Is the RM “Unused media” list actually a thumbnail list that could be outdated with dead wood? When RM deletes a link to a media file, does it remove all copies from all the RM database tables? I am hoping it has been completely removed from the database, which would make the thumbnail table clean and accurate. How do we find files that have been pasted into the Media folder but are not fully displayed in RM. Is there a way to list the files in the Media folder that are not used (linked) in RM? (Prove the negative.) The RM “Media” list can be compared with the File Explorer directory of the Media folder. I would like to find truly unused media so I can link them or delete them. This may be a feature request.
New words: The three dots aligned vertically are a vertical ellipsis. We can call it a “velipsis”. That is a contraction of “vertical ellipsis”, pronounced “vel-IP-sis”. Now you can shake your head. Or, here are more: Addresses are for "a-mail" (amail), and email uses “eddresses”.
The RM “unused media” list is just that. It’s media that’s unused. There is no value judgement on whether the media should be there or is just dead wood.
A media file itself is only in RM tables once. But a media file can have one or more tags to one or more items in RM such as facts and citations. The definition of a media file being unused is that it has no media tags. A media file is in one database table and the media tags are in a different database table. If you delete a media file, it deletes the media file itself plus all its tags in one fell swoop. But you can delete the media tags without deleting the media file, leaving the media file unused.
As an example of unused media files having no value judgement, suppose you have no unused media and suppose you drag and drop all the media items from one particular folder in your computer’s file system into RM’s Media Gallery. At that point, all those media items will be unused. But that could be your intent, because you might then intend to add tags to each of those unused media items to link them to things like facts and citations. So you could work your unused list, adding tags to each media item in the list until none of them remain as unused.
Or vice versa, suppose you have a bunch of media files that are used - meaning that they have tags to items in RM such as as facts and citations. And suppose you delete all those tags. That would leave all the media files that used to have media tags as now being unused. Those media files are probably dead wood, that is unless you intend to add new tags to the media files to make them so that they are no longer unused.
It is only when you actually delete a media file (as opposed to deleting it’s tags) that the file is truly gone from your database. I suspect that for most RM users most of the time, unused media files are files that should be deleted because they are just left over dead wood. But as I already mentioned, that’s not a given because an unused media file may be unused because it doesn’t yet have its tags.
I’m a sample size of one, and the way I manage my media files is that I add a media file and all its tags at the same time. And I delete a media file and all its tags at the same time. But it doesn’t have to be done that way. It can be convenient sometimes to link media files into RM at one time and to add the media links at a later time.
I have cases where I might have removed a tag. Most often – I may add media that I know (or at least believe I will) need later but have not yet attached — those account for only small handful.
If I do something like delete fact or merge person I might ended up with some unused media – once I have verified there are no longer needed for that database I will remove them from the media gallery in RM. I have one main media folder that is used for several databases. I also have some separate media folder used for special databases.
within RM – no.
This could be done outside of RM using Sqlite (even through EXCEL powerquery).
where discussion of specifics would be appropriate – I have done before but more in a AdHoc scenario – you could use EXCEL or PowerBI but you need to set up connector to do so – refer to above link
Will a media file in the default media folder that has not ever been
linked in RM (is unclaimed) show up in the “Unused Media List”?
You may skip reading the shaded area.
Obviously, there is a missing link in my thinking. I hope it’s not my brain.
1. There is, by my deduction, a thumbnails table or field in RM. The Unused Media List seems to be files in the Thumbnail table or field that have no other links. Otherwise, one would not be able to delete “unused media” and still find the file with File Explorer.
2. I have cleaned up the Unused Media List by check-boxing “all” and choosing delete. The file is no longer on the Unused Media List, but it is in the default media folder with File Explorer. It looks like the RM thumbnails list has been cleared and the Windows file remains. This behavior will bloat the default media folder if we cannot identify the “unclaimed” files.
3. I am hoping to
drop or paste selected new files into the Laughlin-Masterson Media folder with File Explorer,
open a fact (or source, or person, et cetera) in RM,
link the file to the fact, and
confirm that I have linked all my new media-folder files within RM by using the Unused Media List. An “unclaimed” file list will contract.
I would like RM to list the files that are present in the default media folder that have never been tagged in RM to a Fact or Thumbnail List.
Once a file has been tagged and a thumbnail generated, it is not an unclaimed file.
A thumbnail-only file may be called “unused” because a thumbnail alone is not useful.
Can I find unclaimed files (never tagged by RM) in the default media folder?
No Rootsmagic has no way of knowing what files are in the default folder.
One way would be to drag all the media files into Rootsmagic using add new media and drop new media. You can drag multiple files at once. It doesn’t create duplicates of existing files links. Then run the Enhanced Properties report.
My “take” is that there is a program logic “flaw” with the Multimedia List report. It has a filter section, Include which items in this list, whereby -IF- the (7) types of “filterable” media items are unchecked… one COULD “assume” that what still remains SHOULD be the unused media items.
As for the “default folder” discussion… as I’ve asserted before, that setting serves merely as a “landing place” for search and folder traversal (using the Mac or PC file-picker). RM11’s Enhanced properties list seems to include “virgin” media files that have never been tagged, so that Unused media** (view)** link opens the screen where Print -is- a weakened option (no path included with filenames).
The concept of “never tagged” doesn’t exist. A media file linked into RM may or may not currently be tagged.If a media file currently has no tags, the reason can be that it never has been tagged or the reason can be that it did have tags at some point and the tags have now been removed. There is no way to tell the difference. That’s all the Unused Media List tells you - that it’s a list of media files linked into RM which currently have no tags. It tells you nothing about the history of any tags the media file might have had in the past.
The concept of “the default media folder” as you are thinking about it doesn’t exist. The media folder option does exist and it has two purposes. neither of which is really as “the default media folder”. It’s not like it’s the folder where RM stores your media files by default.
For the most part, RM doesn’t store your media files at all. Rather, you store the media files and you tell RM where you stored them. And you can store them in all kinds of folders all over your disk, including that not all of them even have to be on the same disk. There are two ways you can tell RM where a particular media file is really stored. One way is drag and Drop, where you navigate to where the media file really is and you drag it into an RM window. That tells RM where the file really is, and it has nothing to do with RM’s media folder option. The other way is to use the Add New Media option. In this case, RM does open first to its media folder option, but then you navigate to where the file really is. The navigation is easier if you put all your files into that folder, but you don’t have to do it that way. And in any case, it’s still you that puts the media files wherever you put them, not RM.
The other purpose of RM’s media folder option is that RM stores the links (not the files) relative to the media folder option. This process is largely invisible to the user. It’s main purpose is for users who run the same RM database on two computers (not at the same time!) and where the media files are not stored at the same place on both computers.
The one exception where RM does store the media file rather than you storing the media file is when TreeShare downloads media files from Ancestry. But in that case, RM uses a special folder that has absolutely nothing at all to do with the media folder option.