Matching Criteria for Person Records

Updated 01 Apr 2024
7 minute read

Print
Share
Dark
Light
PDF

Article Summary

Share feedback

Thanks for sharing your feedback!

When importing to the Person or Application destination using a form or Upload Dataset, Slate attempts to find a matching person record to update to prevent the creation of duplicate records. Once a record matches a mapped item, Slate considers the record to be found, and it stops evaluating subsequent matching criteria. The order described below should be noted, as this is the order that Slate will attempt to match records.

If application items are mapped, Slate will first attempt to match onto the specific application (and then also attach to that application's person record). For example, if you have mapped an item that will exactly match to a specific application (like the Application Slate ID), and you have also mapped the person-scoped Slate ID, if the Application Slate ID matches onto an application, the person-scoped Slate ID will not be used for matching purposes.

Person Matching Criteria

The items that are used to identify an existing person record in Slate appear below in the order provided:

Data Point	Description
1. App: Slate GUID Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the GUID; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the 36-character unique identifier of the application.
2. App: Application Slate Identity Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the Identity; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the integer value of the identity column on the application table. The identity is automatically assigned sequentially and cannot be updated. *Note: This is an uncommon* matching criterion and is only used in special cases.
3. App: External ID	This is the external ID for an application. If the external ID does not exist or a match was made from previously evaluated matching criteria, and the external ID does not match, then the external ID is updated.
4. App: Application Slate ID Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the Application Slate ID; it is used only to find potential matches.) The Application Slate ID is the 9-digit application Ref ID. It is automatically generated for all applications upon creation.
5. Application-scoped unique custom fields	If the unique field value does not yet exist or does not match what was mapped in the source, the value is updated.

If none of the above items were mapped, or they do not match to an existing application, the following items are used to identify an existing person record:

Data Point	Description
6. Slate GUID Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the GUID; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the 36-character unique identifier of the person.
7. Slate Identity Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the Identity; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the integer value of the identity column on the person table. The identity is automatically assigned sequentially and cannot be updated. *Note: This is an uncommon* matching criterion and is only used in special cases.
8. Person-scoped unique custom fields	If the unique field value does not yet exist or does not match what was mapped in the source, the value is updated.
9. Slate External ID	This is the external ID for the person record. If the external ID does not exist, or a match was made from previous matching criteria, and the external ID does not match, then the external ID is updated.
10. Slate ID Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the Slate ID; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the Slate ID (Ref).
11. Slate ID Internal Matching Only	(Matching only means that this does not update the Slate ID; it is used only to find potential matches.) This is the automatically generated 9-digit Slate ID (Ref). This uses only the automatically generated Slate ID, and it ignores any override ID that might exist for the record.
12. Slate ID Override	This is the Slate ID (Ref). If a match was made from previous matching criteria, and the Slate ID does not match, then an override ID is set or updated for the record, and the Slate ID appears as this new value on the record.
13. Sport - External ID	This is the external ID for a sport record. If a person record has any sport with this value as the external ID, a match occurs. If the external ID does not exist, or a match was made from previous matching criteria, and the external ID does not match, then the external ID is updated for the sport.
14. First + Last + Email	This is the combination of first name, last name, and rank #1 email address. If there is an exact match, then this is used to match a person record. If these did not match, but a match occurred previously (from other matching criteria), then these values are updated for that record. *Note*: Email addresses on the device table that are not ranked #1 are not evaluated for matching.
15. First + Last + Birthdate	This is the combination of first name, last name, and birthdate. If there is an exact match, then this is used to match a person record. If these did not match, but a match occurred previously (from other matching criteria), then these values are updated for that record. *Note*: This matching criterion is subject to a negative match check on the middle name. If the existing person record has a middle name that is at least 3 characters, and the source file has a middle name mapped that is at least 3 characters, and the first 3 characters of the two middle names do NOT match, then a new person record is created instead of matching the existing record. If desired, this matching criteria may be disabled via the "Merge (First+Last+Birthdate)" Configuration Key.

If none of these items match, then a new person record is created if enough data was included for record creation (either email address or both first and last name).

Note
The birthdate requirement can be disabled.

Important
During the account creation process, the first name, last name, email, and birthdate values are required, and Slate only matches an existing record if there is an exact match on all four fields.

Application Matching Criteria

If Slate is able to match onto an existing person record using any of the application items (1 - 5) above, then the application has already been identified, and no further matching is performed.

If application data was mapped, and an application record has not yet been identified, Slate attempts to match an existing application on the matched person record using the following criteria:

Data Point	Description
1. Round (or Round Override)	If Round (or Round Override) was mapped, Slate attempts to match an existing application that has that same round. If an application in that round exists, that application is used for the import. If an application in that round does not exist, a new application is created and assigned to the round that was mapped in the import. Note: The three items that override this behavior are described below.
2. Application Data	If application data was mapped, but a round was not mapped, then Slate uses the existing rank 1 application in an active application period for the import. If the person record does not already have an application in the active application period, then no application data is imported. Applications must be assigned a round to be created.

Data Point

Description

1. Round (or Round Override)

If Round (or Round Override) was mapped, Slate attempts to match an existing application that has that same round. If an application in that round exists, that application is used for the import. If an application in that round does not exist, a new application is created and assigned to the round that was mapped in the import. Note: The three items that override this behavior are described below.

2. Application Data

If application data was mapped, but a round was not mapped, then Slate uses the existing rank 1 application in an active application period for the import. If the person record does not already have an application in the active application period, then no application data is imported. Applications must be assigned a round to be created.

Overriding Application Matching on Round

There are three items that can be used to override the Application Record Matching Criteria on Round described above.

Note: If Slate was able to match to the application using the unique Application fields described in the Person Record Matching Criteria section above, then these methods are not used because the application has already been identified.

These items are typically used as Static Mappings, as the intent is usually to perform this behavior for all records in the import. However, you can map a source field to these destinations to override the behavior conditionally based on a source value.

Data Point	Description
App: Round Always Create	When set to Yes, Slate always creates a new application using the round specified in the import. It does not attempt to match an existing application.
App: Round Use Existing	When set to Yes, Slate uses the rank 1 application in an active application period, even if the round of the existing application does not match the round specified in the import.
App: Round Use Existing and Update	When set to Yes, Slate uses the rank 1 application in an active application period, even if the round of the existing application does not match the round specified in the import. This setting also updates the existing application's round to what was mapped in the import.

Was this article helpful?

What's Next

Matching Criteria for Dataset Records

Table of contents

Person Matching Criteria
Application Matching Criteria
Overriding Application Matching on Round