Steve Hayes wrote: > On Thu, 26 May 2011 15:03:39 -0400, singhals<[email protected]> wrote: > >> Steve Hayes wrote: >>> On Wed, 25 May 2011 21:36:21 -0400, in soc.genealogy.computing you wrote: >>> >>>> singhals wrote: >>>>> PAF produces a UID for each entry; I'm pretty certain other >>>>> programs do to, particularly the ones that allow >>>>> synchronization of multiple databases. >>>> >>>> Well color me surprised. >>>> >>>> PAF and Legacy both assign a UID, which one can see in the GED. >>>> >>>> Oddly enough, and despite what I've heard said, when I >>>> imported the PAF file into a LEGACY file (direct import, not >>>> GED), the UIDs changed. Seems to me that's a bit awkward >>>> for someone trying to use those UIDs for anything. >>> >>> What is a UID, and where can I find it? >>> >> >> Unique IDentifier -- new with PAF4 as I recall, and I think >> inspired by another program that used them. As I recall, we >> were told that if two people used two computers to enter the >> same data each computer would generate a different UID for >> that person. I don't /think/ you can see them anywhere but >> the GED. The computer can, and in PAF when you run the >> match/merge routine, it asks if you want to use UID. > > When I do that it asks me if I want to us the Ancestral File Number. > In PAF 5 the UID is immediately below the AFN on that screen. > Thatr works quite well if the person has an Ancestral File Number, but those > numbers have now been discontinued, and no new ones are being generated. > GED is your friend. (G) If you can see it in a GED, you can edit it. Copy/paste the UID into a field you can see/sort on. Cheryl >> >>> I regularly export my data from FHS to Legacy. >>> >>> FHS assigns an RID, which Legacy callas a RIN, but if it imports them from the >>> GEDCOM file, Legacy scrambles them. >>> >>> So what I do is import the exported records to PAF 4, and import them directly >>> from PAF to Legacy. Then the Legacy RINs correspond to the FHS ones. >>> >>> But what is the UID? >> >> The UID is not a RID/RIN; it is specifically assigned to an >> individual record and does not mutate when moved around. > > I'll have to look at some recent Gedcom files to see if I can find them. > >