I received a question about Family Origins that I need help with. I know that when upgrading all the data entered in the old version remains and will be present in the new version. My questioner has version 4 and wants to upgrade to 10. Will that work the same or does she need to do anything different? Thanks. Tony Grisolia

The patch does not install on W XP for me either. J Davis ----- Original Message ----- From: Kevin Benson Sent: Friday, July 19, 2002 1:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FO] Getting FO 9.02 from Win98 to WinME ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:58 PM Subject: Re: [FO] Getting FO 9.02 from Win98 to WinME > In a message dated 7/18/02 5:28:56 PM Central Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > > > Did you install FOW 9 from the original CD to the XP computer? > > Did you copy the patch, or download a new one, and install it? > > Did you create a new, empty database on the XP computer? > > Did you go to the File menu, select "GEDCOM" - "import GEDCOM"? > > Which step didn't go as expected, and how? > > > > Sorry to have been so vague. I don't post to many lists. > Yes, I installed Family Origins onto the laptop (that's the "XP", right?) > from the original CD. > I tried to install the patch but it wouldn't install. I had downloaded the > patch so long ago that I cannot recall what problem I was having that made me > need the patch so I figured whatever the problem had been was no longer valid > with WinME, that's why it wouldn't install. I will go to > www.familyorigins.com and see about downloading a new patch. First off...let me suggest that you go to www.formalsoft.com for all your Family Origins needs, in order to avoid the confusing mix & mention of Genealogy.com 's Family Tree Maker at *that other site* ;-) There are actually two(2) different patches that can be applied to your FO version ~depending~ on whether you already have version 9.0 or 9.01. They can be found at http://www.formalsoft.com/files.htm ( if you are not at version 9.02... you should apply the appropriate patch regardless of Win95,98,ME,XP) While FO is running...click on -->Help-->About Family Origins-->Note the version and download the appropriate patch file. Run the file and point it to the folder on your system where FO is installed, to apply the patch. > Yes, I created a new, empty database on the laptop . > Yes, I selected "import GEDCOM" from the file menu. > As to which step didn't go as expected... our main, combined database is way > too large for one floppy. It took four; two for his side and two for mine. > His first disk finished in maybe a minute then it asked for the second disk. > After two and a half hours the second disk had not finished. I knew that > wasn't right so I shut the laptop off and asked y'all for help. I'm not > entirely sure which step that second disk was. The problem here might possibly have been the "format" of floppy #2 was corrupted. *Always* format blank floppies before using them to backup "precious" data. This marks bad spots (called clusters) unusable to prevent their use to store data in questionable areas. The Export GEDcom routine spans to the next (and subsequent) disks by using ZIP to compress them and the Import GEDcom routine reads the first disk and if there is more to import... prompts for the subsequent disks with filenames that are in the form "gedcom_name.r00, gedcom_name.r01, etc." I've been fortunate not to have problems with import/export, so I cannot comment on whether FO will "always" produce a visible warning/error (that it can't "read" the disk) but it seems a moot point...since you had to reboot, in order to recover. > Thank you for the advice about using the backup method instead of the GEDCOM > method. I've never done a "restore" before but I sure will give it a try. > Thanks again, > Barbara Wright > Slidell, Louisiana > [email protected] I know from experience and from mentions on this forum, that the backup method requires LESS space to transfer the same amount of information and preserves the custom sentence structure of user-defined facts -=Kevin Benson=- ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== My very basic Windows beginners help: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~adelr/index.htm basic HTML: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~pasher/

I'm a fairly new FO (9 & 10). One feature that drives me nuts is not being able to slide the elevator on the individual and place list and have the listings on the left move at the same time as the elevator on the right. It would sure make it a lot nicer if both the list and the elevator could move in sinc. J

