Import a Previously Exported Project into a New Project

Home > selected Organization > Import Project

Requires Projects - Add/Edit Permissions

Users in a role with permissions can perform a Project Import to restore a Project that has previously been subject to Project Export.

Note: Project Import occurs within the context of a new Project and uses the new Project to restore the contents of the previously exported Project. After successful import of a previously exported Project into a new Project, a user can proceed with Project work as usual (for example, add more data, perform further searches, tag, and export data). For an overview of the Project Import process, see How to Import a Project.

Project Import may restore a Project that was previously exported in one of the following ways:

From the same Digital Reef system (to the same or different Organization).
From a different Digital Reef system.

This Project Export/Import scenario (called Project Portability) requires the definition and use of a read/write NFS Connector and associated Project Data Area (Project location) on both the Project Export side and the Project Import side (where the Import side references the exported Project's location). If the Project Export/Import scenario involves the same Organization, the same NFS Connector and Project Data Area can be used for the Project Export and the Project Import. If the software cannot locate an NFS Connector with a Project Area, the Project Import will not be able to proceed.

Note: If you perform a Project Export and Project Import within the same Digital Reef system, to the same or different Organization, be sure to delete the previously exported Project from the Project list of the original Organization before you start a Project import operation that references the previously exported Project. If you do not delete the previously exported Project from the Organization's Project list, your Project Import into the new Project will fail. If this happens, view the Home page status to confirm that the failure was due to the Project not being deleted from the Project list before the Project Import, or to determine if there was another issue (for example, the database contained conflicting objects). In the latter situation, contact Digital Reef Customer Support to see whether the problem can be identified using the Digital Reef Leak Detection Utility.

To delete an exported Project prior to Project Import within the same system, to the same or different Organization:

From the Home page, find the exported Project in the list of Projects for the associated Organization.
Use the ellipsis menu or right-click the exported Project and select the Delete option.
In the confirmation popup that appears, Request Project Deletion. This puts the Project into a DELETE_REQUEST_PENDING state.
At this point, a System User with a System-level role and the appropriate permissions must approve the deletion of the Project from the eDiscovery Delete Pending Projects screen. Once the deletion has been approved and the Project deletion process has started, the Project state on the Home Page changes to DELETE_PENDING. When the deletion process is complete, the Project will no longer appear on the Home page, and the Project will appear on the eDiscovery Deleted Projects list for the System User with a System-level role and the appropriate permissions.
Wait until the deletion process is complete before proceeding to perform a Project Import.

Each imported Project will have the following from the previously exported Project:

Any Project Data Views previously included in the Project Export (and their associated indexes). This includes Analytic views such as custodian views, batch views, and mediaid views.
Project settings, Tags and Tag states, Patterns, Export Settings, and Export Fields.
Scan Report state of each successfully indexed Data Set in the entire Project). (Any failed Data Sets or Do Not Index Data Sets are not retained in the Project Export.)
Shared Data Sets that resided in the Project at the time of Project Export. If the Project contains a Shared Data Set from an Originating Project, the Shared Data Set is handled as follows:
- If the Originating Project that marked the Data Set as Shared still exists, then the Shared Data Set will not be created upon Project Import and will instead reference the existing Shared Data Set.
- If the Originating Project that marked the Data Set as Shared no longer exists, then the Shared Data Set will be created upon Project Import.
Project Audit Log
Any Synthetic Documents (for the entire Project)
Email threading state (preserved if previously applied)
Clustering state (preserved if previously applied)
Export state (documents exported, document IDs)
Near Duplicate Group state (preserved if previously applied)
Appropriate Work Basket entries
Export Volume report information for previously performed Exports
Report information from a previous run of a Workflow or any Export Comparison Report, including search term report information, if appropriate, and any Custodian or Batch tab information eligible to appear in the download report. (If there is an unexpected error while exporting the report data at the time of the Project Export or when importing the report data, the Project Export and/or Project Import will not fail. In this situation, if you do not get the report data, you will need to validate and rerun a Workflow with the appropriate report options, or regenerate a standalone Export Comparison for a search result.)

Note: In an imported Project, reports for views such as Imports, a Data Set, Project Data, a Custodian, a Tag, a Folder, or a Search result will be generated when you click the Reports tab for that view.

The following items are not retained from an exported project and have to reestablished in the imported Project:

Users from the exported Project. Users are not retained, so you will need to reestablish Users in the new Project after Project Import.
An Export Database configuration from the exported Project. If the previously exported Project included an Export Database configuration, you will need to reestablish the database using the Project-level Export Settings after the Project import. The new Project does not inherit the Project-level database configuration from the exported Project.

Import Project Options

Once you click Import Project, provide the following:

Name The unique name of an item. For many items, the name can have up to 100 characters. Some items, such as a Connector name, can have up to 255 characters. An Excluded Content Block name is limited to 32 characters. (required) – The Project name must be unique within the Organization and is subject to validation. You will see an error if the Project name already exists. The name can include alphanumeric characters, spaces between characters in the name (leading and trailing spaces are ignored), and some supported characters (such as a hyphen, underscore, and apostrophe). An example would be My Law Firm's Case. During validation, the software will also allow characters from foreign languages (for example, Korean characters). However, the following characters are not supported for Project names and will generate an error message indicating that your entry contains on or more invalid characters:

! " # $ % & * + . / : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ { | } ~ “ ”

Description Provides a helpful description of an item. A description can have up to 255 characters. – A helpful description of the Project.

Project Data Area (required) — Select from a list of available Organization Project Data Areas, which then populates the Folder area on the right. In this area, you must select a location to use as the source of the import (the Import Directory). A Project Data Area and associated NFS Connector must be configured by a user with Organization Administrator or equivalent permissions. Consult your System Administrator to make sure that you identify the correct Connector and Project Directory for import. Data Areas are identified by the icon.
Click Import Project to start the Project Import, or Cancel to cancel the operation. You can monitor the state of the Project Import from the Home page. You will see Importing for a state while the Project Import is in progress. Upon successful completion of the Project Import, the Project will be available from the Home page and you can open the Project and work as usual in the Project. If the Project Import fails, you will see an Import Failed status instead. A tooltip will provide any available information concerning the failure.

When you are working in the Project, note that all of the Work Basket tasks associated with the Project previously should appear in the Work Basket, and the Audit Log for the Project should contain all previous operations. If you do not see all expected tasks in the Work Basket after Project Import, use the Work Basket Tasks from all users option to show the tasks other users may have issued prior to Project Export.