Merging records

Merge combines two records of the same type when they describe the same thing. One record, the survivor, stays and receives your chosen values. The other, the source, is archived and marked as merged. Related records that pointed to the source move to the survivor where the record type supports it.

You need permission to merge the source and to update the survivor. Merge is offered in the desktop list, on a record’s details page and in duplicate detection results when your administrator enabled it.

Choose values

1. Select the two records and choose Merge, or open Merge on a record and find the other one by its ID or number.
2. Choose which record is the survivor. Switching them keeps the values you selected where they still apply.
3. For each different field, choose Keep survivor value, Take source value or Clear value. For a table, choose the survivor rows, the source rows or a manual selection.
4. Under Same values, clear a value both records share when the merged record must not keep it.

Every choice updates the preview. A field marked Required for this result must have a value in the result you selected. The mark can change with your choices: for example, choosing a remote format may make a location optional, and choosing an on-site format makes it required again. Checked when merging means the requirement depends on information you cannot see; it is checked when the records are merged, and the field cannot be cleared here. Wait until Updating preview disappears before you merge.

Review related records

The last step shows the records that refer to the source, grouped by record type, and what happens to them:

• moved to the survivor: the link now points to the survivor;
• duplicate link archived: the survivor already has an equal link, so the duplicate is archived;
• stay on the archived source: an archived link that is not moved;
• moved to the survivor, or archived if the survivor already has this link: shown when the outcome can depend on links or records you cannot see, such as a category you are not allowed to open.

The counts include only records you can read. Archived records are counted separately, and table rows counts rows inside related records. A record with several links is counted once in its type.

When a merge cannot run

The preview lists what blocks the merge, next to the field when it belongs to one. Change your choices and the preview checks them again; you do not need to close the merge. Your administrator can configure merge rules, for example that only records of the same beneficiary may be merged. Such a rule explains why the pair cannot be merged. If a rule depends on information you cannot see, the merge is refused without showing that information.

The preview changes nothing. When you merge, permissions, data and rules are checked again, together with validation rules and the logic of your application, so the merge can still be refused. A refused merge changes nothing. If someone changed one of the records in the meantime, refresh the preview and try again. If the result of the merge is unknown, for example after a lost connection, the wizard keeps your request and locks your choices. Choose Repeat the same merge to send exactly the same request, which completes the merge at most once, or Discard and check again to give it up and refresh the preview before you change anything. If the repeat is refused too, the request stays kept, because the first attempt may still have completed. When the merge turns out to be completed but you cannot open the survivor, the wizard says so and only lets you close it.

A reason is required. After merging you can open the survivor. The source stays archived; see History and audit for how merges appear in history.