One successful book printed with Family Origins 10, about 125 pages in the final edit from the earliest ancestor and just a few generations. 17 THU files so only 17 pictures used in a descendant book. Using XP Pro and plenty of RAM, the whole book report displays on the screen in seconds. Mailing lists often have recommendations to keep all names of related individuals in a single file and all linked pictures in a single folder. Then comes the problem of identification of pictures in a file of same-name relatives and sharing the pictures for a specific branch when a file is split. What is the best way to plan multiple Family Origins files with a different set of pictures for each one and keep them ready to move from one computer to another -- personal upgrade to XP or sharing with relatives? What method do you recommend to print source documents large enough to read -- Canadian 1901 census images are available online for free so there is one image for each household that can be found without an index. Most relatives lived in farming communities and small towns at that time and there are scanned images of 1871-1891 census as well. A system of organizing family pictures must be able to expand to "all available" pictures and scanned source documents. One individual has a "biography" file with ten scrapbooks divided by time periods and matching stories for each set of approx. 50 pictures. Many older pictures were scanned in 1996 and saved with long file names. -- Elizabeth ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dick Wells" > 2. Use an artifical drive letter assignment for the folder name. This uses > the DOS SUBST command available through Windows ME. Not available in XP. > This assigns a drive letter just like Network and real Drives on the > computer. Regardless of where the pictures are stored, it can be defined > for each computer using the program.

I have a 2-yr-old MouseMan M-CW47 and some of the FO (v10) windows *do* respond to the wheel (Win98se). It does work in the Explorer window. Patricia At 09:05 AM 7/19/02 -0400, you wrote: >That is correct. The windows in FO do not respond to the wheel. Hope >that is fixed in the new program. > >Keith Thompson > >"David R. Holloway" wrote: > > > > I use a Microsoft mouse with a wheel. I have the wheel set to move 3 lines > > at a time. > > > > The wheel does not seem to work in the FOW (v.10) explorer window.Is that > > correct or are my settings wrong? I am using Windows XP Home. > > > > David

----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:58 PM Subject: Re: [FO] Getting FO 9.02 from Win98 to WinME > In a message dated 7/18/02 5:28:56 PM Central Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > > > Did you install FOW 9 from the original CD to the XP computer? > > Did you copy the patch, or download a new one, and install it? > > Did you create a new, empty database on the XP computer? > > Did you go to the File menu, select "GEDCOM" - "import GEDCOM"? > > Which step didn't go as expected, and how? > > > > Sorry to have been so vague. I don't post to many lists. > Yes, I installed Family Origins onto the laptop (that's the "XP", right?) > from the original CD. > I tried to install the patch but it wouldn't install. I had downloaded the > patch so long ago that I cannot recall what problem I was having that made me > need the patch so I figured whatever the problem had been was no longer valid > with WinME, that's why it wouldn't install. I will go to > www.familyorigins.com and see about downloading a new patch. First off...let me suggest that you go to www.formalsoft.com for all your Family Origins needs, in order to avoid the confusing mix & mention of Genealogy.com 's Family Tree Maker at *that other site* ;-) There are actually two(2) different patches that can be applied to your FO version ~depending~ on whether you already have version 9.0 or 9.01. They can be found at http://www.formalsoft.com/files.htm ( if you are not at version 9.02... you should apply the appropriate patch regardless of Win95,98,ME,XP) While FO is running...click on -->Help-->About Family Origins-->Note the version and download the appropriate patch file. Run the file and point it to the folder on your system where FO is installed, to apply the patch. > Yes, I created a new, empty database on the laptop . > Yes, I selected "import GEDCOM" from the file menu. > As to which step didn't go as expected... our main, combined database is way > too large for one floppy. It took four; two for his side and two for mine. > His first disk finished in maybe a minute then it asked for the second disk. > After two and a half hours the second disk had not finished. I knew that > wasn't right so I shut the laptop off and asked y'all for help. I'm not > entirely sure which step that second disk was. The problem here might possibly have been the "format" of floppy #2 was corrupted. *Always* format blank floppies before using them to backup "precious" data. This marks bad spots (called clusters) unusable to prevent their use to store data in questionable areas. The Export GEDcom routine spans to the next (and subsequent) disks by using ZIP to compress them and the Import GEDcom routine reads the first disk and if there is more to import... prompts for the subsequent disks with filenames that are in the form "gedcom_name.r00, gedcom_name.r01, etc." I've been fortunate not to have problems with import/export, so I cannot comment on whether FO will "always" produce a visible warning/error (that it can't "read" the disk) but it seems a moot point...since you had to reboot, in order to recover. > Thank you for the advice about using the backup method instead of the GEDCOM > method. I've never done a "restore" before but I sure will give it a try. > Thanks again, > Barbara Wright > Slidell, Louisiana > [email protected] I know from experience and from mentions on this forum, that the backup method requires LESS space to transfer the same amount of information and preserves the custom sentence structure of user-defined facts -=Kevin Benson=-

