I am running Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia and Gramps 5.1.5. I have used Gramps (5.1.5) for some time and have four or five active trees. Being of a certain age I have a very limited understanding of the programming and processes underpinning the system.
Multiple copies of my trees have built up in my Home/Tim folder.
Some what foolishly I thought it would be a good idea to create a ‘Gramps Master’ and a ‘Gramps Back Up’ folder in the Home folder and amend the respective tree paths under ‘Preferences’.
Thus far only one ‘Test’ tree I created has appeared in the Gramps Master folder together with multiple (23) folders with label like 68c5e1a1.
Is the concept of a Master folder for the ‘working copy’ of Gramps Trees and a Back Up folder for the ‘back ups’ a sensible proposition? If I am on the wrong wavelength apologies.
The normal convention on Linux is that the working trees/databases are stored in the hidden folder local/share/grampsdb and take the form of folders with names like 60dcbfbe
These will form the list of available trees you have when you start GRAMPS
Backups, which ideally should be to another drive, could be to any folder you direct them to be saved to in preferences
And will take the form DNA No Link-2024-11-07-21-42-46.gramps
This would be what Gramps uses for each tree/database that you create. In each of the folders will be text file name that contains the name of the tree/database that you named it. i.e. “Smith Family Tree”
Generally, you will want to keep all of your tree/databases in one folder on your computer. This is the folder to designate in Preferences. When you open “Manage Family Trees” this is the folder that will open and display the trees it contains. If you create a new tree, this is where Gramps creates it.
Backups of the databases should be created after you have worked on the database and closed down Gramps. These backup files will be labeled with the tree’s name, the date and time, and end with the .gramps extension. In Preferences, you can have the backups automatically created and choose the location. These backups should be ultimately stored off of the hard drive. These are the files, along with your media files, that you will need to salvage your work after a major crash of your computer. I store the last month worth of backups on a thumb drive.
Thank you again. I now see the folders with names like 68c5e1a appearing in my Gramps Master folder. Although under Edit, Preferences, Back Up Path I have entered /home/tim/Gramps Back UP nothing is appearing in that folder. Any further guidance much appreciated.
Which backup option are you using “Backup on exit” or “Automatic backup” and what setting have you used? The first will backup on one exit of Gramps if a change is made the second will make backups automatically based on the time period selected.
Thank you both. I did say I was not very IT savvy. The setting I have is Back up on Exit. I was opening trees to test my ‘new’ Master and Back Up folders but was not making any changes before quitting. I have now opened my test tree, made an addition to it and quit. It is safely in the back up folder. I will do some more testing with my ‘live’trees and all being well I will mark this post as solved.
I have continued to open and add to/amend trees. The ‘Master’ and ‘Back Up’ folders are functioning as expected. Is it the case, however, that when I open a tree, make an amendment and then save by quitting that Gramps saves a new copy of the data to the respective folders :i.e. it does not overwrite the ‘original’? Thus, after much use, multiple copies will be in the saved folders? Is it safe or wise to delete some of the older copies in the respective folders?
In simple terms the folder with the folders like abcde1234 you “DO NOT
TOUCH” that is all handled by the GRAMPS program.
The files ending in .gramps can be deleted safely based on their date of
creation be aware if you use many trees watch for the tree names and
only delete the oldest per tree.
phil
I acquired a couple of mechanical hard drives via hardware upgrades. My daily backups go to this drive. I don’t delete the files as there are years of storage available. You never know how far back a glitch could have occurred that you may have to return to, or older versions. My main storage is solid state. I also have copies on other media plus in the cloud. You never have too many backups.
I asked as a way to ascertain if all your databases were unique or if some of your databases seemed to be duplicates of other databases. Your question about how Gramps saves new information seemed to indicate a duplication of databases.
Thank you. I have opened a few of the folders in the 'Master’ and opened the ‘text’ file with in each. There do seem to be duplicates, e.g. the title Duffield-2024-04-23-20-56-13 is repeated in an adjacent file as is McWilliam 2019-02-05-17-31-57. Given that what I assume are date and time stamps are identical, I assume these are duplicates?
I have created some 5 family (named) trees in total. I have some commitments to attend to now but this evening can open all the files in the Master and check/analyse the titles. Given the number, I would expect to find more duplicate titles.
The Manage Family Trees (menu >> Family Trees >> Manage Family Trees) should see all the trees in the folder and indicate the names of the database.
As you investigate the possible duplicate trees, before you delete them, make a backup of the tree. (menu >> Family Trees >> Make Backup) Always better safe than sorry.
In most cases having one tree is recommended. This eliminates/reduces duplicates in people source/citations and places. Filters are used to extract different branches of the tree as necessary.
I only have one “master” tree for the current version of gramps, however I download a copy of the tree I have on Ancestry and save it in gramps incase something happens to it.
I have saved for archive purposes past versions of the database.
Hi again all. I appreciate all the help and patience. Below is an extract of what I see on loading up Gramps, Manage Family Trees. I have cross-checked and the full list is identical to the content list of the files in my Gramps Master Folder. (I opened each one and checked the text file name).
There are 18 files in all. Originally I created 5 trees in Gramps. So there are definite duplicates.
My plan is to copy my Master Folder in totality to an external hard drive. Then to delete the duplicate trees in the original Folder, retaining the trees (5) with the most recent accessed date. Also, I note there is a remove option in the Gramps Manage Family Trees menu, which I assume is also an option.
I would be grateful for feedback on these proposed actions.
Also, I note the recommendation regarding the benefits of, in due course, having a single tree.
