Resolving duplicate names

If you have duplicate names in different Semantic Type Libraries, you must remove these duplicates before you can carry out analysis that involves these sources. To resolve duplicate names, you must combine the libraries before removing the duplicates.

Procedure

To resolve a situation where duplicate names exist, which you do not want to keep:

  1. Print Database Design reports to record how the semantic types are assigned in each database. This information is not saved in custom semantic type (MTC) files.

  2. Decide which database contains the central Semantic Type Library.

  3. In the databases that do not contain the central Semantic Type Library, save the semantic types to an MTC file.

  4. Load the MTC file(s) into the database that you have designated as holding the central Semantic Type Library. In this database:

    1. Make a note of the duplicate semantic types--- these will have names ending _001, _002, and so on.

    2. Delete all duplicate semantic types.

    3. Save an MTC file, which should now contain an updated, and clean, Semantic Type Library.

  5. In the other databases, delete the duplicate semantic types. You may need to unassign them first. You may find it useful to refer to your list of the duplicate custom semantic types deleted from the central Semantic Type Library.

  6. In the other databases, load the MTC file from the database that holds the central Semantic Type Library. The MTC file should load correctly without creating any duplicates.

  7. If, when you load the MTC file, duplicate semantic types are displayed, then the correct semantic types from the central Semantic Type Library were renamed with a numeric suffix (because this database treats them as duplicates). In this situation:

    1. Unassign and then delete the duplicate semantic types. The duplicate will not have a numeric suffix; it is the centrally-created custom semantic type that has the numeric suffix.

    2. Edit the name of the centrally-created semantic type (the one with the numeric suffix) to remove the suffix.

    3. Reassign the semantic types if required.