In a message dated 7/18/02 5:28:56 PM Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > Did you install FOW 9 from the original CD to the XP computer? > Did you copy the patch, or download a new one, and install it? > Did you create a new, empty database on the XP computer? > Did you go to the File menu, select "GEDCOM" - "import GEDCOM"? > Which step didn't go as expected, and how? > Sorry to have been so vague. I don't post to many lists. Yes, I installed Family Origins onto the laptop (that's the "XP", right?) from the original CD. I tried to install the patch but it wouldn't install. I had downloaded the patch so long ago that I cannot recall what problem I was having that made me need the patch so I figured whatever the problem had been was no longer valid with WinME, that's why it wouldn't install. I will go to www.familyorigins.com and see about downloading a new patch. Yes, I created a new, empty database on the laptop . Yes, I selected "import GEDCOM" from the file menu. As to which step didn't go as expected... our main, combined database is way too large for one floppy. It took four; two for his side and two for mine. His first disk finished in maybe a minute then it asked for the second disk. After two and a half hours the second disk had not finished. I knew that wasn't right so I shut the laptop off and asked y'all for help. I'm not entirely sure which step that second disk was. Thank you for the advice about using the backup method instead of the GEDCOM method. I've never done a "restore" before but I sure will give it a try. Thanks again, Barbara Wright Slidell, Louisiana [email protected] Support our troops. Remember our Veterans.

There are 3 basic solutions to this issue. I call it an issue because it is not a problem as much as planning and understanding. 1. Use the Global Search and Replace function as Bruce noted in his reply. 2. Use an artifical drive letter assignment for the folder name. This uses the DOS SUBST command available through Windows ME. Not available in XP. This assigns a drive letter just like Network and real Drives on the computer. Regardless of where the pictures are stored, it can be defined for each computer using the program. 3. With planning and foresight, pick a folder name that is unique and meaningful and use the same name on all computers. Example: C:\Family Picture Library. Item 3 brings up another issue. Putting all pictures in a single folder requires planning for the picture names. In many cases you will have multiple pictures of the same individual, and then all the duplicate names for individuals. Remember, you have long file names - use them. Here are some suggestions: John Jacob Astor III - 1928, John Jacob Astor III - 1940, John Jacob Astor IV - 1950, Alfred Eller - dob 1935, Alfred Eller - dob 1965. In the first 3 examples, the date refers to the date of the picture, where in the last 2 it is a birth year. If you try to create multiple folders for groups of pictures, your problems compound. A number of people have tried this and can give you their insight to the problems. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Mahan" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:15 PM Subject: Re: [FO] Wish List > OOH! That makes Great sense. Hope Bruce is reading. > > HAVE A GREAT DAY!!! > > Jim Mahan > > --- http://james.mahan.tripod.com/ > --- http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jrmahan > > --- http://mahanscadsolutions.com > > --- "We will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter > --- and we will not fail. Peace and Freedom will prevail." > --- President George W. Bush > --- 7 October 2001 > > --- ALL OUT-GOING AND INCOMING MAIL IS SCANNED BY > --- NORTON ANTIVIRUS.!! > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 8:41 PM > Subject: [FO] Wish List > > > One very disagreeable task I have run into with FO scrapbooks is the work to > reassign locations of scrapbook items when I transfer my database from one > computer to another. It seems that the directory tree is always different > for > one reason or another. > > I would like for the FO (or RootsMate) program to provide for a default > directory for all scrapbook items. Such a default directory could be a named > sister or sub directory of the directory containing the database itself, and > the applicable part of the item address would be assumed to be the same as > that of the database. Of course, the default location for the scrapbook > items > could be the same directory as the database itself, but I do not > particularly > like that solution. I do add and edit photos frequently, and would prefer > not > to mess with files in the database directory. > > Then, as a second (and much lesser) wish, I would like to have an FO option > to backup the scrapbook items as well as the database. > > Coe William (Bill) CASE, who married the WRIGHT girl. > <A HREF="http://users.aol.com/coecase/Index.htm">My Web Pages</A> > > > ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== > PLEASE send personal replies and "THANK YOU" message privately. All messages > on this list are archived and archiving takes up valuable space. > > > > > > ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== > GETTING THE MOST OUT OF FAMILY ORIGINS by Bruce Buzbee - FO DEMO > http://formalsoft.com NO WEB ACCESS? Write to [email protected] for ordering information.

