Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Administration Guide > How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Synchronizes Data > How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Handles a Conflict During Synchronization >

How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Prevents Duplicate Records

Deduplication is a feature that Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop uses to make sure that it synchronizes only a single instance of a record between Microsoft Outlook and the Oracle CRM On Demand server. Assume Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop downloads a contact to Microsoft Outlook, and then the user attempts to create another contact that contains the same name. In this situation, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop informs the user that a contact with the same name already exists.

Assume a contact that resides on the Oracle CRM On Demand server does not also exist in Microsoft Outlook due to synchronization filters, and the user creates a contact in Microsoft Outlook that contains the same name as the contact on the Oracle CRM On Demand server. In this situation, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop does not detect a duplicate in Microsoft Outlook and the user saves a local copy of the contact. During the next synchronization, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop does the following work:

1. Detects the duplication error.
2. If all contact fields in both data files are the same, then Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop resolves the duplicate without interaction with the user.
3. If some of the fields are different, then Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop presents the duplicate records to the user, and then prompts the user to choose which values to keep.

The connector_configuration.xml file includes the set of objects that are configured for synchronization and the definition of the natural keys that Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop uses for deduplication. For more information, see How the Origin of an Activity Affects Handling.

How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Uses a Natural Key to Identify Duplicate Records

This topic describes how Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop uses a natural key to identify duplicates.

What Happens When Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Inserts a Record from Microsoft Outlook to the Oracle CRM On Demand Server?

If Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop detects a potential insert operation for a record from the data store in Microsoft Outlook to the Oracle CRM On Demand database on the Oracle CRM On Demand server, then it does the following work:

1. Queries the Oracle CRM On Demand database, using natural keys in the query to identify any record in the Oracle CRM On Demand database that is a duplicate of the potential insert operation in Microsoft Outlook.
2. If Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop finds a duplicate, then it treats the transaction as a duplicate conflict. It returns the record ID of the Oracle CRM On Demand record to Microsoft Outlook so that the association between the record in the Oracle CRM On Demand database and the record in Microsoft Outlook is defined for use in incremental synchronizations. To determine whether the record exists in the Oracle CRM On Demand database before it requests an insert, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop performs this work from Microsoft Outlook as a query to the Oracle CRM On Demand server.

What Happens When Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Inserts a Record from the Oracle CRM On Demand Server to Microsoft Outlook

If Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop detects a potential insert operation for a record from the Oracle CRM On Demand database to the data store in Microsoft Outlook, then Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop queries the data store in Microsoft Outlook. Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop uses natural keys in the query to identify any record in the data store that is a duplicate of the potential insert operation from the Oracle CRM On Demand database.

If Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop finds a duplicate, then it treats the transaction as a duplicate conflict. For more information, see Step 2 in What Happens When Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Inserts a Record from Microsoft Outlook to the Oracle CRM On Demand Server?.