Profile Dupe Checker
As your ClientBase customer database grows, so does the possibility of having duplicate profile records for the same entity. Since duplicate records water down the effectiveness of the database, ClientBase provides a method to merge these duplicate profiles. Duplicate agent profiles cannot be merged.
Suggestion: Run the Profile Dupe Checker once a month to keep the database dupe free.
There are two ways to manage duplicate profiles. You can merge duplicate profiles as you discover them, or you can use the Profile Dupe Checker to help identify duplicates.
There is not a way to separate profile information once profiles have been merged. Always back up your database before performing a global dupe check.
When you merge profiles, some information is automatically transferred to the master profile. You can choose certain other information to copy to the master profile as well.
| Information that is always transferred to the master profile: | Optional information that may be copied to the master profile: |
|---|---|
|
Activities |
Profile Addresses |
|
Marketing |
Profile Communications |
|
Res Card (including Attachments) |
Special Dates |
|
Invoices |
Profile Card (credit and loyalty) |
|
Payments |
Profile PNR Entries |
|
Unapplied Balances |
Travelers/Contacts (including Addresses, Cards, Communications, and PNR Entries) |
|
Groups |
|
|
Profile Attachments |
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Use Profile Dupe Check to identify possible duplicates
Use Profile Dupe Check to merge profiles
Use Profile Dupe Check to identify possible duplicates
Over time, your database may end up with many duplicate profiles. The
Profile Dupe Checker helps identify possible duplicates and quickly clean up your database.
Suggestion: Run the Profile Dupe Checker once a month to keep the database dupe free.
Step 1: Backup your database
Backup your database using the Database Backup Restore Utility. How you access the utility depends on which version of Windows you are using.
- Windows 10 or Earlier:
- Select the Windows Start Menu > Programs > Trams > Database Backup Restore
- Windows 11:
- Select the Windows Start Menu > All Apps > Trams > Database Backup Restore
Refer to Back Up The Trams Database in the ClientBase Help File for more information.
Step 2: Identify possible duplicate profiles
- Select Utilities > Profile Dupe Checker
- Select Entire Database under Check for duplicate profiles in
- Select the profile types to search and what information to compare.
- Select the criteria to use to identify possible duplicates. The more match points you sue, the more likely identified profiles will be true duplicates.
Check for duplicate profiles in:
Selecting "Entire Database" allows you use matching criteria to help identify possible duplicates. You can also merge profiles that you discover using a Level1, Level 2, or Level 3 query. See the following section for details about merging profiles from the result of a query.
Include Profile Types:
Select the type of profiles you want to search. It's often easier to work with one profile type at a type, or working with just Leisure and Corporate selected.
Field Name:
Select the fields to compare for possible duplicates. The more fields you select ,the more likely your results will include true matches.
For example, you may have more than one client profile "Smith/John" that are unrelated to each other. But if two profiles are name "Smith/John" and also have the same address, they are likely to be duplicates.
Length and Direction:
Enter the number of characters to compare, and whether ClientBase should right-to-left or left-to-right.
The more characters you choose, the more likely you are to find matches. For example, if you choose to search for for five characters in the profile name field, Smith/John and Smith/Sandy will be identified as possible matches, but searching for more than five characters will not.
Select "Left to Right" makes sense for most fields, but sometimes it's better to search from Right to Left. This is particularly helpful when comparing phone numbers, because area codes sometimes change.
For example, if you search by primary phone using seven characters, Right to Left, ClientBase can find both "248-555-1234" and "947-555-1234".
Ignore Profile if ALL filter fields (above) are BLANK:
Selecting this option will exclude any profiles where the selected fields are BLANK. This option is selected by default.
Active Profiles Only:
Possible duplicate profiles may already be marked inactive. By default, ClientBase will ignore inactive profiles. To find possible duplicates including inactive profiles, unselect this option.
Group Leisure and Corporate Profiles Together:
By default, leisure and corporate profiles will be separated. But sometimes, a user might accidentally create a corporate profile for a leisure client or vice versa. Select this option so both types of profiles can be merged together.
Step 3: Compare possible duplicates
ClientBase compares profiles, then displays a list of all those with common elements sorted by the fields used as search criteria. For example, if last name and e-mail are the search fields, all profiles with the same last name and e-mail are listed together shaded in gray or blue in the results screen of the profile manager under the Dupe Checker Results tab.
If you decide that two or more profiles in each section should be merged, highlight the profile you want to keep, then click the Set As Master Button. When you merge profiles, this profile will be kept, and the other profile(s) in the group will be merged into it.
Repeat the process of selecting a master profile for each group that has duplicates.
Step 4: Merge profiles
You can merge profiles one at a time. To merge a single profile into the master, click to highlight the profile to be merged, then select Merge. Only the selected profile will be merged into the master one.
If you are confident all all groups with a maser profile selected should be merged into the master, you can choose Merge All. If you select Merge All, each group will merged into the master profile for that group. If no group has a master profile selected, the profiles will be left as they are.
- From a drop-down menu, select the type of profiles to include in the duplicate search. Choices include Entire Database, Current Results in Level 1 Query, Current Results in Level 2 Query, and Current Results in Level 3 Query. If you do not want any filters on profiles, check Disable Dupe Check Filters.
- Include Profile Types: Select the type of profiles to include in this duplicate search. Check any or all profile types by clicking once on the check box. (Hint: It may be easier to search for duplications one profile type at a time except in the case of Leisure/Corporate.)
- Field Name, Length, Direction: Select the fields to compare and search for common entries. The fewer you select, the more results you are likely to find. The more you select, the more discriminating the system is in displaying possible duplications.