In a message dated 7/18/2002 9:42:24 PM Mountain Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > One very disagreeable task I have run into with FO scrapbooks is the work to > > reassign locations of scrapbook items when I transfer my database from one > computer to another. It seems that the directory tree is always different > for > one reason or another. Do "Tools, Global search and replace" and you can change all the multimedia filenames / folders at one time. - Bruce http://rootsmate.com

One very disagreeable task I have run into with FO scrapbooks is the work to reassign locations of scrapbook items when I transfer my database from one computer to another. It seems that the directory tree is always different for one reason or another. I would like for the FO (or RootsMate) program to provide for a default directory for all scrapbook items. Such a default directory could be a named sister or sub directory of the directory containing the database itself, and the applicable part of the item address would be assumed to be the same as that of the database. Of course, the default location for the scrapbook items could be the same directory as the database itself, but I do not particularly like that solution. I do add and edit photos frequently, and would prefer not to mess with files in the database directory. Then, as a second (and much lesser) wish, I would like to have an FO option to backup the scrapbook items as well as the database. Coe William (Bill) CASE, who married the WRIGHT girl. <A HREF="http://users.aol.com/coecase/Index.htm">My Web Pages</A>

OOH! That makes Great sense. Hope Bruce is reading. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!! Jim Mahan --- http://james.mahan.tripod.com/ --- http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jrmahan --- http://mahanscadsolutions.com --- "We will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter --- and we will not fail. Peace and Freedom will prevail." --- President George W. Bush --- 7 October 2001 --- ALL OUT-GOING AND INCOMING MAIL IS SCANNED BY --- NORTON ANTIVIRUS.!! ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 8:41 PM Subject: [FO] Wish List One very disagreeable task I have run into with FO scrapbooks is the work to reassign locations of scrapbook items when I transfer my database from one computer to another. It seems that the directory tree is always different for one reason or another. I would like for the FO (or RootsMate) program to provide for a default directory for all scrapbook items. Such a default directory could be a named sister or sub directory of the directory containing the database itself, and the applicable part of the item address would be assumed to be the same as that of the database. Of course, the default location for the scrapbook items could be the same directory as the database itself, but I do not particularly like that solution. I do add and edit photos frequently, and would prefer not to mess with files in the database directory. Then, as a second (and much lesser) wish, I would like to have an FO option to backup the scrapbook items as well as the database. Coe William (Bill) CASE, who married the WRIGHT girl. <A HREF="http://users.aol.com/coecase/Index.htm">My Web Pages</A> ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== PLEASE send personal replies and "THANK YOU" message privately. All messages on this list are archived and archiving takes up valuable space.

