Changing RM database filenames

for instance how do I change ‘Georgie’s Ancestry Gedcom Transfered File’ filename to ‘Georgie Evans Definitive file 30-04-2023’

Still applies to RM9

Move or Rename a Database

Yay! Welcome @mgs127 !

Also, it’s possible to rename your file through your regular file manager, at least in Windows File Explorer.

RootsMagic uses a self-contained SQLite database file format, just like your garden variety Word or Excel files (But different data, etc inside the file of course.) But, you need to make sure you aren’t actively running RootsMagic with the file open, because of file locking, database i/o operations, etc.

I copy & rename my datafile all the time, when I want to experiment with something and don’t want to mess up the ‘true’ file. For example, if I want to experiment with a custom template, or delete out a portion of the people to test something.

Consider this … when you exit the program and it asked to do a backup, do you know what happens? The program just makes a copy of the file. That’s why it’s so quick. It literally tells the operating system to make a file copy.

That said, @BobC 's guidance is the cleanest / correct way if you happen to be in the program.

Not so fast. It makes a zip-compressed copy of the file with the extension renamed .rmbackup instead of the widely recognised .zip. In so doing it may have copied the .rmtree file to a temporary folder for the zip operation; it certainly does when the backup is done with media files which are also copied to the temp folder for bundling and zipping into the one .rmbackup file.

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I sit corrected :wink::+1:

@mgs127 Considering what Tom’s said …

  • I partially-retract my comment about RM just making a copy. It is making an OS call to make a copy, but it’s adding in the calls to create a compressed copy. (Zip capability is included natively in more recent Windows PCs)
  • For the live database, you could still just copy or rename the file (if you’re not running RM)