Combining 2 Reunion 12 files, and how to deal with duplicates?

[palurie]

1) My cousin and I have been working in parallel for decades, and recently discovered we both use Reunion 12.

We would like to combine our trees, and wonder how we can deal with duplicates?

2) Another cousin has shared a GEDCOM file with me, which will also have duplicate people.

Can anyone guide me with workflows for the 2 situations above, to avoid duplication?

Many thanks,
Peter

[A Hougie]

Hi Peter

I wrote for myself some instructions for merging family files. They relate to my FamilyFile and include steps to try to maintain consistency so you may want to change or eliminate some of the steps. If the FamilyFiles have a large number of people, this will be a very time-consumign task. This is what I wrote:

I find merging in GEDCOMs really challenging and time consuming. What I try to do with the file I am going to import is:

- check that there are no strange “islands” (as a result of data corruption) in the file to import
- edit all the places in the file to import to match my format
- take out all the dots (I use initials with no dots, and “Dr”, “Prof” etc rather than “Dr.”, “Prof.”etc) using “Find and Replace” in “Names”
- add a general (GEDCOM) source to all people in the file to import (Change --> Set General Sources)
- printout a list of all the people in the file to import
- compare that list with my familyfile to identify (i) people who match and (ii) obvious duplicates
- check the obvious duplicates in the file to import and merge them (so that sources are combined)
- backup my family file
- import the new familyfile making sure that it is set to “mark” all imported individuals and including cited sources
- “Match and Merge Sources” (first 120 characters, same type)
- merge the people who match (individually checking each one - it is only safe to merge a family at the same time if there is only one spouse and no more than one child of each gender, but actually I am scared of merging children in the same operation because Reunion can try to merge the wrong children (usually I think when there are two children of the same gender and with the same initial - I haven't seen this discussed in the Reuniontalk fora)
- “Find” all people with >1 Parent Family record. There can of course be individuals with two or more parent family records, usually either as a result of adoption or because a parent remarried and the child was treated as a “child of the family” by the second spouse. But it can also be a result of a failure to identify duplicated parents
- “Find” all people who are “Marked” and with >1 spouse. Again this would not be unusual, but can also be a result of failure to identify a duplicated spouse and children, including as a result of different spellings, a change of name or one version having an unknown surname. It is also necessary to review the spouses, even if not “Marked”, if the spouse has more than one spouse, as the spouse may have already been merged but also have duplicated spouses.
- “Find” all people who are “Marked” and <1 Parent Family record. These people can be unmarked and, subject to review (especially if they or their spouse has more than one spouse), so can their children unless there is an obvious or potential duplicated child - the purpose of this is for the next step and to reduce the scale of that task
- Having done all the above, I think I have identified all obvious duplicates, all duplicated parents and all duplicated spouses. What is left is any duplicated children. Anyone who has no Parent Family record cannot be a duplicated child and hence has been unmarked. Hopefully the numbers have been reduced because now every remaining marked person needs to be reviewed with their siblings to check they are not a duplicated child. I found it convenient to review and unmark all siblings in this step again to reduce the scale of the task.

[palurie]

Hi there, A (I don't know your first name)!

Thank you SO MUCH for this detailed workflow. What an incredible process and so specific.

I really appreciate this.


Many thanks from Peter (in London)

PS: Unsure how soon I can attempt this, but I will... it should save having to reenter everything!

[Dennis J. Cunniff]

If you are both working in Reunion, you are probably better off merging the Reunion family files directly rather than exporting to GEDCOM and merging. You'd use the same "cleanup procedure" on the files before merging, but you'd import one FamilyFile into the other directly.

[palurie]

Thanks, Dennis... very helpful too!

[pforbes]

A Hougie: Thank you. I only wish I had seen this when I imported 45,000 names into my 15,000 name database. I ended up with many islands, duplicate people and duplicated fields in 'events', 'facts' and 'notes'. What a mess and it still isn't completely cleaned up.

[AE Palmer]

Since you are both using Reunion, FORGET gedcoms. Do a Reunion to Reunion file merge. Zero errors. And yes there will be a fair amont of merging of data, but the end result will be worth the effort. Also, if you are both using a mutual Dropbox account, as long as only one person is using the account at a time, the data can be traded both ways without error.

[AE Palmer]

Small doses. And find the connecting couples. Then merge them. All related people will come along for the ride.The gedcom is another matter. That will take takee and effort to merge into your master file. BUT DO NOT merge this directly into your master file --- Create a new file so that you can massage the data without screwing up your master data file. THEN merge the data.

[A Hougie]

If you are both working in Reunion, you are probably better off merging the Reunion family files directly rather than exporting to GEDCOM and merging. You'd use the same "cleanup procedure" on the files before merging, but you'd import one FamilyFile into the other directly.

Thanks Dennis for pointing this out. You are quite right. My unrecorded first step was to create a new Reunion File deom the GEDCOM file I wish to import.

[JL Hebert]

Hi, I want to merge some information in one Reunion 12 file to my own reunion file. When I finally press the go for it... opens a window which offers to OPEN the chosen file and when I click on OPEN, a message appears saying : IT'S OPEN... Confounding... What am I missing here.