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Gramps 5.2 Wiki Manual - Error and Warning Reference

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This section explains what to do when something unexpected happens.

Contents

When something goes wrong

Sometimes something goes wrong, either because you have asked to do something that Gramps doesn't know how to do, or because something has happened that the developers of Gramps did not anticipate, or because there is a mistake in the coding of Gramps.

 
Warning

Sometimes all the errors do not appear on the screen. If something unexpected happens, you may need to see all the error messages

Alerts

An alert is a dialog that appears when Gramps needs to give you an important message about an error condition or warn you about potentially hazardous situations or consequences.

Most alerts are self explanatory, and the same type of alerts that you might get with any application. These are not discussed further here.

However, some alerts require more complicated actions, so they are described below.

Are you sure you want to upgrade this Family Tree?

 
Fig. E.1 "Are you sure you want to upgrade this Family Tree?" dialog - Db Upgrade Required - example
 
Fig. E.2 "Are you sure you want to upgrade this Family Tree?" dialog - Bsddb Upgrade Required Error - example
 
Fig. E.3 "Are you sure you want to downgrade this Family Tree?" dialog - Bsddb Downgrade Required Error - example
 
Fig. E.4 "Are you sure you want to upgrade this Family Tree?" dialog - Python Upgrade Required Error - example

These dialogs appear for the listed reasons:

  • "Db Upgrade Required" - If you try to open a Db(Sqlite3) Family Tree created with a previous older version of Gramps with a newer version of Gramps.
  • "Bsddb Upgrade Required Error" - If you try to open a Bsddb Family Tree created with a previous older version of Gramps with a newer version of Gramps.
  • "Bsddb Downgrade Required Error" - If you try to open a Bsddb Family Tree created with a previous older version of Bsddb with a newer version of Bsddb.
  • "Python Upgrade Required Error" - If you try to open a Bsddb Family Tree created with a previous older version of Gramps using Python 2 with a newer version of Gramps that uses Python 3.

For each of these reasons you may follow the same general advice; if you still have the older version of Gramps available, then you should:

  • Cancel this dialogue, and exit Gramps
  • Open the Family Tree with the previous version of Gramps (Reinstall the old version of Gramps),
  • Export your family tree in Gramps XML (family tree) export format or Gramps XML Package (family tree and media) format,
  • Exit the old version of Gramps and Start the new version of Gramps,
  • Open the Family Tree in the new version of Gramps and click I have made a backup, please upgrade my Family Tree in this dialogue


Error parsing arguments

 
Fig. E.5Error parsing arguments - dialog - Database is locked example

The Family Tree database is locked while in use by another user or because Gramps exited abnormally during previous use.

See Unlocking a Family Tree

Database is locked. cannot open it!

The Family Tree database is locked while in use by another user or because Gramps exited abnormally during previous use.

See Unlocking a Family Tree

Cannot open database

 
Fig. E.6 Dialogue showing DB Environment Error
 
Fig. E.7 Dialogue showing DB Version Error

As explained in the dialogue, the Family Tree was probably created with an old version of the Berkeley database program. This is not quite the same thing as an old version of the Gramps program, because the version of the Gramps program and the version of the Berkeley database are independent. However, the effect is somewhat the same. As suggested in the dialogue, if you have the old version of Gramps and its support software, then you should:

  • cancel this dialogue,
  • open the Family Tree with the previous version of Gramps,
  • export your family tree in Gramps XML database export format or Gramps package export format (see Export into Gramps formats),
  • start the new version of Gramps,
  • open the 'Manage Family Tree' dialogue,
  • click on new and create a new Family Tree,
  • load the new Family Tree
  • Import the Gramps XML or Gramps package.

Alternatively, it may be possible to use the recovery tools. See 'obtain the bsddb recovery tools' under Recover corrupted family tree

Low level database corruption detected

 
Fig. E.8 "Low level database corruption detected" dialog - example

This dialogue appears when a problem is detected with the underlying database that supports Family Trees.

  • close the dialogue,
  • click on the Family Tree Manager,
  • select the Family Tree you were trying to open,
  • the Repair button should be available; click on it,
  • once the Family Tree has been repaired it should be possible to open it in the normal way.

