Help: Gedcom-to-TNG Converter

Overview of The Gedcom Converter

The Gedcom Converter is not a native TNG program; it is installed by the Gedcom Converter mod.

The converter modifies Gedcom files to achieve four primary purposes:

  1. To set the media file path in Gedcom media records so that TNG can import media records to multiple TNG Family Tree subfolders - necessary only when you have multiple family trees in one TNG database and you separate media files from each family tree into separate subfolders.
  2. To modify Gedcom files generated by Family Tree Maker (FTM) so that they can be fully uploaded to TNG. FTM Gedcom files can be uploaded without modification, but certain data in them are lost if they are not converted. For a more detailed description of why FTM Gedcom files need to be converted, see the documentation page for Steven Connor's FTM-to-TNG Gedcom Converter (which is described in the TNG Wiki), and/or see my description below.
  3. To make a number of data modifications that are driven by the author's personal data entry habits and place formatting preferences - and that may be useful to others. Gedcom Converter options determine which translation steps are taken, and determine specific values to be changed and/or to be the result of changes
  4. To support a process that formats Placenames consistently. That is, when supplemented by the Placename Format mod, the Gedcom Converter can change Placenames in the Gedcom file so that, for example, "Houston, Harris, TX", "Houston, Harris County, Texas", "Houston, Harris Co, TX, USA", etc. all wind up in the same format. Rules defined by Placename Formatting options determin the final format, which would typically (but doesn't have to) be "Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA".

    As this is being written, the Placename Formating process can only modify USA placenames, and can do so only within the Gedcom Converter; It cannot (at present) modify placename in the TNG database.

    However, the Placename Format mod does install a program that intelligently assigns Place Levels to a set of existing Places. An upcoming update to the Placename Format mod should support formatting of existing placenames, and provide some kind of intelligent formatting of some non-USA placenames.

Gedcom Converter Options

The Gedcom Converter process is driven by a set of options that are viewed and/or updated in a "Kickoff form" (much like the form that kicks off the Gedcom Import process) that starts the Gedcom Conversion process. The Gedcom Converter mod installs the kickoff form in a new "Gedcom Converter" tab at Admin>>Import/Export.
The Gedcom Converter options are stored in a configuration file that is similar to the TNG system configuration files in that
  • The file consists of a series of PHP assignment statements that load option values in PHP variables,
  • The file is loaded in to programs (in this case, just one program) as a PHP "Include file",
  • The settings are updated by a form whose "submit" action is to completely rebuild the config file, and
  • The filename (rrgedcomconverter_config.php) follows the pattern *config.php.
The Gedcom Converter configuration file is different from the TNG Configuration files in that
  • It is stored in the TNG extensions folder, not in the subroot where the TNG System Configuation Files are stored, and
  • The form through which it is updated is not in the Admin>>Setup menu. Instead, it is presented in two places:
    • As part of the form that kicks off the Gedcom Converter, and
    • In a new Admin>>Places tab next to a new tab for the Place Levels utility mentioned just above.
    • ,

The Gedcom Converter Kickoff Form

The kickoff form has three sections that are described in detail just below:
  1. Fields that establish the input and output files. These fields are essentially the same as the input file selection at the top of the Gedcom Import kickoff form - though this form also has a field where you name the Gedcom Converter's output file.
  2. A fieldset (i.e. a group of form fields surrounded by a labeled box) labeled "Gedcom Options". These options control the way that a Gedcom file is modifid by the converter. The Gedcom Options can be saved to their configuration file independently of submitting the form; that is, there are separate buttons for saving the options and for submitting the form to the Gedcom Converter.
  3. A second fieldset labeled "Placename Formatting Options" that is available only if the Placename Format mod is installed. These options control the process for formatting USA placenames to make them consistent in their values and their format. Placename formatting is performed by within the Gedcom Converter by code that is installed by the separate Placename Format options. The formatted placenames are thus put in the output Gedcom file that is to be imported into TNG.

Annotated Gedcom Converter Kickoff Form

This annotated form serves both to illustrate the kickoff form, and to describe the Gedcom Converter options that the form updates.
Hide the annotation
  1. First section - Fields that establish the input and output files.

