Your most important own files

Take care from the beginning to create your own FamilyTreeFactory files correctly. The most important files of one's own are:

•	Family files *.fml

•	Treeview files *.trv

Into Family files the personal data are saved. Include all relatives in one single family file. Based on the personal data in this one family file you can create many different ancestor and descendant trees by selecting different primary persons, creating different trees and saving these trees as treeview files.

Do not create separate family files for each intended tree, which only save the persons included in the intended tree. Going this way many persons would be saved in several family files and the personal data maintenance would be complicated.

Family files also save the name of the treeview file used last as well as the Treeview Options used last. These details are used at the loading of the treeview shown last and when creating a new treeview.

Into Treeview files treeview data are saved (structural data, object data and treeview options, no personal data). Treeview files are always linked to a particular family file. However, an unlimited number of treeview files may belong to a family file. This is because many different treeviews can be created using the same personal data. The combination of the family file and the treeview file allow the treeview to be recreated exactly, as long as the data for the persons contained in the treeview are not changed.

Note: At the repeated saving of a family file a backup copy of the last saved version is kept automatically in the same directory with the same name but the extension *.fmb. If a family file *.fml should be lost for any reason, open the used directory in the Windows Explorer and rename the backup copy *.fmb into *.fml. Then you can open the renamed file in the FamilyTreeFactory again.

You find further information about all files of the FamilyTreeFactory in the section Installation, File Types and in the appendix in the section The FamilyTreeFactory Files.