LAW identifies and gathers a variety of detailed information about all the electronic documents being imported into each Case File. This information is then analyzed and organized into various data fields, which are stored in the Case Database and can later be viewed and processed by the end user. In LAW, these data fields are known as Metadata Fields. Most of these fields come from a predefined set which is generated for each Case Database during case creation, but others are later created as needed or can even be user-created for specific purposes. All Metadata Field management is done through the Modify Fields utility.
For a complete list and explanation of all predefined Metadata Fields, see the Predefined Metadata Fields Table.
To learn more about the Modify Fields utility, see the Managing Fields topic.
There are four different categories of Metadata Fields in LAW:
•System Fields - This is the largest category, used for general information on each document such as the date/time of creation, what program created it, and the file size/type. These fields cannot be edited by users.
•Extended Property Fields - These fields are used to indicate the special properties of each document, such as the existence of hidden comments or redacted text. Some of them are also generated from the metadata that was extracted from each document.
•Custom Fields - These fields are created by the end user as needed for the identification of specific kinds of data relevant to each case, or for document processing purposes.
•Export Fields - These fields are used exclusively for exporting documents and their relevant data from within the Export Utility. They are not found in the Modify Fields utility.
To learn how to create Custom Fields, see the Creating Fields and List Items topic.
To learn more about Export Fields, see the Export Utility: Fields topic.
These four categories of Metadata Fields are collectively divided into eight different Field Types, which each store different forms of data, and are applied at the document and/or page level:
•Text - Used for specific text-based data at either the document or page level. Has a max of 255 characters that can be populated.
•Auto Increment - Used for alpha-numeric identification at the document level. Automatically increments from one document to the next.
•Date - Used for dates at the document level. Formatted as MM/DD/YYYY.
•List - Used to apply text-based labels from a list of predefined values at the document level. These lists can be defined by the end user in the List Editor window from within the Modify Fields utility.
•Memo - Used for general text-based data at the document level. Can exceed 255 characters, but cannot be indexed. May have an increased number of rows displayed in the Grid View by using the Span Height option.
•Numeric - Used for numerical-based data at either the document or page level. Can hold up to the max positive/negative value for 32-bit integers.
•Tag (Boolean) - Used for True/False (Y/N) reporting at either the document or page level. Y values are indicated by check marks in the Grid View. Can be used for Tagging Text Hits with the Database Query Builder.
•TinyInt - Not available for Custom Fields. Used for short lists of potential numerical values at the document level.