Settings for Folders

RootsMagic
1

RM11 settings. Are the settings for the folders at the Program level or per database?

Thanks.

2

Only Folder level.
You can have it set to “Open last database used” if you want.

I created a new Folder called RM11 and copied by v10 databases to it and converted those to new format.
I can still use my v10 databases in v10 as they are in my RM10 folder.

3

Thought so, but thought I’d ask. Thanks.

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4

A long standing wish has been to have folder settings to operate on a per database level rather than being program settings. I think that could work for the backup folder, media folder, the GEDCOM folder, and the report folder. But I think there could be a chicken and egg problem for the data folder because that’s where databases are stored. You wouldn’t know where the database folder was until you had opened the database, but you would need to know where the database was located in order to open it.

The biggest issue most users have with folders is probably for the media folder. For example, some RM users do research while working as professional genealogists and need to keep the data for each client totally separate. But remember that RM doesn’t put media files anywhere. You are the one who puts media files somewhere. All you are really doing when you link media files into RM is to tell RM where the files are already stored.

5

A long standing wish of mine too Jerry - as far as media is concerned anyway. As you say, all the setting is doing is telling RM where to look for the files. That being so, I can’t see why it wouldn’t be fairly simple for RM to point each database to its own media folder.

6

RM already does that for media downloaded from Ancestry, but the media downloaded from Ancestry doesn’t go by the media folder setting.

7

FTM lets you set folders for each database individually which is what RM should do. Each database needs its own media folder if you organize media by subfolders. It is more tolerable to have common gedcom and backup folders.

8

Not sure I understand your reply Jerry. If I download media from Ancestry it will by default go to my Downloads folder. From there I rename it and copy into the right database media folder in Windows. Only then can RM link to it by Add Media or Drop Media. A lot of clicks but it works. Am I missing something here?

9

There are two ways to download media from Ancestry.

  1. If your RM database is connected to an Ancestry tree using TreeShare, you can download media files from Ancestry automatically. In this case, TreeShare does all the downloading and linking of the media files for you. Your Downloads folder is not involved. You do not put the media files where you want them. You do not link the media files. It’s all automatic.
  2. Whether your RM database is connected to an Ancestry tree using TreeShare or not you can download media files manually. That’s what you are doing. In this case, you move the media files from the Downloads folder to where you want them, you name them what you want, and you link them to whatever items in RM you wish.

In neither case does RM’s media folder setting have anything to do with where the media files are stored. If you do the automatic download with TreeShare, then then media files are stored in a folder called dbname_media where “dbname” is the name you have given given your RM database. If you do the manual download, you decide where you put the media files when you move them out of your Downloads folder.

So what does your media folder setting really do? That’s a trickier question than it sounds. One thing it does is that if you link media files into RM by doing Add New Media, it’s the folder that first opens. If it’s already the folder where the media file is located, then it’s easy to find the file. If not, then you navigate to where the file is really located. But you can also do the add by doing a Drop New Media File, in which case the default media folder has no effect.

The other thing your media folder setting does is that it provides for relative folder path between RM and your media files rather than an absolute media path. This can be super important for users who run RM on two computers and where the media folder might be in a different location on the two different computers. It usually is of little importance for a user who only uses RM on one computer.

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10

I think it would be nice to have the “Folder Settings” linked to the currently open RM file.