Match Type — Exact

Match Type — Exact

Exact Match is the simplest and most strict comparison method in MatchLogic. It compares two values character by character and only considers them a match if they are completely identical.

A match criterion row with Exact selected as the match type, showing the field pair dropdowns and weight slider with no additional parameter controls

How Exact Match Works

When you configure a criterion with the Exact match type, MatchLogic performs a direct string comparison between the two field values. The result is binary:

  • 100% score — the values are identical
  • 0% score — the values differ in any way

There is no partial credit. A single character difference results in a 0% score for that criterion.

Case Sensitivity

Exact Match is case-sensitive by default. This means John and john are not considered a match. Similarly, NEW YORK and New York would fail an exact comparison.

Tip

If you want to use Exact Match on name or address fields, standardize the case first using the Data Cleansing module. Apply an uppercase or proper case transformation before matching. See https://help.matchlogic.io/article/250-selecting-a-matching-strategy for the overall workflow.

Best Use Cases

Exact Match is ideal for fields that contain standardized, structured data:

  • Identifiers — customer IDs, account numbers, social security numbers, tax IDs
  • Codes — country codes, state abbreviations, product SKUs, postal codes
  • Boolean or categorical values — status fields, gender codes, yes/no flags
  • Email addresses — where even small differences indicate different people

When Not to Use Exact Match

Avoid Exact Match for free-text fields that may contain typos, abbreviations, or formatting variations:

  • Names — "Robert" vs "Rob" vs "Bob" would all fail
  • Addresses — "123 Main St." vs "123 Main Street" would fail
  • Company names — "ABC Corp" vs "ABC Corporation" would fail

For these fields, use #match-type-similar-text (fuzzy matching) or #match-type-sounds-alike (phonetic matching) instead.

Configuration

Exact Match requires no additional parameters. Simply select Exact as the match type for your criterion and set the field weight. There are no thresholds or tolerance settings to configure — the comparison is all-or-nothing.

Important

Leading and trailing whitespace can cause exact matches to fail unexpectedly. If John (with a trailing space) is compared to John, the result is 0%. Use the Data Cleansing trim transformation to remove extra whitespace before matching.