Master Name Index (MNI) Combiner

Combines two Master Name Index records into one single record.

The Master Name Index strategy used by CrimeStar provides a simple way to determine all the contacts that have occurred with a specific person. However this process is dependent upon having enough information about a subject to make an informed decision as to the persons true identity. Because many subjects lie about their identity it is possible to have multiple Master Name Index records that are in actuality the same subject. When this situation is discovered it is desirable to merge these duplicate Master Name Index records together. Due to the system linkages and inter-relationships between data this can be a very laborious task as entries from one Master Name Index are deleted and re-added to the system under the new ‘Master’ MNI record. To simplify, speed-up and maintain the integrity of the data, the MNI Combiner Utility has been created. This utility program allows you to select two MNI records that are to be joined into one single record.

To use the MNI combiner, select ‘Admin’ from the main menu. Then select ‘MNI Combiner’ from the Admin menu. When the MNI combiner form is displayed, select the MNI record that will be used as the master record. Click on the button labeled ‘Select Master’. The Master Name Index recall form will then be displayed. Provide the necessary criteria to recall the MNI record and select the desired record. Some basic information such as the Name, DOB and DL # will be displayed in the Master Record data fields of the MNI combiner form. Now repeat this process using the ‘Select Duplicate’ button to select and identify the MNI record that is the duplicate record. Note that the Internal MNI #’s used by CrimeStar to uniquely identify all MNI records are displayed. Even when the Name, DOB and DL # information appear to be identical this internal MNI # will be different. Once you have selected the ‘Master’ and the ‘Duplicate’ click on the button labeled ‘Combine Master Name Records’ This will cause the combiner utility to update all the internal system references of the MNI record identified as the ‘Duplicate’ to the MNI record identified as the Master. Once all the system references to the ‘Duplicate’ MNI record have been updated the Duplicate MNI record is deleted.

This utility will update references in all CrimeStar Modules however the MNI data in the Module will remain as it was originally entered. Only the internal references to the Master Name Index file and the MNI Involvement file are merged.