Import Media Using GEDCOM

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Importing Media into TNG


You can import media into TNG by checking the box in front of Import media if present in the TNG Admin ------> Import/Export screen. Note that TNG only imports the media links in a gedcom. You still have to FTP the media to your site.

A media item in the GEDCOM file is represented by a block of lines that might look similar to this on a Macintosh:

1 OBJE
2 FORM jpg
2 FILE ~/Documents/Documents/Genealogy/Roger/ReunionPictures/photos/people/RogerOval.JPG
2 TITL Roger Moffat
2 NOTE Taken at the time of Kurt and Ann Christensen's wedding - 2 March 1996.
2 _TYPE PHOTO
2 _PRIM Y
2 _SIZE 147.000000 193.000000

or on Windows

1 OBJE
2 FORM jpg
2 FILE C:\My Documents\ReunionPictures\photos\people\RogerOval.JPG
2 TITL Roger Moffat
2 NOTE Taken at the time of Kurt and Ann Christensen's wedding - 2 March 1996.
2 _TYPE PHOTO
2 _PRIM Y
2 _SIZE 147.000000 193.000000

or if you are also using a local Wamp Server on your Windows computer

1 OBJE
2 FORM jpg
2 FILE C:\www\htdocs\genealogy\photos\people\RogerOval.JPG
2 TITL Roger Moffat
2 NOTE Taken at the time of Kurt and Ann Christensen's wedding - 2 March 1996.
2 _TYPE PHOTO
2 _PRIM Y
2 _SIZE 147.000000 193.000000

See the following TNG Forum entries by Roger Moffat:

Local Folder Setup

In order to be able to import the media links in a GEDCOM file you need to have a set of folders on your local computer that "mirror" the various media folders in your TNG setup. For example on your computer create a folder called "Genealogy Media" (in my examples above and below the folder is called "ReunionPictures") and inside that a set of folders that matches your TNG media folders. So for example:

FolderSetup.gif

shows the 5 folders I have set up on my local computer to store the various types of media item that are linked in my desktop genealogy software. These folders mirror the folders that are specified in the TNG Admin ------> Setup ------> General Settings ------> Paths and Folders

Local Paths

You have to tell TNG what your local paths for the media are in TNG Admin ------> Setup ------> Import Settings screen as shown below. (Note that this screen shot is "doctored" to show the paths on multiple lines so that the whole field contents can be seen.)

ImportSettings.gif

Some of these fields need multiple paths in them because desktop genealogy software doesn't necessarily recognise all of the different media types that TNG allows. So for example in the photos field I have entered the path to the photos folder, but also the path to the documents folder and the path to the headstones folder.

(Note that the first path listed for each Local Path type is used if you Export a GEDCOM file out of TNG and you choose to "Export media links")

This can be necessary because on initial import from the GEDCOM file, TNG looks at the line that starts 2 _TYPE to see if it is importing a photo or a document or a headstone to then know what Collection to put it into. But since most desktop genealogy software only make distinction between PHOTO and DOCUMENT (or as Reunion specifies it a PHOTO DOCUMENT) it's necessary to "cover the bases" with the settings in TNG to ensure that the paths are imported successfully.

So using the GEDCOM line from the 1st example above

2 FILE ~/Documents/Documents/Genealogy/Roger/ReunionPictures/photos/people/RogerOval.JPG

in conjunction with the line

2 _TYPE PHOTO

which has told TNG that it's a photo, and from the first line from the Import Settings screen shot above

~/Documents/Documents/Genealogy/Roger/ReunionPictures/photos/

we can see that it's a match up to the end of "photos/".

So on import of this line, TNG will strip off the specified "Local Photos Path(s)" and import this item into the Photos collection as

people/RogerOval.JPG

If the linked file is a headstone - for example

2 FILE ~/Documents/Documents/Genealogy/Roger/ReunionPictures/headstones/NewZealand/Canterbury/Rangiora/HildaLinehamHeadstone.jpg

with the line

2 _TYPE PHOTO

TNG will also think this is a photo, which is why the "Local Photos Path(s)" as specified above needs to also include

~/Documents/Documents/Genealogy/Roger/ReunionPictures/headstones/

to ensure that the item is imported correctly, with the matching part of the "Local Photos Path(s)" stripped off so that this item would be imported into the Photos collection as

NewZealand/Canterbury/Rangiora/HildaLinehamHeadstone.jpg

After the import has completed you need to then "Convert" such items to their correct collection using the TNG Admin ------> Media screen.

CollectionConversion.gif

Note that the use of sub-folders within the 5 different folders from above is fully supported.

Importing Media

When you are doing an import, you have to select the option to Import Media as shown below.

Import media.jpg