bijMerged

bijMerged is a data integration approach designed to merge records from multiple sources while preserving a reversible, one-to-one correspondence between the original and merged data. The method relies on constructing a bijective mapping between source records and merged entities, enabling reconstruction of the inputs from the merged result without loss of information.

Operation: The process begins with entity resolution to identify records that refer to the same real-world item. A bijective merge plan is then generated, specifying how source attributes map to merged attributes and how conflicting values are resolved. A merge log records each decision, including a mapping key and the provenance of each field. The final merged dataset is produced with constraints that enforce one-to-one relationships and enable rollback.

Applications: bijMerged is used in data warehousing, customer data integration, product catalog consolidation, and migration projects where traceability and reversibility are important. It is also employed in version-controlled data environments to audit changes and to support error correction.

Advantages and limitations: Benefits include reversibility, auditable lineage, and deterministic reconciliation. Drawbacks include higher computational overhead, increased complexity in resolving entities with many-to-many relationships, and potential data model constraints that limit flexibility in some domains. It is most effective when source data are relatively clean and when strong provenance is required.

See also: data integration, entity resolution, version control for data.