When preparing a mailing, you sometimes have to deal with multiple files, all containing records you want to include in your mailing. In some cases you may need to combine all files into one mailing, but you do not want any duplicates.
Using the Merge function of FlexMail you can combine records from up to 32 different input files into a single file, with or without duplicate detection. If the process is set up to check for duplicates, all files (the destination file and the source files) will also be checked on duplicates within itself.
Merge tasks work on the file that is currently linked and displayed in the datasheet to which the source files are added. You may select to directly change the destination file or create a new file with the survivor records. For more information on how Merge works, see How Find Duplicates, Merge, and Purge work.
When you select this function, a wizard will be started that guides you through the process of setting up and starting a merge task. Setting up the task involves selecting the files to be processed, linking the fields of each source file to the fields in the destination file, setting de-duplication options, and selecting the various output files.
Note: If you want to to extract duplicates in one or more source files from a file, use the Purge function on the Data Tools tab (see Purging Files). If you want to find duplicates in a single file you can use the Find Duplicates function (see Find Duplicates).
You start Merge in the Tools group on the Data Tools tab that is available when the datasheet is active. The wizard that appears will take you through the following steps:
The first step of the merge process is to select the files you want to merge. The files you select will be added (merged) to the file that is currently linked to Flexmail and displayed in the datasheet.
Through this dialog box, you connect the fields of each source file with a field in the destination file. See Defining Field Links for further instructions on linking fields.
On this dialog you specify the de-duplication action you want to perform when a duplicate pair of records is detected:
Keep all. Select this option if you simply want to combine files without a check on duplicates.
Keep first, delete last. Select this option if you want to keep the record with the lower record number, and delete the record with the higher record number.
Keep last, delete first. Select this option if you want to keep the record with the higher record number, and delete the record with the lower record number.
Keep conditionally. This option lets you specify a condition to determine which record to keep. The condition specifies the field to compare and which record to keep. See Survivor Condition for more information.
Manually select. Select this option if you want to have the program display each duplicate group so you can choose which record or parts of the record you want to keep.
List duplicates only. Choose this option if you only want to review the duplicates. The detected duplicates will be displayed, but not be processed by FlexMail. The active file will remain unchanged.
In this step you select the fields you want to use for finding duplicates and set the compare options for each field. For more infomation see Match Codes.
Note: This step of the wizard will only appear when you have selected a de-duplication action. If you have selected Keep all, this step will be skipped.
Through this dialog box, you can select the output files generated by the merge process. See Output Files for more information.
Note: The output files that can be selected depend on the action you have chosen. Besides, if FlexMail needs to update the currently linked file and it is in a format that FlexMail cannot update, you have to select a new survivor file.
Through this dialog you can instruct FlexMail what you want to do when an error occurs during copying of the data to the destination file. See Error Handling for more information.
While the processing takes place, a window will be displayed that informs you about the progress of the merge process.
If the selected de-duplication action requires manual intervention, FlexMail displays the Process Duplicates window.
Manually process the duplicates that FlexMail has detected. Select Process All to process your selections and close the Process Duplicates dialog. For more information on processing duplicates manually, see Manually Processing Duplicates.
The Results window marks the end of the merge process. This window displays a summary of the results for the task:
The Status group summarizes the fields that you included in the match code, the number of records and files processed, and the number of duplicate records and duplicate groups detected.
The Results list box shows the duplicates found in the currently linked file in the first line. For all subsequent source files the list displays the number of duplicates found in itself and the number of duplicates against all files processed so far (listed above this file in the list box).
You also have the option to review and print the duplicate records. To do so, click the Show Dups button. For more information, see Reviewing Results.