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Understanding the Master Index Standardization Engine

Business Name Standardization and Sun Master Index

Master index applications rely on the Master Index Standardization Engine to process business data. To ensure correct processing of business information, you need to customize the Matching Service for the master index application according to the rules defines for the standardization engine. This includes modifying mefa.xml to define parsing and phonetic encoding of the appropriate fields. You can modify mefa.xml using the Master Index Configuration Editor.

Standardization is defined in the StandardizationConfig section of mefa.xml, which is described in detail in Match Field Configuration in Understanding Sun Master Index Configuration Options . To configure the required fields for parsing and normalization, modify the standardization structure in mefa.xml. To configure phonetic encoding, modify the phonetic encoding structure.

Generally, the BusinessName data type processes data that requires parsing prior to processing. You should not need to configure fields to normalize for business names. The following topics provide information about the fields used in processing business names and how to configure standardization for a master index application. The information provided in these topics is based on the default configuration.

Business Name Processing Fields

When standardizing free-form business names, not all fields in a record need to be processed by the Master Index Standardization Engine. The standardization engine only needs to process fields that must be parsed, normalized, or phonetically converted. For a master index application, these fields are defined in mefa.xml, and processing logic for each field is defined in the Standardization Engine node configuration files.

Business Name Standardized Fields

The Master Index Standardization Engine expects that business name data will be provided in a free-form text field containing several components that must be parsed. By default, the match engine is configured to parse these components, and to normalize and phonetically encode the business name. You can specify additional fields for phonetic encoding.

If you specify the BusinessName match type for any field in the wizard, a standardization structure for that field is defined in mefa.xml. The fields listed underBusiness Name Object Structure are automatically defined as the target fields. If you do not specify business name fields for matching in the wizard but want to standardize the fields, you can create a standardization structure in mefa.xml

Business Name Object Structure

For the default configuration of the BusinessName data type, the name field specified for standardization is parsed into several additional fields, one of which is also normalized. If you specify the BusinessName match type in the wizard, the following fields are automatically added to the object structure and database creation script.

You can add these fields manually if you do not specify a match type in the wizard.

Configuring a Standardization Structure for Business Names

For free–form business name fields, the source fields you define for parsing should include the standardization components that are predefined for parsing and normalization. For example, fields containing business information can include any of the field components listed in Business Name Standardization Components. The target fields can include any of these parsed fields. Follow the instructions under Defining Master Index Standardization Rules in Configuring Sun Master Indexes to define fields for standardization. For the standardization-type element, enter BusinessName. For a list of field IDs to use in the standardized-object-field-id element, see Business Name Standardization Components.

Note –

In the default configuration, the rules defined for the address data type assume that all input fields must be parsed as well as normalized. Thus, there is no need to configure fields only for normalization.

A sample standardization structure for business names is shown below. This structure parses a business name field into these standard business name fields: name, organization type, association type, sector, industry, and URL. Note that there is no domain selector specified, which would normally default to the United States domain; however, since business names are not variant dependent, it is irrelevant here.


<free-form-texts-to-standardize>
   <group standardization-type="BusinessName">
      <unstandardized-source-fields>
         <unstandardized-source-field-name>Company.Name    
         </unstandardized-source-field-name>
      </unstandardized-source-fields>
      <standardization-targets>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>PrimaryName
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_Name
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>OrgTypekeyword
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_OrgType
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>AssocTypeKeyword
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_AssocType
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>IndustrySectorList
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_Sector
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>IndustryTypeKeyword
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_Industry
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
         <target-mapping>
            <standardized-object-field-id>Url
            </standardized-object-field-id>
            <standardized-target-field-name>Company.Name_URL
            </standardized-target-field-name>
         </target-mapping>
      </standardization-targets>
   </group>
</free-form-texts-to-standardize>

Configuring Phonetic Encoding for Business Names

When you match or standardize on business name fields, the business name field should be specified for phonetic conversion (by default, the wizard defines this for you). Follow the instructions under Defining Phonetic Encoding for the Master Index in Configuring Sun Master Indexes to define fields for phonetic encoding.

A sample of the phoneticize-fields element is shown below. This sample only converts the business name. You can define additional fields for phonetic encoding.


<phoneticize-fields>
   <phoneticize-field>
      <unphoneticized-source-field-name>Company.Name_Name
      </unphoneticized-source-field-name>
      <phoneticized-target-field-name>Company.Name_NamePhon
      </phoneticized-target-field-name>
      <encoding-type>NYSIIS</encoding-type>
   </phoneticize-field>
</phoneticize-fields>