Profile Dupe Checker in ClientBase Windows

Profile Dupe Checker

As your ClientBase customer database grows, so does the possibility of having duplicate profile records for the same entity. If you have Trams Back Office, you may already have loads of duplicate client and vendor profiles. Since duplications only water down the effectiveness of the database, a utility has been created in ClientBase to identify possible duplications in the system. Set one profile as the master and then merge the duplicate profiles into that master profile. Then you can delete, or mark as inactive, these unwanted profiles.

Suggestion: Run the Profile Dupe Checker once a month to keep the database dupe free.

Step 1: Backup your database using the Trams IBBackup utility by going to Start > Programs > Trams > Database Backup Restore. (There is no "Undo Merge All" feature!).  If you are running Windows 11, go to Start > All Apps > Trams > Database Backup Restore.

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, 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 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 is appended to existing data within the master profile and removed from the duplicate profile. Place a check next to each tab you choose to include in the merge. These check marks are saved locally and will be "remembered" the next time you merge profiles from the Dupe Check feature.
• Delete Profile/Set Profile to Inactive: Once deleted, all data from the old profile not included in the merge is erased. If you are unsure you may want to say no to deleting and mark these profiles, once merged into the master, as inactive instead.
• 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, a new 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.