# Can i split out a specific line to a new fil **URL:** \ **Category:** RootsMagic\ **Tags:** question, feature-request\ **Created:** [October 19, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533 "2022-10-19T19:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BobR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BobR](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/BobR)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/1 "2022-10-19T19:08:00Z")
Is it possible to split out an ancestor line and create a separated data base. For example: Could I split my daughter\*in laws ancestery to a new file just for her? ---
**Author:** ![kbens0n](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/kbens0n/32/80_2.png) [@kbens0n](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kbens0n)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/2 "2022-10-19T19:44:25Z")
> [@BobR](#): > > Is it possible to split out an ancestor line and create a separated data base. While you have open the database with your DIL’s ancestor line in it, bring up a view with her showing… Then, use the File menu to create a newly named, fresh, empty data base and drag her with your mouse pointer onto the window for the new database. RootsMagic will prompt you for who to include and then copy those individuals over. ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/3 "2022-10-19T20:09:07Z")
> [@kbens0n](#): > > RootsMagic will prompt you for who to include and then copy those individuals over. When you do this kind of operation, you do not have to mark each of your DIL’s ancestors one at a time. There are options that allow you to mark your DIL and all her ancestors all in one go. ---
**Author:** ![BobR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BobR](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/BobR)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/4 "2022-10-20T16:49:15Z")
Thaks that was just what I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![jenealogy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/jenealogy/32/976_2.png) [@jenealogy](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/jenealogy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/5 "2022-11-08T04:18:22Z")
I also did this and the split worked fine, but _none_ of my defined Groups in the original database came over:( Any ideas on how to fix this? ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/6 "2022-11-08T04:59:50Z")
That’s not the way groups work. They don’t come over in a Drag and Drop operation. You will need to redefine them in the new database. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/tomh/32/30_2.png) [@TomH](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 5:00am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/7 "2022-11-08T05:00:15Z")
The only way I can think of is to operate on the database with sqlite directly, not through the RM app. ---
**Author:** ![kbens0n](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/kbens0n/32/80_2.png) [@kbens0n](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kbens0n)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 11:38am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/8 "2022-11-08T11:38:05Z")
Well one ~could~ Backup the original database, then Restore it to a different database filename or use Windows filesystem Copy to effect the same, THEN do the unlinking within the resultant copy and just ignore that the other family line(s) are still there (deleting the unwanted people from other line/lines would be tedious in large databases). ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/9 "2022-11-08T14:54:24Z")
I have long wished that RM had a capability to split a line out of a database that would work something like the following. 1. You as the user would make a group of people you wish to split out. 2. You would issue a SPLIT OUT command of some kind. 3. RM would respond by making a copy of your database and in that copy of the database RM would delete all the individuals who were not in the group. Any residual groups, color coding, unused places, unused sources, and the like would still be there in the new database. 4. The original database would remain untouched and intact. Bulk operations can be very dangerous. For example, I would not support a DELETE EVERYBODY NOT IN THIS GROUP command as a standalone command. But it seems to me that doing the SPLIT OUT operation only in a copy of your database which RM itself has just made would be extremely safe. The same process can be done using SQLite and Tom has created such a procedure. But the process should be available to all users, not just to users with SQLite skills. The procedure I just described could be used twice to split a database between a husband’s family and a wife’s family, for example. The result would be three databases - the original database, the husband’s family database, and the wife’s family database. I wouldn’t recommend doing so because inevitably you would want to put the husband’s family database and the wife’s family database back together which might not be very easy. But the process I described should be safe and it shouldn’t lose data the way a Drag and Drop loses data. ---
**Author:** ![jenealogy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/jenealogy/32/976_2.png) [@jenealogy](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/jenealogy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/10 "2022-11-08T17:50:28Z")
Thanks – so for me it really doesn’t pay to split my database into maternal and paternal. The reason I was doing this was because I was trying to create a familytree in Ancestry that I could sync with. However, it appears that my db is too large and even after 6 hours of uploading (with multiple “time outs”) it failed on the 2nd step . . . Don’t really know how to remedy this. ---
**Author:** ![jenealogy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/jenealogy/32/976_2.png) [@jenealogy](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/jenealogy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/11 "2022-11-08T17:51:27Z")
I’m sure that you’re right, but I guess that I’m going to leave it as is in one large db, rather than two separate - maternal and paternal. ---
**Author:** ![rzamor1](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/rzamor1/32/8_2.png) [@rzamor1](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/rzamor1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/12 "2022-11-08T19:05:45Z")
Color coding will survive a drag n drop. You can color-code a group and also create a group from color-coding. It will help in a drag n drop where groups are not preserved. It at least can help with recreating it. If a person is in more than one group they will only show in the one last color-coded in. You would need to manually add them to the other groups. ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/can-i-split-out-a-specific-line-to-a-new-fil/5533/13 "2023-03-26T03:06:38Z")
> [@thejerrybryan](#): > > I have long wished that RM had a capability to split a line out of a database that would work something like the following. My wish has now been overtaken by the ability in RM9 to do a bulk delete of a group. The new feature appears not to include the safety features I was suggesting, but appears that you can certainly achieve the same safety as a manual operation. Namely, a copy of your RM database - **not a drag and drop but a real copy**.Do your bulk delete of the group in the new copy of your database. And start using the new copy as your production database while keeping the old copy of your database around for archival purposes.