Pedigree Forge can run in one of two modes. The default is “Document” mode. You can switch between modes on the “Options Dialog” accessed from the “Options” item on the “Tools” menu. Note: you have to close and reopen Pedigree Forge for the change in mode to take effect.
It is recommended that you only work in one mode or the other; switching modes will cause confusion— pick one.
In document mode (the default), Pedigree Forge works like most office type programs: you open a particular file, you can edit the data and then must save it for the changes to take effect. If you don’t save the changes, they will be lost.
This allows you to “fiddle” with a file, with the knowledge that you won’t change the main data unless you save it.
As with other applications like this, on closing a document that has changed, you will be prompted to ask if you want to save any changes.
In document mode, the file you are working is saved in the background, in case Pedigree Forge closes unexpectedly, either due to a crash or system shut down—you will be prompted for which version you want to keep when Pedigree Forge starts next time.
If you have a very large file, consisting of hundreds of thousands of people, you might notice a slight delay of a second or two, as the auto save background feature runs.
In document mode, you can have multiple copies of Pedigree Forge open on your computer at the same time—you could even open the same file in each, but that would cause data loss, with the last one to save winning.
“Document” mode files have the file extension “.ped” and are a flat text file (an extended GEDCOM format).
Database mode works with an SQL database—any changes you make to your data are immediately written back to the database, so it is always up to date. There is no need to save your data, as this automatically happens in the background. You can still use the “Undo” option from the “Edit” menu to undo the last action, but beyond that, you can’t revert to earlier changes.
As the data is written back to the database immediately, and controlled by an SQL database, no data is lost if Pedigree Forge shut down unexpectedly. This also means that there is no background auto saving of files and so there will no pause, even with very large files.
“Database” mode files have the file extension “.pedb” and are SQLlite database files.
Database mode will only allow a single instance of Pedigree Forge to run on your computer at a time. Trying to open a second instance of the program will not work.
The first time you open Pedigree Forge in database mode, you have to create or open an existing database. The “Welcome to Pedigree Forge” database dialog will help you to create or open a database:
“Create New Database” will allow you to pick the file name and location for your new database.
“Open Existing Database” will show a list of recent databases (if any) and or allow you to select another database with the Open File Dialog.
When working with a database mode project, there are very few differences. The main one is that there is no “Save” option on the “File” menu and the other is that when you close the file, you won’t be asked if you wish to save any changes, as this will have been done automatically for you.
It is recommended that you work either in document or database mode (see the sections above for the pros and cons of each). As Pedigree Forge can only work in one mode at a time, you might get an error message if you try and open a file of the other kind. For example, if we are in database mode, but double click on a “.ped”—document mode file, the following error will appear:
Similarly if we are in document mode, and double click on a “.pedb”—database mode file, the following error will appear:
The solution is the same: switch to the other mode. Start Pedigree Forge manually (from the windows “start” menu, or by whatever means you open the program. Then selected “Options” from the “Tools” menu and check (or uncheck) the “Use database mode” check box as appropriate:
When you close and reopen Pedigree Forge, it will be in the other mode.