Server Administration > Item Type Attributes > Configuring Duplicate Detection
  
Configuring Duplicate Detection
Windchill RV&S includes functionality for detecting duplicate items within the Windchill RV&S database. Users creating an item (such as a defect) can identify possible duplicate items before they submit the new item. Duplicate item searches are limited to items of the same Windchill RV&S type and are performed on a defined short text field.
When duplicate detection is enabled for a type, the search for potential duplicates is started automatically as users are creating a new item of that type and focus is moved from the defined search field. If duplicates are found, users can then view those duplicates by clicking the Potential duplicates found link. Before completing their entry in the search field, users can also initiate a search for duplicates by clicking the Potential Duplicates link.
When a true duplicate is found, users can then add their notes to that item, instead of creating a new item. In this way, duplicate detection can reduce the number of incoming duplicate entries into the Windchill RV&S database.
When duplicate detection is mandatory for a type, users must review the list presented in the Potential Duplicates View before they can save a new item of that type.
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If the search for duplicates does not return any matches, or if the search is still running when users attempt to save the new item, then they are not prevented from creating the item.
Duplicate detection also supports item management and sorting activities for managers and change review teams, and reduces costs associated with managing duplicate items within the database. By selecting View Potential Duplicates in the GUI (View Potential Duplicate Items in the Web), or by running im viewduplicates in the CLI, users can use duplicate detection to identify and clean up existing duplicate entries within the Windchill RV&S database. The search functionality allows for identification of similar items of a given type.
Key Considerations
When duplicate detection is enabled, users can choose to search for potential duplicates by clicking the link for Potential Duplicates on a new item, or by selecting View Potential Duplicates from the menu.
Selecting the option for Duplicate detection mandatory on a type means that when users are creating a new item of that type, they must review a list of potential duplicates before they can save the new item.
When searching for duplicates, the default number of results is 20 items.
Clearing the option for Enable duplicate detection means that duplicate detection will not be available to users.
The designated search field must be a short text field; however, it cannot be a short text computational field or Field Value Attribute to a short text field. By default, the search field is pre-set to Summary.
To use duplicate detection searches on a short text field, the created field must also have text search indexing enabled (by selecting the option for Create a text search index). For more information on configuring short text fields, see “Short Text Fields: Values Tab”.
Duplicate item searches are limited to items of the same Windchill RV&S type.
Duplicate detection is not available for Document types.
A duplicate detection search uses the defined search field even if that field has a relevance rule assigned. Under these conditions, Windchill RV&S displays the value of the search fields that would otherwise be hidden if viewed in an individual item.
Users are only shown duplicate items from projects that are visible to them. If a duplicate item is contained in a project that is not visible to the user, Windchill RV&S does not display that item in the search results.
To configure duplicate detection in the GUI