Merge
Combining two or more records judged to describe the same thing into a single record. The word is also used for joining two tables, and for merged cells in a spreadsheet; in data cleaning the first meaning is the usual one.
A merge has to settle which value wins when the records disagree, and it is hard to reverse once the originals are gone. Keep the source records, or a note of what was combined.
Where it comes up
- Near-duplicate recordsTwo rows describe the same real thing but differ enough that an exact comparison misses them.
- Duplicate keys with conflicting valuesTwo rows share an identifier that should be unique, but disagree on other fields.
See also
- SurvivorshipThe rules that decide which value is kept when duplicate records are merged and they disagree, such as keeping the most recently updated address.
- Golden recordThe single best version of a customer, product, or other entity, assembled from all the records that describe it.
- DeduplicationFinding records that describe the same real thing and reducing them to one.