It's a couple hundred people. Merging that many people, automatically or manually, is not going to be quick, easy, or reliable. Cheryl Judith Heald wrote: > Often I have a couple with one child and later the same couple with other > children. I merge one in the couple - then I merge the other partner in the > couple. This combines notes, sources, parents, miscellaneous children, etc. > Often I have a coupe with one child and later the same couple with another > child. Occasionally I discover this results in a child listed twice so I > merge that child. No problem. Several steps, but it works fine for me. > > Judy > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 3:01 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: PAF-5-USERS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 288 > > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Can I merge marriages? (singhals) > 2. Re: Can I merge marriages? (Stewart Millar) > 3. Re: Can I merge marriages? (singhals) > 4. Re: Can I merge marriages? (Gaylon Findlay) > 5. Re: Can I merge marriages? (Bill Linn) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:10:32 -0500 > From: singhals <[email protected]> > Subject: [PAF-5] Can I merge marriages? > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > I know exactly what I did, why, and how. My bad, no > question about it. I even know the hard way to fix it. > > Question *IS*, is there an easy way? What I did resulted in > numerous people being married twice to the same person. Is > there a way to merge the marriage records? > > (If I just unlink one of 'em, they're still in the db > floating around in the alpha reports. Merging the spouses > seems to result in duplicate children which then also need > merging creating duplicate grandchildren etc etc.) > > If PAF won't merge marriages, will Legacy? > > Cheryl > -- There should be no attachments on this message, unless I specifically mentioned them above.

Cheryl I do not have PAF Insight, and I merge a LOT of info into my database. I've developed a process that works well for me. 1.. Using ADDSOUR I add a Source to the gedcom under both Individual and Dates & Places. 2.. I open a new file for the gedcom I received and peruse it to see WHAT I'm dealing with. I merge Sources and Citations. I delete any individuals that I would not want in my database. Then I create a new gedcom of the file with ONLY the individuals I want in my database. 3.. I now go to my primary data base, select the matching individuals (Or matching descendents) and export a gedcom and create a new (TEMP) file. (This MAY seem cumbersome but it allows me to merge automatically later on UID number). I note the largest RIN number for reference. 4.. Now I import the NEW gedcom to my TEMP file and merge all duplicate individuals (Using care to always merge into the lower RIN individual). When the husband and wife are merged the two marriages are also merged IF the two marriages are EXACTLY alike. Export the file as a gedcom. 5.. Then Import the gedcom into the master database and do an automatic merge on UID numbers, and merge Sources & Citations. 6.. Finally do an Advanced Focus search for individuals with more than one marriage and scan the list for duplicates. I usually delete the unnecessary MRIN. Then an Advanced Focus search for individuals with more than one set of parents and scan for duplicates and delete the unnecessary MRIN. A bit cumbersome but works for me. I know this doesn't solve your problem where the duplicates already exist. Regards Ken Guilette South Barrington IL