The Customer Data Parser standardizes name and address data by identifying individual elements and recoding the elements according to country-specific rules and tables. The individual elements are called tokens, and each token is assigned an attribute that identifies what the token represents. For example, "MARY SMITH " comprises two tokens, which are assigned the attributes GIVEN-NAME1 and SURNAME.
The CDP stores two kinds of attributes for a token: intrinsic attributes, such as ALPHA, and specific attributes, such as GIVEN-NAME1. After assigning specific attributes through the country-specific table lookup, the CDP creates the most detailed Name or Street pattern using specific and intrinsic attributes. If that detailed pattern exists in the table, the CDP identifies fields and recodes the tokens as directed by the pattern. If the pattern does not exist, the CDP has a number of rules it can apply to simplify the pattern until a match is found.
The CDP rules can generalize a name or street pattern through:
- The selected replacement of specific attributes with the intrinsic attribute for that token
- The selected removal of known, descriptive or 'extra' data from the line
- The name rules are intended for advanced users. We recommend that you become familiar with intrinsic attributes and specific attributes before changing the settings.
- By default, all name rules are enabled.
- The rule that Recodes ALPHA-1SPECIAL token containing a hyphen to an ALPHA is applied only if the reverse comma separated names option in the Advanced Parser Settings window is selected.
To disable or re-enable one of the name rules