Getting Started -- files and concepts

Table of Contents

Files used by JPrise Merge:



File->Open New Project:

When you open a new project you identify two files:
  1. The base file to which you wish to make changes.
  2. The change source file from which you will get those changes.

Both of these files are GEDCOM data files which were probably created with some other vendor's utility that was designed for specifically building family trees. Many family trees get built in pieces with different people collecting information and entering it into their own utility for building and displaying a family tree. Most utilities have the ability to write out their family tree data in a standard format known as GEDCOM. JPriseMerge has been designed to take two of these GEDCOM data files and help you merge them into a single cohesive GEDCOM file which can then be imported back into your favorite family tree utility for you to continue to work on it there.

While some of these other vendor utilities also do provide some merge capabilities, most of them are inadaquate for doing a merge properly and will try to automate or take shortcuts while will result in a less than satisfactory result that will still require a lot of hand work to clean up and make right. Merging is a complicated process and to do it right you need a tool such as JPriseMerge which has been designed especially for that purpose.

These are the files which you wish to use as the starting point for doing a merge. When, and only when a project is first created, JPriseMerge will take the data from the base file and initializes a new merge output file with it. In other words the merge output file will start out as an exact copy of the base file. As soon as you have identified these two files you may get to work.

To help the user keep track of what data comes from what source file. JPriseMerge uses colors. These colors are user setable (see Colors -- Meaning and Usage) By default, and as a convention in these help files, data which comes from the base file is colored yellow, data which comes from the merge source file is colored blue, and edited data in the merge output file is colored green.

File->SaveProjectFile (As) ...

When you have some changes you wish to keep, you identify a project file to keep you work in.  Copies of your Base File and Change Source File are put into the Project File -- as well as the work in progress that will eventually become the Merge Output File.

Therefore, once you have started, changes to the original Base File and Change Source File will no longer affect your merge project.




Merge work on the Project File:

You may open and work on your merge project and then save it again over and over.  Each day you might only be able to accomplish part of the work.  The project file retains your work in progress.



File->Save Output File:

When you are done -- or ready to publish partial results -- you may save the Merge Output File to a GEDCOM file.


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