eliminate duplicate names from mailing list 3

[stevesd]

I need to make a mailing list and many of the names will likely appear more than once. I want to eliminate all but the first instance. When the name appears again, I don't want to list it. I have a key of {Account.Number} that would be a good key to check. I just need some logic to keep a list as I build the report to check for the dupes. Thanks

 

[IdoMillet]

You can group and show only the last or first record
in each duplication group by using conditional
Suppress or by placing the information in the Group Header of Footer.

If you need to suppress the duplicates at the SQL
retrieval stage, there are several ways to achieve that
too.

Cheers,
- Ido

 

[pcassada]

If this is a standard report, use the group command and group by the AccountNumber field. Then suppress the details and only show the group header.

 

[stevesd]

Thanks, everyone. Most of the suppressing answers I have been able to find will only eliminate dupes if the previous record is the same as the present record. I find that the names and addresses of the dupes can be several or many records apart. Will grouping handle that? How? Thanks

 

[IdoMillet]

If you place the fields in the group footer
and NOT show ANY detail records, the Group Footer
will show the information for the last record in the
group.

Cheers,
- Ido

 

[stevesd]

Great idea, but... Can I do that using the Mailing Label expert? It would be ideal because that expert has created my report and it is very easy to format for the labels I want to use.
Thanks again.

 

[MalcolmW]

Grouping is a process of collecting records with similar attributes, and is different that finding duplicates. Duplicates (from Crystal's perspective) are records that have identical information in the fields that are returned in the data set to Crystal. If you had an account number with several records, perhaps one for each address, then this would not be a "duplicate" record if this address info were returned to Crystal.
If you grouped by account number and included address info in your data set, but then displayed in the group header or footer for that group the information you want to see for that account number, you would only see the information once per group. You would see only one address for the account number, not all of them. Malcolm Wynden
I'm for sale at

http://wynden.net

malcolm@wynden.net

 

[pcassada]

Go to Format Section, select the main Details section and under the Supress button put this
AccountNumber = previous(AccountNumber)
so if they are equal and therefore duplicate, they should not show.

 

[stevesd]

I feel we are just closing in on the problem. The Account name address, etc., IS the same because I hit on it for each transaction which can be several for an account. So we have the same exact info more than one time because the account has a hit on another table (transactions) Now I don't want to print that label if I have it already from the first hit.
Many, many thanks.

 

[stevesd]

Thanks, Pcassada.
One problem leads to another. If the duplicates follow each other, that formula will find and eliminate the dupes. But... my dupe records don't follow each other. Yipes! That's been a thorn for a while now.

 

[pcassada]

Can you not sort by the AccountNumber?

 

[stevesd]

Yes, I have just sorted by account number, but now I have lost the thread of where that was to lead us. In other words, 'sort, and then what...?'

 

[stevesd]

I have sorted by account number, then entered a formula for suppressing each field of the label that says, "If previous ({Acct.Number}) = {Acct.Number) then true else false." It seems like the right way to do it. I saw a note in a Seagate Help screen on their website that said I could not use grouping (and I thought I couldn't sort either) when using the mailing label expert-created report.
Thanks

 

[pcassada]

Actually if you put the supress on the main detail in the Format Section Window, you only have to do it once. So is it or is it not working?

 

[stevesd]

Thanks, Pcassada, for your insight. I think it was working with the supress on each detail entry but I am about to back that out and try the supress on the main entry for future reference.