Complex catalog match system

A method for operating a data matching system having a plurality of clients and a master catalog, the master catalog including entries having multiple fields, including at least one search field, comprising:

• processing input requests from requesting clients in the plurality of clients, each of the input requests including a request field storing an input variant of a data element and a plurality of additional data fields to identify a requested entry in the master catalog;
• maintaining client matching tables for respective clients in the plurality of clients, entries in the client matching tables matching the variants of data elements in the request fields with a specific variant of the data element in the search field of a set of entries in the master catalog;
• maintaining matching states for respective clients in the plurality of clients;
• processing of input requests including for a current input request of a particular requesting client, when the matching state for the particular requesting client has a first value, using a first procedure comprising
• finding plural sets of entries in the master catalog having specific variants of the data element in the search field matching within a similarity parameter the input variant of the data element in the request field of the current input request;
• generating a confidence score for each set of the plural set of entries based on recorded data for other input requests for the particular requesting client indicating a portion of other input requests that matched with entries of the set wherein each match includes matching the plurality of additional fields of one other input request to the plurality of additional fields of an entry of the set of entries;
• when the confidence score of a single set of entries in the master catalog with the highest confidence score satisfies a threshold:
• searching the single set of entries in the master catalog for a specific entry that matches the plurality of the additional fields of the input request in the recorded data, and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• adding the match of the input variant of the data element in the request field of the current input request with the specific data element in a master search field of the set of entries of which the specific entry is a member to the client matching table of the requesting client;
• and
• when the confidence score of a single set of entries in the master catalog with the highest confidence score does not satisfy the threshold:
• saving the current input request in a pending request table;
• and
• when a matching state for the particular requesting client has a second value, using a second procedure comprising:
• using the client matching table to match the current input request with a matched set of entries in the master catalog;
• and
• searching the matched set of entries for a specific entry that matches the plurality of additional fields of the current input request, and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• when the client matching table does not include a match for the current input request, executing the first procedure.

A system, comprising:

• one or more network nodes, where a network node of the one or more network nodes includes a communication interface, a processor or processors and memory accessible by the processor or processors;
• the one or more network nodes configured for execution of a procedure for operating a data matching system having a plurality of clients and a master catalog, the master catalog including entries having multiple fields including at least one search field, comprising:
• processing input requests from requesting clients in the plurality of clients, each of the input requests including a request field storing an input variant of a data element and a plurality of additional data fields to identify a requested entry in the master catalog;
• maintaining client matching tables for respective clients in the plurality of clients, entries in the client matching tables matching the input variants of data elements in the request field with specific variants of the data element in the search field of a set of entries in the master catalog;
• the processing of input requests for a current input request of a particular requesting client, including during a learning phase using a first procedure comprising:
• searching plural sets of entries having different variants of the data element in the search fields for a specific entry that matches the plurality of additional fields of the current input request, and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• adding the match of the input variant of the data element in the request field of the current input request with the specific variant of the data element in the master search field of the set of entries of which the specific entry is a member to the client matching table of the requesting client;
• after the learning phase, using a second procedure comprising:
• using the client matching table to match the current input request with a matched set of entries in the master catalog;
• searching the matched set of entries for a specific entry that matches the plurality of additional fields of the current input request and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• when the client matching table does not include a match for the current input request, using the first procedure.

A computer program product, comprising:

• non-transitory machine readable memory;
• a computer program stored in the memory, the computer program including instructions configured for execution of a procedure for operating a data matching system having a plurality of clients and a master catalog, the master catalog including entries having multiple fields including at least one search field, comprising:
• processing input requests from requesting clients in the plurality of clients, each of the input requests including a request field storing an input variant of a data element and a plurality of additional data fields to identify a requested entry in the master catalog;
• maintaining client matching tables for respective clients in the plurality of clients, entries in the client matching tables matching the input variants of data elements in the request field with specific variants of the data element in the search field of a set of entries in the master catalog;
• the processing of input requests for a current input request of a particular requesting client, including during a learning phase using a first procedure comprising:
• searching plural sets of entries having different variants of the data element in the search fields for a specific entry that matches the plurality of additional fields of the current input request, and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• adding the match of the input variant of the data element in the request field of the current input request with the specific variant of the data element in a master search field of the set of entries of which the specific entry is a member to the client matching table of the requesting client;
• after the learning phase, using a second procedure comprising:
• using the client matching table to match the current input request with a matched set of entries in the master catalog;
• searching the matched set of entries for a specific entry that matches the plurality of additional fields of the current input request and generating a response to the current input request identifying the specific entry;
• and
• when the client matching table does not include a match for the current input request, using the first procedure.