Description
How do I import metadata into a Portfolio catalog?
Solution
This article explains how to import metadata from a text file into a Portfolio catalog. Please note that these instructions are not valid for Portfolio Server 11 and earlier. Text files exported from Portfolio Server 11 and earlier are not compatible with Portfolio 1 and newer. If you need to import such a text file into the new version of Portfolio, please Contact Extensis Technical Support for assistance.
Enable Access Level
Before you can import metadata into a Portfolio catalog, you have to enable the 'Import Metadata' permission. The permission is on by default for users with Administrator privileges, but needs to be enabled for Editor and Publisher level users. The 'Import Metadata' permission cannot be enabled for Readers. Note: This is a powerful feature and should only be made available to users who understand it. Mistakes can cause the catalog's metadata to get erased or incorrectly overwritten. Here's how to enable Import Metadata:
- Log into Portfolio Administration
- Click on Access Levels in the strip on the left
- Select Editor or Publisher
- Put a check into the 'Import Metadata' option
Create a Text File
Portfolio can import metadata from a tab delimited text file saved with UTF-8 encoding. You can create such a text file with any decent text editor or spreadsheet program. If you have Microsoft Excel, save the file select 'Text (Tab Delimited)' from the 'Save As Type' list. Here's a list of requirements for the metadata import from a text file to be successful:
- A column is required for each metadata field that you will be importing.
- Each column must be separated by a tab, i.e. 'Tab Delimited'
- Each row must be separated by a Carriage Return, i.e. by hitting the Enter or Return key.
- The field names in the text file need to be identical to the ones in your catalog.
- The text file can only contain columns for fields that exist in the target catalog. Import will fail if a field is missing.
- Portfolio uses the first field as the key value. It should be a field that contains only unique values, such as Item ID or Path.
- If a field has multiple values, such as Keywords, each value needs to be separated by the | character, i.e. 'pipe symbol'. Example: apples|bananas|oranges
- Field types in Portfolio determine what type of data they can hold:
- String or Text Block fields can hold any type of data.
- Boolean, Date/Time, Decimal, Number, and URL fields can only contain data specific to that field type.
- Text files must be saved with UTF-8 text encoding.
To help illustrate, here's a screenshot of a simple Excel spreadsheet with two fields: Filename and Keywords:
Note how the multi-value field Keywords uses the | symbol to separate each value. Here's a screenshot of the same file after it's been saved as tab delimited text:
Note the tabs between the Filename and Keyword columns, and the pipe symbol between each keyword
Back up the Catalog
Important! It's wise to make a backup of a catalog before importing metadata, just in case there's a mistake in the text file. The Backup/Restore instructions in Portfolio's online help will show you how.
Import The Text File
Before you import a text file, note the following:
- All existing field values are overwritten.
- Multi-value field data will be replaced.
- If duplicate filenames exist in the catalog, they will all get the same metadata as the first one in the catalog.
- If a field with a predefined list allows additional values, it will allow data to be imported. However, the import will not add new values to the predefined list.
- If a field with a predefined list does not allow additional values, values that are not in the list will be ignored during import.
Note: It's a best practice to do a test import with only a few lines of data before importing a large text file. If the test is successful, you can import all of the metadata. Here are the steps for importing metadata when you're ready:
- Log into Portfolio Web with a user account that has permission to Import Metadata.
- Pick a catalog from the Catalog list in the strip on the left.
- Right-Click (Win) or Control-Click (Mac) on the 'All Items' gallery, then select 'Import Data'.
- Select your text file in the dialog that opens up.
- Portfolio will then process the text file and add its metadata to your catalog. You can monitor progress by clicking on the 'Show Jobs' option.
Note: If the import fails, check the server.log file in the \Extensis\Portfolio Server\logs directory. The log will list all items that were updated successfully and the reasons any items were skipped.