Import .mdb load files

You can import documents into the application using .mdb load files.

Create an import job

To create an import job:

On the Case Home page, under Manage Documents, click Imports.

Click Add.

Note: As you complete each page in the Import window, the application saves the details. To close the window, you can click Cancel or submit the job. To retain the in-progress settings for the job, in the Import window, on the Schedule page, select Place on hold, and then click Save as draft.

Complete the Import Details page

In the Import window, on the Import Details page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

In the Job type list, select Ringtail - MDB.

Type a Name for the import.

Optionally, type a Description.

To update the All Custodians or related fields for new documents in the import job, under Duplicates, select Update group coding fields. Selecting this option also updates the fields for existing and future family duplicate documents in the application.

To run an indexing and enrichment job immediately after the import job completes, under Duplicates, select Run indexing and enrichment. For more information about indexing and enrichment, see Index and analyze documents.

Important: If you do not run an indexing and enrichment job, the content and native files do not load correctly in the View pane, and the application displays a "No content" error message for content files and a "No native file" error for native files.

In the Date format list, select either Month - Day or Day - Month as the date format for any dates that may be unclear, such as 6/5/2017.

Click Next.

Complete the Load File page

In the Import window, on the Load File page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

Select a load file type for the import:

Load file (.mdb): Use a load file (.mdb). If you select this option, do the following:

In the File repository list, select the file repository to import the data from. This list contains the file transfer repositories configured for your case.

If the file you need is not present, click Add more files to open the Upload files dialog box. You can then upload the files you need to the appropriate location. For instructions, see Upload files for import.

Load from SQL: Use a set of specially-prefixed SQL tables in the target case database. For more information and prefix examples, see Import using the Load From SQL option.

If you select this option, do the following:

In the File repository list, select the file repository to import the data from. This list contains the file transfer repositories configured for your case.

In the Prefix for tables text box, type the special prefix used to designate the SQL tables in the target database.

Click Next.

In the Folder name list, select a folder, and in the File name list, select the load file that you want to import.

Click Next.

Complete the Source Files page

In the Import window, on the Source Files page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

To include source files with the import, select Copy source files to the server.

To overwrite matching source files, select Overwrite matching source and/or content files already on the server.

To copy all folders under a specific directory, select Copy all folders under the selected folder.

Note: This option applies only to .mdb load file imports.

Select a folder to copy from in the list that appears.

Click Next.

Complete the Existing Documents page

In the Import window, on the Existing Documents page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

To determine how the application handles the import of existing documents, select one of the following Import action options.

Abort import, if it contains an existing document ID

Import new documents only: Data for documents that already exist in the case are ignored.

Update existing documents only

Import new documents and update existing documents

If you select Update existing documents only or Import new documents and update existing documents, additional options appear. See the following table for descriptions of the options.

Option	Description
For existing documents, update	To update the listed fields, select Document Date, Description, Title, Type, or Source and attachments. To use null values to represent missing data when you update the selected fields, select Allow NULL updates (for fields above). For example, if a load file contains a document with a null value as its title, then the existing document is updated or overwritten with the null title. To update levels, select Levels.
Fields data	Do not update fields: Does not update data for existing documents. Only new documents contain imported fields. Delete all field values. Do not update fields: Deletes all field values for documents in the import data set. If you select this option, none of the updated documents l have imported field values. Note: This option clears field values only for documents in the import data set. For example, if a case contains existing documents A, B, and C, and the import data set contains documents C, D, and E, selecting Delete all field values. Do not update fields does not affect documents A and B. It clears the metadata only for document C. Update only mapped fields: Deletes field values for documents in the case, and then adds those fields from the import data set to the case. This applies only to mapped fields. All other fields remain the same. Append only mapped fields: Adds new field values for one-to-many fields for documents in the import data set. Existing values in one-to-one fields do not change. This only applies to mapped fields. All other fields remain the same.
Parties data	Do not update parties: Does not update parties data in existing documents. Delete all party values. Do not update parties: Deletes all parties data values for documents in the import data set. If you select this option, none of the updated documents have parties data values. Update all mapped parties: Deletes the parties data values for documents in the import data set, and then adds new parties data values to the case. This option applies only to mapped parties data in the target data set. Append all mapped parties: Adds new mapped parties data values to documents and removes all parties information for updated documents.
Pages data	Do not update pages: Does not update pages data in documents. Delete all page values. Do not update pages: Deletes all pages data values for documents in the import data set. If you select this option, none of the updated documents will have pages data values. Update all pages: Deletes the pages data values for documents in the import data set, and then adds new pages data values to the case. This applies to both mapped pages data and all other pages data values in the target data set. Append all pages: Either overwrites new pages data fields in documents or overwrites fields for documents in the import data set.
Annotations data	Do not update annotations: Does not update annotations for existing documents. Delete all existing annotations. Do not update annotations: Deletes all annotations for documents in the load file that already exist in the case. No annotations from the load file are imported. Delete all existing annotations. Append new annotations: Deletes all annotations for documents in the load file that already exist in the case, and then imports annotations from the load file. Append all annotations: Imports the annotations in the load file, and retains previously existing annotations.

