About duplicate address book entries

When more than one Address Book entry exists for the same person or organization; the entries are considered duplicates. These duplicates may occur when users create a new Address Book entry without determining whether an entry already exists for the person or organization. They can also occur when entries are created automatically by operations such as importing. Duplicate entries are undesirable because information related to the person or organization becomes fragmented. You can prevent most duplicate entries by using Maximizer’s duplicate Address Book entry checking options.

You can configure duplicate checking in the Address Book preferences in Administrator. You can prevent most duplicate Address Book entries by specifying up to three combinations of fields that must be unique to each entry. If a user attempts to create a new Address Book entry; and the values of any of those field combinations match an existing entry; Maximizer does not allow the duplicate entry to be created.

A combination of fields that must be unique to each entry is called a “duplicate check list”. You can create up to three duplicate check lists; using up to three fields in each list. Maximizer considers an entry to be a duplicate if the values of all fields from List 1; or all fields from List 2; or all fields from List 3 match an existing entry.

The default duplicate check lists; described below; effectively prevent most duplicate entries:

 When a user creates a new Address Book entry in Maximizer; and Maximizer detects it as a potential duplicate Address Book entry; the user is presented with the following list of options:

• Merge with selected entry – The newly created or modified Address Book entry merges with; and overwrites; the existing (selected) entry. If a duplicate entry is private; this option is unavailable.
• Edit selected entry – The existing (selected) Address Book entry opens; allowing it to be edited by the user. Any information entered in the newly created entry that was detected as a duplicate must be re-entered. If a duplicate entry is private; this option is unavailable.
• Add the new entry – This option adds the new entry. It is available only under certain circumstances. If a user or group has permission to create duplicate entries (“Duplicates may be entered by” field in the Address Book tab); he or she has the option to create duplicate entries. This option is also available if partial matching is enabled and Maximizer finds a partial match. If a duplicate entry is private; only users with the ability to enter duplicates can create the duplicate entry.

The “Full Name/Company Name” matching field checks the Full Name of Individual or Contact entries and checks the Company field of Company entries. The “Company for Individual” matching field checks the Company field of Individual entries.

Partial Matching

Partial matching identifies an entry as a possible duplicate even if not all fields in any of the duplicate check lists are the same in both the new entry and an existing entry. With partial matching; the order of the fields (1st; 2nd; 3rd) in the duplicate check lists is important; as described in the following scenarios:

• If the first and second fields only are defined in the list (the third field is set to None); an entry is considered a possible duplicate if only the first field matches.
• If all three fields are defined in the list; an entry is considered a possible duplicate if only the first field matches; or if both the first and second field match.

If the first field doesn’t match; an entry is never considered a possible match; even if the second and/or third field matches. Maximizer displays the list of possible duplicates in order of number of fields matched.

By default; partial matching is disabled. To turn partial matching on; select the “Allow partial match” checkbox. The “Allow partial match” checkbox applies to all Duplicate Check Lists. You cannot allow partial matches for some lists and not for others. Partial matching is relevant only if no exact matches exist. If all the fields in any of the duplicate check lists match an existing entry; it is considered a duplicate entry; and partial matching does not apply. However; if Maximizer finds no exact matches; it returns a list of entries matching any of the fields from the duplicate check lists. If the first field only is defined in the list (the second and third fields are set to None); partial matching doesn’t apply because matching one field is a complete match. If the Address Book has been upgraded from a previous version of Maximizer; and duplicate checking was enabled; partial matching is enabled after upgrading the Address Book to the new version.

Permission to Create Duplicate Entries

If some users or groups require the ability to create duplicate Address Book entries; you can select a user or group from the “Duplicates may be entered by” drop-down list. If more than one user requires this ability; add those users to a new security group and then select that group from this drop-down list.

Retrieving Private Entries with Duplicate Checking

When a private entry is found by duplicate checking; the name of the entry is displayed; but the details of the entry are not. Also; when this type of entry is found; the merge entry and open entry functionality is disabled.