Hi All
I am finding that when I rename an individual by adding an identifying label such as 1GGF to distinguish between generations were there are repeated names across multiple generations then
the individuals appear under both names instead of renaming only. Is there any way I can rectify this problem as now all have double entries that cause more confusion and incorrect information being recorded
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated
Susie Lang
Might be able to do with using the RM search and replace. Some screeshots might help so people can suggest strategies.
The person table has 2 relate fields that might help with the coding to be automatic (or refreshable), though you might need to use SQL to accomplish that part.
Thanks for quick response Will try to send screen shot . Not sure what SQL is as not so computer savvy
Susie
How are you re-naming your individuals?
By adding an Alternate name, or editing the primary name, ie the one at the top of the edit person screen?
If adding an alternate name you will get duplicate names, which appear in lists with a + in front of them, and can be suppressed in indexes via a setting somewhere.
Personally I distinguish such cases by the dates or a quick look in another view to get family context, as such identifying labels only have meaning as relationship to yourself.
If you ever export GEDCOMs or treeshare to Ancestry or link to FamilySearch, they have little meaning to others.
Bit like people adding Jr and Sr prefixes or suffixes, where over time Jr is likely to become Sr etc and just confuse people. 
Thanks everyone for help> Hope the screen shot helps to clarify my issue. I am not sure how I renamed everyone but will now try and work methodically through to see if I can do it thru the edit function. I think i did I also imported a GEDCOM fom family search so I am now a bit confused . I am struggling to use Version 8 so the help is greatly appreciated
from the two relate fields, one can build a grid like below â the top is distance up from my daughter perspective. Col #1 is âourâ family of 5 (total at bottom). Col#5 shows there 32 4th Great grand parents (or all possible). The next level I have 46 of 64 possible. Each row down is the generation down from the top row common ancestor(s). Each person who is related to the âhomeâ person (set relationships in RM) has value. There are 13.6K people in family tree 99.8 % are related in some way, but 9194 are not directly related by blood.( but over 4000 are). By using the value in the table (the RM table) you can identify their position. (4,2 means 4 up and 2 down and there are 100 people that meet that definition). I have one person (11,11) 11 up and 11 down. But you could embed those value in some meaningful format such as adding to suffx for example.
Below is a live view of the dashboard Microsoft Power BI
1 Like
it looks like you added â2GM-7â to suffix of name? did you add values to everyone the same way?
Yes I did . Also I now have different facts etc in some of the individual people so not sure if they can merged or renamed without losing information. I certainlly have made unnecessarily complicated due to my initial lack of understanding
I just checked I added the tags to the surname not as a suffix
No I just checked I added the tag as part of the surname Not as a Suffix
Having part of the surname will complicate any logic used. Basically, the logic would have to identify all the surnames that have that extra part and remove âitâ (last 5 characters for example) BUT ONLY on the ones that have it. or only remove from people that shouldnât have it. TOM H. and Pat J. are more experience with update queries. Whatever you do â make sure you have at least 2 backups before you begin with any update fix.
Thanks very much I will follow your advice and proceed with caution .
You probably can start with a simple individual or custom report / list of people.
I printed a list of all individuals and soon identified the problem!
1 Like
Since you added the appendage manually, you know how much work it will take to remove it and that you can do it in a similar length of time, probably faster.
But youâve compounded your issues with the importing of duplicate persons. In your photo, your âduplicateâ Marthas are indeed two separate person records (RINs 229and 7, iirc). If the one with the appendage is not the one you wish to keep, merge it into the other - that will lose the appendage. If itâs the one you want to keep, merge the other into it and edit the surname. Auto merging is a foolhardy game -youâll end up with the same or more work than with manual because the outcome will be very confusing. Careful manual merging leaves you in control each step of the way. Small changes donât lead to catastrophic results.
Thankyou Tom for your very clear response. Yes it is quite the dilemma I have created for myself. My ignorance of how to use the database has been staggering to me. I need basic info as not experienced with these platforms. Does manual merge mean entering each fact/note etc into each person as required then deleting the incorrect person .
Yanks in anticipation
Merge functions are provided in the app. I recommend you read the RootsMagic wiki for description of the functions and their operation. Make a play copy of your database and get experienced using them. Once you understand how they work, then you can tackle your database, making a backup before each merge to which you can revert if the merge was in error.
Thanks Tom
Will do !