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What has happened to this ID?

Paul W
Paul W ✭✭✭✭✭
March 17 edited March 17 in Family Tree

I am raising this issue after looking at the problem raised at https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/119470/i-have-lost-a-complete-family-in-family-search-how-can-i-restore-them#latest

Following the question raised there, I tried to find ID M852-VXX, using FIND by ID. The result was being presented with MM26-923 instead. I have looked through the change log on the latter and cannot find any mention of a merge with M852-VXX. Maybe that ID does appear under one of the other IDs with have been merged with MM26-923. However, I did not expect the behaviour illustrated - I thought I would be told the inputted ID did not exist, or shown the "Deleted" record. Is this something new, or could someone explain what is happening - and also help @Sjohnson54 with the original query?


Find by ID query.png


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Best Answers

  • Gordon Collett
    Gordon Collett ✭✭✭✭✭
    March 17 edited March 17 Answer ✓

    I had someone ask me about this earlier today and did some poking around. This does appear to be a new change and thinking about it, it does make sense.

    Some people keep track of the ID numbers of the people they are working on and use those to jump to an individual. Previously searching by ID took you to the ID number. Now it takes you to the person which is probably what they really what anyway. Now instead of an ID taking you to the deleted person in a merge, it takes you to the final survivor.

    If you are going to really evaluate a merge and see if it was correct, not just blindly reverse it no matter what, you really do need to evaluate the survivor at some point. In fact, the survivor is probably the best place to start.

    Regarding M852-VXX:

    The survivor has three merges:

    Screen Shot 2022-03-17 at 4.07.52 PM.png

    The first has no sub-merges. The second has four. The third has none. Checking through the merges under LLL-GHL, none of them include M852-VXX. That is strange. It makes me wonder if M852-VXX was merged away in New Family Search. I'll go look at that other question.

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  • Gordon Collett
    Gordon Collett ✭✭✭✭✭
    March 17 Answer ✓

    First problem is that M852-VXX is a Genealogies ID from a very old IGI record. That must be why it is not showing up in Family Tree. But it does look like it is connected to the right person.

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  • Gordon Collett
    Gordon Collett ✭✭✭✭✭
    March 17 Answer ✓

    So this particular quirk in the Find routine does not reflect the update of only going to the surviving record, although that is what it is doing. Since M852-VXX was never a Family Tree ID, the search is going to the equivalent record in Family Tree as it always would have done. Of course, that may not have always been the current James Dunn but one of the other six people merged into him.

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Answers

  • Paul W
    Paul W ✭✭✭✭✭
    March 17 edited March 17

    @Gordon Collett

    Thank you for your thoughts on this. I have not yet read your comments against the other (related) topic, but did suspect the M852-VXX ID was one that was one from one of the older programs.

    On the one hand - assuming this is a new "feature" - it does appear to be of some help in linking the current record with a much older one, but (on the other) I can see the confusion this might cause - especially in respect of the example raised in this case.

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  • Sjohnson54
    Sjohnson54 ✭
    March 18

    Thank you both I appreciate your input. I don't mind a different ID number, but I do question it when ordiance work is missing or redone 40 or 50 years later. Or if the name has change such as with the wife and several children now have middle names that didn't exist on the old family group sheets. It makes me question if they are really the same person or someone just merged because it was close.. I will continue my research and look into the records that are now becoming available. Thanks again

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  • dontiknowyou
    dontiknowyou ✭✭✭✭✭
    March 18

    It makes me question if they are really the same person or someone just merged because it was close..

    Questioning is exactly what this situation requires. Mistakes happen. Corrections are taken up.

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  • Jordi Kloosterboer
    Jordi Kloosterboer ✭✭
    April 10 edited April 10

    Looks like that id was "combined" whatever that means.

    image.png


    this url https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M852-VXX redirects to https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZLL-GHL?innerId=M852-VXX

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