Prepare your CSV or SQL input so it follows the required structure (supported fields, formats, and validation rules) and avoids common errors.

In this section:

Supported metadata fields

The User Metadata Importer accepts a defined set of metadata fields. Each field has limits on the number of values allowed and the maximum character length. Review these limits before preparing your data.

General rules:

  • All values must be strings (alphanumeric or special characters).

  • Fields that contain commas must be enclosed in quotation marks.

  • Some fields support multiple values.

Metadata field

Max values allowed

Character limit

Practice Area

100

255

Manager

1

255

Telephone

100

255

Additional Locations

1

255

Department

1

255

Job Title

1

255

Import file format and structure

Your metadata must follow specific formatting conventions so the importer can process it correctly. The following sections describe these conventions for both CSV files and SQL queries.

Identifying users

The importer uses the userid field to match metadata to the correct iManage Work accounts.

  • CSV: The first column must be userid.

  • SQL: The query must include a column titled userid.

NOTE: The userid value must match the user’s iManage Work ID.

General file guidelines

To avoid import errors, follow these rules when preparing metadata:

  • Include only the metadata fields you want to add or update.

  • Fields that support multiple values must be repeated once per value.

  • If a multi-value field is empty for some users, those empty fields are ignored.

Handling special characters

Special characters such as commas and quotation marks must be escaped correctly in CSV input. The following rules and examples show the required syntax.

  • Commas (,) in metadata fields must be enclosed in quotation marks:
    "Atlanta, Georgia" is imported as Atlanta, Georgia.

  • Quotation marks (") must be escaped using a forward slash (/):
    /"HQ/" is imported as "HQ".

  • Both escape characters can be used in the same field. For example:
    "/"HQ, EMEA/"" is imported as "HQ, EMEA".

Examples of valid data structure for CSV and SQL files

The following examples show valid metadata formats for both CSV and SQL inputs. Each example adds metadata for a single user with the userid RHETT_PULLMAN.

CSV Example 1: All metadata fields with a single value each

Tabular view:

userid

Practice Area

Manager

Telephone

Additional Locations

Department

Job Title

RHETT_PULLMAN

M&A

Amanda Peake

+123456788

London

Legal

Junior Associate

CSV format:

userid,Practice Area,Manager,Telephone,Additional Locations,Department,Job Title
RHETT_PULLMAN,M&A,Amanda Peake,+123456788,London,Legal,Junior Associate

CSV Example 2: One field with multiple values

Tabular view:

userid

Practice Area

Manager

Telephone

Telephone

Additional Locations

Department

Job Title

RHETT_PULLMAN

M&A

Amanda Peake

+123456788

+123456789

London

Legal

Junior Associate

CSV format:

userid,Practice Area,Manager,Telephone,Telephone,Additional Locations,Department,Job Title
RHETT_PULLMAN,M&A,Amanda Peake,+123456788,+123456789,London,Legal,Junior Associate

CSV Example 3: Single metadata fields included

Tabular view:

userid

Practice Area

RHETT_PULLMAN

M&A

CSV format:

userid,Practice Area
RHETT_PULLMAN,M&A

SQL examples

Use these SQL examples as a template when constructing your own SQL queries for metadata import. Queries must include specific fields and follow case-sensitive naming requirements.

To import from SQL, queries must correspond exactly to the available metadata fields, which are:

  • Practice Area

  • Manager

  • Telephone

  • Additional Locations

  • Department

  • Job Title

The comma-separated metadata information must be included in a query of the following form:

Driver={driver for SQL server};
Server=[Server Name];
Database=[Database Name];
UID=[SQL User ID];
PWD=[SQL User Password];
 
SELECT userid, [Practice Area], Manager, Telephone, [Additional Locations], Department, [Job Title]
FROM [Database Name].[Schema].[Table Name]

Replace [Server Name], [Database Name], [SQL User ID], and [SQL User Password] with your actual server name, database name, SQL user ID, and password.