Sometimes users discover they have more than one family file with the same name or very similar names. They are in different places on their computer and have different numbers of people. It is easy to get confused about which file to use or to blame Legacy for loosing data. In addition, you cannot reliably tell which file has the most people
by its file size because actions like Check/Repair, Compact Family File
and Master List Cleanup will reduce a file size without changing the
number of people in it. Likewise, you cannot tell by the modified date
which file has the most people. Here is a simple plan to help you sort this problem without deleting family files.
Getting Accurate Counts
1. First, let Legacy Family Tree find all of your family files and make a list of them.
(1) Start Legacy and click on File and select Open File. The Open File dialog box will open.
(2) Click on Have Legacy create a list of files to choose from - Select this option to have Legacy collect and display a list of all the family files from all the drives on your computer.
2. Open each of the files with the same name to find how many people in each and then rename them to show the counts.
(1) Highlight the first duplicate file and select it. If Legacy needs to convert the file, click the Make a backup of my family file before converting it and then open it where it is.
(2) With the file opened, click on the Legacy Home tab and examine the number of people in the file.
The Statistics box on the right side of Legacy Home displays the counts.
(3) Click on File > Rename File and add the number to the end of the file name (lower left corner) and click Save (lower right corner). For example, if the file is named "Sample" and it has 160 people in it, rename it "Sample-160". You are now done with this file.
(4) Next, click on File > Open File > Have Legacy create a list of files to choose from to open the list of files again.
(5) Because you just renamed one of the duplicate files, rebuild the list of files by clicking the Refresh List button at the bottom of the screen.
(6) Go to the next duplicate family file and repeat steps 1-5. Repeat these steps until all of the duplicate family files have been renamed to add the numbers of people in each.
(7) Now when you look at your list of family files, you can tell at a glance which one has the most people in it.
The file with largest count will now be you master family file. Rename the master file to give it a memorable name, like "Sample Master".
Combining the smaller files into one master file
More is not better when it comes to copies of your family file. For
example, last week a user may have entered a new family to the file
saved
in Documents, but today he/she unintentionally opens a different copy of
the file saved at
C:\Legacy\Data and of course the new family is not in it. Confusion caused by multiple versions
of a file is probably the number one cause of data loss that we see in
technical support. Here are the steps to resolve this problem.
1. If the files started as copies or clones of one main file, use IntelliShare to merge them.
(1) Start by importing the smallest file into the master file. See Split Screen View: How to Copy Between Two Family Files.
(2) Next, do an IntelliShare merge on the master file you just copied into. See IntelliShare: Syncronize Your Family Files on Two or More Computers.
(3) If the records in the files cannot be merged by IntelliShare, do a normal Merge session. See Merge is not finding all possible duplicates.
(4) Repeat these steps with the other files until all have been combined in the file you designated the master family file.
2. You can set Legacy to always start with
your preferred file when the program is opened. This will minimize problems
of stumbling into smaller copies of the file. Please see How do I set Legacy to always start with my preferred family file?
3. If you are satisfied that your master file has everyone in it, the smaller files can archived so they don't cause more confusion in the future.
