Interflow Match

Interflow Match locates matches between similar data records across two input record streams. The first record stream is a source for suspect records and the second stream is a source for candidate records.

Using match group criteria (for example a match key), Interflow Match identifies a group of records that are potentially duplicates of a particular suspect record.

Each candidate is separately matched to the Suspect and is scored according to your match rules. If the candidate is a duplicate, it is assigned a collection number, the match record type is labeled a duplicate, and written out; unmatched unique candidates may be written out at the user's option. When Interflow Match has exhausted all candidate records in the current match group, the matched suspect record is assigned a collection number that corresponds to its duplicate record. Or, if no matches where identified, the suspect is assigned a collection number of 0 and is labeled a unique record.

Note: Interflow Match only matches suspect records to candidate records. It does not attempt to match suspect records to other suspect records as is done in Intraflow Match.

The matching process for a particular suspect may terminate before matching all possible candidates if you have set a limiter on duplicates and the limit has been exceeded for the current suspect.

The type of matching (Intraflow or Interflow) determines how express key match results translate to Candidate Match Scores. In Interflow matching, a successful Express Key match always confers a 100 MatchScore onto the Candidate. On the other hand, in Intraflow matching, the score a Candidate gains as a result of an Express Key match depends on whether the record to which that Candidate matched was a match of some other Suspect—Express Key duplicates of a Suspect will always have MatchScores of 100, whereas Express Key duplicates of another Candidate (which was a duplicate of a Suspect) will inherit the MatchScore (not necessarily 100) of that Candidate