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In DQM, when an analytical result has more than one exception to a Rule in a DQM Check, users can choose whether to:

1)select the highest ranked qualifier, or

2)merge the multiple qualifiers.

 

QAPP specific rankings are set for qualifiers in RT_DQM_QUALIFIER.QUALIFIER_RANK and for reason codes in RT_DQM_REASON.REASON_CODE_RANK. Four Global Parameters in each DQM QAPP control this feature.

 

merge_qualifiers Parameter

 

This parameter controls whether qualifiers are merged or ranked.

•TRUE = Merge all qualifiers

•FALSE = Only apply the highest ranked qualifier; (qualifiers with equal ranks are merged)

 

See How do I assign a rank for qualifiers? and DQM Settings > Qualifiers Tab articles for additional information on how to rank qualifiers.

 

merge_equal ranks Parameter

 

This parameter controls how qualifiers with equal ranks are handled.

•When merge_qualifiers = TRUE,

oMERGE or WARNING = Merge all qualifiers

•When merge_qualifiers = FALSE,

oMERGE = Merge qualifiers with equal ranks with no warning

oWARNING = Merge qualifiers with equal ranks and place a warning message in the Errors tab

 

merge_ranked_reason_codes Parameter

 

This parameter provides an option to merge multiple reason codes even when not merging qualifiers.

When merge_qualifiers = TRUE

oFor multiple exceptions with the same qualifier, only one qualifier can be displayed but there could be multiple reasons codes to process.

•AND merge_ranked_reason_codes =

oALL

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, even if there is only one qualifier after the merging of qualifiers, then merge the reason codes from all exceptions in unranked order (the order will be determined by the order of the DQM checks in the DQM QAPP being used).

oEQUAL ONLY (this setting it is meant to be used with merge_qualifiers = FALSE, but it will not cause an error when used with merge_qualifiers = TRUE; it will just process the same as the ALL setting)

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, even if there is only one qualifier after the merging of qualifiers, then merge the reason codes from all exceptions in unranked order (the order will be determined by the order of the DQM checks in the DQM QAPP being used).

oRANK ALL

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, even if there is only one qualifier after the merging of qualifiers, then merge the reason codes from all exceptions in ranked order.

oTOP RANK ONLY

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, even if there is only one qualifier after the merging of qualifiers, use only the reason code with the highest REASON_CODE_RANK in the RT_DQM_REASON table.

▪If more than one reason code has been assigned the highest rank, then merge those reason codes.

When merge_qualifiers = FALSE (i.e., use the top-ranked qualifier only)

oFor multiple exceptions with the same qualifier, only one qualifier can be displayed but there could be multiple reasons codes to process.

oIf more than one qualifier has the highest rank (it is NOT the recommended practice to give more than one qualifier the same rank), there could be multiple reasons codes to process.

•AND merge_ranked_reason_codes =

oALL

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, regardless of the qualifier rankings, then merge the reason codes from all exceptions in unranked order (the order will be determined by the order of the DQM checks in the DQM QAPP being used).

oRANK ALL

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception, regardless of the qualifier rankings, then merge the reason codes from all exceptions in in ranked order.

oEQUAL ONLY = Based on the qualifier rank and reason code(s) associated with that qualifier

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is only one qualifier with the highest rank and it has only been assigned to one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception assigned the qualifier(s) with the highest rank, then merge the reason codes from only those exceptions in unranked order (the order will be determined by the order of the DQM checks in the DQM QAPP being used).

oTOP RANK ONLY = Based on the qualifier rank and reason code(s) associated with that qualifier

▪If there is only one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is only one qualifier with the highest rank and it has only been assigned to one exception, then display the reason code for that exception.

▪If there is more than one exception assigned the qualifier(s) with the highest rank, then use the single reason code, from only those exceptions, with the highest REASON_CODE_RANK in the RT_DQM_REASON table. If more than one reason code from those exceptions have all been assigned the highest rank, then merge those reason codes.

 

merge_ranked_remarks Parameter

 

This parameter determines how to handle the remarks from multiple exceptions when MERGE_QUALIFIERS = FALSE.

•This is a single string parameter.

oDefault value = "ALL"

•Remarks from all exceptions will be merged even though not all qualifiers will be merged.

•EQUAL ONLY = Only the remarks from the exceptions with the top ranked qualifier(s) are merged.

 

 

Examples

 

Three example scenarios and the resulting Apply Q, Apply RC, Apply Remark, and Warning values for all possible combinations of the merge_qualifiers, merge_equal_ranks, merge_ranked_reason_codes, and merge_ranked_remarks parameters are provided in the Scenario Examples for Ranking and Merging Settings Behavior Excel file. Within this spreadsheet:

•"Apply Q", "Apply RC", and "Apply Remark" refer to those columns on the Review All Results tab of the Process Event screen and

•"Warning" refers to that column on the Errors tab of the Process Event screen.