GRAMPS AIO version 5.1.5; Windows 7 Pro (64-=bit)
Installed GRAMPS.
After getting used to program, tried to create web pages.
Got the following error:
Report could not be created
[WinError 3] The system could not find the path specified: '\\Genealogy\\FTM 2019\\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media\\1931 Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township; North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpg'
There are over 1,000 media items in that folder.
Is there a way to tell if this is the first media item GRAMPS attempted to import? Or is it only one it could not find?
It is NOT the first media item in the folder (if I sort it by date).
To answer your questions:
Q1. Were you attempting to use Grampsā [Narrated Web Site]?
A1. Yes.
Q2. Are your media files stored on your hard drive?
A2. Yes.
Q3. What do you have as the Base path for relative media paths stored in [Preferencesā] General tab?
A3. Originally it was blank. I have changed it to M:\Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media
Q4. In Grampsā [Media navigation view], do the media records display a thumbnail image on the recordās Gallery tab?
A4. Yes and no. Most have the path as shown in answer 3 above, but the one in question (and 29 others that do NOT show a media preview) are missing part of the path ( M:). I clicked on one of the images missing part of the URL. Iām guessing I can update it to show the complete path?
Q5. What is saved in the Path field for the above media record?
A5. I think I answered your question above, but for clarity (file name is added to the end of the paths):
Most of them have the path as: M:\Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media
Some have this as the path: \Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media\
And as long as weāre working on this, I noticed in some places there is a red stop sign showing an invalid(?) date.
Hereās an example of what GRAMPS is calling an invalid date: 4/28/2021 2:32:11 PM
How do I correct his - although it doesnāt appear to create a problem?
Q1. Did you import this tree from a backup with media?
A1. No. I imported a GEDCOM file that was created with Family Tree Maker 2019 (24.2.0.1532).
Q2. And if so, do you still have access to the original tree, possibly on another PC?
A2. Not applicable? The file is stored on the same PC that GRAMPS is installed on.
With the Base path for relative media paths now showing M:\Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media that information no longer needs to be added to the Path field. Only the file name and any subfolders under Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media needs to be added to the field.
When adding new images, with the box Convert to a relative path checked only the subfolder and file name will be added to the Path.
The Media Manager tool (menu >> Tools >> Utilities) has an option to Convert paths from absolute to relative. This will take care of the paths that include the drive letter. It may also handle the paths that start at \Genealogy\. If not, run the tool again using the Replace substrings in the path option. Replace: \Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media\ With: <leave blank>
When all media records are set to a relative path, attempt to run the Narrative Web again.
Gramps does not add time to an Eventās Date field.
How to get rid of the Time? I am not sure. But to answer a question, Is the Time information needed? i.e. does it reflect the time of Birth, etc?
When you say " With the Base path for relative media paths now showing M:\Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media that information no longer needs to be added to the Path field. Only the file name and any subfolders under Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Media needs to be added to the field." what does that mean?
I have no sub-folders under the Media folder. Should only the filename be shown. Currently I have some media items showing the complete path to the media file including M:. Other media items show the path starting with \Genealogy.
I did the steps you suggested. Now all the paths in the Media Manager show only the filename.
Reran the Narrative Web feature again.
Crashed! On the same file, but this time the error is:
Report could not be created
[WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified: ām:\genealogy\ftm 2019\paul yelk 2023-01-09 media\1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township, North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpgā
Does capitalization matter?
I have other Land Ownership Maps in the same folder and they are working as they should, i.e., I have a preview.
On Windows, capitalization doesnāt matter. And when you say that the other files have a preview, it suggests that this one doesnāt have one, right? Seems pretty consistent with the error message.
Confirm that raw files on the hard drive have the semicolons and that they in fact exist.
The Base path for relative media paths plus the media recordās Path field will be the complete path/file name recognized by Windows. The information in the Base path should not be a part of the recordās Path field.
Many users will use subfolders in their base media folder to better keep their media files organized. But subfolders are NOT required. purely user preference.
FYI: If you have more than one family tree database, each tree can have their own base media folder. This base folder information is stored with the database and is not a global Gramps setting.
FYI. Once you get all media files recognized by Gramps, IF you should ever feel the need to reorganize or rename your raw media files, the addon Media Verify tool can assist in this endeavor.
