FPDS Query Library
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Vendor Alternate Name

Text field containing an alternate or doing-business-as name for the vendor recorded in the IDV vendor header. It is the human-readable label used when the vendor is known by more than one name or when a record includes a name variant tied to the vendor entity.

Family: IDV
Category: Vendor Header
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: label
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName
Title
Vendor Alternate Name
FPDS Path
IDV/vendor/vendorHeader/vendorAlternateName
Description
Text field containing an alternate or doing-business-as name for the vendor recorded in the IDV vendor header. It is the human-readable label used when the vendor is known by more than one name or when a record includes a name variant tied to the vendor entity.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts identify vendors consistently across awards, especially when the same organization appears under multiple name formats, subsidiaries, or aliases. It is useful for vendor normalization, entity matching, and reviewing whether obligations are being attributed to the correct corporate group.
Example Value
SEMPRA ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Observed Non-Null Count
1,175,608

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName
FPDS XML Path
IDV/vendor/vendorHeader/vendorAlternateName
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'IDV/vendor/vendorHeader/vendorAlternateName' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building
  • Contractor profiling and competitor analysis

Common Usage

  • Vendor alias matching and cleanup
  • Consolidating awards across name variants
  • Investigating parent-subsidiary or DBA relationships

Common Mistakes

  • Using the alternate name as a unique vendor key
  • Assuming it always differs from the primary vendor name or is always populated

Query Guidance

Select and group on normalized vendor identifiers when available; use this field for display, fuzzy matching, or alias review rather than for primary joins. In SQL, consider LOWER(TRIM(content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName)) for comparisons, and pair it with the main vendor name to detect naming variants.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName AS vendor_alternate_name
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorAlternateName IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.