If this does not work, try 'obtain the bsddb recovery tools' under Recover corrupted family tree

Error detected in database

 
Fig. E.9 Dialogue showing Run Database Repair

Carry out suggested action.

Warnings

If Gramps detects a minor error, or wishes to notify you about an occurrence within the program, then Gramps may display a Warning button on the status bar, as shown below. This button is only displayed for 180 seconds, so if you see it you should immediately click on it if you want to see the messages.

 
Fig. E.10 Gramps Main Window showing Warning button on the Status bar


Gramps Warnings dialog

If you click the Warning button, then a Gramps Warnings dialog box appears showing the last 20 messages received. More details about the Logging system

 
Fig. E.11 Gramps Main Window showing Warning messages


Some of the warnings that may appear are described below:

Locale warnings

Sometimes there is a problem with the language you have chosen.

If you have installed Gramps using your platform's standard installation method (Package manager/AIO installer/Application package) and are using your platform's built-in mechanism (System Setting/Control Panel/System Preferences) to choose the language/sort order/formats you are running in, then these errors should not occur, and may mean there is a problem in Gramps.

However, if you have set the language/sort order/formats manually by setting the 'environment' see languages, particularly if you are running Gramps from the command line, then there may be a problem with what you have typed in. The message (only part of which is shown below) should help you to understand where the error is.

  • "Date parser for '%s' not available, using default"
  • "Date displayer for '%s' not available, using default"
  • "Family relationship translator not available for language '%s'. Using 'english' instead."
  • 'Unable to determine your Locale, using English'
  • "Localization library libintl not on %PATH%, localization will be incomplete"
  • "No translations for %s were found, setting localization to U.S. English"
  • "Unable to create collator: %s"
  • "No language provided, using US English"
  • "No usable languages found in list, using US English"
  • "None of the requested languages (%s) were available, using %s instead"

Module not loaded warnings

The Gramps application contains many different 'modules'. Some of these modules are required for Gramps to run at all; some are 'strongly recommend', and some are optional.

If you have installed Gramps using your platform's standard installation method (Package manager/AIO installer/Application package) then the builder of that package will have decided which modules are present. He must include all the required modules, because otherwise Gramps will not run, but he can choose which of the recommended and optional packages he includes. Consult the documentation for your package to determine which modules are included.

If you try to do something that needs a module that is not included, then you will get a warning like the ones below (only the first part of the message is included). What you can do about it depends on your platform:

Linux You should be able to install the package using your distribution's standard Package Manager or the GUI interface to the Package Manager. However, in some cases you will need to build the module from source.

MS Windows and macOS The MS Windows AIO installer and the macOS Application bundle come with certain modules built in. It is not possible for the normal user to add further modules. Therefore, if you find a module that you particularly feel should be included you should post on the Gramps Forum (probably the Development section) explaining why you feel its omission is a mistake.

  • "WARNING: PIL module not loaded. "
  • "ICU not loaded because %s. Localization will be impaired. "
  • "OsmGpsMap module not loaded. "
  • "GExiv2 module not loaded. "
  • "Webkit module not loaded. "
  • "PIL (Python Imaging Library) not loaded. "
  • "GtkSpell not loaded. "


Show plugin status dialog on plugin load error.

Can be disabled from Show plugin status dialog on plugin load error. option in the Preferences > Warnings dialog.

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.


Configuration warnings

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.


Sometimes it is worth just deleting the old configuration files.

  • "Importing old key file 'keys.ini'..."
  • "Done importing old key file 'keys.ini'"
  • "Can't find filter %s in the defined custom filters"
  • "Number of arguments does not match number of " +
  • "Value '%(val)s' not found for option '%(opt)s'"
  • "Unable to open recent file %s because %s",
  • "WARNING: ignoring old key '%s'"
  • "WARNING: ignoring key with wrong type "
  • "Failed to parse doc options"
  • "Skipped a line in the addon listing: "
  • "Failed to load gramplets from %s because %s"

Other warnings

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.



Cannot save person

 
Fig. E.12 Cannot save person (Warning window)

Attempting to save a person without any data from the Person editor displays this warning popup. You need at least one letter for the first name.

Cannot save person
No data exist for this person. Please enter data or cancel the edit.
Close

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.



