Configuring Sun Master Indexes

Defining the Master Index Match String

The match string defines the fields that are passed to the match engine for probabilistic weighting. By default, the fields defined for matching are the fields you specified for matching in the wizard or Configuration Editor. You can modify and delete fields in the match string if necessary. At least one field must be defined in the match string or no weights will be generated.

If you do modify the match string, you might need to make corresponding changes to the match engine configuration files as well. For more information about modifying these files, see Understanding the Master Index Match Engine .

Perform either of the following tasks to configure the match string.

You can further configure the match string by defining exclusion lists that filter out unwanted values from the match process. For more information, see Filtering Default Values From Master Index Processes.

Creating the Master Index Match String

A default match string is predefined based on the match type information you specified in the wizard. If no match types were defined using the wizard, the structure of the match string is still defined but with no fields. You can use normalized or phonetically encoded fields for the match string.

ProcedureTo Create the Match String (Configuration Editor)

  1. In the Projects window, right-click the Configuration node in the project you want to modify, and then click Edit.

    The Configuration Editor appears.

  2. Expand the object structure so all fields are visible.

  3. To add a field to the match string, click on the field name and then select a value for the Match Type field on the Properties page.


    Note –

    The match types you can use are listed in the first column of matchConfigFile.cfg. For more information about Master Index Match Engine match types, see Understanding the Master Index Match Engine .


  4. Perform the previous step for each field in the match string.

  5. On the Configuration Editor toolbar, click Save.

  6. To remove unwanted or invalid field values from the match process, see Filtering Default Values From Master Index Processes.

ProcedureTo Create the Match String (XML Editor)

  1. In the Projects window, expand the Configuration node in the project you want to modify, and then double-click mefa.xml.

    The file opens in the NetBeans XML editor.

  2. In the MatchingConfig element, scroll to the match-columns element in the match-system-object element.

  3. To add a field to the match string, do the following:

    1. In the match-columns element, create a new match-column element.

    2. In the new match-column element, create and define a column-name element.

      Enter the fully qualified field name of the field on which to match (for example, Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.City).

    3. Following the column-name element, create and define a match-type element.

      Enter an ID that identifies the field to the match engine. For the Master Index Match Engine, this value must correspond to a defined match type.

      For example:


      <match-system-object>
         <object-name>Address</object-name>
         <match-columns>
           <match-column>
             <column-name>Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.StreetName
             </column-name>
             <match-type>StreetName</match-type>
           </match-column>
         </match-columns>
      </match-system-object>
  4. Repeat the previous step for each field to add to the match string.

  5. Save and close the file.

  6. To remove unwanted or invalid field values from the match process, see Filtering Default Values From Master Index Processes.

Modifying the Master Index Match String

Once you define a match string, you can modify or delete information about the fields in the match string as necessary. This should only be done prior to moving to production. Otherwise, unexpected matching results might occur. For more information about Master Index Match Engine match types and field IDs, see Understanding the Master Index Match Engine .

ProcedureTo Modify the Match String (Configuration Editor)

  1. In the Projects window, right-click the Configuration node in the project you want to modify, and then click Edit.

    The Configuration Editor appears.

  2. Expand the object structure so all fields are visible.

  3. To add a field to the match string, click the field name and then select a value for the Match Type field on the Properties page.

    The field is added to the match string.

  4. To modify the match type specified for a field, click the name of the field defined for matching and then select a new value for the Match Type field on the Properties page.

  5. To remove a field from the match string, click the name of the field defined for matching and then select None for the Match Type field on the Properties page.

  6. On the Configuration Editor toolbar, click Save.

  7. To define or modify exclusion lists of values to be removed from the match process, see Filtering Default Values From Master Index Processes

ProcedureTo Modify the Match String (XML Editor)

  1. In the Projects window, expand the Configuration node in the project you want to modify, and then double-click mefa.xml.

    The file opens in the NetBeans XML editor.

  2. Scroll to the MatchingConfig element, and then scroll to the match-system-object element.

  3. To add a field to the match string, do the following:

    1. In the match-columns element, create a new match-column element.

    2. In the new match-column element, create and define a column-name element.

      Enter the fully qualified field name of the field on which to match (for example, Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.City).

    3. Following the column-name element, create and define a match-type element.

      Enter an ID that identifies the field to the match engine. For the Master Index Match Engine, this value must correspond to a defined match type.

      For example:


      <match-system-object>
         <object-name>Address</object-name>
         <match-columns>
           <match-column>
             <column-name>Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.StreetName
             </column-name>
             <match-type>StreetName</match-type>
           </match-column>
         </match-columns>
      </match-system-object>
  4. To change a field used in the match string, change the value of the column-name element.

    Enter the fully qualified field name of the new field (for example, Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.FirstName).

  5. To change the type of matching to perform for a field, change the value of the match-type element.

    Enter an ID that identifies the field to the match engine. For the Master Index Match Engine, this value must correspond to a defined match type.

  6. To delete a field from the match string, delete all text between and including the match-column element defining the field you want to delete.

    Using the example below, to delete the HouseNo field from the match string, delete the boldface text.


    <match-system-object>
      <object-name>Address</object-name>
      <match-columns>
         <match-column>
           <column-name>Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.StreetName
           </column-name>
           <match-type>StreetName</match-type>
         </match-column>
         <match-column>
           <column-name>Enterprise.SystemSBR.Person.Address.HouseNo
           </column-name>
           <match-type>HouseNumber</match-type>
         </match-column>
    
  7. Save and close the file.

  8. To define or modify exclusion lists of values to be removed from the match process, see Filtering Default Values From Master Index Processes