Match & Merge Sources

What Causes Duplicate Sources

Merging Two Sources, The Easy Way

Merging Two Sources, When You Know the Numbers
What Is "Match & Merge Sources?"
Finding Matches
Merging Sources
Buttons in the Merge Sources Window
What Happens When You Click the Merge Button?
What Happens to Citations When Sources Are Merged?

What Causes Duplicate Sources?

Importing
Perhaps the most common cause of duplicate source records is importing another family file, a GEDCOM file, or a text file. When you import a GEDCOM file or a text file, Reunion has no way of knowing what source records, if any, are duplicates. If there are sources common to both the source and destination files, you may wind up with some duplication in the resulting file (the destination file). When you import another family file, Reunion attempts to merge sources as explained here.

Mistakes
Of course, the other source of duplicate sources in a family file is simply the accidental entry of a source record that's already in the family file.

Merging Two Sources, The Easy Way

The easiest way to merge two sources is to drag one source and drop it onto another. You can do this in the Sources sidebar or the List window (when it is showing sources).

When you drag and drop one source onto another, a confirming window will appear.

Note: It's important to consider carefully what you're doing, as this action can't be undone — merging of sources will affect every instance where the dragged source is cited.

Merging Two Sources, When You Know The Numbers

If you'd prefer not to drag and drop (to merge sources) or if the two sources you want to merge are too far apart (in number) to be seen simultaneously in the list of sources, then an easy alternative is to merge two sources by number.

To do this, let's assume you want to merge source 40 into source 20...

  1. Locate source 40 in the sources list (sidebar or List window).
  2. Control-click sourced 40.
  3. Select Merge Source 40 into Another Source.
  4. Enter number 20 into the selection window.
  5. Confirm or cancel the merge.

Note: Again, it's important to consider carefully what you're doing, as this action can't be undone — merging of sources will affect every instance where the merged source is cited.

What Is "Match & Merge Sources?"

Match & Merge Sources is a feature that helps you to identify and remove duplicate source records in your family file. This feature has two steps...

  1. Finding source records that might be "matches."
  2. Merging the source records.


The Match & Merge Sources feature should not be seen as a remedy for carelessly collecting data. You should resist the temptation to collect lots of records and import them into your family file willy nilly — assuming that the computer will do the work and sort everything out. We recommend that you work with a copy of your family file while learning how to match and merge source records.

Finding Matches

To find source records that might be "matches"...

  1. Be sure the Family View is selected.
  2. Choose File > Match & Merge Sources from the menu at the top. This opens the Match Sources window.

Criteria for a match...
This section of the Match Sources window lets you define how many consecutive identical characters in a source record (starting with the first character) constitutes a possible "match." The maximum is 500 characters.

In addition, you may specify whether or not the sources must be based on the same template.

After you configure the Match Sources window, click the Match button to begin the search. Reunion will search for possible matches, based on your settings, and will report the results in the Merge Sources window.

Merging Sources

After completing the search for possible matches, the Merge Sources window appears — if any matches were found.

The top of this window lists sources for which possible matches were found.

The bottom lists possible matches for the source record selected in the top list.

Double-click any source record in either list to see and compare more of the source record.

Buttons in the Merge Sources Window
Save
Nothing will happen permanently until the Save button is clicked. Clicking any of the other buttons, including Merge, doesn't change anything in the family file until you click Save.
Merge
To merge the record for the selected source in the bottom list with the selected source in the top list, click the Merge button. If there is more than one source in the bottom list, you can click the Merge button multiple times to eliminate other matches.
Merge All
To merge all possible matches, click the Merge All button. Do this only if you trust all the possible matches Reunion presents. All the sources in the top list will have their respective matches in the bottom list merged — the equivalent of clicking the Merge button until nothing shows in the bottom list for any entry in the top list.
Next
To select the next source in the top list, click the Next button. When you're doing tedious merging, this button provides a shortcut for rolling the mouse to the scroll bar button in the top list and clicking, or pressing the down arrow key on the keyboard.
Undo
To undo your virtual merges, click the Undo button. The number of merges is shown in the upper-right corner, above the top list.
Cancel
To leave the Merge Sources window altogether, without making any changes, click the Cancel button.

What Happens When You Click the Merge Button?

When the Merge button is clicked, the source highlighted in the bottom list is merged with the source highlighted in the top list. Unique information in the bottom source is added to the top source on a field-by-field basis, free form and structured. For example: the Author field from source A is merged or appended into the Author field of source B, only if there is a difference found between the two Author fields.

What Happens to Citations When Sources Are Merged?

It's important to understand that the source in the top list will remain in the family file. Citations that point to the source record in the top list will remain intact. When you merge sources, the contents of citation detail fields are not altered.

After merging, the source in the bottom list is deleted. Citations pointing to the source being merged (the source record in the bottom list) will be changed to the source number in the top list.