DUPLICATE STRING REMOVER, V1.0


SHORT DESCRIPTION

This application will remove duplicate strings (lines) in a long list of strings.  E.g. removing duplicate e-mail addresses from a mailing list.  You can assign priorities to determine which version of a duplicate to keep.  This product is free to use, distribute, copy or ignore.


INSTALLATION

Unzip all files into the same directory as Smart Pix Manager (download from www.xequte.com) and create a shortcut to it.  It requires Smart Pix Manager because it uses the database engine supplied with SPM but not DSR, however you cannot run DSR and Smart Pix at the same time.


USAGE

DSR requires an input file that is in a comma-delimited (CSV) format.  The file must have a list of strings with three items separated by a comma, i.e.:
 
Item,Description,Priority

Item = the value you only want one of, e.g. an e-mail address (Max Width=255 chars)
Description = a description for that item  (Max Width=255 chars, BUT remember if descriptions get combined then the COMBINED descriptions must be less than 255 chars, so keep this field short!)
Priority = a number from 1 to 1000 where 1 is low priority and 1000 is high priority.  

You can create your file in Excel, by creating three columns of values and then selecting 'Save as..' as choosing 'CSV file' from the 'Save as type' list.

An example file might be:
nigel@nigel.com,software download,5
jenny@babe.com,software download,5
harry@here.com,software download,5
jane@there.com,customer,9
Nigel@nigel.com,customer,9
harry@here.com,REMOVE ME,100
jenny@babe.com,hardware purchase,5

If a duplicate entry is found (in the item field) the higher priority item is kept (e.g. nigel@nigel.com,customer,9 and nigel@nigel.com,software download,2 then nigel@nigel.com,customer,9 is kept)

If a duplicate entry is found and the priority is the same but the descriptions are different then the 
description fields are combined (e.g. jenny@babe.com,hardware purchase,5 jenny@babe.com,software download,5 then the entry becomes jenny@babe.com,hardware download & software download,5)

Note: Duplicate checking is case-insensitive, i.e. nigel@nigel.com is considered  to be a duplicate of Nigel@Nigel.COM

The above example would return:
harry@here.com,REMOVE ME,100
jane@there.com,customer,9
jenny@babe.com,software download & hardware purchase,5
nigel@nigel.com,customer,9


SUPPORT

No support is offered on this product except to registered Smart Pix Manager users, sorry.

Nigel Cross
nigel@xequte.com
www.xequte.com
