Duplicated media items in Media

RootsMagic
, ,
1

I have just noticed that RM9 is duplicating entries in my media section when I add it to several facts. Eg I added a map today to a few places. It was the same map but it had three streets on it so I added it to each individual address. However, instead of seeing the map in media tagged to 3 places it shows there 3 times tagged once to each place. This can’t be right?

2

I’m trying to make sure that I understand the situation correctly. Are you saying that the media file for the map actually has 9 media tags - 3 first the first place, 3 for the second place, and 3 for the third place? Or are you saying that the media file has been entered into RM 3 different times and each time it has been entered it has 3 media tags?

If you look at the media file under the main Media tab, how many times is the media file listed and how many media tags are listed each time. Well, the file name is on the left half of the screen, and the number of media tags is in a panel by itself in the lower righthand side of the screen.

media_tab
media_tab1366×768 176 KB

3

Are you adding new media each time, or adding media links to the existing media?

1 Like
4

Thanks @rzamor1 You are absolutely right - I am adding them as new everytime and not selecting Use Existing. Can’t believe I missed that! I’ll get it right next time.

5

RM7 seemed not to duplicate a media file if you added it a second time as a “new” media. Instead, it seemed to treat an add for existing media file to be a reuse of the existing media file.

RM9 does allow you to add a media file a second time as a “new” media. There is no RM9 warning that the second time is creating a duplicate file. There is no merge capability in RM9 to combine the duplicate media files together. Essentially you have created a mess if you add a media file a second time and it’s not very easy to avoid the problem in the first place.

RM9 needs to be cleaned up a little bit with regard to duplicate media files, and I’m not sure exactly what the best way is to clean up the situation. In the meantime (and not to trying to hijack this thread), I have found the workflow to Select Existing Media to be extremely awkward and clicky.

For example, I link census images to a citation for the census and I also link the same census image to the Census fact for everyone in the family. I use Add New Media to add the census image to the citation and then I use Select Existing Media to add the census image to the Census fact for each member of the family. So I have to do the following.

  1. Copy the filename to place it on the clipboard. This is a one time operation. The following items are repeated for each census fact.

  2. Click the Media column for the Census fact for each family member.

  3. Click Select Existing Media because RM9 always reverts to Add New Media even though the previous media added used the Select Existing Media option. RM7 had separate options for Add New Media and Add From Gallery. RM9 doesn’t necessarily needs to do it the same way, but it would be most helpful if it would remember the Select Existing Media option.

  4. Click to select Media List mode rather than Thumbnails mode because you can’t identify that you have the correct census image just from the thumbnail. You need to see the file name. Again, RM9 needs to remember that you most recently use Media List mode rather than always reverting to Thumbnails mode.

  5. Click on the Search box and Paste the filename into the search box. The problem here is that the Search box is on the far right side of the screen and instead the Search box needs to be right next to the Thumbnail and Media List icons. Some of RM9’s clickiness is not actual clicks. Rather, it’s extreme and unnecessarily long mouse movements.

  6. Click ok

If I may compare and contrast, for each family member I also have to Paste the citation. That’s only two clicks to replicate the citation whereas it’s six clicks to replicate the media file. For one person, the difference is no big deal. When I have a family of 12 in the same census entry, it’s a huge big difference. And even the two clicks to replicate the citation should only be one click. Which is to say that there should be separate Paste icons for citations for Paste/Reuse vs. Paste/Copy. But that extra clickiness for replicating citations is nowhere near as bad as the extra clickiness and mouse movement associated with replicating media links.

For that reason, I have wondered if it would be helpful to be able to memorize and paste media links. This would not replace the existing options of Add, Drop, and Select Existing media links. Instead, it would be a new option.