Matching is the process of comparing two records or strings of data. The MATCH Service is used to obtain a probability that two records actually refer to the same identity. This is used when selecting, rejecting or ranking records.

Matching allows you to define a Scheme that emulates the human process of comparison of two records composed of names, codes, dates and typical identification data. Usually there is one search record which is matched against a list of candidate file records with the purpose of finding some of these records suitable for further processing.

Each field defined to a Scheme is matched using a pre-defined Matching Method. There are Matching Methods for Strings, Dates and Names, as well as special purpose methods.

This chapter describes the definition file used to define Matching Schemes and Methods. It is called the Matching Scheme definition file. For information on how an application uses the MATCH Service, see the Match chapter in the

APPLICATION REFERENCE FOR SSA-NAME3 SERVICE GROUPS guide

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