Find Duplicates

Eliminate near-duplicate type definitions that accumulate when multiple team members create similar types independently. Find Duplicates uses fuzzy string matching to identify near-identical type definitions across multiple element categories. It applies the Levenshtein distance algorithm with configurable thresholds to detect names that differ only by whitespace, punctuation, numbering, or minor typos -- the kinds of variations that accumulate when multiple team members create similar types independently.

flowchart LR
    Scan["Scan\nCategories"] --> Match["Fuzzy Match\nLevenshtein"]
    Match --> Dupes["Duplicates\nIdentified"]
    Dupes --> Select["Select\nTarget Type"]
    Select --> Reassign["Reassign\nInstances"]
    Reassign --> Delete["Delete\nSource Types"]
    Delete --> Done["Merged"]
 
    style Scan fill:#3b82f6,color:#fff,stroke:#2563eb
    style Done fill:#10b981,color:#fff,stroke:#059669
    style Dupes fill:#f97316,color:#fff,stroke:#ea580c

Supported Categories

Find Duplicates scans the following categories for duplicate definitions:

• Line Styles
• Text Types
• Dimension Types
• Materials
• Fill Patterns

How Matching Works

The tool computes the Levenshtein edit distance between every pair of type names within each category. Pairs whose distance falls at or below the configured threshold are flagged as potential duplicates. A threshold of 2 catches names that differ by one or two character changes (for example, "Interior Wall - 3" vs "Interior Wall 3" or "Body Text" vs "Body text"). A higher threshold catches broader variations but increases false positives.

Merging Duplicates

Once duplicates are identified, you can resolve them in two ways:

• Automated merge: Select a target type and click Merge. The tool reassigns all instances of the source types to the target and deletes the source types in one transaction.
• User-guided merge: Review each flagged pair individually, confirm or skip, and apply only the merges you approve.

Both modes generate a log of every type deletion and reassignment, which appears in the results panel after the operation completes.

When to Run

Run Find Duplicates when onboarding a model that has been worked on by multiple teams, after merging content from template files, or whenever the type count in a category feels unexpectedly high. It is also useful as a periodic hygiene check, since type proliferation tends to grow gradually and is easy to miss in day-to-day work.

Last updated: 2026-02-19