Just because you are a Custom Fields Administrator, or even if you created the field, it doesn't mean you have permission to import data to a specific field.  You must assign yourself the right to upload data to that field.  Otherwise the import will fail.

1. Open the Field Admin by going to Start>Manage Fields & Forms.
2. Select the Field in the left tab that you want to check.
3. Check the Permissions Tab (1).
4. Add yourself as a user, or a group in which you are a user to the field.
5.  Add yourself as BULK and not just READ or WRITE.

Notice that the permissions model is descending in precedence meaning BULK users can Import, Read and Write; WRITE users can Read and Write; and READ users can Read only.

Data may be imported from a spreadsheet that is saved as a CSV file.  The primary key is the Document No. column (1) which must exist on your CSV file.

Make sure the column headers in your spreadsheet MATCH the Field Codes you created EXACTLY or the import will fail.  This example will fail because I don't have permission to import data to the standard (non-custom) fields, Normalized Assignee and File Dates.  These fields must be removed before you save the CSV file for importing.

If you make a mistake in your setup, AcclaimIP's import processor will give you an error message, and you can fix the problem and re-import.  You won't break the system, the import just won't work.

When I tried importing the first spreadsheet above containing additional standard fields, the import failed.  See the error messages above.

The example above shows a properly prepared CSV file in Excel.  Only the primary key (Document No.) field and the custom field I created _LEGAL.DKT are present.

Custom Field Codes Use Leading Underscores

Remember that AcclaimIP appends the field codes you define with a leading underscore character.  AcclaimIP must do this to make sure your field codes do not collide with existing field field codes in the system.  The leading underscore must be present in the csv file's column headers.  For example, while TTL is the existing field code for a Patent's title field, you could define a field code _TTL for some other title you use.

Field Codes Contain Their Parent Folder Name

This field was created as simply "DKT" but AcclaimIP nested it in its parent folder, and the actual field code you use for importing (and querying) is _LEGAL.DKT, since the DKT field is inside the folder I named LEGAL.

For these reasons you should keep your folder names short!

The import utility is found in the Start menu under the Upload Custom Data (1) option.

The Custom Field Import Utility will open:

1. Choose the Select Files button (1)
2. Navigate to the CSV file you want to import (2)
3. Choose Open (3)

The CSV file will be Queued for Upload, but it will not import until you click the Upload Files button in the bottom right.

When you click the Upload Files button, AcclaimIP's importer will go through 4 steps to add the custom data to your instance of AcclaimIP.

1. UPLOAD.  The file is transferred to AcclaimIP
2. PROCESSING:  The file is checked for errors, and any mistakes are reported in this step.
3. SUBMITTED:  If Processing is successful, the custom data is imported and indexed.
4. APPLIED:  The final notification lets you know the data has been applied and is ready to use in AcclaimIP.

In this example, the upload has failed. If an error in your csv file is detected, AcclaimIP will give you an error message and the import will stop.  You then fix the error and re-import the CSV file.

If the data has been successfully applied, the system will say APPLIED in the status and the information is ready to use in AcclaimIP.

The Upload History is a simple utility that reports on the various operations that have been done in the system.  The Upload History monitor is located in the Start Menu under Upload History. 

Once the import process runs and I get the APPLIED notification, and the fields are ready to use.  I tested my results by running a range query on the numbers using the custom field code I defined. You can also use the FIELD field code to search, if you want. Instructions for that is found here: Searching Custom Field Including Finding Empty