Duplicate Processing

If you're merging records from multiple sources (websites, spreadsheets and secondary databases), then you need a system to handle the inevitable duplicates. The Filpac system includes an import routine with an always-maturing match logic based on customer experience. It finds more of them. And for those that aren't found in the first run, managing duplicates is a four-step process:

All of these programs can be found in Tools->Duplicate Processing.

Address Standardization

The system includes an address standardization program that you can run to make the remaining duplicates easier to match. All addresses in your Filpac database will be reformatted in the "Postal" style, which means standard abbreviations without punctuation.

1234 East Main Street becomes 1234 E Main St

P.O. Box 1234 becomes PO Box 1234

Do not run this program if you wish to retain an address style that is different from the postal standard.

Auto-Remove Duplicates

Merges the obvious duplicates but saves the contribution and other supporting information under the file number of the record that is retained.

Reports of Potential Duplicates and Email Duplicates

To make sure you've cleared most of them, run a report of potential duplicates. And to view it from another angle, run a report of duplicate email addresses. These reports can be rather long because of the potential last name / zip code matchups, so you should probably Display before Printiing.

Combine Master File Records

Using the two reports, you can quickly merge the remaning duplicates quickly.



As you can see from the example above, the Report of Potential Duplicates has flagged these two records as potential duplicates. Enter the file number of the record you wish to keep and the file number of the record you wish to remove.

Use the arrow buttons (<-) to move information from the "remove" record to the same field in the "keep" record. In the example above, you'll probably want to save the proper name and greeting from the "remove" record.

Notice the three tabs:

Name, Primary Address

Occupation, Secondary Address

Phones, Email

Go to each tab and save the appropriate information from the record on the left.

Once you've moved everything you wish to save from the "remove" record to the "keep" record on the right, click Start. The system will delete the "remove" record but save the following information under the record that is kept.

Receipts
Disbursements
Contact, Worker and List entries
Notepad entries

So you've removed the duplicate but saved all the important information.