Record Lookup

A client might send a request for the add or modify activity after an external match or merge activity. Similarly, When you do not know whether a record exists in TIBCO MDM, you can lookup records. The look up provides a simple way to check existence in TIBCO MDM. You can configure another activity or process depending on the outcome.

Consider a scenario where a retailer wants to add some missing information (such as customer type, loyalty points, and payback points) about a customer in TIBCO MDM. The loyalty points of the customer are obtained from an external resource such as database.

In such cases, you must first check whether a record already exists in TIBCO MDM. Use the Lookup Only mode to look up a record by an MDM key or another lookup identifier that is unique to the record. An MDM key is a combination of record ID and IDEXTENSION. Additionally, you can also look up a record by a unique identifier such as loyalty ID, customer ID, and reward ID. It must be an attribute that is unique to a particular record.
Note:
  • The RecordLookup fields are available in the Record Lookup section on the Input tab, only when the Add Modify or Lookup Only mode is selected on the General tab. The RecordLookup details are mandatory for the Add Modify and Lookup Only modes.
  • When record look up details are not provided on the Input tab, validation fails and the process contains validation errors. The following error message is displayed on the Problems tab : Activity configuration error. The activity [RESTAddModify] has input configuration error. Element "RecordLookup" required.
  • When only MDM key is provided, the record is looked up by the record ID (and record extension, if provided).
  • When only lookup identifier is provided, the record is looked up by the value of the unique attribute. If the specified attribute is not present in the selected repository, a validation error is returned by TIBCO MDM server. The response contains the following message : Attribute <'attribute_name'> not defined for repository <'repository_name'>.
  • When both MDM Key and Lookup Identifier are provided, MDM Key takes precedence over the lookup identifier. The lookup identifier details are ignored during the execution of the activity.

If you know that the record exists in TIBCO MDM, it is best to select the modify operation. In this case, running a look up operation is not necessary. The look up identifier attributes and values are either displayed or hidden depending on the use case.

Important: The record look up functionality supports a single record look up so that you can add or modify a record. By default, the latest confirmed version of a record is retrieved or a record in workflow is retrieved by work item reference.