Deduplication

Deduplication allows SpotLog to ignore and clean up duplicate entries, such as the same record entered multiple times within a few minutes.

For example, during a busy period I see LocoA, LocoB and LocoC as they arrive in a station.  A few minutes later, LocoD, LocoE and LocoA (again) leave the station - but I can't remember if I put LocoA in the record or not.  With de-duplication, I can enter LocoA and SpotLog will ignore the entry as it duplicates another record.

Deduplication occurs when a record is entered, processed, imported or synced.  If the record is a duplicate (within the set period) it will be dropped.

Records are considered duplicate if the date and time is within the set deduplication period, the number, location and note are the same and the photo,haul and hold flags match.  Only matched records (in the log) are deduplicated.

Where duplicates are found, the first (earliest) record is retained and the later records are removed.

Deduplication setting

In SpotLog Settings, under the "NoteBook" section, you can set the deduplication period.

Options are 

• Off - no deduplication
• 1 min - a record is considered a duplicate if it occurs within 1 minute of the previous record
• 10 min  - a record is considered a duplicate if it occurs within 10 minutes of the previous record
• 15/30min/1 hour
• 1 day - a record is considered a duplicate if it occurs on the same day

Deduplication report

In settings, scroll down to the "Database" section.  By clicking the button "Export Duplicate List" you can export a file or report of duplicate items in the log.  Note: you need to set the deduplication period as above before running the report. See Import and Export for more details on exporting files.

Run Deduplication

You can choose to run deduplication to clean up your database.

In settings, scroll down to the "Database" section and click the "Run DeDup" button: SpotLog runs the deduplication query on the log and removes duplicate items.

Recommendations

• Before running the deduplicate action, Backup your database (in xml format) and keep the backup file somewhere safe.
• Before running the deduplicate, generate a duplicate report (As above) to see what will be removed.

 

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