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. 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. > >> 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. -- Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk