The Consolidate Record tool determines, based on the available information on a record, if a record should be considered as the Main record or the Duplicate record. The Main record is the record retained when merging two duplicate records. When comparing the merged data from the Duplicate record and the Main record, each will behave differently based on the type of data being merged.

Important

Slate is an active, transactional database, and records cannot be completely unmerged since activity occurs on a merged record.

Main Record Criteria

When the Consolidate Records tool identifies two records as duplicates, Slate determines which record is considered the Main record. The main record is determined by a quality value assigned to the record. The record quality is updated when the record is updated. To determine that quality, Slate evaluates the following qualities in decreasing order of significance:

Advancement database:

1. Records updated from a form submission

   • Submission can be from any form. This includes forms in areas such as Tabs, Events, and portal pages.

2. Records created through an import

   • Records that are created by an import through Upload Dataset.

Combined Advancement and Admissions database:

1. The record has a submitted application.

2. The record has a started application that still needs to be submitted.

3. Record updated from a form submission.

   • Form submission can be from any form submission. This includes forms in areas such as Tabs, Events, and portal pages.

4. Record created through an import.

   • Records that are created by an import through Upload Dataset

Effects of Main vs. Duplicate When Merged

The process of merging data from a duplicate record into a main record can vary. The following information explores the result of merging records in this way. 

Data Sections

Data sections are data groups that support multiple time-stamped values, such as materials, entities, interactions, forms submissions, event registrations, devices, addresses, applications, schools, and tests. This data is moved to the main record, and no data is deleted.

For the data sections of addresses and devices, when merged from a duplicate record into a main record, the address or device is given a low priority (unless they are inactive, in which case they remain inactive).

Person Status

The person status of the main record is updated to match the most advanced status of the two records. The most advanced status is based on the exclusivity group priority setting of the rules that assign the status. In the exclusivity group, the higher priority (lower number) rule that assigns the status to the record is considered the most advanced.

Note: This means it is possible to have the duplicate's status replace the main record's status if the duplicate record has a more advanced status than the main record.  

Standard Fields

The default fields that support singular values keep the value from the higher-quality record. If the main record has a value for a standard field, such as name, birth date, sex, or citizenship, the main record value is retained. If the duplicate record has a value for a standard field that the main record does not have, then the value from the duplicate is saved to the main record. For example, if the duplicate record has a Slate Override ID and the main record does not, the Slate Override ID for the main record is updated to match the duplicate record's Slate Override ID. 

Custom Fields

If the duplicate record has values for fields that store a single value that the main record does not have, then those values are merged into the main record. 

If the main record already has a value for a field configured to store a single value, then the main record keeps that value, and the duplicate record's value is not used. 

If the duplicate record has values for fields that store multiple values, any values the duplicate record has that the main record does not have are appended to field values associated with the main record.

Exceptions for Combined Advancement and Admissions database

If the main record has an application in the active period, the merge acts like a "Safe" data import, where the custom fields are not updated unless the field itself is marked as "Unsafe." This setting can be updated for specific custom fields in the Fields section of the Admin Tool. This "Unsafe" setting on a field overrides the "Safe" setting for imports through Upload Dataset, form/event registrations, and Consolidate Records for just the specific field.