Merging entities

You might have two or more entities that you decide relate to the same person or thing. You can merge these entities into one, however, after entities are merged, you cannot reverse the operation.

About this task

Merging means that one entity (the 'merge' entity) inherits the links from other entities that are transferred to it before the other entities are deleted. Only entities of the same type can be merged. Optionally, you can:
  • Use the data from the entities that are deleted to replace blank field values in the 'merge' entity.
  • Add the data in any Multi-line Text (Append Only) fields to the end of the corresponding fields in the 'merge' entity.
The original creation dates and usernames on the links are preserved, and the update details are modified to show who merged the entities and when it was done. Where a change is made to a Multi-line Text (Append Only) field, the text MERGE is also inserted after the username.
Note: The record that is displayed in the upper part is the record that is kept, and the records displayed in the lower part are deleted once they are merged.

Procedure

  1. Select Edit > Merge Entities.
  2. In the Merge Entities dialog, select an Entity Type.
  3. In the Merge the records below into this record area, either click Select to find and select the 'merge' entity, or drag a single record from a different dialog into the blank icon area.
    Tip: The pointer changes shape when you are over the correct part of the dialog.
  4. You can check that you have selected the correct entity by reviewing its details. For example, you can right-click on the icon and from the shortcut menu, select Show.
  5. In the Merge these records into the above record area, click Add to find and select entities to add to the list of entities that you want to be merged. Alternatively, drag a record from a different dialog into this area.
    Tip: You can check the details of the entities by using commands, such as Show, on the menu. To display the menu, right-click on a record in the record list.
  6. Repeat as required to add more entities.
  7. Optionally, turn on Use the values from the records above to substitute blank values in the 'merge' record (and merge append-only fields). Turn this on if you want to assign values from the entities that are to be deleted to blank fields in the 'merge' entity. If there is more than one record in the Merge these records into the above record area, then the value is taken from the first record in the list. Any values in Multi-line (Append Only) fields will also update with any values from the entities that are to be deleted.
  8. Check that only the required entities are listed. If you do not want to merge any of these, select them and then click Remove.
  9. Click Merge and then click Yes to confirm that you want to merge and delete the entities.
  10. If the link end entity at the other end of the link is not valid for the link type, you see a warning. Click Yes to perform the merge (you can modify the link later) or No to cancel the merge in order to modify the link.