[email protected] wrote: > Am I doing something wrong when I scan photos into the "scrapbook"? >They appear to be going into the database alright (I can see them almost >immediately) but now "My Documents" is jammed full of their files... two for >every scan. Why two? The .THU files are small thumbnail versions of the photo file and are used to quickly display the photo on screen in print previews of reports that include photos. When you actually print out the photo report the larger file with better resolution is used. When you deleted the .THU file you no longer saw the photo displayed on the main screen, but if you open the scrapbook and display that photo there then FO will recreate the .THU file and you will again see the photo displayed in the main view. Whenever you remove a photo from the FO scrapbook, FO will delete the associated .THU file. When you scan photos and don't want them in your My Documents folder then you should change that to your photo folder in the file finder dialog that FO presents to you when saving the scanned photo file. If you want to move all your existing photo files to a different folder, you can do that from the windows explorer. You can highlight all the photo files in your My Documents folder (including all the .thu files), click on the 'cut' button, then go to the folder where you want to move them to and click on the 'paste' button in the windows explorer tool bar. After you do that, FO will not be able to find them for it is still looking for them in your My Documents folder. So, you must open FO again and use the global search/replace tool to change all the multimedia filenames to the path of the folder where you have relocated your photos. Wayne League

Yes, what Wayne said, I had to go to supper when I was only half done with this reply. I doubt that there is anything new here, but I hate to delete my work <};-) Family Origins does not put photo files in it's database. It only stores their address so that it can find and display them. The THU files you mention are thumbnail sized copies of the originals that are used for displaying on the monitor. Those small files take much less time to load than do the much larger originals. When Family Origins scans a photo, it stores it in a folder, My documents, my pictures then puts that address in the database so that it can find them the next time. If you move, rename or delete a picture, Family Origins won't be able to find it and when you try to open a scrapbook containing that picture you will get an error message. Pressing the OK button will display a barred circle rather than the photo and it will go on to the next one photo in the scrap-book. To scan a photo, put the photo in the scanner, Go to the person's scrapbook in Family Origins Select ADD Select Scan The scanning software loads and starts, then you scan the photo with that. Then you get a dialogue window, "Save Scanned Photo" where you give the file a name and a place to live. (see my Save As tutor at: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~adelr/index.htm You can select any folder you want for your photos, even create a new one.Hit the OK button and the photo is saved and the address is attached to FOW's scrapbook. BUT, if you have already saved a bunch of photo files in a folder and you want them in another one, study my Windows Explorer tutorial at the above site and move all of the photos and their thumbnail copies to the folder where you want them. Then use the FOW global search and replace in the tools menu to change the path where FOW looks for the photos to the new path and things should be fine. Alfred D. Eller http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~adelr/ ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 5:07 PM Subject: [FO] Why is FO 90.2 doubling the files of scanned photos? > Hello all, > Am I doing something wrong when I scan photos into the "scrapbook"? > They appear to be going into the database alright (I can see them almost > immediately) but now "My Documents" is jammed full of their files... two for > every scan. Why two? > The first file has a little box with a red dot (I can't quite see it > clearly enough to know if there are words) plus it has the extension .jpg and > it shows me a thumbnail of the photo when I click on it. > The second file has the Acrobat Reader logo, the extension .THU but > tells me it can't be opened because it doesn't begin with "%PDF-". I deleted > one of the .THU files to see what would happen. It removed the visible photo > from tree view but not the one in "scrapbook". I clicked off the "preferred > photo", clicked it back on and clicked okay... the photo reappeared so those > .THU files must be needed for *some*thing. > I really would like to get all the scrapbook photo files out of "My > Documents" and into a home of their own, but I don't know how. Any > suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but please, be kind and remember > that it's my brother (now living way out in Nevada) who knows about > computers. I know about genealogy and entering data. > > Thank you in advance, > > Barbara Wright > Slidell, Louisiana > [email protected] > >

Hello all, Just when I'm getting comfortable with my trusty version 9.02 I see where they've come out with a version 10.0! What are the diffferences? I'm trying to decide if I want to go through the frustration that usually comes with change. Any and all opinions of the version 10.0 are welcome. Thank you in advance, Barbara Wright Slidell, Louisiana [email protected] Support our troops. Remember our Veterans.

