By default, for each record in the staging table, the load process compares the value in the LAST_UPDATE_DATE column with the source last update date (SRC_LUD) in the associated cross-reference table.

If the record in the staging table has been updated since the last time the record was supplied by the source system, then the load process proceeds with the load update.
If the record in the staging table is unchanged since the last time the record was supplied by the source system, then the load process ignores the record (no action is taken) if the dates are the same and trust is not enabled, or rejects the record if it is a duplicate.
Administrators can change the default behavior so that the load process bypasses this LAST_UPDATE_DATE check and forces an update of the records regardless of whether the records might have already been loaded.

The load process performs foreign key lookups and substitutes any foreign key value(s) required to maintain referential integrity.

If the target base object has trust-enabled columns, then the load process:

Calculates the trust score for each trust-enabled column in the record to be updated, based on the configured trust settings for this trusted column.
Applies validation rules, if defined, to downgrade trust scores where applicable.

The load process updates a record in the base object, and updates the associated record in the cross-reference table, history tables, and other control tables as applicable. Also, the load process inserts the ROWID_OBJECT value of the record into the dirty table associated with the base object so that the tokenize process can regenerate match keys. The base object retains the consolidation indicator value. The load process updates the target record in the base object according to the following rules:

If the trust score for the cell in the staging table record is higher than the trust score in the corresponding cell in the target base object record, then the load process updates the cell in the target record.
If the trust score for the cell in the staging table record is
lower
than the trust score in the corresponding cell in the target base object record, then the load process does not update the cell in the target record.
If the trust score for the cell in the staging table record is the same as the trust score in the corresponding cell in the target base object record, or if trust is not enabled for the column, then the cell value in the record with the most recent LAST_UPDATE_DATE wins.
If the staging table record has a more recent LAST_UPDATE_DATE, then the corresponding cell in the target base object record is updated.
If the target record in the base object has a more recent LAST_UPDATE_DATE, then the cell is not updated.

If Generate Match Tokens on Load is enabled for a base object, the tokenize process is automatically started after the load process completes.