How to combine duplicate characteristics in Mavim

Target audience

Mavim users who manage characteristics and need to clean up duplicates caused by multiple users applying similar attributes.

Core purpose/goal

To explain how to merge duplicate characteristics in Mavim and highlight limitations when characteristics originate from Microsoft Visio.

Why combine characteristics?

When multiple users apply characteristics freely, duplicates can occur—characteristics with the same name or meaning. Combining them helps maintain consistency and avoid confusion.

Steps to combine characteristics

1. Open the Topics screen

   • Navigate to Objects (The Objects branch may need to be enabled first).

2. Select the parent topic

   • Choose the parent category (e.g., With What, Where, When) that contains multiple instances of the same characteristic.

3. Combine characteristics

   • Right-click and select Combine Characteristics.
   • All characteristics with the same name and code (see Topic Properties) will be merged.

Important notes

• If characteristics have different names but the same meaning, rename them so they match in all active languages before combining.
• Characteristics created in Microsoft Visio cannot be merged with those created in Mavim Manager, even if they share the same name.
  • These Visio-based characteristics can be identified by a sub-icon in the top-left corner of the characteristic icon.
• Visio characteristics differ technically from Mavim Manager characteristics, so merging is not possible.