Different
people work in different ways.
Some
users copy the Media files directly into the Project’s Media
folder, so there is no duplicate elsewhere.
FH
also allows Media files to be linked from any location
outside the Project, so there is no copy inside the Project.
The copy mode is an option and not mandatory.
Those
techniques keep the number of Media files to an absolute
minimum, and users would not want FH to delete them,
especially as I believe they do not even go into the Recycle
Bin.
Also,
as I said, the same Media file can be linked to more than
one Media record, and deleting one record should not delete
the file linked to another record.
Yes,
FH could give options to delete record only or both
record & file, but how would that work when bulk
deleting many Media records at once?
Would
it be a global option, or would FH ask for each record?
It
is worth remembering that the number of scenarios where
Media records need deleting are really very rare.
In
your case, where I believe the Media record needed renaming,
that could be done without deleting the Media record.
Regards,
Mike Tate
Mike and Adrian,
Correct me if my understanding is wrong but
when creating the record in FH a copy of the
original file, eg, Photo, Birth Certificate goes into the
Project file, eg, ‘…\Family
Historian
Projects\<project>\<project>.fh_data\Media
where <project> is your Project name’.
In
my situation I end up with two copies, the original source
file (eg, Photo, Birth cert.) in a completely separate
folder on my PC, the second within FH in the Media folder
above … File Explorer shows two files of the same name, one
in FH, the other in a separate folder outside of FH.
So
when I delete the record in FH I would have expected it, or
advised me exactly what I was going to delete and given
options, eg, record only, record and file etc., to have
deleted the record and the copy of the original document in
the Project media folder while I still retain my original
source file completely separate from FH.
I’m
trying to keep the number of file duplicates not only in FH
but other applications to a manageable, less confusing,
minimum.
One
thing I have learnt early on, stressed to me by others doing
geneaology, is to have backups of all one’s precious files.
Regards
John Burton.
For
others who may be following this thread, there is a more
complete answer in the FHUG Forums.
The
reason why FH does not delete the Media file linked to a
deleted Media record is it may be a precious file needed for
other purposes.
That
file may actually be linked to another Media record and the
one being deleted is a duplicate.
Also
remember, that FH can link to Media files outside the
Project folder and thus may be used by other applications.
So
FH fails safe and does not delete external files. You would
not want the only photo of some special event to be deleted.
Regards,
Mike Tate