Click Next.

Complete the Fields page

In the Import window, on the Fields page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

To specify how to map fields, annotations, and parties data from the import data set to existing data in the case, select one of the following options, and then click Next.

Do not import any fields, annotations, or parties: Ignores all fields, annotations, and parties data in the imported source file.

Import all fields, annotations, and parties. (The application will respect the selections made for existing documents.) Match field and annotation names and create new fields and annotations, as needed: Automatically matches source fields and annotations to case fields and annotations. If no fields or annotations match, the application automatically creates new fields or annotations in the case using the same source field name and type, or the same annotation name and type.

Custom map imported fields and annotations to case fields: Creates custom field and annotation mappings in your case. To use this option, click Get Fields.

The application searches the load file for available import fields and annotations, and notifies you when the inventory is complete and the import fields and annotations are ready to be mapped.

Note: Due to RPF server demands, this process can take a while. If you want to perform other tasks in the application and return to this advanced import later, click Next until the Schedule page appears, and then click Save as draft.

If you selected the Custom map imported fields and annotations to case fields option, after the application completes the inventory of import fields and annotations, the Field Map, Field Trumping Order, and Annotation Map pages appear.

Complete the Field Map page

In the Import window, on the Field Map page, use the following procedure to specify how the fields in the import source are processed during the import.

To change the mapping of an import field, click a value in the Action column, and then select one of the following options:

New: Creates a new field in the case database on import.

Ignore: Excludes the field from the import.

Import to: The application automatically shows you which document fields are valid for that import field based on field type and one-to-one or one-to-many relationships. For example, you can only map text fields to text fields, or Boolean fields to Boolean fields. One-to-many import fields can only map to one-to-many case fields.

In the Case field column, select a binder, issue, or field value that corresponds to the action selected for the import field.

To set a default value for a field in an imported document, click the field in the Default value column and then type a value.

When you are finished mapping all of the fields, click Next.

Note: Each time that you submit an import job with a custom field map, that custom field map becomes the new default custom field map for future imports into the case. You can use the custom map repeatedly on later imports of similar sources.

Complete the Field Trumping Order page

On the Field Trumping Order page, you can determine the order in which the import fields will populate the application case field. Case fields affected by many-to-one mapping for the import job appear in the Case field pane on the left, if the case field is a one-to-one field.

Note: If the case field is a one-to-many field, values from all mapped import fields will be added to the case field.

In the Import window, on the Import Details page, use the following procedure to complete the information required.

To view and reorder the import fields, click the name of a case field. The order in which the import fields are used to populate the case field appears in the Rank column.

To change the ranking order, click on the handle of an import field row and drag it up or down.

Complete the Annotation Map page

in the Import window, on the Annotation Map page, use the following procedure to specify how annotations in the import source are processed during the import.

