0

I have a table with 50 columns of identifying information that is inconsistently filled out, even for the same individual. Sadly, individuals do not have a unique identifier in this system.

For example, some times we may capture a person's middle name, preferred name, and sometimes it is null - for the SAME individual.

Simplest solution I could think of would be a custom compare function that takes (NULL,VALUE) and returns true, but I'm not sure how to implement this, or if it's even wise.

Ideally I would like to link up records with a lag over partition, but there is frustratingly little information on how partition works other than it takes a 'value expression'. I have tested that it can accept multiple comma separated columns, but the occurrence of null values causes us to miss matches.

user3513243
  • 61
  • 1
  • 4
  • can you provide some sample data and expected output? SQLFiddle offers an opportunity to provide both. – Stuart Ainsworth Apr 09 '14 at 01:45
  • Also, you have not clearly stated what the actual problem is, only a vague description of your situation. As @Stuart asks, a clear sample/example would help. – Turophile Apr 09 '14 at 02:14

0 Answers0