    Select a Gedcom File to Convert:
    From your computer:
    This control - the button and filename or message - is identical to the corresponding control on the Gedcom Import page. And, like on that page, the button and filename/message look different in different web browsers. But their functionality is the same in all browsers; that is, this control lets you select a Gedcom file on your PC.
    OR   From web site (in GEDCOM folder):
    Again, this control - a button an a field - is identical to the corresponding control on the Gedcom Import page. This control uses a TNG function to select a Gedcom file that has already been uploaded to the Gedcom folder on your TNG site.
    Filename of converted file (in your Gedcom folder):
    The default filename of the converted file (that is, the output) is the input filename, with "-c" added before the ".ged" file extension; e.g. myGedcomFile.ged becomes myGedcomFile-c.ged. You may enter a different name, of course. The converted file is always stored in your TNG Gedcom folder. It is not downloaded to your PC.
    This its the kickoff form's submit button. It launches the Gedcom Converter. (There is a duplicate button at the bottom of the page.) Do not confuse it with the "Save Gedcom Options" or "Save Place Options" buttons, which only save their respective sets of options to the appropriate configuration file.
  2. Gedcom Options Fieldset - The second section of the Gedcom Converter Kickoff Form

    Gedcom Options
    This button does not submit the form. Instead, it uses a programming techniqe called Ajax to save the Gedcom Options to their config file without submitting the form or leaving the page. You can thus save options without running the Gedcom Converter, and you can run the Gedcom Converter with options that you have not saved as defaults.

    Note that, since the "Save Gedcom Options" button is "floated" to the right of the Gedcom Converter Options, if your screen is not wide enough, it could appear at the very bottom of the Gedcom Options fieldset.

    1. Media file path: (This setting represents the path from a common media folder to a tree's single folder)
      1. Conversion rule (where {p} represents the FTM filename prefix)
      2. New path
      This option is present primarily for sites with multiple trees. If you have only one tree in your TNG site, then you can leave "New path" unchecked. If you have multiple trees, please see the section on Media File Paths below to learn about
      1. The new TNGv12 system parameter that can be used in place of this setting, and
      2. The media file path conversion process in both the Gedcom Converter the TNG Gedcom Import.
    2. Do conversions for issues in Family Tree Maker (FTM) Gedcom files
      This was the original purpose of the converter. As TNG has matured, not all of the original conversions are necessary, and as the Gedcom convert has matured, the conversions can be handled more flexibly. Thus, a couple of original conversions steps are no longer done, and some steps have been added.
      The conversion steps (including the discontinued ones) are described later in this help file.
      1. Suppress Citation Medialinks (Options b and c are typically mutually exclusive)
      2. Create Individual, Family, and Source medialinks from Citation Medialinks
      3. Fix the Gedcom levels in OBJE (Media Item) records
      4. Change Media Item dates to the Media Item change date,
        Move the Media Item date to a NOTE record, or
        Remove Media Item dates altogether.
    3. Convert Values:

      The subordinate options here deal with values that I find troubling, or values that some people consider invalid in Gedcom files. In each case, the change is made only when the checkbox is checked. With some of these options, the converter allows existing values to be erased (not the events, just the values). In those cases, you can leave the text field empty. But with other options, when you check the checkbox, the word "required" appears next to the text field to assure that you enter a value. The form is validated both when you "Save Gedcom Options" and when you "Convert Gedcom File".

      1. Change empty or unknown fullname or surname to
        Family Tree Maker and TNG both handle empty names without complaint, but I prefer some kind of designation, so, during data entry, I try to remember to enter a placeholder for the name. However, some data entry processes create people without my noticing them, so I have the converter replace empty names with a placeholder.
      2. Change unknown Birth date to
        Note that, because of the way that TNG imports and stores birth dates, there is no meaningful difference between deleting the date value and deleting the date record line in the Gedcom file.

        Many people, including TNG's author, Darrin Lythgoe, argue that "Unknown" is not a legal - or at least not appropriate - date value in Gedcom files. He advises that genealogists should provide at least an estimated birth date. I do estimate birth dates occasionally, but, in general, I just leave the birth date blank, and count on a value (even "unknown") in the death date to let the application know that the person is not living. Sometimes, however, the useless birthdate value "Unknown" sneaks through, so I let the Gedcom Converter delete "Unknown" birthdates.

      3. Change unknown Death date to
        If you are concerned about the value "Unknown" for death dates, you can change it to "Y" if you want. TNG does handle "Y", and displays the string "Yes, date unknown" in various programs, such as the Person Profile. (Actually, the Gedcom standard provides for the value "Y" in the Death event value rather than in the Death date. But TNG only handles the latter. A death event value of "Y" is simply interpreted by TNG as a comment.