To change the mapping of an annotation type in the load file, click a value in the Action column, and then select one of the following options:

Ignore: Data for this annotation type is not imported.

Import to: Maps the annotation type to an existing highlight or redaction type in the case. If you select this option, click in the Case Annotation column, and then select an annotation in the list.

Match: Matches the imported annotation type to a case annotation type with the same name and color. This option is available only if an annotation with the same name and color already exists in the case. This is the default action if the annotation has not been mapped in a prior import.

New: Creates a new annotation type in the case database on import. This option is available only if an annotation with the same name and color does not already exist in the case. This is the default action if the annotation has not been mapped in a prior import.

Previous: Uses the annotation mapping from a previous import. This option is available only if the annotation has been mapped in a prior import. This is the default action, when available.

When you are finished mapping all of the annotations, click Next.

Note: If the user who applied an annotation as recorded in the load file is available in the case, that user is associated with the annotation. Otherwise, the user who performs the import is associated with the annotation.

Complete the Schedule page and finish the import job request

In the Import window, on the Schedule page, use the following procedure to set the start time for the import job, place the job on hold to save as a draft job for later use, and finish the import job request.

Select from the following options:

To schedule a time, in the Start time box, select a date. In the second box, select a time.

To submit the job for processing immediately, leave the default Now setting.

To place a job on hold for later, select Place on hold, and then click Save as draft. You can return to a draft job at any time from the Imports page.

To schedule the job to run as a test, select Schedule as a test run only. Do not import metadata into the case.

Click Finish.

Note: If you have scheduled the job to run as a test, when you click Finish, the application adds the word TEST at the beginning of the description of the import on the Imports page.

The application returns to the Imports page, and indicates that your job is scheduled. The application saves your job definitions for processing. To view the import job details, click the name of the import job. The application displays the details in the Properties page.

Import using the Load from SQL option

When you select the Load From SQL option on the Load File page, the application creates a SQL-based load file as your import data source. You can use this option to do the following:

Use special tables created in the target case database as the source data for your document imports.

Merge several .mdb load files into a source for a single import.

Avoid the 2 gigabyte (GB) file size limit of the .mdb file format.

SQL tables with a special prefix

The Load from SQL option is based on tables that a user manually creates in the SQL database for the case before performing the import. The following tables match the structure and data standards of an .mdb load file:

Annotations

Export

Export_extras

Pages

Parties

For details on the structure and data standards for these tables, see the Import and Export Data Standards document.

You must create the tables in the target case database or data warehouse (case_DW) database. For example, for a case named MajorCase, create the tables in either the “MajorCase” or “MajorCase_DW” SQL database.

Name all tables with the exact same special prefix. For example, if the prefix for tables is BigImport3-, name the tables as follows:

BigImport3-Annotations

BigImport3-Export

BigImport3-Export_extras

BigImport3-Pages

BigImport3-Parties

After you create the tables, a user with SQL access and permissions copies the import data into the tables. After the user copies the data,, use the Load From SQL option to import the documents’ metadata, using the Advanced Import feature.

You can create multiple sets of the specially prefixed tables in the same SQL database to use with different advanced imports, as long as each set of tables uses a unique special prefix.

Loading files from SQL

To import files using the Load From SQL option:

Note: Administrators using SQL Server to create tables and copy data must have access and permissions to the case database in SQL Server.

Create the SQL tables with special prefixes in the targeted case database or case_DW database.

Use SQL to copy data into the specially prefixed tables.

In the application, on the Case Home page, under Manage Documents, click Imports.

Click Add.

In the Import window, on the Imports Details page, do the following:

In the Job type list, select Ringtail - MDB.

Type a Name for the import.

Optionally, type a Description.

In the Date format list, select either Month - Day or Day - Month as the date format for any dates that may be unclear, such as 6/5/2017.

Click Next.

On the Load File page, select the Load From SQL option as the load file type.

In the Prefix for tables text box, type the special prefix used for the tables to be used as import data.

Click Next.

Set any other import options, as required.