Business keys

You can create reference data types with compound keys. You can specify up to four properties plus the Code as constituent key parts of a unique reference data value key. Business keys apply only to reference data set data types; mapping set data types do not use business keys.

The business key feature is enabled for a reference data type in the Administration menu. Checking the business key check box for a reference data type is one way to ensure that the code for a reference data set is unique.

Note: Name is also a required field for each reference value but is not used in determining uniqueness of the compound key.

InfoSphere® MDM Reference Data Management Hub supports up to five properties within a compound key for a set, where Key 1 is always the set Code. The other four properties must have the Key property enabled within the reference data type definition.

Compound keys allow records with the same code to be saved, if the combined key is unique. The uniqueness check is done against the full key defined for the type. If the overall compound key is unique, the record can be stored.

Importing values into a reference data set defined as having a compound key is the same as importing values into any other set. The same rules hold for the manual case: the key values cannot be null and the overall combination of keys + code must be unique for each value.

The business key check box and compound key definition can be applied for a reference data set with existing values if the values conform to the rules defined for the keys. InfoSphere MDM Reference Data Management Hub checks for data integrity when you change compound key settings for a reference data set type and does not allow actions that would create duplicate entries in the database where uniqueness is required.

In InfoSphere MDM Reference Data Management Hub, uniqueness is not enforced for the Code property unless the business key option is selected. Uniqueness is not enforced to support effective date-centric use cases that require multiple entries for the same code with different effective dates.

Note: For most reference data types, the business key is recommended.

If you receive the error message The data consistency check failed. Update not allowed for Property Type used as Compound Key., edit the reference values to ensure uniqueness across all properties that make up the compound key before enabling the business key on the reference data type.