Dear FOers... A while back I asked about how to delete all the duplicate entries caused by my importing a GEDCOM...I'm only up to the "D's" and it's a slow go, tedious and mind-numbing, so I want to know if there is a way to COMBINE two databases in a way that will not duplicate any of the entries when some of the entries are identical in each database? Clare

This is my recommendation for importing a GEDCOM into an existing database, whether it is one of your own or one you received from a stranger. Make a backup of your main database! (when I say “Make a backup” I mean, “Make a new backup” don’t overwrite the previous ones here, because if you have a bad error, and you overwrite a good backup with that error, all you have is a duplicate file of your errors.) If you get a GEDCOM from someone, a distant cousin, import it into a new, empty database and study it a bit. You will probably find that it has a lot of duplicate information, but some tree branches or individuals, that you don’t have. To add the single individuals, it is about as easy to type the information in as it is to GEDCOM drag and drop. Although dragging and dropping one individual is quite simple and straightforward. Clean up this temporary file by editing the place names so they conform to your specifications. Check the sources, some people have a lot of redundant information in their sources (looking in a mirror as I type ;-) A source of “GEDCOM file imported July 23, 1998” doesn’t mean much to the first party, and much less to the second. If that is all you have, I think that it might as well be deleted. If you know who it was from, that adds enough to make it useful. Make a backup of your main database! Once you have the temporary database cleaned up, export a separate GEDCOM for each one of those new branches. Import that branch into a copy of your main database and link it to the proper part of the tree, check for any duplicates and merge them. Make a backup of your main database! Import the next branch into your main database, link and merge everything into place. Make a backup of your main database! ETC. Etc. etc. There are some on this list who never import a GEDCOM, they always retype all of the data. I just aint dat good wid a typwritr. Alfred D Eller http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~adelr/ ================ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clare" <Clare@Sierratel.com> > Dear FOers... > > A while back I asked about how to delete all the duplicate entries > caused by my importing a GEDCOM...I'm only up to the "D's" and it's a > slow go, tedious and mind-numbing, so I want to know if there is a way > to COMBINE two databases in a way that will not duplicate any of the > entries when some of the entries are identical in each database? > > Clare >