MetaServer > Help > Tasks > Cleanup MetaServer Database

With MetaServer’s Cleanup Database action, you can define a sequence of rules to clean up a MetaServer database.

Here is an overview of all rule types. Press the link to jump to a detailed help guide of that rule:

To add a Cleanup MetaServer Database action, select the action after which you want to insert the Cleanup MetaServer Database action and press Add -> MetaServer -> Database -> Cleanup. The Setup window will automatically open.

You can also open the setup window of an existing Cleanup MetaServer Database action by double-clicking the action or by pressing the setup button on the right side of the action or in the ribbon, as shown below.

As our example, we will make use of the “CB – SIMPSONS” task. This task is automatically installed with CaptureBites MetaServer.

The Cleanup MetaServer Database Setup shows your Cleanup MetaServer Database rules. You can define as many rules as required.

01 – Add: press the Add button to add a Cleanup MetaServer Database rule.

02 – Duplicate: press the Duplicate button to copy the selected Cleanup MetaServer Database rule. The duplicated rule will automatically be added after the selected rule and the setup of the duplicated rule will open. Adjust it to your liking or press Cancel to stop the creation of the duplicated rule.

03 – Edit: press the Edit button or double-click a rule to open its setup window

04 – Move Up / Move Down: press the Move Up or Move Down button to change the order of the Cleanup MetaServer Database rules.

The rules are executed in the sequence of the rules list. Therefore, the order of the rules in the list influences the result.

05 – Delete: press the Delete button to remove the currently selected Cleanup MetaServer Database rule.

With MetaServer’s Delete Duplicate Records rule (also known as Dedupe), you can delete records with the same field value and only keep unique records in your specified MetaServer Database.

To add this rule, press the Add button and select Delete Records -> Duplicates.

In our example case, we want to delete duplicate records from our database with identical Guest Stars.

First, add a description to your rule. Then, set the Field that holds the duplicate values. You can press the dropdown button to select the available columns of the currently selected database. In this case, we select “Guest star” as the field.

With MetaServer’s Delete Records by Value rule, you can delete records holding a certain value in your specified MetaServer Database.

To add this rule, press the Add button and select Delete Records -> By Value.

In our example case, we want to delete all records from our database that have no value in the Guest star column.

First, add a description to your rule. Then, set the Field holding the specified value. You can press the dropdown button to select the available columns of the currently selected database. In this case, we select “Guest star” as the field.

NOTE: The { No Value } is a special system value which you can select with the Values drop down menu. Other values can be manually entered.

With MetaServer’s Remove Spaces rule, you can clean up your data from your database by removing redundant spaces.

To add this rule, press the Add button and select Remove Spaces.

The Cleanup MetaServer Database action’s Remove Spaces rule is very similar to the Extract action’s Remove Spaces rule.

With MetaServer’s Replace Text rule, you can clean up or correct data from your database.

To add this rule, press the Add button and select Replace Text.

The Cleanup MetaServer Database action’s Replace Text rule is very similar to the Extract action’s Replace Text rule.

With MetaServer’s Sort rule, you can sort records based on the values in a column of your specified MetaServer Database.

To add this rule, press the Add button and select Sort.

In our example case, we want to sort our records based on the Guest star value.

First, add a description to your rule. Then, set the Field holding the specified value. You can press the dropdown button to select the available columns of the currently selected database. In this case, we select “Guest star” as the field.

01 – Field type: specify if the field value type is text or a number.

A simple trick to determine if data is a number or text, is to ask yourself the question: “Does it make sense to add or subtract the data?”. If the answer is yes, it’s a number, otherwise, it’s text.

For example, codes, like Tax ID numbers, invoice numbers, telephone numbers, etc. are considered text.

Some examples of codes:
– Telephone numbers, with formats like “(408) 993-1900”, 408-993-1900”, “408 993 1900”, “(408) / 993-1900”, “0556/10.20.30” etc.
– VAT numbers, with formats like “BE-0683.808.923”,” BE0683 808 923”, “BE0683808923”, etc.
– Codes consisting of characters and digits like license codes, product codes, etc.

TIP: you can copy the current settings and paste them in another setup window of the same type. Do this by pressing the Settings button in the bottom left of the Setup window and by selecting Copy. Then open another setup window of the same type and select Paste.