How do I filter out dup. data from 12,000 records?

[JohnnyZ]

I have an Excel file containing approx. 12,000 records that I imported to FMP. How can I filter out duplicate records? For example: The fields are serial number, product name, and sales order#. I want a count of each serial # only once, even though the serial # may exist several times with different sales order #'s. It seems like a simple task, but I'm stumped. TIA for any advice.

Cheers!

Johnny Z

[Kurt Knippel]

What defines a unique record? Or how would you know that a given record is or is not a duplicate?

Once you know this, then you can setup a script to loop through the records and compare them, deleting the duplicates.

[JohnnyZ]

All records should be unique once the list is filtered. Duplicte records are defined as those that share serial# and date. If the serial# re-occurs with another date, then that is a unique record. I will experiment with some looping scripts. Thanks for your idea!

[andygaunt]

Hi, check this thread

Click here to see the post

HTH

[JohnnyZ]

I tried the self join relationshiip techinque and it worked! Now I need to fully understand why. It's much more efficient than a script. Thanks!

Johnny Z