Net change utility compares data on a record-by-record basis breaking each new record into three parts.
Part | Definition | Action |
record key | Identifies records that already exist. Uses user-defined number of the leftmost characters of the record. |
|
record criteria | Detects if there is a change in an existing record. The record criteria includes the record key plus a user-defined number of characters to the right of the key. |
|
ignored characters | Remaining characters in the record | Ignored during the comparison process |
In this example, a data source has the same customer number in two records. The record key is a 6-character customer number. The record criteria is 26-characters, consisting of the customer number, last name, and first name.
Because the keys match, the net change utility checks the record criteria for more information before deciding if the second record is a change to an existing record or is a duplicate record.
981024Smith Joe important customer 991389Clarke Annette likes the window table 020744Gonzalez Jaime always wants show tickets 981024Smith Joseph likes show tickets