The Demise of TMG (The Master Genealogist) and Alternatives?

[mike175]

As a long term user I always recommend RootsMagic, which I found after trying everything available when I first started genealogy. The full version of RM does include mapping but I don't know if it accepts imported mapping data.

This link gives information of their direct import for TMG files: http://blog.rootsmagic.com/?p=2248

I have no connection with RM other than as a customer.

Mike.

[jcsturgis]

That's probably a good idea and I'll do that ... fortunately I have a small database (that I did for a friend) that I can send.  Another quick question ... does FH have the ability to merge different projects?  In my wisdom (when I started this about 20 years ago!) I created separate projects for each of my main surname branches, as I thought this would be easier to manage ... I now want to merge them all together so I can get a proper 'ancestor' picture ... I can't seem to find a utility in FH to do this ... any ideas?

[jcsturgis]

Mike ... yes, I'm looking at RootsMagic too ... same question applies regarding merging projects?

[Jane Taubman]

Of course,  File>Merge Compare from the menu.

http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=glossary:merge_compare_files

[mike175]

If you open 2 databases on the main screen RootsMagic allows you to copy people from one database to another by dragging and dropping them. You get the option to copy the whole database, or just an individual with or without their ancestors or descendants.

Mike.

[jcsturgis]

Thanks Mike - it does indeed!  Unfortunately, the actual operation is only available in the full version (and I only have a trial), so I can't see what it does.  Understandable I guess, but pah! 

[mike175]

Yes, it is frustrating not to be able to try out all the features before you buy.

Drag and drop is a feature I haven't used often, but basically you open two databases/projects and 'tile' the windows side by side within the main RM window. Then you select a person you want to copy to the other database and drag them across to that window, you then get the option to move just the individual or any combination of family members up to the entire database. If you drop the individual on an existing family you get further options to link or merge the person as a child of that family, which automatically links all the other relatives you import with them. There are also various 'Tools' to merge duplicate individuals, etc. which is useful because there can be a lot of tidying up to do if the same people appear in both databases.

Mike.

[jcsturgis]

Mike,

That sounds a though it will do the job, so thanks for the explanation.  The other thing I use (in TMG) is individual 'flags' (Y/N/X) typically in my case, to indicate whether a person appears on a particular census (or not).  This makes it easy to produce reports based on them, as TMG doesn't allow filters on whether an event (fact) doesn't exist, only the data contained within if it does (if you get what I mean).  It looks like the 'groups' feature of RootsMagic will do something similar but, short of going through and tagging all the people in my database (and there are a few thousand), it will also depend on whether existence/non-existence of a fact can be used as a criteria.  Any thoughts?

[mike175]

Hi again, sorry it's a bit late but I haven't been online much today.

There are no permanent individual 'flags' in RM but there is a pretty comprehensive 'RootsMagic Explorer" which will filter and group individuals on up to 6 combined criteria, so you can print reports for them. There is also a persistent colour coding facility in which you can choose several different coloured fonts for different groups, which makes them stand out in listings, etc.

I have attached a screenshot of the filter box so you can get an idea of it.

Mike.