Cannot merge <object>

 
Fig. E.13 Cannot merge person (Warning dialog) - example

Attempting to merge anything other than two(2) of one type of record displays this warning popup dialog.

For example:

Cannot merge people
Exactly two people must be selected to perform a merge. A second person can be selected by holding down the control key while clicking on the desired person.

Close

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.



Duplicate Family warning dialog

 
Duplicate Family Warning

If you create a new family and select parents that are already in an existing family, Gramps will issue the Duplicate Family warning message. If you proceed by saving the new family, you will have a duplicate family.

 
Fig. E.14 Duplicate Family - warning dialog


Suppress warning when adding parents to a child

Can be enabled from Suppress warning when adding parents to a child. option in the Preferences > Warnings dialog.


Adding parents to a person dialog
 
Fig. E.15 "Adding parents to a person" warning dialog
 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.



Suppress warning when cancelling with changed data

Can be disabled from Suppress warning when cancelling with changed data. option in the Preferences > Warnings dialog.

Used by the Edit Person dialog.

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.


Save Changes? dialog

 
Fig. E.16 "Save Changes?" - alert dialog


Suppress warning about missing researcher when exporting to GEDCOM

File:Xxx.png
Fig. E.17 xxx

Can be disabled from Suppress warning about missing researcher when exporting to GEDCOM. option in the Preferences > Warnings dialog.

 

This article's content is incomplete or a placeholder stub.
Please update or expand this section.



Undo history warning

 
Fig. E.18 Tool "Undo history warning" dialog - default

The Undo history warning dialog will be shown and you can either Stop or Proceed with the tool/import. It is recommended that you stop and backup your database; so that you can revert the process of running the tool (or import) if required.

 
Fig. E.19 Import "Undo history warning" dialog - default
 
Undo history warning

Proceeding with this process will erase the undo history for this session. In particular, you will not be able to revert the changes made by this tool or any changes made prior to it.

If you think you may want to revert running this process, please stop here and backup your database.


Errors

More serious problems cause an Error Report dialog to be shown which will describe the actions you should take.


Error Report

 
Fig. E.20 Error Report Assistant - dialog - collapsed "Error Detail" - default

The Error Report dialogue appears whenever something has happened in the Gramps application that the programmers did not expect.

Have a read of the How to create a good bug report article. If you believe you know how the Gramps developers might reproduce the bug or not, then select the Report button to start the Error Reporting Assistant dialog, and you can then follow the instructions.

 
Fig. E.21 Error Report Assistant - dialog - expanded "Error Detail" - default


Error Reporting Assistant dialog

Allows you an opportunity to compile a report about an error and then submit it manually to the Gramps bug reporting system (This requires you to have a registered account on the Gramps bug reporting system)

The Error Reporting Assistant is also known as the Bug Reporting Assistant.

Report a bug page

 
Fig. E.22 Report a bug (page) - Error Reporting Assistant

This is the Bug Reporting Assistant. It helps to make a bug report to the Gramps developers that will be as detailed as possible.

The assistant asks a few questions and gathers some information about the error that just occurred and the operating environment.

At the end of the assistant process, you will be asked to file a bug report through the Gramps bug tracking system.

The assistant will copy the bug report to the Operating System clipboard. This allows you to paste it into the form on the Gramps bug tracking and review exactly what information you want to include.

Error Details page

 
Fig. E.23 Error Details (page) - Error Reporting Assistant (Showing example error)

If you can see that there is any personal information included in the error please remove it.

This is the detailed Gramps error information, don't worry if you do not understand it. You will have the opportunity to add further detail about the error in the following pages of the assistant.

System Information page

 
Fig. E.24 System Information (page) - Error Report Assistant

This is the information about your system that will help the developers to fix the bug.

Further Information page

 
Fig. E.25 Further Information (page) - Error Reporting Assistant

Please provide as much information as you can about what you were doing when the error occurred.

This is your opportunity to describe what you were doing when the error occurred.

Bug Report Summary page

 
Fig. E.26 Bug Report Summary (page) - Error Reporting Assistant

This is the completed bug report. The next page of the assistant will help you to file a bug on the Gramps bug tracking system website.

