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Duplicate Detection

[Applies to: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0]

Duplicate data detection gives you the capability to detect and handle duplicate data.

To detect duplicates in the system, you have to create a duplicate detection rule for a specific entity type. The duplicate detection rule is represented by the duplicaterule entity. The multiple detection rules can be created for the same entity type.

A rule can have one or more duplicate detection rule conditions that are represented by the duplicaterulecondition entity. A duplicate detection rule specifies a base entity type and a matching entity type. A duplicate rule condition specifies the name of a base attribute and the name of a matching attribute. For example, you can specify an account as a base entity and a contact as a matching entity and compare their last names and addresses. The matching criteria consist of operators such as exactly match, first n-number of characters, or last n-number of characters.

To create duplicate detection rules and duplicate detection rule conditions in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database, use the CrmService.Create method or the Create message.

The duplicate detection rules are system-wide. You must publish them before you can run the duplicate detection job to detect duplicates for bulk data or retrieve duplicates for a particular entity instance. To publish a duplicate detection rule, use the PublishDuplicateRule message. Duplicate rule publishing is an asynchronous operation that runs in the background.

In This Section

Enabling Duplicate Detection

Explains how to enable duplicate detection.

Running Duplicate Detection

Explains how to run duplicate detection.

Disabling Duplicate Detection

Provides information about how to disable duplicate detection.

Duplicate Detection Messages

Lists the messages used in duplicate detection.

Duplicate Rule Entity Capabilities

Provides information about the duplicate rule entity capabilities.

Duplicate Rule Attributes