- To select a field name, place a check in the box by clicking once. Then, the length of the field search and direction can be established. The length is a numeric field, indicating the number of characters within that field to be compared. Select the direction by clicking the arrow to the right of the field and choosing either Right to Left or Left to Right.
- Keep it simple, perhaps using only the Last Name, Address 1, and Phone (or e-mail) as criteria. By default Ignore Profile if ALL filter fields (above) are BLANK is checked. Also defaulted is the checked box, Active Profiles Only if you don’t want to include profiles that have been designated as “inactive.” Since duplicates can exist within inactive profiles, unchecking this box may produce more thorough results. To display duplicate corporate and leisure profiles grouped together, check Group Leisure and Corporate Types Together.
- The system compares profiles, then displays a list of all those with common elements sorted by the fields used as search criteria. For example, if last name and e-mail are the search fields, all profiles with the same last name and e-mail are listed together shaded in gray or blue in the results screen of the profile manager under the Dupe Checker Results tab.
- Keep in mind the resulting profiles with common data may not actually be a duplication of the same customer. For example, if the criteria entered for doing the comparison are last name and first name, your results may include different customers with the same name.
Step 2: Access the Profile Dupe Checker. Go to Utilities > Profile Dupe Checker, right-mouse click in the results screen after performing a Level 1, 2, or 3 Query and click Dupe Check, or in the Profile Manager Screen, click the Dupe Checker Results tab and then Filter to access the Profile Dupe Checker utility.
Step 3: Do the Comparison. Designate the criteria with which the system searches and compares profiles. Be sure to include aggressive filters to narrow your results as much as possible. You do not want to merge profiles that really are not duplicate profiles after all.
- Check for duplicate profiles in: From a drop-down menu, select the type of profiles to include in the duplicate search. Choices include Entire Database, Current Results in Level 1 Query, Current Results in Level 2 Query, and Current Results in Level 3 Query. If you do not want any filters on profiles, check Disable Dupe Check Filters.
- Include Profile Types: Select the type of profiles to include in this duplicate search. Check any or all profile types by clicking once on the check box. (Hint: It may be easier to search for duplications one profile type at a time except in the case of Leisure/Corporate.)
- Field Name, Length, Direction: Select the fields to compare and search for common entries. The fewer you select, the more results you are likely to find. The more you select, the more discriminating the system is in displaying possible duplications.
- To select a field name, place a check in the box by clicking once. Then, thelength of the field search and direction can be established. The length is anumeric field, indicating the number of characters within that field to becompared. Select the direction by clicking the arrow to the right of the field and choosing either Right to Left or Left to Right.
- Keep it simple, perhaps using only the Last Name, Address 1, and Phone (or e-mail) as criteria. By default Ignore Profile if ALL filter fields (above) are BLANK is checked. Also defaulted is the checked box, Active Profiles Only if you don’t want to include profiles that have been designated as “inactive.” Since duplicates can exist within inactive profiles, unchecking this box may produce more thorough results. To display duplicate corporate and leisure profiles grouped together, check Group Leisure and Corporate Types Together.
- The system compares profiles, then displays a list of all those with common elements sorted by the fields used as search criteria. For example, if last name and e-mail are the search fields, all profiles with the same last name and e-mail are listed together shaded in gray or blue in the results screen of the profile manager under the Dupe Checker Results tab.
- Keep in mind the resulting profiles with common data may not actually be a duplication of the same customer. For example, if the criteria entered for doing the comparison are last name and first name, your results may include different customers with the same name.
Step 4: Decide which profile to use as the Master (the one that information is merged into). You can manually select the Master profile from within each dupe grouping by clicking on the desired Master Profile and clicking Set as Master.
Step 5: Next, highlight the profile you want to merge into the master and click Merge.
- Upon clicking either Merge, the system prompts with a screen that allows you to select and include merging data from the following profile tabs: Addresses, Communications, Special Dates, Cards, PNR Entries, Travelers/Contacts, Groups and Attachments. (The system automatically merges all Activities, Marketing Codes, Res Cards, Invoices, Payments and Unapplied Balanced from the duplicate profile into the profile designated as the Master profile.)
- When including any of these tabs of data in the profile merge, all data isappended to existing data within the master profile and removed from theduplicate profile. Place a check next to each tab you choose to include in themerge. These check marks are saved locally and will be "remembered" the nexttime you merge profiles from the Dupe Check feature.
- Delete Profile/Set Profile to Inactive: Once deleted, all data from the old profilenot included in the merge is erased. If you are unsure you may want to say noto deleting and mark these profiles, once merged into the master, as inactiveinstead.
- Upon clicking OK, the merge takes place.
- Note: The Profile Dupe Checker routine works with the ability to link Traveler records to multiple profiles. When a Traveler is merged to a master profile, anew Traveler Link record is created. When the option to Delete Profile after merging is selected, the Traveler records are not deleted; the Link record is deleted instead.
Note: Sync Activated databases can only be set to inactive rather than deleted upon merging. This setting has been hard-coded to reduce the potential for unresolved items to occur during synchronization as the result of one location updating a profile while the other location is deleting that profile via Dupe Checker.
*Important Note:
Steps 1 and 5 are the most important steps within this process. Once a profile is merged to another, there is no way to "un-merge" them so you want to be very careful that you review the listing of potential dupes and unset any Masters that you have any question are not actually duplicate profiles. We also recommend that you limit access to this feature via your ClientBase User permission settings (go to Advanced Permissions| Menu Options and uncheck Profile Dupe Checker within the Utilities menu options when you set user up by going in as SYSDBA and clicking Utilities | User Logins). Consider this a power tool that should be used with great caution and proper training.