Hello all, Is there a trick to getting a copy of our rather large database from the desktop that runs Win98 to the new laptop that runs WinME? The GEDCOM method hasn't worked at least a half-dozen times! I am open to suggestions and will be very grateful for all assistance. Thank you in advance, Barbara Wright Slidell, Louisiana [email protected] Support our troops. Remember our Veterans. has the extension .jpg and it shows me a thumbnail of the photo when I click on it. The second file has the Acrobat Reader logo, the extension .THU but tells me it can't be opened because it doesn't begin with "%PDF-". I deleted one of the .THU files to see what would happen. It removed the visible photo from tree view but not the one in "scrapbook". I clicked off the "preferred photo", clicked it back on and clicked okay... the photo reappeared so those .THU files must be needed for *some*thing. I really would like to get all the scrapbook photo files out of "My Documents" and into a home of their own, but I don't know how. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but please, be kind and remember that it's my brother (now living way out in Nevada) who knows about computers. I know about genealogy and entering data. Thank you in advance, Barbara Wright Slidell, Louisiana [email protected] Support our troops. Remember our Veterans.

There should be no frustration. There are a few new features, but everything that you are comfortable with in 9 still works about the same. At first glance you wouldn't notice any difference, but there are some enhancements. Here is the Feature list site for FOW, where you can read about the new features, then click on another link there and order it direct if you want: http://www.formalsoft.com/features.htm Alfred D. Eller http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~adelr/ PS version 10 is nearly a year old now. ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 5:07 PM Subject: [FO] What's new about FO 10.0? > Hello all, > Just when I'm getting comfortable with my trusty version 9.02 I see > where they've come out with a version 10.0! What are the diffferences? I'm > trying to decide if I want to go through the frustration that usually comes > with change. > Any and all opinions of the version 10.0 are welcome. > > Thank you in advance, > > Barbara Wright > Slidell, Louisiana > [email protected] >

You haven't told us much except that it isn't working as you expect it to. Did you install FOW 9 from the original CD to the XP computer? Did you copy the patch, or download a new one, and install it? Did you create a new, empty database on the XP computer? Did you go to the File menu, select "GEDCOM" - "import GEDCOM"? Which step didn't go as expected, and how? A better way would be to make a backup of the database on the old computer. Then, after installing FOW 9 and doing the patch, Open FOW, go to the file menu and select RESTORE, point it to the backup file on a floppy or CD and direct it to restore it into the folder of your choice, even create a new one for it. Alfred D. Eller http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~adelr/ ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 5:07 PM Subject: [FO] Getting FO 9.02 from Win98 to WinME > Hello all, > Is there a trick to getting a copy of our rather large database from > the desktop that runs Win98 to the new laptop that runs WinME? The GEDCOM > method hasn't worked at least a half-dozen times! I am open to suggestions > and will be very grateful for all assistance. > > Thank you in advance, > > Barbara Wright > Slidell, Louisiana > [email protected] >

"J.D. Kotrla-Chipps" <[email protected]> wrote: >Perhaps I'm not understanding something here, but I just went to a >person, at ramdom, and added a marriage to the same person they were >already married to, in fact I added three such marriages. No divorces, >just four marriages to the same person, with the same record numbers, >and it shows up as this person having four spouses, all the same person. > >So what's with this "cannot create that condition from within FO"? So far, I have not been successful in explaining the difference between completely different family groups and different marriage events in the same family. I will try again. Think of John having two different wives, Mary and Betty. Mary has her own children by John and Betty has her own children, also by John. Let Mary's record number be 100 and Betty's number be 200. They are completely different people and the families each one has are completely different from each other. FO will show these two families as completely different family groups and in the family view, John will have a button above his name which says "other wives" -- that's how you change the family view from Mary's family with John to Betty's family with John. NOW ..... Try to remove Betty from her family and substitute Mary, the one whose record number is 100, as the mother in Betty's family. You cannot do that. FO will not allow it. You can change Betty's name to Mary but the new Mary will now have record number 200 and she will still be a different person from the first Mary the same as Betty was. Having the same two people married to each other multiple times in the same family is different than having the multiple marriages in different families. You can have the first but not the second. You can never even see the same pair of spouses having two different families in FO unless you can find a gedcom file to import it from. And unless you come across such a gedcom file, or manually construct one yourself, you will never have this problem, so there is no need to worry about it. And this is my last attempt to explain this ... and I'm not going to worry about it anymore either. <g> Wayne League

