Before importing

To avoid potential permission restrictions when performing an import, it is advisable that you have the highest Content Manager security level and all caveats.

Due to the nature of Access Controls in Content Manager, the ability to import and export data is restricted to users with Bypass All Access Controls permission, for example, users with the user type Administrator.

To use Content Manager DataPort, you must have Import And Export permission.

For example:

  • A user with user type Records Co-ordinator with standard permissions cannot access Content Manager DataPort
  • A user with user type Administrator or Records Manager with Control File Update permission for the specific function can import Lookup Sets, Noise Words, Additional Fields, Classifications, Schedules, Postal Codes and Thesaurus Terms
  • A user with user type Administrator with Modify Logins and User Profiles permission can import Locations and records
  • To import noise words, you need Control File Update - Indexed Words permission.
  • To import records, you must have the following Record Update permissions:
    • Create Records
    • Modify Records
    • Modify Record Class
    • Create New Parts
    • Record Archivist
    • Document Update
    • Append to Existing Notes
    • Add Records Relationships
    • Attach Contacts
    • Set Container
    • Change Container
    • Modify Record Security
    • Set Record Archiving Dates

    You must also have security access to all records involved.

  • To import Locations, you must have the following Location Update permissions:
    • Can Create Internal Locations
    • Can Modify Internal Locations
    • Can Create External Locations
    • Can Modify External Locations
    • Modify Logins and User Profiles

    You must have security access to all Locations involved.

  • To import Thesaurus terms, you must have Control File Update - Thesaurus Terms permission
  • To import Schedules, you must have Control File Update - Schedules permission
  • To import Classifications, you must have Control File Update - Administer Classifications permission
  • To import Postal Codes, you must have Control File Update - Postal Codes permission
  • To import Lookup Items, you must have Control File Update - Lookup Sets permission
  • To import Additional Fields, you must have Control File Update - Additional Fields permission.
  • It is recommended that you export sample data and compare it with your import file to see whether there are any differences in field use in different versions of to determine whether modifications are required
  • Back up - back up your dataset and associated directories.

    This is essential as it will enable you to roll back to a clean copy of your dataset if any problems arise as a result of importing faulty data.

  • Caution with importing field delimiters - the data fields being imported can be separated using specific characters.

    Content Manager DataPort by default uses the Tab data formatter. This uses tabs as the delimiter for major fields. Compound fields can use both pipes | and semicolons ; as delimiters.

    NOTE: Content Manager DataPort allows for custom data formatters to be developed and used, see Custom Data Formatter for further details.

    Problems may arise when the characters used as delimiters are also used in the import data and cause data to be misread by the import data function.

    See Tab Delimited Data Formatter: Field delimiters and behavior of compound import fields for further details about the delimiters used within compound fields.

  • Field length - ensure that fields being imported do not exceed the specified field length limit for that field in Content Manager.
  • Data integrity - ensure that the data you are importing has integrity.

    Bad data imported into Content Manager will produce poor results.

  • It is recommended that you import records in the same order they would have been created manually. The general rule here is to import those records with record types that have the highest container level and work to the smalest container level, for example Boxes, then Folders, then Documents.

    This ensures that record and container relationships are can be created.

  • Especially for a new database, configure the dataset fully to ensure that Content Manager can handle the information to be imported and that all links between data are correctly imported.

    Follow the steps below to set up a database that is ready to receive imported record data.

    Similar configurations of system defaults are required when importing other data types.

    For example, Locations require security levels and Classification Plans require Locations and security levels, etc.

    Import or set up the following in order:

    1. Security Levels and Caveats
    2. Lookup Sets/Items
    3. Additional Fields
    4. Locations
    5. Jurisdictions
    6. Retention Schedules
    7. Classifications
    8. Thesaurus Terms
    9. Noise Words
    10. Record

    • NOTE: Not all of the above  Content Manager objects can be imported using Content Manager DataPort, for example Record Types, you may need to create some objects in the Content Manager dataset manually.

    CAUTION: An export file is specific to the Content Manager version that generated the file.  In order to provide enhancements to Content Manager DataPort, it may be necessary to change the format over time. If you are migrating data from one Content Manager database to another, it is recommended that both Content Manager database versions be the same.