Merge Rather Than Delete: Difference between revisions
From MusicBrainz Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
Reosarevok (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
|||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''It's usually best to |
'''It's usually best to merge duplicate entities (releases, release groups, recordings, etc.) instead of deleting them'''. |
||
Deleting |
Deleting entities has two kinds of bad effects on the database: |
||
* The [[MusicBrainz Identifier|MusicBrainz |
* The [[MusicBrainz Identifier|MusicBrainz identifiers]] that have been referenced anywhere (tagged files, links to [[MusicBrainz]] from other sites) will become invalid when the entity is deleted. When merging it, however, the old [[MusicBrainz Identifier|identifiers]] will forward to the entity it is merged into. |
||
* Even if there's no useful data |
* Even if there's no useful data attached to the entity when you enter the edit, it's possible that someone may enter it before your removal is approved. If so, the recently added data will be lost. |
||
⚫ | |||
This MergeRatherThanDelete guideline also applies to artists, but since a [[Remove Artist Edit|RemoveArtistEdit]] is not possible for an artist with any releases, relationships, tracks or [[Non-Album Tracks|NonAlbumTracks]] it is more of a system-enforced rule than a guideline. An analogous guideline is to [[Merge Misspelled Artists|MergeMisspelledArtists]]. |
|||
⚫ |
Revision as of 17:39, 29 September 2011
It's usually best to merge duplicate entities (releases, release groups, recordings, etc.) instead of deleting them.
Deleting entities has two kinds of bad effects on the database:
- The MusicBrainz identifiers that have been referenced anywhere (tagged files, links to MusicBrainz from other sites) will become invalid when the entity is deleted. When merging it, however, the old identifiers will forward to the entity it is merged into.
- Even if there's no useful data attached to the entity when you enter the edit, it's possible that someone may enter it before your removal is approved. If so, the recently added data will be lost.