Import a Dataroom structure

Users can take an Excel file that contains the structure of an existing dataroom from another dataroom platform and recreate the folder and file structure in a Collaborate site. When files are created in Collaborate through this method, they are empty placeholder files that just represent the files that are actually stored in the other dataroom platform. If a filename includes a file extension (like .docx), that file extension will be added to the file name, but the file will not be of that type. Therefore, including a reference to 'Agreement.docx' in an Excel file will cause the System to create a file called 'Agreement.docx' but it will be a placeholder file, not a Word file, and it will not show the Word file icon type, but the placeholder file icon type.

This setting is turned off by default in all instances of Collaborate. Please contact your account manager or Support to have this feature enabled.

Importing a dataroom structure 

Open site Admin, then in Module settings open Settings for the Files module. Scroll down to Import folders and file structure from Excel section and click Import:

The Import folder and file structure screen will be displayed:

Click Browse and find your Excel file. Once the file has loaded successfully a message will display informing you that the load was successful. Then, select a Data Format. See below for an overview of the three different types. Finally, choose a location for where the file should be stored on your Collaborate site. The parent folder is selected by default but a child folder can be selected. Once a folder has been chosen, click Import.

The system will process the uploaded Excel file according to the selected data format in two steps. In step 1, the System will ensure that the Excel file conforms to the selected data format:

If step 1 is successful, in step 2 the site administrator will be asked to confirm the folder and file structure that the system was able to determine from the Excel file, previewing what the folder structure will look like:

Click Finish to have the files and folders created. The screen will change to indicate that the files and folders are being imported into the site and that the site administrator can leave the page. Once the import has successfully completed, a message will be displayed at the top of the page:

An email is sent to the site administrator about the success of the process. If there are any errors in the Excel File, the site administrator will be notified, so that the Excel file can be corrected.

Permissible data formats

To avoid errors, make sure that the rows in the Excel file after the data rows are entirely blank, or else the system will attempt to process them. The process will fail if the system detects that those rows contain any data but those rows do not otherwise conform to the required format.

For each data format, the names of the column headers do not matter (although it makes them easier to read). The important thing is that there IS a column header row, all of the columns are included, and the columns are in the correct order.

Also, for those data formats that contain a unique identifier, that identifier must always remain unique. If this feature is used more than once to import files and folders into the same site, then the same ID cannot be repeated across all import attempts.

Data format templates

HighQ template

An example of the HighQ Template can be downloaded by clicking the HighQ Template link at the top of the Import folder structure screen. 

The HighQ Template is an Excel file with these four columns. The first row is the column header row:

1. Type - The value here must be either File or Folder
2. Index - Each file and folder listed must have a unique index number. The index number uses the dot numbering notation, with the top-level files and folders having single-digit index (like 1, 2, 3, etc), any child of a top-level folder having index numbers like 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, etc., any grandchild items having index numbers 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc., down as many levels as the structure goes
3. Title - The name of the file or folder. File names may optionally include an extension. The file or folder name is limited to 500 characters
4. uniqueID - Every file and folder must have a unique identifier, like 00001, 00002, etc. Any identifier value (numbers, letters, etc.) can be used, but it must be unique among the files and folders added the site

Index structure template

In this data format, the first row of the Excel file will not be imported (this row can be blank or contain any data.) 

This row will be ignored but must be included in the file.

The second row contains the column headers, in the order specified below.

Only four of the columns contain data that will be used during the import process, and are marked with an asterisk *. The values in the other columns will be ignored and may be empty.

The first data row under the column header row must have a blank index number and a doc type of 'Fileroom', which represents the dataroom itself.

1. Fileroom
2. *Index - Each file and folder listed must have a unique index number. The index number uses the dot numbering notation, with the top-level files and folders having single-digit index (like 1, 2, 3, etc), any child of a top-level folder having index numbers like 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, etc., any grandchild items having index numbers 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc., down as many levels as the structure goes. However, no index is permitted for the Fileroom item, which is a required data row.
3. *Title - The title of the file or folder. The file extension need not be included as part of the file name, but can be if helpful. (Values in the File Type column will be ignored, so the only way to include the file extension is here.) The file or folder name is limited to 500 characters. No title is required for the Fileroom row and any title provided for it will be ignored.
4. *Doc Type - Either "Document", "Folder" or "Fileroom". Fileroom items will be ignored but there must be one Fileroom row.
5. Page Count
6. Printable
7. Downloadable
8. File Type - This value may be entered for Document items (for reference), but it will be ignored.
9. Color Document
10. Date Loaded

Unique file ID template

In this data format, the first two rows of the Excel file will not be imported (these rows can be blank or contain any data.) 

These rows will be ignored but must be included in the file.

The third row contains the column headers, in the order specified below.

Only four of the columns contain data that will be used during the import process, and are marked with an asterisk *. The values in the other columns will be ignored and may be empty.

1. *Kind - This must have a value of 'Folder' if the row represents a folder, otherwise it can represent any type of file. However, the value entered to represent a file will otherwise be ignored. For example, the value could be 'File', 'Document' or 'Adobe Acrobat'.
2. *# - Each file and folder listed must have a unique index number. The index number uses the dot numbering notation, with the top-level files and folders having single-digit index (like 1, 2, 3, etc), any child of a top-level folder having index numbers like 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, etc., any grandchild items having index numbers 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc., down as many levels as the structure goes.
3. *Title - The title of the file or folder. The file extension need not be included as part of the file name, but can be if helpful. (Values in the Kind column will be ignored in determining the file type, so the only way to include the file extension is here.) The file or folder name is limited to 500 characters.
4. Ownership
5. *ID - Every file and folder must have a unique identifier, like 00001, 00002, etc. Any identifier value (numbers, letters, etc.) can be used, but it must be unique among the files and folders added to the site.
6. There are 10 other required columns, which can be viewed in the attached example, but all of them will be ignored and the data can be empty in those columns.