        Because of the way that TNG imports and stores Death dates, there is no meaningful difference between deleting the date value and deleting the date record. Also note that deleting "Unknown" death date values may cause the affected people to be marked as "Living".

        Overall, I prefer to see "Unknown" than "Yes, date unknown", so I leave Unknown deaths alone.)
      4. Change unknown Placenames to
        If a PLAC record in your Gedcom file has the value "Unknown" (in any letter case), you can replace or delete it. There is no meaningful difference between "deleting the Place value", and "deleting the Place record" in TNG Gedcom imports.
      5. Change Date='1 Apr 1940' in USA Census to
        Strangely, the Family Tree Maker/Ancestry.com implementation of the 1940 U.S. Census reports April 1, 1940 as the census date for all 1940 census data. That really makes no sense, as the census takes all year, and some people who died before April 1 or were born after April 1 appear in the census. To keep the 1940 census consistent with all of the other U.S. censuses, which just report the year, I use the Gedcom Converter to replace all census dates of "April 1, 1940" with "1940".
      6. Change Date='Abt 1 Jan yyyy'
        FTM does not support the date designator EST; it always converts EST to ABT. But the two abbreviations are not synonymous.
        This option allows me to estimate a year (but nothing more specific) by entering an approximate value of "1 JAN" of that year. With this option checked, the converter
        • A day and a month are not ordinarily part of an approximate date, though they could be.
        • I'm willing to sacrifice "1 JAN" to have a special meaning when used as part of an approximate date.
      7. Change PersonID with new initial letter or a numeric offset:
        This change was motivated the fact that some problems in the "sync" interface between Ancestry.com and FTM can cause FTM to lose its Gedcom record IDs, and generate completely new IDs in its next Gedcom export. When this happened to me, I was determined to keep old bookmarks and search engine links alive by
        1. Transforming the newIDs so that there is no overlap between old and new IDs, and
        2. Building a database table that can map oldIDs to newIDs.

        I use a complicated ad-hoc process to match records in the old database to those in the new database, and then I use this option (and the next one) to make sure that there are no recordID collisions between the old set of recordIDs and the new set.

        When this problem first occurred, I simply changed the initial letter of person and family recordID's from I to P, and F to G. But more recently, I have used a numeric offset so that I can keep using the familiar I and F prefixes.

      8. Change FamilyID with new initial letter or a numeric offset:
        (See the description of the option immediately above.)
    4. Somehow, I wind up with a fair number of sources that are never referenced in citations, and I use this option to get rid of them. The converter will list unused sources for you even if you are not omitting them from the new Gedcom file.
    5. Some Gedcom files have leading zeroes on Gedcom ID's. If you don't want them, this option will get rid of them for you. (If you want to add leading zeroes, let me know; that shouldn't be very difficult.)

    6. The converter now tries to process every Level 1 event tag that it encounters in INDI and FAM records. It treats unfamiliar tags the same way it treats EDUC, OCCU, and RESI tags - allowing descriptions with continuation lines, a DATE and a PLACE, and, of course citations and images. But it displays a warning about unfamiliar tags, unless you list those tags here.

    7. I added this option in response to a TNG administrator who felt that the secondary Birth, Death, and Burial events in his database were confusing his users. He does all of his editing (as do I) in Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker, so TNG is just for presentation of the data, and he can afford to do without the alternate values in TNG.

    8. If you want to omit any specific Events or the MAP structure, list their tags here. This option cannot suppress tags in SOUR, REPO, NOTE, or OBJE records.
    9. Format USA Places
      If the Placename Format mod has not been installed, this option is not available. If the Placename Format mod has been installed, this option
      1. Tells the Gedcom Converter to use the code installed by Placename Format to modify USA placenames in the Gedcom file so that they are consistent with patterns defined by the Placename Format options.
        This capability is motivated by the fact that Ancestry.com's hints system - and many genealogists' data entry habits - generate very inconsistent place names. Sometimes they'll say "Houston, TX", sometimes "Houston, Harris County, Texas, United States", and so on.
      2. Toggles the display of the Placename Format options below.
        You may simultate the action of this checkbox, and toggle the display of a screenshot of the Placename Format options by clicking on this link (which may or may not becompletely up-to-date.)
      Note that, as of this writing, the Placename Format mod can modify only USA placenames, though it may at least try to modify non-USA placenames at some point.
      To learn more about the Placename Formatting process and its options, see the Placename Wiki article, or, if the mod is installed, see the Placename Format help file. (Both links open in a new browser tab that may hide this window.)
      Hide the annotation