Here I am again. You are right in saying that when you go to add a spouse F.O. tells you that this couple is already married. I know because I tried it last night. I have NO idea of how I got these "copies" into my database but on the people list there are no duplicates to merge and although I did import a gedcom a long time ago, these are not the problem people. It concerns people that I, myself have entered and whatever I did, the problem shows up on almost every individual summary! So John has three wives and sets of children, all the same but listed three times! I unlinked his wife last night and she and all her ancestors disappeared from the tree, scary, so I put her back in. Maybe the only way to fix this mess is to delete and re-enter. But there is only one marriage to delete and yet when I create an individual summary THREE marriages show up! I made this mess (somehow)and now I can't get out of it. Even my grandmother has her parents show up twice on her individual summary. I take full responsibility for having done this, probably late at night (trying to think of an excuse) but I would LOVE to undo it and not have almost every individual summary show the families two or three times. I wonder if I entered parents one time and maybe, coming from the other direction, entered children for/of that person's grandparents. That would create duplicate records for the same people but some would have been entered as parents and others as children. I don't even know if anyone can understand what I'm talking about now and I'm getting more confused as I write so had better stop. Maybe later with a fresh mind.... Lois >In a message dated 7/18/2002 8:44:13 AM Mountain Daylight Time, >[email protected] writes: > > > >>So what's with this "cannot create that condition from within FO"? > > >> > > > > > >Wayne is talking about adding marriage "events". He is talking about > > linking > > >two people together as a couple more than once. Try this... > > > > > >1. Highlight a person in your database that has a spouse > > >2. Click the "Add spouse" button > > >3. Select "Link to an existing person" > > >4. Try to select the already linked spouse as a new spouse > > >5. FO will tell you these people are already married and won't let you > > link > > >them again. > > > > > >- Bruce > > >http://rootsmate.com > > > > > > > OK, try this... > > > > 1. Highlight a person in your database that has a spouse > > 2. Click the "Add spouse" button > > 3. Select "Add a new person" > > 4. Fill in the same name as the existing spouse > > 5. FO will add this same person as another spouse > >Actually, you are adding another *copy* of that person as the spouse. You >aren't adding the *exact same record* as a spouse again, which is what >Wayne >is talking about. If you do as you suggest above, FO should bring up a >dialog saying you may have already entered that person. If you tell it to >link the person as the spouse, it won't let you do that. > >- Bruce >http://rootsmate.com > > _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com

In a message dated 7/18/2002 8:44:13 AM Mountain Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > >>So what's with this "cannot create that condition from within FO"? > >> > > > >Wayne is talking about adding marriage "events". He is talking about > linking > >two people together as a couple more than once. Try this... > > > >1. Highlight a person in your database that has a spouse > >2. Click the "Add spouse" button > >3. Select "Link to an existing person" > >4. Try to select the already linked spouse as a new spouse > >5. FO will tell you these people are already married and won't let you > link > >them again. > > > >- Bruce > >http://rootsmate.com > > > > OK, try this... > > 1. Highlight a person in your database that has a spouse > 2. Click the "Add spouse" button > 3. Select "Add a new person" > 4. Fill in the same name as the existing spouse > 5. FO will add this same person as another spouse Actually, you are adding another *copy* of that person as the spouse. You aren't adding the *exact same record* as a spouse again, which is what Wayne is talking about. If you do as you suggest above, FO should bring up a dialog saying you may have already entered that person. If you tell it to link the person as the spouse, it won't let you do that. - Bruce http://rootsmate.com