Configuration Guide

10.3

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Match/Search Strategy

For fuzzy-match base objects, the match/search strategy defines the strategy that the match process uses for searching and matching records. The match/search strategy determines how to match candidate A with candidate B by using fuzzy or exact options.

For more information about fuzzy-match base objects, see Match/Search Strategy.

The match/search strategy can affect the quantity and quality of the match candidates. An exact strategy requires clean and complete data; if the data is not cleansed or if the data is incomplete, the match process might miss some matches. A fuzzy strategy finds many more matches, but many might not be duplicates. When defining match rule properties, you must find the optimal balance between finding all possible candidates and avoiding irrelevant candidates.

Select one of the following strategy options:

Match/Search Strategy Option	Description
Fuzzy strategy	A probabilistic match that takes into account spelling variations, possible misspellings, and other differences.
Exact strategy	An exact match that matches records that are identical.

All fuzzy-match base objects have a fuzzy match key, which is generated based on the columns that you specify in the match path component. When you use the fuzzy strategy, the match process searches the match key index to identify match candidates. To ensure that the match process can identify candidates, you must specify at least one of the columns from the fuzzy match key in the match rule. For example, if the match key is generated based on the Name column, then the match rule must include the Name column.

The following table lists the types of match rules, the possible match/search strategies, and a description for each combination:

Match Rule Type	Match/Search Strategy Used	Description
Exact-match rule	Exact strategy	The rule contains only exact-match columns. The match process runs an exact-match rule on a fuzzy-match base object. The match process uses SQL statements to find matches in the records in the Operational Reference Store database.
Fuzzy-match rule	Fuzzy strategy	The rule contains fuzzy-match columns and may contain exact-match columns. The match process identifies match candidates by searching the match key index.
Filtered-match rule	Fuzzy strategy	The rule contains only exact-match columns. The match process identifies match candidates by searching the match key index. Then, the match process searches the match candidates for matches based on the exact-match column.

If you are constrained by performance issues related to the database server, consider using filtered-match rules instead of exact-match rules. Filtered-match rules let you run batches larger than what you can run on the exact-match rules. Also, for a large increment in batch size on filtered matching, the duration of the match job comparatively increases by a small margin.

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Configuration Guide

Configuration Guide

Match/Search Strategy

Match/Search Strategy