  3. Third section of the Gedcom Converter Kickoff Form - The Placename Formatting Options

    The Placename Formatting options are available only if you have installed the Placename Format mod, and, even then, are visible only if the "Format USA Places" checkbox (the last item in the Gedcom Converter fieldset above) is checked.

    Click here to toggle the display of a Placename Format Options screenshot

The Gedcom Conversion Process

  1. When the Gedcom Converter mod is installed, it adds a tab labeled "Convert Gedcom File" to the Admin>>Import/Export tab menu. That tab opens the Gedcom Converter "kickoff form".
  2. As described above, in the kickoff form section of this help file, the kickoff form lets you review all of the Gedcom Converter and Placename Formatting options, and to save those options independently of running the Gedcom Converter.
  3. When you submit the Gedcom Converter kickoff form by clicking the "Convert Gedcom File" button, the Gedcom Converter program is launched.
  4. The Gedcom Converter
    1. Reads the options that were passed to it and
      • Writes them to the HEAD section of the new Gedcom file, and
      • Writes them to the web page (but puts them behind a button so that they are visible only if you want to look at them.
    2. Reads the "old" Gedcom file line-by-line, looking for tags that it needs to modify.
      (See the descriptions of Gedcom Options and Place Options in the annotated kickoff form above.)
      As it runs, it
      1. Modifies, removes, or adds Gedcom lines as directed by the options
      2. Displays a running count (in increments of 100) of the 0-level Gedcom records that it encounters.
      3. Builds a list of sources that have been referenced,
      4. If it is formatting placenames, keeps track of USA placenames that appear to be ambiguous,
      5. Builds a list of all converted placenames so that it can simply look up the new value for placenames it has already seen, and
      6. Writes lines to the "new" Gedcom file.
    3. As it processes the Sources section of the Gedcom file (which it assumes follows all Person and Family records) it:
      1. Skips unused sources (if directed by the "Omit unused Sources" option), and
      2. Find sources with "FindAGrave" in their titles, and save them in a list.
    4. When it encounters the zero-level TRLR tag or the end of the input file, it
      1. Closes the input and output files,
      2. Write a list of ambiguous filenames to the web page,
      3. Writes a list of unused sources to the web page, and
      4. Writes some object counts to the web page
    5. Then, if directed by the "Merge all FindAGrave Sources" option, it
      1. Looks at its list of FindAGrave Sources and identifies what it thinks is the best one to keep.
        The "best" one is either the first source it encountered whose title is simple "FindAGrave", or the very first FindAGrave source that it encountered.
      2. Takes a second pass at the Gedcom file, in which it looks for all FindAGrave source references (that is, the source ID's in its list of FindAGrave sources) and replaces them all with the sourceID of the source it chose as the best one to use.
      3. Writes lines to the 'newer' Gedcom file.
    6. When it is finished, it displays a message with a link to convert another Gedcom file, and a link to Import the Gedcom file it just produced.
  5. Next, you'll probably want to import the new Gedcom file to TNG

Fixing the problems in Family Tree Maker Gedcom Files

From TNG's perspective, FTM-generated Gedcom's have (or, in some cases, had) the following problems:
  1. Issue: TNG does not did not support citation medialinks. That is, TNG ignored now processes media object references within Gedcom citations. (It started doing so in TNGv12.)
    Problem TNG does not necessarily handle citation medialinks in the way you might want or expect. Specifically, as of TNGv12.2:
    1. If a citation is associated with more than one event in a Person or Family record, then in the Person Profile, the media item will be displayed with every one of those events. Some people may like this behavior but others may prefer to see the media item only once.
    2. Neither the admin nor end-user media search programs display the events or sources associated with the media item; they only display the Person or Family. Again, some people may like this behavior, but others may want to see the events associated with the media item.

    Resolution: The Gedcom Converter can suppress citation medialinks; that is, leave them out of converted Gedcom file it produces.
    (But see the caveats listed with item c below.)

