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Getting Started > Working with Records > About Retaining Linked Custom Books When Merging Records

About Retaining Linked Custom Books When Merging Records

When you merge two records, any custom books that are linked to the primary record are always retained, but any custom books that are linked to the duplicate record are not automatically linked to the primary record. This means that if a user has access to the duplicate record through membership of a custom book that is linked to the duplicate record, and if the user does not have access to the duplicate or primary record through any other access-control component, then that user will not have access to the primary record after the records are merged unless you manually link the appropriate book to the primary record after you merge the records.

However, if your administrator selects the Enable Merge of Duplicate Record’s Books check box on the company profile, then when you merge two records, an additional step in the merge operation provides the option to link the duplicate record's custom books to the primary record.

Record Ownership Modes and Merging Records

If you select the option to link the duplicate record's custom books to the primary record when you merge two records, then the record ownership mode that is configured for the record type determines which custom books are linked to the primary record after you merge the records, as described in the following sections.

User Mode

If the record type is configured in User mode, then the following happens after you merge the records:

• The Book field on the primary record shows the user book for the owner of the primary record.
• All of the custom books that were linked to the duplicate record are linked to the primary record in the Books related information section on the primary record’s Detail page.
• All of the custom books that were linked to the primary record continue to be linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.

Book Mode

If the record type is configured in Book mode, then the following happens after you merge the records:

• The custom book that you select in the Book field in Step 2 of the merge operation becomes the primary book for the primary record. If you select the book from the primary record, then the primary book from the duplicate record is linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page. However, if you select the book from the duplicate record as the primary book, then the book that was the primary book for the primary record is not automatically linked to the primary record.
• All of the custom books that were linked to the duplicate record are linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.
• All of the non-primary custom books that were linked to the primary record continue to be linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.

Mixed Mode

If the record type is configured in Mixed mode, then the following happens after you merge the records:

• If the primary record and the duplicate record both have an owner assigned to them, then the behavior is the same as the behavior when the record type is configured in User mode.
• If the primary record and the duplicate record both have a primary custom book assigned to them, then the behavior is the same as the behavior when the record type is configured in Book mode.
• If the primary record has an owner assigned to it, and if the duplicate record has a primary custom book assigned to it, then the following happens after the records are merged:
  • The book that you select in the Book field in Step 2 of the merge operation is shown in the Book field of the primary record after the records are merged. If you select the custom book from the duplicate record, then that custom book becomes the primary book for the primary record and the Owner field on the primary record is not populated.

    If you select the user book from the primary record, then that user becomes the owner of the primary record and the Book field of the primary record shows the user book for the owner of the primary record. The primary record has no primary custom book assigned to it.

  • All of the custom books that were linked to the duplicate record, including the custom book that was the primary book on the duplicate record, are linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.
  • All of the custom books that were linked to the primary record continue to be linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.
• If the primary record has a primary book assigned to it and the duplicate record has an owner assigned to it, then the following happens:
  • The book that you select in the Book field in Step 2 of the merge operation is shown in the Book field of the primary record after the records are merged. If you select the custom book from the primary record, then that custom book continues to be the primary custom book for the primary record and the Owner field on the primary record is not populated.

    If you select the user book from the duplicate record, then that user becomes the owner of the primary record and the Book field on the primary record shows the user book for that user. The primary record has no primary custom book after the records are merged. The custom book that was the primary book for the primary record is not automatically linked to the primary record after the records are merged.

  • All of the custom books that were linked to the duplicate record are linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.
  • All of the non-primary custom books that were linked to the primary record continue to be linked to the primary record in the Books related information section of the primary record’s Detail page.

About the Information in the Links to Custom Books

If a custom book is linked to the primary record as well as the duplicate record before you merge the records, then the information in the link to the book from the primary record is retained after the records are merged, including the setting in the Automatic Association check box. If a custom book is linked to the duplicate record and is not linked to the primary record before you merge the records, then the following happens when the custom book is linked to the primary record after the records are merged:

• The Automatic Association check box in the link to the primary record is not selected, even if the Automatic Association check box was selected in the link to the duplicate record.
• The Start Date and End Date fields in the link to the primary record are populated with the information from the corresponding fields in the link to the duplicate record, or are left blank if they were not populated in the link to the duplicate record.

Related Topics

For more information about record ownership modes, see the following topic:

• About Data Access, Record Sharing, and Record Ownership