Suspect Data Check
The Suspect Data Check processor checks an attribute value for a variety of common data entry 'cheats', such as entering 'aaa' in a name field.
Specifically, it can check for any or all of the following:
-
Repeating alphabetic characters (for example, 'aaa')
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Repeating numeric characters (for example, '111')
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Repeating non-alphanumeric characters (for example, '>>>')
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Repeating patterns (for example, 'abcabc')
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Minimum character length (for example, for short values such as 'x')
Use the Suspect Data Check to check for common user ruses which result in suspect data in compulsory columns.
Where an empty value cannot be entered at the point of data entry, the user may enter a single character - for example a space, a full stop, or a random single character - to get past that point.
Alternatively, a single but repeating character may be entered - for example '9999' - or perhaps a repeating pattern of characters - for example 'asdasd'.
Note that this may not be the fault of the user, but of the business process and/or supporting applications. The user may not know or have available the complete set of data that the data entry application is requesting, but is required to enter the data into the system.
The following table describes the configuration options:
Configuration | Description |
---|---|
Inputs |
Specify a single attribute that you want to check for suspect data entries. |
Options |
Specify the following repeating alphabetic character options:
Specify the following repeating numeric character options:
Specify the following repeating non-alphanumeric character options:
Specify the following repeating patterns options:
Specify the following minimum length options:
|
Outputs |
Describes any data attribute or flag attribute outputs. |
Data Attributes |
None. |
Flags |
The following flags are output:
|
The following table describes the statistics produced by the profiler:
Statistic | Description |
---|---|
Suspect records |
Records that were identified as having a suspect value in the attribute checked. Drill down to see a breakdown of the suspects by the check that identified them. Drill down again to see the records. |
Valid records |
Records that did not have a suspect value in the attribute checked. |
Null records |
Records with a null value in the attribute checked. |
Output Filters
The following output filters are available:
-
Valid records
-
Suspect records
-
Records that were null in the attribute checked
Example
In this example, the Suspect Data Check is used to check a NAME attribute for suspect data entries.
A summary view:
Alpha repeats | Numeric repeats | Non-alpha repeats | Pattern repeats | Short values |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
A drill down on Alpha repeats:
NAME | CU_NUM |
---|---|
aaaaaaaaa |
87581 |