  2. Issue: See (b) just above
    Problem If you suppress citation medialinks and don't do anything else, then there may be no reference at all to those media items. As a consequence
    1. The media items may not be displayed at all in the Person Profile, and
    2. The media search programs will see the media items, but may not associate them with any records.
    Resolution: (This was the converter's original way of handling citation medialinks.)
    Citation medialinks can be copied to the Person or Family associated with the citation. As a result.
    1. The image will be displayed once in the Person Profile, and
    2. The media item search programs will show a link to the Person or Family associated with that image.
    Caveats: It is very important to note that
    1. You would probably never want to select options b and c, and
    2. In some Gedcom files, the media items associated with citations may already be associated with the person or family. may already have a direct link to the media objects specified in citation medialinks.
      If that is the case, then you would not want to specify option c, even if you do select option b. However, the Gedcom Converter does not offer a ways to suppress medialinks to people or families; thus, if you want to keep the citation medialinks, the Person Profile will display the media item with each associated event, and in in the Person's list of medialinks.
  3. In level 0 OBJE (media item) records,
    1. Problem: Some versions of FTM omit the subordinate FORM attribute that specifies the type of media object.

      Resolution: The converter looks at the filename extension specified in the FILE record, and, if there is no FORM record, it creates a FORM record that specifies the filename extension as the format.

    2. Problem: FTM creates a level 1 FILE record that is subordinate to the OBJE record, and then places TITLE, DATE, and TEXT segments at level 2, subordinate to the FILE record. But TNG needs the TITLE, DATE, and TEXT segments to be at level 1, not level 2.

      Resolution: The converter can simply change the level number of all records that are subordinate to the FILE segments.

  4. Problem: To FTM, Media Object dates represent the date associated with the media item's content (e.g. when a photo was taken, or when a story took place). But that sense of date is unknown to the TNG (and to the Gedcom standard); it can only be stated in a note. Instead, TNG expects a Media Object date to represent the date the media object was last updated (a concept unknown to FTM).
    Resolution: The Gedcom Converter offers three mutually-exclusive choices:
    1. Represent the media object date as the date of last update by inserting a level 1 CHAN (for 'change') tag just above the DATE tag, and making sure that the DATE tag is at level 2,
    2. Or, since FTM's media object date values are not dates of last update, add change the DATE record to a NOTE (and add "Date: "), or
    3. Suppress FTM's date tag altogether.

The following FTM-to-TNG coversion steps are no longer performed

Handling Multiple Trees

In TNGv12, there are two ways for you to make sure that the media files in a given collection are separated into tree-specific subfolder below the collection folder. That is, if you have trees with the treeID's "mom" and "dad", you can store mom's photos at "maintngfolder/Photos/mom", and dad's photos at "maintngfolder/Photos/dad/" (where 'Photos' is the foldername you have defined for the Photos collection).

The two processes are dependent on the value you have specified for new (with TNGv12) TNG system option "Separate media in tree folders" at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media.

See a detailed example of how the mod author does this in the next section of this article

