What's a .FBK ?!

[Lindad]

I'm trying to help a friend with his Tree as he has got stuck! Easy, I thought... we'll email a copy of his tree to me and I'll be able to open it using my own Family Historian software. I think he's using Family Tree Maker (although I'm not absolutely sure...!)

The first time I tried to open the file, I got a message saying Family Historian didn't recognise the file type (which I had assumed would be .GED). I then noticed that it was being listed as .FBK

I went back to his PC, saved a copy of his tree as a .GED and re-sent it by email to myself. However, I still can't open the file as it now appears to be called david.ged.fbk !! :(

Has anyone got any ideas? Please?

[Clive Blackaby]

You need to either

a) copy (or mail yourself) your friend's "FTW file" or
b) get your friend to export his tree to a GEDcom format (File - Export - Save as file type Gedcom), then mail this or put it on a diskette.

FTM will open either .FTW or .GED file types, but if you open a GED file it has to create an FTW database file on your pc. (and it won't allow you to over-write one of the sme name - one of its less endearing little foibles!)

[Peggy]

It may also be something else, but an .fbk file is the backup file that Family Tree Maker creates every time I close a file in the program.

If it is Family Tree Maker, you must have the program and the file open to export the file as a Gedcom. See their "Help" menu under Gedcom and export.

Hope that helps,

Peggy

[Clive Blackaby]

That's true - you can open the FBK file by selecting File - Restore from backup. This will then present you with a list of .FBK files to choose from.

C :)

[Peggy]

That's true. :)

But AFAIK, you can't restore it or open it in any program other than Family Tree Maker. As I understand the problem Lindad uses Family Historian, so needs a gedcom to be read by that program.

Peggy

(in South Florida, where midnight is 3 & 1/2 hours away, and the headline is: "Officials Plead With Residents Not To Celebrate With Gunfire." Think I'll go back to haggis hunting.

[Lindad]

Thanks everyone. A back-up file = FBK makes sense. Will try exporting the file as a GEDCOM.

Peggy... hope you survived the gunfire last night! Here in west London it sounded like the blitz ALL evening! There were fireworks going off constantly from about 6.00pm until well after midnight!!

[Clive Blackaby]

Thanks everyone. A back-up file = FBK makes sense. Will try exporting the file as a GEDCOM.
One word of caution. Another of FTMs annoying little habits is that dates which are formatted as (e.g.) "ABT 1940" appear on the GEDCOM file from FTM with a full stop "ABT. 1940"

Same with BEF, AFT, BET etc

Family Historian cannot handle these full stops in the dates and treats them as a "Date Phrase" much as it would if you put "During WW2" in as a date.

|banghead|