Compare and Merge Databases

This feature has two primary purposes

• You can coordinate efforts with others. To do this, make a copy of your database and send it to an associate, typically a relative. Once the relative has made additions or changes, you can compare this altered database with your original. AQ will point out the differences, and allow you to import ONLY THE DIFFERENCES. This means that you can accept just the changes made by an associate, without importing any other records, and you can avoid the taxing process of then merging all duplicates. Using this feature, you can avoid ever importing duplicate individuals, thereby avoiding unnecessary merging.
  A common example of how you might use this would be at a family reunion, wherein you would set up 2 or 3 computers, each with a copy of your database. Give family members a chance to add any new information they have, and correct errors in your data. After the reunion, compare and merge the changes from these databases back into your master database.
• If you receive a database, either as a GEDCOM file or a database that AQ can directly read (such as AQ's own databases or those of Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Ancestry Family Tree (AFT), Heritage Family Tree Deluxe and some others), you can compare this database with your own to see how much of the database is the same as yours, and whether any differences are records or data you may want to import. Again, you can then import any additional data or family lines that you wish, without importing duplicates of data that you already have.