  • If you have specified "No" for "Separate media in tree folders" at Admin>>Settings>>General Settings>>Media
    1. When you run the Gedcom Converter, use the "Replace the media filepath with" option in the Gedcom Converter kickoff form to specify the tree subfolder name for the tree that is the intended destination for this Gedcom file.
    2. The Gedcom Converter will then replace the entire file path for every media file listed in the Gedcom file with the folder name you specified. As a result, all media files in a given collection must be in the same folder.
    3. In this situation, the five "Local .. Path(s)" option values at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media are irrelevant, and you can name the tree-specific subfolders under each Media Collection folder anything you want.
    Examples:
    1. A Gedcom file generated by a Windows application like Family Tree Maker that does not separate media files into folders corresponding to the Mediatype
      • Conditions:
        • The various mediatype-specific folder names you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Paths and Folders are all "Media"
        • The FILE tag value for a media item in the Gedcom file might be
          "C:\users\genealogist\Documents\FTM\mom media\JacksonPhoto.jpg", where
          • The foldername "Documents" is the user's "Documents" folder, and has no relationship with a "Documents" mediatype,
          • The path to the the genealogy application is C:\users\genealogist\documents\FTM\", and
          • All of this tree's media files are in the subfolder nammed "mom media".
        • Results:
          • The file specification in the new Gedcom file produced by the Gedcom Converter will be "mom\JacksonPhoto.jpg",
          • The Gedcom Import process will not change the file specification, (except to change backslashes to slashes),
          • In TNG, this file's Media record will have the "path" value "mom\JacksonPhoto.jpg", and
          • This file, and all of the media files for this tree, will be stored in the folder "Media/mom/", below the main TNG folder.
      • A Gedcom file generated by a Windows application that does separate media files into folders corresponding to the Mediatype, and allows media files of a given mediatype to be organized into subfolders below the mediatype-specific folder.
        (An example of this kind of organization might be to store birth and death records in separate folders under the documents folder.)
        • Conditions:
          • The "Documents" folder name you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Paths and Folders is "Documents"
          • The "Documents" folder value that you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media contains the string "c:\users\genealogist\Documents\FTM\mom media"
          • The FILE tag value for a media item in the Gedcom file might be
            "C:\users\genealogist\Documents\FTM\​mom media\​births\​JSmithBirthcertificate.jpg"
          • The "Replace the media filepath with" value that you specify in the Gedcom Converter kickoff form is "mom"
        • Results:
          • The file specification in the new Gedcom file produced by the Gedcom Converter will be "mom\JSmithBirthcertificate.jpg".
          • After a Gedcom Import, this file's Media record will have the "path" value "mom/JSmithBirthcertificate.jpg", and
          • This file, and all of the media files for this tree, will be stored in the folder "Media/mom/", below the main TNG folder.
          • Note that we have lost the "births\" subfolder specification.
  • If you have specified "Yes" for "Separate media in tree folders"
    1. When you run the Gedcom Converter, make sure that the "Replace the media filepath with" option in the Gedcom Converter kickoff form is unchecked
    2. This will leave the media file paths in the Gedcom file unchanged.
    3. Make sure that the values that you have specified for the five "Local ... Path(s)" at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings > >Media reflect the file paths used in your Gedcom file. (Since these path values will be matched literally against filepaths in the Gedcom file, they must use the same folder separator (slash or backslash) as the filepaths in the Gedcom file.)
    4. When you do a Gedcom Import, the portion of each media filepath that matches a filepath value in the "Local .. Path(s)" system options will be replaced with one foldername whose value is the treeID of the tree that you are importing into.
    5. In this situation,
      • Subpaths under the primary media folder in the source Genealogy system are retained in the Gedcom media filepaths. As a result, in the genealogy application that generated the Gedcom file, media files in a given TNG collection (i.e. with a given TNG Mediatype) can be organized in subfolders.
      • However, you cannot specify the name of the tree-specific subfolder (below each Collection folder) under which all of this tree's media files (whether they separated into additional folder layers or not) are stored. TNG will always use the treeID as the name for that folder.
  • Examples:
    1. A Gedcom file generated by a Windows application like Family Tree Maker that does not separate media files into folders corresponding to the Mediatype
      • Conditions:
        • The TreeID for your "mom" tree is "mom".
        • The various mediatype-specific folder names you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Paths and Folders are all "Media"
        • The FILE tag value for a media item in the Gedcom file might be
          "C:\users\genealogist\documents\FTM\mom media\JacksonPhoto.jpg", where
          • The foldername "documents" is the user's "Documents" folder, and has no relationship with a "Documents" mediatype,
          • The path to the the genealogy application is "C:\users\genealogist\documents\FTM\", and
          • All of this tree's media files are in the subfolder nammed "mom media".
        • The various mediatype-specific folder names that you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media contain the string "c:\users\genealogist\documents\FTM\mom media" (along with corresponding values for your other trees)
        • In the Gedcom Converter kickoff form you leave the "Replace the media filepath with" checkbox unchecked
      • Results:
        • The file specification in the new Gedcom file produced by the Gedcom Converter will unchanged
        • The Gedcom Import process will remove "c:\users\genealogist\documents\FTM\mom media" from the filepath, and replace it with the treeID, "mom",
        • In TNG, this file's Media record will have the "path" value "mom/JacksonPhoto.jpe", and
        • This file will be stored in the folder "Media/mom/", below the main TNG folder.
    2. A Gedcom file generated by a Windows application that does separate media files into folders corresponding to the Mediatype, and allows media files of a given mediatype to be organized into subfolders below the mediatype-specific folder.
      • Conditions:
        • The "Documents" folder name you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Paths and Folders is "Documents"
        • The "Documents" folder value that you have defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media contains the string "c:\users\genealogist\Documents\FTM\mom media"
        • The FILE tag value for a media item in the Gedcom file might be
          "C:\users\genealogist\Documents\FTM\​mom media\​births\​JSmithBirthcertificate.jpg"
        • In the Gedcom Converter kickoff form you leave the "Replace the media filepath with" checkbox unchecked
      • Results:
        • The file specification in the new Gedcom file produced by the Gedcom Converter will be unchanged
        • After a Gedcom Import, this file's Media record will have the "path" value "mom/births/JSmithBirthcertificate.jpg", and
        • This file will be stored in the folder "Documents/mom/births", below the main TNG folder.
        • Note that we have retained the "births\" subfolder specification though we have lost the ability to name the tree-specific subfolder under "Documents" anything other than the TreeID value of "mom".

