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Exporting to Gedcom File - Error

 
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ClaudiaH



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 4:59 pm    Post subject: Exporting to Gedcom File - Error Reply with quote

I want to add my praise to this program firstly. Except for the following problem, this program does everything I'd want for a genealogy program with the added z of being freeware.

I'm having a problem exporting my data as a Gedcom file. I get the following error message " is not a valid floating point value. I've read through other posts and thought maybe it was the fact that I have " in my people names, so I removed all double quotations and still get the same error message. I've also removed all points (.) and brackets () but am still getting the same error message. I have no problem exporting the data into an excel spreadsheet nor as a pdf. Please help! I'm in a bit of a bind because I need to make a large decendent family tree that I can't make in SmartGenealogy.

Thanks!
Claudia
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ale
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Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 499
Location: Versailles, France

PostPosted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad that you like this program Claudia.
There are several things that you can do to locate where the problem comes from :

- While exporting to Gedcom, and before the problem happens, look at the lower left corner of your screen : There should be a counter running ("Persons exported" and then "Families exported"). This will tell you which person or family you have reach when the bug occurs.

- Open your Excel file in MS-Excel, and visually check if you do not see something abnormal in the columns where there should be only numeric data (mainly "id" columns).

- Rename your Excel file as TEST.xls, open it in MS-Excel and insert an empty row right in the middle of you data (PERSONS worksheet and EVENTS worksheet). Save and import this modified Excel file to SmartGenealogy. You will get a TEST database which will include only half of your data, since the import process has been stopped at the empty row : Export TEST.sgy to Gedcom. If the export is successful, it means that the problem is located in the second half of your data. By dichotomy, you can locate exactly where the problem is.

Please give a feedback about your tests.
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ClaudiaH



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the quick replies!
Here are the strange results of my tests:

- The program gave me the error message before it exported any families and then when I click ok from the error message the program is frozen in "Exporting to Gedcom file...." (in red). It does let me close the program but it wont let me do anything else.

- I did a visual check and couldn't find anything odd in the id column.

- I started testing out the rows and finally got through the whole file and found that the complete excel spreadsheet "test" once reimported into SmartGenealogy didn't have any problem exporting as a Gedcom file! In other words, once I exported my file into excel and then reimported it, it solved the problem. Do I loose any data by having exported it into Excel? I haven't added any pictures yet, which is something I'd imagine I'd loose.

Also, I don't know if it's been addressed before, but is it possible to get a 8 level decending tree? I really like the ascending tree but for my purposes it would be great to have a tree to show the descendents as well (more than 3 generations). Also, I have a few families that have up to 13 children and I can't find a way to see the extra children in the descending tree (both in the 2nd and 3rd generation), is there a way?

Thanks again!
Claudia
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ale
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Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 499
Location: Versailles, France

PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
"The program gave me the error message before it exported any families"

If i understand well, the PERSONS were correctly exported, and the problem occurs just when the program starts to export FAMILIES.
It could mean that for some reason, one of the values in the FAMILY table was alphabetic, instead of being numeric.

Quote:
"once I exported my file into excel and then reimported it, it solved the problem."

When you import from Excel toward SmartGenealogy, if the program meets a value which should be numeric and is in fact alphabetic, it will change it for the numerical value 0. So the export routine to a Gedcom file will not bug anymore.

Quote:
"Do I loose any data by having exported it into Excel?"

When you export to Excel and then re-import the XLS file to SmartGenealogy, it is a lossless operation.
It is much more reliable that an export to Gedcom followed by a re-import of the GED file into any genealogy program (none of them will guaranty a full integrity of your data in such an operation)

Quote:
"I haven't added any pictures yet, which is something I'd imagine I'd loose."

No, you will not loose them : The images themselves are not written in the Excel file : Only there path is written (for instance C:\Data\Images\MyPicture.jpg)
As long as the JPG or BMP files are not moved to another location on your HDD (or removed), your pictures will still appear after an import from Excel.

Quote:
"is it possible to get a 8 level decending tree?"

No, with the current version of SmartGenealogy, this is not possible. It is something i would like to do but it mean a lot of work for the following reason :
- Every person has a father and a mother
- Nobody has more than one father and one mother
- Everybody can have an unpredictable number of children (from 0 to more than 100...)
It mean that it is quit easy to draw a tree when you go upward (ascending tree) but it is much more difficult to do it when you go downward (descending tree)
I may do it one day, but it will not be in a near future Wink

Quote:
"I have a few families that have up to 13 children and I can't find a way to see the extra children in the descending tree, is there a way?"

Today, there is no way to do it, but it will be possible in a future version.
It is something that is near the top of my "To do" list : By clicking on the green + signs shown below, it will be possible to get a second page with children 11 to 20 (2nd generation) or 9 to 16 (3rd generation).

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ClaudiaH



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the help!

Sorry, I misspoke, when I tried exporting the original file it froze before it exported any person, family or event. So the problem seemed to be early in the file. I looked back at the exported excel spreadsheet and found that maybe the problem was with the person zero. Somehow I added in a note to the "person" and it wont let me erase it without getting an error message in both french and english. I also noted in the excel spreadsheet there was about 10 rows at the beginning of the events that were for "person zero" but the rest of the columns are blank except for spouce which is also a zero. I think when I started playing with the program initially I must have done something strange to the person zero and I think that might be the problem. Since you said that the excel spreadsheet was lossless, I deleted the note in person zero and I deleted the 10 rows of empty data and reimported it into Smart Genealogy and I will continue working with this new database instead. Hopefully that is the only problem. For future note, is excel the best way to look over the database and make any changes that you can't do in SmartGenealogy (e.g. changing the number of an individual to replace a previously deleted individual)?

Thanks again for the help. I can see the problem with the descending tree! That explains why it seems to be a hard thing to come by (I've since given up on the idea). I had seen those green +'s however I can't click on them, as in when I do click on them nothing happens...

Claudia
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ale
Site Admin


Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 499
Location: Versailles, France

PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I also noted in the excel spreadsheet there was about 10 rows at the beginning of the events that were for "person zero" but the rest of the columns are blank except for spouse which is also a zero

Yes, it is abnormal. The "PERSON ID" is unique : Even for id = 0, there must be only one. This probably also explain why you got an error message while trying to delete the note : The modification query was expecting to get only one row, and it got several.
The SPOUSE number = 0 is OK : This is the default value.


Quote:
is excel the best way to look over the database and make any changes that you can't do in SmartGenealogy (e.g. changing the number of an individual to replace a previously deleted individual)?

Yes, i think so. But be careful when you modify a PERSON ID : You will have to modify in Excel each occurence of this ID.
These occuences can be in the following Excel columns :

Persons Worksheet
- Column A (Person id)
- Column AB (Father id)
- Column AC (Mother id)

Events Worksheet
- Column A (Person id)
- Column G (Spouse id)

Families Worksheet
- Column B (Husband id)
- Column C (Wife id)

Multimedia Worksheet
- Column A (Person id)


Quote:
I had seen those green +'s however I can't click on them, as in when I do click on them nothing happens...

In the current version, they are here only as a provision for future development Smile
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