Merging Profiles on the MIDM

You can merge object profiles that are found to represent the same object and you can merge source records within the same object profiles or between different object profiles. The source records you merge must be from the same source system. During a source record merge, you can specify which fields from each record to retain in the final, merged source record. After an object profile merge, all information from all the source records involved in the merge is stored in the surviving profile. You might need to review the final merge result profile to determine which, if any, source records should be deactivated or merged.

After an object profile merge, the SBR for the surviving profile is determined by the survivor calculator, taking into account all source records involved in the merge. If you merge profiles that have duplicate child objects (for example, each profile has an Office address) and the union survivor calculator is used, then the most recently modified of the two child objects is stored in the SBR. After a source record merge, the SBRs for both object profiles are determined by the survivor calculator provided both profiles are still active.

Surviving and Non-Surviving Profiles

You can perform an object profile merge on two, three, or four object profiles. The non-surviving profiles are the profiles that are not retained after the merge. These profiles are also referred to as merged profiles. The surviving profile is retained after the merge. This profile is also referred to as the main profile. During an object profile merge, the source records in the non-surviving profiles are transferred to the surviving profile, and the non-surviving profiles are given a status of “Merged”. The SBR for the surviving object profile is recalculated based on the existing source records for that profile along with the newly merged source records. The EUID of the surviving profile is always retained. The information that is discarded during a merge is stored in the transaction table, making it possible to restore the profiles to their original EUIDs if they were merged in error. You can specify which profile to retain during a merge and you can select fields from the non-surviving source record to be retained in the surviving source record.

Source Record Merges

You can merge source records together only if they originated from the same external system. The source records can belong to the same object profile or to different profiles. When the merge includes different object profiles, the profile from which the source record is merged is called the merge from profile; the object profile into which the source records are merged is called the merge to profile. If you merge the only active source record in one object profile into a source record in a different object profile, the merge from profile is deactivated (since there are no active source records remaining, there is nothing from which to create the SBR). During a source record merge, you can select fields from the non-surviving source record to be retained in the surviving source record.

Undoing a Merge

If you merge object profiles or source records in error, you can unmerge the profiles or records, moving the information back into the original object profiles or source records. Any modifications that were made to the surviving object profile or source record after the merge are retained after the profiles or records are unmerged. If a source record merge caused a “merge from” object profile to be deactivated, unmerging the source records reactivates that profile.