Patent ID: 6282318
Filing Date: 2001-08-28
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for matching the elements of two data files, utilizing a programmable digital computer for performing the steps of:a) reading data elements and corresponding attributes for each of the two data files;b) using relevant attributes for computing a similarity measure between some elements in the first data file and some elements in the second data file;c) constructing, using the similarity measure, a set of possible matches for more than one element in one data file, a set of possible matches comprising elements from the other data file;d) selecting an element that has more than one potential match and choosing, from among the potential matches, a best possible match;e) deleting, from the list of elements to be matched, the selected element in step d from its data file, and the matched element in step d from each set of possible matches;f) repeating step d and step e until a stopping criterion is met; andg) outputting a file selected from the group consisting of the matches produced by steps d and e, and a file containing the elements that are not matched along with their remaining potential matches,wherein each element of one data file is matched to at most one element of the other data file.