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About Record Duplicates and External IDs

When you import records, you can choose to handle duplicate records in these ways:

  • By not importing the duplicate ones
  • By overwriting the existing ones

    NOTE: This overwriting option is not available when you import Tasks, Appointments, and Notes. New records are always created for those record types.

  • By creating additional records for the duplicates (Contacts and Leads only)

Your CSV file might have External IDs, which are generated by many software systems. Using External IDs makes importing from external systems easier, where a primary key/foreign key relationship is represented by storing IDs in the related file. If you have External ID codes for each of your records, you can use the Import Assistant to update fields in those records (except the External ID field). If you do not have External ID codes, you can only update those fields that are not used for duplicate checking.

To update records:

  1. Set up your import CSV file with a column for the External ID codes, or for all of the duplicate checking fields for the record type.
  2. Make sure that the External ID codes or the duplicate checking field values are exactly the same as the values for the existing records. If you are using External ID codes, each one must be unique in the system for the update to work.
  3. Include at least all required fields in your import CSV file.
  4. Select the Overwrite Existing Records option in Step 1 of the Import Assistant.
  5. Make sure that you map the External ID field or all of the duplicate checking fields in the Field Mapping step of the Import Assistant.
  6. Complete all of the Import Assistant steps to import the data.

When you use the Import Assistant to update records, only fields that you map in the Field Mapping step are overwritten. Therefore, if you have fields that do not need to be updated, and they are not required for duplicate checking, you do not have to map those fields.

If External IDs exist and you have mapped them during the import process, the application uses them to determine if a record is a duplicate. When importing other record types, you can use those External IDs as references so that the associations are carried over to Siebel CRM On Demand.

For example, if you have an account_id column in your account.csv file, you want to map it to the "External Unique ID." When importing contacts, if your contacts.csv file contains a contact_id column (the unique ID for the contact) and an account_id column (a reference to the IDs in the account.csv file), you should map the contact_id to "External Unique ID" and account_id to "Account External ID." During the import process, the application checks the account_id field in each contact record to determine the existing account and link the account to the contact.

If no External IDs exist or you don't map External IDs in your file to the External ID fields in the application, the application determines duplicates by comparing certain fields. The following table lists the fields used for determining record duplicates:

Records of This Type

Are Duplicates If These Fields Match

User

  • Email

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Accounts

  • Account Name and Location

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Contacts

  • First Name, Last Name, Work Phone #, and Email

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Opportunity

  • Opportunity Name and Account

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Campaign

  • Source Code

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Leads

  • First Name, Last Name, Company, Primary Phone #, and Email

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Service Request

  • SR Number

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Solution

  • Title

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Appointment & Task

  • No duplicate checking (Always creates new records)

Note

  • No duplicate checking (Always creates new records)

Contact Role

  • Opportunity Name and Contact Full Name

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

Products

  • Product Name

    OR

  • External ID (Created by another software system)

CAUTION: When updating files, it is recommended that you map either the External ID or the other set of fields for determining duplicates; if you map both of them, you risk overwriting fields used for duplicate checking that you might not want to overwrite. For example, if you map the External ID, Account Name, and Location when updating account records, and a duplicate is found based on the External ID, the Account Name and Location overwrite the existing values in the database. If no duplicates are found based on the External ID, the system checks for duplicates based on Account Name and Location, and if found, overwrites the External ID in the database.

Account Import and External ID Summary

When importing accounts, you specify how you want the application to handle duplicate records:

  • Don't Import Duplicate Records

    If duplicates are found, the duplicate record is not imported.

  • Overwrite Existing Records

    If duplicates are found, the existing record is updated. If more than one duplicate is found, then no records are inserted or updated.

After selecting the behavior, you have the option of mapping fields, including these two external IDs available with account imports:

  • External Unique ID. Refers to the external ID of the current record to be imported. The External Unique ID is directly involved in duplicate checking, as described in this section.
  • Parent Account External ID. References the external ID of the parent record for the current record.

The behavior surrounding each of these external IDs is independent of each other.

Scenarios for External Unique IDs

Scenario A - External Unique ID is not mapped

Duplicate checking is based on Account Name and Location. If a duplicate is found, the behavior is determined by the selected duplicate checking option.

Scenario B - External Unique ID is mapped

Import first tries to find a duplicate record using the External Unique ID.

  • Scenario B1 - Single Duplicate External ID Found

    Account Name and Location are checked for duplicates outside of the currently matched record, and if a duplicate is found, no records are updated or inserted.

    If the duplicate checking option is set to Overwrite Existing Records, then the record is updated (including Account Name and Location).

    If the duplicate checking option is set to Don't Import Duplicate Records, then no records are updated or inserted.

  • Scenario B2 - Multiple Duplicate External IDs Found

    No Records are inserted or updated.

  • Scenario B3 - No Duplicate External ID Found

    Import now checks duplicates based on the Account Name and Location.

    • Scenario B3a - No Duplicate Account Name and Location Found.
      Record is inserted.
    • Scenario B3b - Single Duplicate Account Name and Location Found
      If the duplicate checking option is set to Overwrite Existing Records, the record is updated, including the External Unique ID. If the duplicate checking option is set to Don't Import Duplicate Records, no records are updated.
    • Scenario B3c - Multiple Duplicate Account Name and Locations Found
      No records are inserted or updated.

Scenario C - External Unique ID is not Mapped

The Account Name and Location are used to perform duplicate checking.

  • Scenario C1 - Single Duplicate Account Name and Location found

    If Duplicate Checking option is set to Overwrite Existing Records, then the record is updated.

    If Duplicate Checking option is set to Don't Import Duplicate Records, then no records are updated or inserted.

  • Scenario C2 - Multiple Duplicate Account Name and Location found.

    No records are updated or inserted.

  • Scenario C3 - No Duplicate Account Name and Location found

    Record is inserted.

Scenarios for Parent Account External IDs

The Parent Account External ID is only used to set the associated Parent Account Record. It has no impact on duplicate checking or updates.

Scenario A - Parent Account External ID is Mapped

Import uses the Parent Account External ID only to determine the Parent Account.

  • Scenario A1- Multiple records match Parent Account External ID

    Parent Account is not set.

  • Scenario A2 - Single Record matches Parent Account External ID

    Parent Account is set.

  • Scenario A3 - No records match the Parent Account External ID

    Parent Account is not set.

Scenario B - Parent Account External ID is not Mapped

Import uses the Parent Account Name and Parent Account Location to determine the Parent Account.

  • Scenario B1 - Multiple records match Parent Account Name and Parent Location.

    Parent Account is not set.

  • Scenario B2 - Single Record matches Parent Account Name and Parent Location

    Parent Account is set.

  • Scenario B3 - No records match the Parent Account Name and Parent Location

    Parent Account is not set.


Published 05/11/2007