Going Further with matchIT - Using matchIT's Menu's

This guide bridges the gap between the Getting Started with matchIT Guide and the full User Manual. It describes common processes and options that are not covered by the Getting Started guide and cross refers to the User Manual where appropriate.

Using matchIT's Menus

Import Menu

• You can use this menu to import records into an existing DBF structure, no need to use the setup wizard every time.
• You also have the ability to Generate Keys/ Regenerate Keys from this menu, once a Main File has already been created.

Matching Menu

• You can use the Find Matches option to find duplicate records within a file.
• The matching menu will allow you to access the View Matches option, which will provide a report of matching records.
• Accessing the Verify Matches option will allow you to manually go through each matching pair that has been found.
• Use the Flag Matches option to mark records that are over a defined score.
• This menu also provides the ability to Transfer Data within a defined scoring range.

Merge/Purge Menu

• You can use the Find Overlap option to find overlapping records between two separate files.
• Utilizing the View Overlap option will provide a report of the overlapping records.
• Accessing the Verify Overlap option will allow you to manually go through each overlapping pair that has been found.
• The Merge Files option will add unique records from the secondary file to the Main File, after the overlapping records have been found.
• Using the Transfer Data option will allow users to move data from one file to another. matchIT scoring regulates this option.
• By using the Write Overlapping Records option, you can ’Create Main File’ containing the overlapping records (from the Main file) that have been found within a certain scoring range.

Output Menu

• Use the Output Matched Records option to write out matching sets references (and optionally other fields) from a deduped file or from a file from which you have purged the overlap.
• Use the Output Flagged Records option to output just the information for flagged (or deleted) records after removing duplicates or purging overlap.
• You can access matchIT’s Quality Assurance Wizard for data summaries, viewing data, viewing records by category, outputting to a file, outputting to a page, outputting to a label, or for writing flagged records.
• From the Reports/QA Dashboard, you can use the Address Processing Detail screen to review changes that have been made to your address data when using addressIT. You can filter your results to review only changes made at specific addressIT update thresholds if you so choose.

• Output To File allows users to create a custom output format for files that have been processed through matchIT. Check the Use Sequential Numbering? box to give each output record a unique number. The other options allow you to output either all the records or just a selection from the file - with a much larger file you might want to output the file in 2 halves, for example.  The lowest check box allows you to use 1 in N sampling, which is one of the Q/A functions mentioned earlier. 

Jobs Menu

• When comparing more than two files it is easiest to use the Multiple File Wizard.  This option is located within the Multiple File Job sub-menu. The Multiple File Wizard will lead you through the setup, step by step.
• The Produce Matrix Reports option allows you to create reports from a Multiple File job without having to do so at the end of the wizard processing.
• matchIT allows you to save a wizard job as a script; in this case matchIT will suggest a name for the script (consisting of a unique job number + the name of the main file) and a description (key processes if a single file job, or the wizard type if a two file job).  When you save the  job as a script, it will appear in the Job Maintenance form which is launched by the matchIT Automation Wizard.
• If you do not save the wizard process from the Wizard Process Complete screen at the end of the wizard, you can select "Create Job Script from Completed Wizard Job" from the main Jobs menu. This will display a form listing all completed wizard jobs, enabling you to save any of them as a job script. It will provide basic info on each completed wizard job and will enable access to the Job Overview Report, which lists the key processes.

Setup Menu

• If you wish to restore or create a new matchIT configuration, you can do so by using the Save/Restore Setup option.
• If matchIT does not recognize words that are common in your databases, you can modify the names & words table used by matchIT.  Names & words can be removed or added to the table.  Certain words or names can be flagged and replaced automatically, as long as you have specified what to replace them with.  This option is available under Names & Words.
• You can change the default matching Weights from the Matching Setup sub-menu.
• The Deletion Priorities, located within Matching Setup, displays the priorities used by matchIT when the flag matches option is used.  The records are in descending value of priority - in other words, rules that most increase the likelihood of a record being kept are at the top, with rules that most reduce it being kept at the bottom.
• The main options screen for the IDM (Intelligent Data Merge) process can be found under Matching Setup as Intelligent Merge Options.  This option allows you to select which fields should be involved in the IDM process, and what options should be applied to those fields.

Tools Menu

• matchIT’s Database Utilities can be used for many different things, for example: modifying layouts, clearing out certain fields, clear a whole table, rebuild corrupt indexes, etc.
• If you know some FoxPro (matchIT uses Visual FoxPro) or dBase (known as "xBASE") programming, you can key simple xBASE commands into matchIT’s System Commands window. These commands can be used to make ’out of the ordinary’ changes to your matchIT DBF that the standard functions cannot make.
• Using the Main File Layout Utilities allows you to copy a DBF layout, create a layout report, or create a field widths report.

Help Menu

• The help menu provides all pertinent information for the use and support of matchIT.
• Such information includes: The 360Science website, the user manual, a getting started guide, an interactive support session, etc.