Finding matching records

You can check for matching records to discover if records in the database, or case, share common values with the single record that you are interested in. By default, two entities match if the values in their discriminator fields match, and two links match if the link end entities, link direction and link strength are the same.

About this task

Note: Matching Records is different from the Duplicate Records Checker where you can search for records that match the values in a set of records or the results of a query.

Matching records check discriminator fields by default, but you can match on other fields and the fields that you select are stored.

There are three types of entity match:

  • Duplicate matching - where entities are matched if the discriminator fields are identical.

  • Characteristic matching - where entities are matched if the characteristic fields are identical.

  • User-defined matching - where you specify the fields to match.

You can choose to search for matches on any combination of fields. However, the combinations that are most likely to be used (the discriminator fields and the characteristic fields) are selectable as pre-defined combinations.

The choice of which fields are discriminators and which are characteristic is made as part of the database design. For example, if you were comparing crime entities, you can use:

  • Duplicate matching to see whether records share a crime number.

  • Characteristic matching to check for other crimes where the stolen item was the same as the crime you are interested in.

Matching of links can be much more precise since not only can the field values match, but also end entities, direction, and strength.

Link records directly match if they share the:

  • Same field values (for the discriminator fields if any, otherwise for the fields that you select)

  • Same link end entities

  • Same direction and strength

Alternatively, link records can match if they share just the field values - the link end entities, direction, and strength do not have to match. To use this type of match, turn off Same Link Ends and select the fields that you want to match on.

Procedure

To find matching entity records:

  1. Right-click the record in a record list and from the menu, select Matching Records.

  2. Turn on the checkboxes next to the fields you want to check for matching values.

  3. Click Find to start the search.

    Note: You can pause the search at any time by pressing the Esc key or clicking Pause.

  4. When the search completes, select a record so that you can check the field values in the Details box.

  5. To work further on the records, select one or more records, right-click and then select a menu command from the menu. For example, select Add to Set to add the records to a new or existing set.

What to do next

You can work with the records listed.

  • For the main entity or link, select a toolbar option:

    • Show Records - to show, edit, or delete the main entity or link

    • Links - for entities only, list full details of the links from the main entity, and its link end entities

    • iBase Link Chart - for entities only, show the main entity, its links, and linked entities on an iBase link chart

  • For a matching record, in the Matching Records area, select one or more records, right-click, and then select an option from the menu. For more information about the available options, see Menus and record lists.