Patent ID: 7634508

Claim:
A method for processing duplicate records, the method executed in a computing device, the method comprising: detecting, by the computing device, that a first record and a second record are duplicates; in response to detecting that the first record and the second record are duplicates, determining, at the computing device, from among a plurality of rules, at least one applicable rule for processing the first record and the second record; applying, by the computing device, the applicable rule to determine whether to eliminate the first record or the second record; when the first record is to be eliminated: eliminating, by the computing device, the first record; and modifying, by the computing device, an attribute of each record in a first set of records such that each record in the first set of records indicates a master/child relationship with the second record, the first set of records comprising records having attributes that initially indicated a master/child relationship with the first record; and when the second record is to be eliminated: eliminating, by the computing device, the second record; and modifying, by the computing device, an attribute of each record in a second set of records such that each record in the second set of records indicates a master/child relationship with the first record, the second set of records comprising records having attributes that initially indicated a master/child relationship with the second record.