Send Bug Report page

 
Fig. E.27 Send Bug Report (page) - Error Reporting Assistant

Use the two buttons below to first copy the bug report to the clipboard and then open a webbrowser to file a bug report at https://gramps-project.org/bugs/login_select_proj_page.php?ref=bug_report_page.php

  • Send Bug Report - This is the final step. Use the buttons on this page to start a web browser and file a bug report on the Gramps bug tracking system (This assumes you already have an user account on the bug tracker, if not signup for one first.)
    • File bug report - Use this button to start a web browser and file a bug report on the Gramps bug tracking system.
    • Copy to clipboard - Use this button to copy the bug report onto the clipboard. Then go to the bug tracking website by using the button below, paste the report and click submit report


Complete page

 
Fig. E.28 Complete (page) - Error Reporting Assistant

Gramps is an Open Source project. Its success depends on its users. User feedback is important. Thank you for taking the time to submit a bug report.

Other Errors

Report could not be created

File:Xxxx.png
Fig. E.29 Report could not be created dialog

The Report could not be created dialog can occur for various reasons, eg: one reason is that the custom paper size you have chosen for the report is too large for PDF format that is being used.

 
PDF size limits

Each Adobe PDF Version format specification has a maximum page size limit, for:

  • PDF Version 1.4 (Acrobat 5.0) and PDF Version 1.5 (Acrobat 6.0) the maximum PDF page size is 200" x 200" inches (508cm x 508cm)
  • PDF Version 1.6 (Acrobat 7.0) and newer the theoretical PDF page size is 15,000,000" x 15,000,000" inches (38,100,000cm x 38,100,000cm) but in reality most programs do not properly support any sizes above 200" x 200" inches (508cm x 508cm).

See PDF From Wikipedia.


Seeing all the error messages

Sometimes, not all the information needed to understand what has gone wrong will appear on the screen. For example, if you start Gramps with an invalid language setting (and some missing components) then the message that appears in the Warnings dialog is:

 
Fig. E.30 Dialogue showing limited warnings


However, the full set of warning messages is:

(process:10929): Gtk-WARNING **: Locale not supported by C library.
	Using the fallback 'C' locale.
2013-03-13 18:49:04.376: WARNING: __init__.py: line 69: Date parser for 'xx_XX.UTF-8' not available, using default
2013-03-13 18:49:04.547: WARNING: __init__.py: line 85: Date displayer for 'xx_XX.UTF-8' not available, using default
2013-03-13 18:49:05.949: WARNING: spell.py: line 74: Spelling checker is not installed
2013-03-13 18:49:15.223: WARNING: gramplet.gpr.py: line 400: WARNING: GExiv2 module not loaded.  Image metadata functionality will not be available.

Sometimes Gramps just doesn't start and nothing appears on the screen, or Gramps suddenly quits so you don't see anything on the screen. In all these cases you may need to do something special to see all the errors.

Linux

You can start Gramps from the Command Line, as described in the note here. You will then see all the diagnostic information on the terminal.

MS Windows

You can start Gramps from the Command Line, as described in the note here. You will then see all the diagnostic information on the terminal.

macOS

Starting Gramps through the CLI on macOS is covered here.

Console application

You can also look at log messages from Gramps using Apples Console application. The Console application is located in your Mac's Utilities folder, which is found in the Applications folder. (A shortcut on recent versions of macOS is to press Command and the space bar to start a Spotlight search. In the resulting pop up window, enter the first few characters of the word "Console" and then select the Console application.)

For example, one of the early alpha releases of Gramps just would not start and displayed nothing on the screen. However by opening the Console application, and typing Gramps in the filter at the top right hand corner some diagnostic information appeared. (Actually we typed "gramps[" because there were some other messages that were not relevant, but it wouldn't matter if they were included as well).

 
Fig. E.31 Console output


By shift clicking to select all the relevant messages and copying them we get:

01/03/2013 00:08:02 [0x0-0x88088].org.gramps-project.gramps[1867] 2939: ERROR: importer.py: line 51: Could not find any typelib for Gtk 
01/03/2013 00:08:05 [0x0-0x88088].org.gramps-project.gramps[1867] Gtk typelib not installed. Install Gnome  Introspection, and pygobject version 3.3.2 or later. 
01/03/2013 00:08:05 [0x0-0x88088].org.gramps-project.gramps[1867] Gramps will terminate now. 

In this particular case, this was enough to help the developer discover the problem.


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