screwing up 30 years
>worth of work?

When you import data into TMG (whether GEDCOM or the database file of
another program), the data is placed in a _NEW_ data set completely
separate from other data set(s) in the open project. Following the import,
you may or may not wish to merge that data set with any other data set in
the project. If you decide to merge two data sets, the data in one data
set (your choice) will be appended to the other data set. Thus in the
merged data set, the information from _both_ data sets will be
available. At this point, you will want to edit the merged data set and
further connect or merge persons as needed. In other words no data is
overwritten.

I dislike GEDCOMs myself. But I often receive GEDCOM files from fellow
researchers. I import them and then review them. Following this review, I
decide what action is to be taken -- copy/paste of a small amount of
information to my main data set, merging all or some data from the imported
data set into my main data set, or ignoring the imported data as it is
nothing new.

Hope this helps -

Lee Hoffman/KY
TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)

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