#581 Import/Append Gedcom

[Meliza Amity]

I need an option to import a new Gedcom and either

1. Replace all the existing data by the new Gedcom data.
2. Replace the data of the IDs that exist on both the
Gedcoms and add those that are new.
3. Add all the IDs from the new file to the existing
one. Renumber any existing IDs so that they do not ruin
existing data.

Supporting importing documents should be created
stating for options 2 and 3 what was changed.

[Laie Techie]

Logged In: YES
user_id=1278885

I'm not sure I would trust a computer program to
automatically replace any records without some human
intervention.

However, I support the idea of being able to merge GEDCOMs.
Care will be needed while performing the import (PGV will
need to keep a table mapping from the original record ID to
the new record ID).

[Meliza Amity]

Logged In: YES
user_id=959928

Makes sense.
Perhaps we should show in option 2. the old and the new
data and let the administrator decide if the two should be
merged or if a new ID should be added.

Individual and family changes should be handled the same
way.
Source changes should affect all the relevant new records.

[Greg Roach]

Logged In: YES
user_id=1466942

1) can be achieved by simply uploading a new gedcom with the
same name.
2) sounds very risky. gedcom is a transfer format, and you
have no guarantees that any program will export data with
consistent IDs.
3) is the only really useful option and is actually quite
straightforward. I've written a short shell-script to do it.

It works by renumbering the IDs in the second gedcom to have
numbers higher than the first gedcom. It then creates a
source for every new FAM/INDI record saying "Imported from
xyz.ged on dd-mon-yyyy". Finally it inserts all the records
into the main gedcom.

When I get time, I'll rewrite this in PHP and turn it into a
PGV module.

Merging records that are common between the two gedcoms is
another problem, but a few scripts can help enormously.