Folks, the thread here shows that many of you do not understand basic file and folder structure and links to files. RM7…8 just follows links to media and folders which you have to point it to. Delete something in RM and all you did was cut the link. The file is still there in Finder or Windows explorer and it is up to you to manage your data there. RM does have an excellent find missing media tool compared to FTM 2019.
Mac users spend some time exploring file and folder structure in Finder and spruce it up. Windows users lots of luck–I always found W explorer a bumbling trial.
I was having a problem with the program suddenly quitting when trying to generate the multimedia list (and other lists), but the problem seems to have resolved itself by updating to the latest version, 8.1.0
Interestingly, I thought I had fixed all of my broken media links, but found another 261 using Jill’s method!
Have just finished watching the Pictures and Media Webinar, I believe I know how to solve my issue over redundant media files sitting in the media folder, not linked to anyone or any event, having deleted a person from RM8. “Fix media links” does not solve this issue.
All we need is a filter in the Media section of RM8 that searches for all media with 0 tags. Once these are found (if any) you can then decide whether or not you no longer need them.
Actually this is the last thing I would want! This would suggest that RM would have to “see” all my media to show your zero tag attribute. I do not regard all my media as being integral to RootsMagic - it is there for other things too. They are just media files and are nothing to do with RootsMagic until I decide to attach one to an event.
I wonder if you have misconstrued the concept. I think what is being requested is a way to readily see a list of the media items linked to the RM8 database but are not tagged to anything, i.e., they are unused. Other than one-by-one inspection, the only way is to import the Media list report into a spreadsheet and filter for “Not connected”.
Why I wish for this, is to prevent massive bloat in my media folder that I experienced in RM7. A huge improvement has been made in RM8 where only 1 copy of the media file is kept with (where it is appropriate) there could be multiple links.
Possibly. I don’t have any media items linked to the RM database that are not used for anything, I only add media when I am using it. However as I pointed out I have media in my media folders that is not used by RM.
If you mean the media folder in the operating system (a directory folder) and not the RM Media Gallery, then I’m the one who misconstrued what you want. That’s an entirely different problem of the sort I attempted to address some years ago: https://sqlitetoolsforrootsmagic.com/scrapbook-files-status/
I have a general-purpose media folder, using the MS generated “C:/My Pictures.” It contains many years’ worth of digital photos and scans, organized into a bajillion subfolders. NONE of those are linked to RM.
My genealogy media reside under “C:/0_genes/media” and another bajillion subfolders, and some of those are duplicates from “My Pictures.” All versions of RM access the same “media” folder and subfolders.
JillV- This is a great idea! I tried doing this but there are over 29000 pages reported for me. I am on RM9 and there was not an option to save or print on this Multimedia List report for me after it was generated. I am not sure if it’s the amount of pages or this version or I am just not seeing it? Only option seems to close and start over.
Hi @KellyK415,
I’ve just looked at this in RM9 – deliberately broke a media link to test and it seems that the steps listed in the initial post for RM8 hold for RM9.
The save button is the icon second from left (circled above). Press this button and then select Microsoft Excel (2nd option on the left).
This will then bring up an Excel worksheet which you can filter / sort looking for the [* NOT FOUND* ] string. To the right of this will be a pathname that might provide clues as to where the errant media file is located. (Refer to the first line below for an illustration of how the broken media link will display in an Excel worksheet).
Also, the new Enhanced Properties List (located either on the Home page or the Tools page (last option) will identify if there are any broken media links and provides an option for the system to auto find them and fix.
Hope this helps (and makes sense!) and all your media links can be reinstated!
Hi @KellyK415 - I’ve just relooked at the screenshot provided on your Multimedia List Report and can see that it appears there is no Save button at the top of your screen. Is it visible before you change the settings and before you generate the report?
The “Ctrl S” keystroke is another way to pop up the ‘Save Report’ dialogue window from that screen. If this kind of display issue continues to happen after rebooting your system then, obviously, there’s something more significant going on, either with your system or with how the report engine handles large files.
Thankyou so much for noticing that. I tried it without generating and the buttons were there. When I tried it again the buttons showed up this time. Not sure what happened. So now I was able to save to excel. Thanks JillV!!
Maybe you ran into this? after I looked at the [not found] I find the problem is not really missing media. The problem is I have files named html but rm9 is looking for a jpg. Do you know what to do to resolve that?
These are usually obituaries that people post on ancestry.com that are basically stories and just words. It looks like it is the .html extension only not the .htm extension
I was able to just change the name to the .html extension and it worked.
But the question is why are some files being saved as .html and not .htm by ancestry? And why is RM9 saving the file as .jpg instead of what ancestry is naming it?
So glad that you were able to resolve the issue Kelly - no more annoying little red crosses in your media!
As for your questions - I’m sorry but they are a little technical for me and I’m afraid I can’t assist here. Perhaps someone else can jump in and provide a comment.
When downloading from Ancestry the .html files are saved with that extension, but in RM the file extension shows .jpg. You will need to edit the extension showing in the RM filename. Then it will recognize the correct .html file.
I don’t think that’s correct. I have alot of files that correctly transfer into RM9 as html files and not turn into .jpg. In my case anyway that would be alot of trouble because I have thousands of files. For some reason or another a few didn’t stay .html. I notice it’s alot of the ones that have special characters or repeat titles or even findagrave linked.
Anyway I did find a quicker way to correct these broken links if someone needs it. I just went into my media on RM09 and scrolled through them and they all had (Broken Link) in red and I just edited them to the correct extension right there instead of having to go through the excel, find the person, go to that person and click on their media file. It worked very well. I typed in “obit” in the search bar to make it even faster because that was in my case the ones not getting the correct extension in RM9. Hope that helps someone else
