Catching duplicate entries

[Hatman1]

Newbie here and I need some help.
I am setting up a database for members who want to be on our mailing list. I
have fields: ID # (primarykey, assigns automatically for new entries), Last
Name, First Name, Address, Zipcode, etc.
Problem is many people already are on the list keep turning in new forms to
sign up (again). Is there a way to catch these entries so I do not have to go
back and check if they are on there? There will be multiple people with same
last, first names (so I cannot make these unique or primary keys, I believe)
but there will be none with all three the same including address.
I would like to have it, during entry, check last name, then first name,
then address and if all three are the same inform me it is a duplicate. Is
there any way?

Please remember Newbie, if you have an answer for me.
Thank you very much!!!!!!!

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Yes.

Now, are you quite certain that you don't have any father/son members with
the same name at the same address? And even if you add DateOfBirth, you
might still run into the unusually cruel parents who named their twins "Joe"
and "Joseph".

And how do you decide if the following are all the same person or not:

J. Johnson 12345 Elm St
John Johnson 12345 Elm St
J.J. Johnson 12354 Elm St
"Andy" Johnson 12345 Elm Street
...

Uniquely identifying persons is particularly difficult for HUMANS to do, so
imagine how hard it is to tell a computer how to!

Good Luck!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[cjakeman]

Hi Hatman1,

Problem is many people already are on the list keep turning in new forms to
sign up (again). Is there a way to catch these entries so I do not have to go
back and check if they are on there?

You can test for last name and zip code being repeated, but make that
a warning to allow for Jeff's Joe and Joseph Johnson.

You should also check for entries which look different but really the
same person again. I get mail addressed to Jakeman, Jackman and many
other variations. To check for similar but not identical names, use
the Soundex algorithm. It's built into some database products but VBA
code has been published for Access.

Hope this helps,

Chris