CLASS: COMPARING AND COMBINING

ALL THOSE OLD PAF FILES

©2007 by Donald R. Snow

Sections of the Class Notes

Welcome and Introduction to Class
Cleaning Up Your Master File
Separating Files into GEDCOM's of the Islands of Data Using PAF, PAF Insight, or GenViewer
Combine Using PAF
Combine Using PAF Insight
Combine Using GenMerge
Finishing Up and Conclusions
Assignment

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group . This page was last updated 7 Feb 2007.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO CLASS

Welcome
Instructors are Donald R. and Diane M. Snow, 801-225-7123 in Provo, Utah and 435-673-1932 in St. George, Utah (snowd@math.byu.edu, dms34@juno.com)
These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines, Don's Listings.
These notes are written for PAF (Personal Ancestral File), but the ideas are useful for other genealogy programs, too.

CLEANING UP YOUR MASTER FILE

Before merging in other data, clean up your Master file -- see the steps listed in the notes on Cleaning Up Your Database on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines, Don's Listings.
As part of cleaning up your Master Database file you may want to try to link as many islands (trees) of data into your main island, as you can
Make a list or printout of the separate islands you have left in your file.

Can do this with PAF Insight on the PAF database or GENViewer operating on a GEDCOM of your Master Database

SEPARATING PAF FILES OR GEDCOMS INTO ISLANDS OF DATA

May be very helpful to separate your old databases into islands (trees) of data
For old PAF 2.31, 3, 4, or 5 files, you can first form GEDCOM's of them

The old PAF 2.31, 3, 4 programs are in folders on the PAF 5.2 CD's from the LDS Church Distribution Centers and can be installed on a Windows XP computer.
For PAF 2.31 data use the GIE program in PAF 2.31 to form a GEDCOM of the data.

Ways to separate the old files into islands

USING PAF 5.2 ITSELF

Open the file in PAF
Click on Export, then Partial, then select All Persons Related and export a GEDCOM of that island -- give it a helpful name to know later what's in it
Now click on Delete and delete that entire island from the database.
Repeat this by selecting All Persons Related to someone else left in the database and form another GEDCOM with an appropriate name and delete that group.
Keep repeating this until there is no one left in the original PAF database
You now have a decomposition of the entire file into GEDCOM's of its islands.

USING PAF INSIGHT

PAF Insight is a commerical program ($25), but free for FHC's -- from http://ohanasoftware.com/

Open the PAF file in PAF Insight
Click on Edit RINs and Trees
Delete everyone other than in the main tree -- then save the database (main tree only now) with an appropriate name
Go back to the main file and repeat by deleting everyone other than in Pedigree 2 and save that with an appropriate name
Continue until each island has been saved off
You now have a decomposition of the entire file into PAF files of its islands.

USING GENVIEWER

GENViewer is a commercial program ($20), but free for FHC's -- http://mudcreeksoftware.com/

Very helpful program to find errors in data, e.g. you can set columns to show any pieces of data in the database and sort on any column to find problems -- very helpful
Is a viewer, not an editor, except it will separate a GEDCOM into all its islands

Can view PAF files, GEDCOM's, Legacy, Family Tree Maker, and other genealogy program files
Can download and try out the full version free for 15 days

To split up a file it only works with GEDCOM's, so make a GEDCOM of your file and open that in GENViewer
Click on the Islands tab and choose Export into Islands to make a decompositon of the entire file into its islands
Has two ways of naming the islands automatically -- you can choose which you want

After splitting your files into islands you now have smaller files that are each linked internally and can be compared more easily with your Master Database
Clean up these islands of data, if they look like you will want that data in your Master File.

COMBINE USING PAF

Make good backups before you start any merging.
Note the highest RIN in the Master Database (File/Properties, then Record Count gives highest RIN) and import one of the GEDCOM's by Import/Don't Reuse RIN's -- not reusing old deleted RIN's makes it so that all the imported names are higher RIN's than in Master File and you can tell at a glance in Match/Merge which name is from the Master Database and which is from the imported one
Click on Match/Merge and examine possible matches -- put checks by the parts you want to keep from the imported names and merge them together
Merging any of the imported records with records in your master database will link the entire imported island into your Master Database since the imported island was all connected
If there are no merges with records in your master file, it will form a new separate island in the master file.
If you don't want to keep the rest of the imported file in your Master Database, go to the Export/Partial screen, and select All Related to someone in the imported island, and export that part, and then delte it from your Master Database.
Perhaps make a Working File of all the parts you didn't merge in so you'll have the data in case you find they are related and want the data later.

COMBINE USING PAF INSIGHT

PAF Insight is a commerical program ($25), but free for FHC's -- from http://ohanasoftware.com/
PAF Insight only works on PAF 5 databases, so make PAF 5 files of each of the old island GEDCOM's
Run PAF Insight on your master file and use the Compare and Sync option with each of the old island PAF files.
Be sure you mark which data you want to bring in while running PAF Insight -- this is complicated and you need to be careful
On each old island, after the merges, there may be more names in the island that you want to add, since the entire island was linked, so click on Add to get the rest.
You may have to go through and clean up locations again since the imported island may have brought in slightly different place spellings, etc.

COMBINE USING GENMERGE

GENMerge is a commercial program ($30) from http://www.genmerge.com/ -- can try it free for 10 days

It allows merging in several GEDCOM's at once

It only works on GEDCOM's so you need to make GEDCOM's of your Master Database and all the islands

GENMerge analyzes each GEDCOM, including the Master GEDCOM file, and gives you a very helpful report for each file of loops, duplicates, etc., so you can fix it before merging
GENMerge generates new versions of the GEDCOM's and keeps all the old files so you can always go back
Run GENMerge to merge all the files, keeping the data you want
When done, examine the report GENMerge produces to be sure you got what you wanted

FINISHING UP AND CONCLUSIONS

Cleanup the final master file as at the start -- see notes on Cleaning Up Your Database on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines, Don's Listings.
Check for new Unknown Spouses or duplicate links that are in the master file now, e.g. a duplicate marriage for the couple

GENViewer can find duplicate marriages by setting the condition to find "Married - Same Name"
GENViewer can find unkonwn spouse links by setting the condition to find "Married - No Spouse AND # Descendants = 0"

You might want to put all the old data that you didn't bring into the Master file into a PAF file labelled something like "Old Snow Data-2007-02-07", so you have the data in case you want it later.

Including the date in the name of your files, e.g. "Snow-2007-02-07", and changing the date each time you work on it and back it up, means that you won't wipe out your earlier versions until you are sure you don't need them

Writing the date with numbers in this order 2007-02-07 makes the files alphabetize in chronological order, so the newest is always last.

Remember that any way you check and combine all those old files takes major time and effort, but is worth it to get all your good data into one Master updated file.

ASSIGNMENT

Clean up your master database to get it ready to receive imports from old files.
Run PAF Insight or GENViewer on your master database to see how many islands of data are in it.
Separate out your old files into islands and open them in separate PAF files to see if you want to merge some into your master file.
Clean up a small island file and import it into your Master Database and do the Match/Merging.

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .