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Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

Find answers, ask questions, and share expertise about Alteryx Designer Desktop and Intelligence Suite.

Join on non-exact matches

tycarbone
6 - Meteoroid

Hello,

 

I am trying to do a join where the fields won't necessarily match. Here is a simplified version of what I am trying to accomplish:

 

File 1:

GroupNameScript Count
Atrium Centers, Inc14

 

File 2:

GroupnameTotal Script Count
Atrium Centers Inc87

 

Combined:

GroupNameScript CountTotal Script Count
Atrium Centers Inc1487

 

I tried using Fuzzy Tool and I wasn't getting the results I was looking for. I kept getting a lot of duplicates that looked like this:

GroupNameScript CountTotal Script Count
Atrium Centers Inc1487
Atrium Centers Inc1487
Atrium Centers Inc1487

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

2 REPLIES 2
dougperez
12 - Quasar

Have you tried the find replace?

NicholasM
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

Hey @tycarbone

 

A couple things I want to point out. The fuzzy match tool, when using the Merge match style, will attempt to match ever record from 1 data set to every record of the other. This will lead to something like Atrium Centers Inc from file A to be matched to Atrium Centers, Inc from File B, and vise versa (File B matching to File A). It is best practice to follow up the Fuzzy Match tool with a Unique Tool, to remove duplicates. 

 

If you want some more assistance with the fuzzy match tool take a look at this live training led by one of my colleges Nick Smith.  

 

I will also point out that it is best practice to proceed the fuzzy match tool with a Data Cleansing to standardize case and remove any unwanted characters. Sometimes this resolve all differences between two files and you could simply use a Join. 

 

Let me know if you have Questions.

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