A Detailed look at the mod author's process for handling multiple trees

I'll just describe how I keep up with the media files for each tree. My process is slightly different from the process I used prior to TNGv12, because I now turn on the TNG system option "Separate media in tree folders", which is defined at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media.

  1. On my PC, I use Family Tree Maker to produce Gedcom files that I will import into TNG - after I process them with the Gedcom Converter.
    1. FTM's "main" folder, which holds its data files, is "H:\FTM", though it could just as well be "C:\Users\myaccount\Documents\FTM".
    2. For each FTM database (which is equivalent to a TNG tree) FTM always creates exactly one media folder within the main TNG folder, and names it "xxx media", where xxx is the name of the FTM database, and there is always a space character before the word "media".
    3. FTM always puts all media files for a database into that one media folder.
    4. I have three FTM databases, which I'll identify here as "rr" (my family), "mom" (for my wife's mother's family), and "dad" (for my wife's father's family).
    5. I thus have three media folders, "H:\FTM\rr media", "H:\FTM\mom media", and "H:\FTM\dad media".
    6. Gedcom files created by FTM use the full filepath for each media file, e.g.
      0 @M341@ OBJE
      1 FILE H:\FTM\mom Media\JamesMadisonPortrait.jpg
  2. In TNG,
    1. My three FTM databases correspond to three TNG trees whose treeID's are "rr", "mom", and "dad", matching my three FTM database names.
    2. TNG can, of course, organize a tree's media files into separate folders corresponding to Mediatypes, but since FTM necessarily uses one folder, I can't readily take advantage of that level of file organization.
    3. Since "H:\FTM is the parent of all three media folders on my PC, my primary TNG media folder is named "FTM rather than "Photos" or "media", etc. Using the same folder name on my PC and my web server make FTP setup and operation easier.
    4. Ostensibly, to keep the FTP process simple for media files, I could put mom's TNG media files in "FTM/mom Media" (under the TNG home folder), dad's TNG media files in "FTM/dad Media", and so on. But, unfortunately, Linux and TNG don't like spaces in folder names. (They seem to be able to handle spaces in media filenames just fine, but they don't seem to like the space in the media folder name.) Therefore, on the TNG server, I store the three trees' media files in "FTM/rr", "FTM/mom", and "FTM/dad" - all directly under the main TNG folder
    5. In TNG's system configuration options at "Admin >> Setup >> Configuration >> General&8203;Settings >> Paths&8203;and&8203;Folders", I specify "FTM/" as the relative path for each of the Mediatypes - Photos, Documents, etc.
    6. In TNG's system configuration options at "Admin >> Setup >> Configuration >> Media", I specify my FTM media paths of all three tress in each of the mediatype folders.
      That is, I repeat the value "H:\FTM\rr media,H:\FTM\mom media,H:\FTM\dad media" five times.
    7. In the TNG System Configuration screen at "Admin >> Setup >> Import Settings", I select the radio button labeled "Import Entire Path" for the option called "If no local path match"
    8. New with TNGv12: I set the TNG system option "Separate media in tree folders" to "Yes" at Admin >> Settings >> General Settings >> Media.
  3. File transfer & conversion
    1. When I FTP media files from my PC to my server, I copy files in
      "H:\FTM\mom media" to the folder "FTM/mom" underneath the TNG folder, and
      "H:\FTM\dad media" to "FTM/dad" etc.
    2. When I run the Gedcom Converter on a Gedcom file exported from FTM, I leave the Gedcom Option "Replace the media filepath with" checkbox unchecked
Whew!