Statement: Confirm that raw files on the hard drive have the semicolons and that they in fact exist.
Reply: Hereās the filename: 1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township; North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpg
Hereās another Land Ownership Map; I try to use the same naming and punctuation formats for similar items: 1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Deerfield Township, Goose Lake, London, Adsit; T7N, R12E.jpg (this one is a bit different as the name of the map is āDeerfield Township, Goose Lake, London, Adsitā so thus the commas in the name of the map).
Would using the Media Verify help identify this problem - and any other problems. Iām not sure if there are any other problems as the Narrative Web tool stops at this point. Iād hate to have other problems and to have to keep doing this - one error at a time.
Only one family tree database and no sub-folders. All 1,000-plus media in ONE folder.
Media Verify would not fix this issue. It works off of a fileās checksum which Gramps stores. With all your issue, running Verify (the option) probably would not help. You could run the Generate option which ensures that the checksum stored in Gramps matches the raw file. It will however alert you to all the Gramps records that are not āseeingā the raw files. Double-clicking any records that show as missing will bring up its Grampsā record.
In the media record for the file in question and at the end of the Path field there is a folder icon to manually select the raw file on the hard drive. In normal circumstances, clicking the folder icon should land you on its file referenced in the path. But if the Path name and the raw file name agree, there should be a thumbnail of the image in the Gramps record. But maybe manually reselecting these files will solve the problem.
My gut feeling is that the semicolons are the issue. I would replace all the semicolons in the raw files with commas and use the Media Manger to replace them in the Path field. FYI: I like Bulk Rename to edit the names of the raw files on the hard drive.
If thatās the case, why do so many of the other files that have semi-colons work?
I just clicked on the media item in question and then clicked on the folder icon and it replaced ā1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township; North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpgā with the complete path: m:\genealogy\ftm 2019\paul yelk 2023-01-09 media\1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township; North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpg
I just changed it back to ā1931 U.S. Land Ownership Map; Wisconsin; Dane County; Bristol Township; North Bristol; T9N, R11E.jpgā and there is a preview.
I just checked the "Base path for relative media paths and itās showing āM:\Genealogy\FTM 2019\Paul Yelk 2023-01-09 Mediaā.
Iām spot checking the media files and there are still some that have no preview (both PDFs and jpgs). I click on them and then click on the folder icon and it now has a preview icon. Hmmmmmmmmmā¦
Is there a place where I can see all the previews so I can easily tell which ones need updating?
You can go down the Media view list where the bottombar Gallery tab is active to scan for missing thumbnails.
You can select a batch of media records. Once selected, right-click and then edit. A stack of the media edit windows will open. Closing individual records will cycle through the stack and you come across records with no thumbnail to fix. I would do the batch edits of 20-25 records at a time. Much more than that Gramps will have a memory issue and the windows will fail to render.
Using the Media Verifyās Generate option would be my first choice.
FYI: PDF and text documents will just display a generic text icon. They do not render what page 1 would look like.
Note: to quote text from a previous post, highlight the text and a āQuoteā option will appear on the textās upper left corner.
Thatās what Iām doing but itās changing the path from relative to absolute.
Then I change them back to relative. Seems to make no difference (I closed GRAMPS and then restarted it to see if it made a difference or deleted the preview; it did not).
Thatās fine. As long as thereās a preview - even though it may be a generic icon.
TO do what? Would this fix the no preview situation (please forgive me as I am just learning this software)
@paulp575 has a point. The Generate documentation in the wiki is not very enlightening.
It just says that it creates an MD5 checksum. Not how this is of any benefit nor that anything more than that the checksums are generated. Is that value stored, compared, used for another process?
When you open the file selector, at the bottom of the window will be the check box Convert to a relative path
I am confused. Are you saying that reselecting the media file is or is not allowing the media preview to function?
The Media Verify has two main options. Generate and Verify. The Generate option makes sure that the checksum in Gramps agrees with the checksum of the raw file. However, if the tool cannot find the raw file based upon the Grampsā media record path, then the tool will generate a list of these records. The records you would need to manually fix. The records in the list can be double-clicked to edit.
Because there seems to be a disconnect with a certain number of your records, this might be a way to identify these records.