Case Appender

Case Appender (one of the components of the Add-On called Case Builder)

What is Case Appender used for?

Case Appender is one of the components of Openlaw Case Builder.

It appears in the first Tab of the composite screen:

Its function is to append two Openlaw Cases to each other. The most obvious use for this is where a bureau is supplying data in tranches to allow the user to get on with one batch whilst another is being scanned and coded, or where after-acquired Items (such as an opponent's Disclosure List) are provided as a separate Case.

Another function of Case Appender is to enable version upgrades without the need to return the Case to your distributor. If you have your own copy of Case Appender, the addition of further Items can take place with minimal interruption to ongoing work.

The Case into which Items are appended is called the Destination Case. The Case from which the Items are appended is called the Source Case.

Pre-requisites for using Case Appender

The pre-requisites for using Case Appender are:

•	that you have a copy of Openlaw Case Builder and the right in the Destination Case licence to use it

•	that the Destination Case has a licence capacity adequate for the total number of Items it will hold after the Append

•	that both the Cases have been Verified in their present locations

•	that the Item Numbers of the Source Case to be appended do not overlap with those in the Destination Case

•	that there is a file called AppenderRules.mdb in the same directory as Case Builder.exe.

Note: The Item numbers of the Source Case may be lower than the last-used Item Number in the Destination Case if there is a gap in the sequence of Item numbering, that is, if the full range of appended Item Numbers is equal to or less than the range of unused Item Numbers in the Destination Case. Bulk Item Adder provides another way of filling in gaps in Item Number sequences.

How to start Case Appender

Run Openlaw Case Builder by double-clicking on it. Take the tab <Append from an Openlaw Case>.

The Destination Case

Take Select an Openlaw Case to WRITE new Items to... A file picker enables you to navigate to the licence file (with a name ending in '.lic') of the Destination Case i.e. the Case into which Items are to be appended.

Note: This Case (the Destination Case) is assumed to be the 'Master' case. Except where this Case is empty (see Version Upgrades below) the append will preserve the Check Box labels and other non-duplicable settings (i.e. those which can only exist once) from the Destination case and discard those in the Source Case. Settings which can exist in multiple forms (such as Keywords) are appended if they do not duplicate existing entries.

Case Appender first checks that the Case has been Verified. If it has not been Verified a message tells you that you cannot proceed.

Version Upgrades

If Appender is being used for a version upgrade (i.e. to bring an existing Case into an updated data structure) then all the relevant tables, data and settings must normally be brought into the Destination Case from the Source Case. The obvious indicator that the task in hand is a version upgrade is that the Destination Case is empty. The user then sees the message shown below. This gives him or her the option to say that it is an upgrade and that all relevant information should be copied over from the source Case replacing any equivalent data or settings.

So, pressing <Yes> at this point will copy all data and settings from the Source Case, over-writing equivalent information in the Destination Case. Pressing <No> will treat the Destination Case as the master Case, preserve its settings and data, and bring in only that information which can logically be appended to an existing Case. Note that Bundle Pagination information from Paginated Bundles will not be imported.

You will only be given these options if the Destination Case is empty, so there is little risk of accidentally over-writing important information. The only real scope for losing valuable work is where you create an empty Case and do a lot of preparatory work (defining check box labels, setting up Names or Keywords etc) without adding any Items. If you then append another Case and say <Yes> to the question "Is this a version upgrade?", you will lose all or most of the definitions and lists in the destination Case.

See Case Appender - Appendix for a detailed breakdown of what happens in each situation.

The Source Case

Then take <Select an Openlaw Case to READ the new Items from>, navigate to the Case folder and select the licence file of the source Case.

If you pick an empty Case, a message will tell you so and invite you to select another Case. A message warns you to back up the Case and you are strongly advised to heed this warning. As with the Destination Case, the Source Case must have been Verified in its present location. You will be told if this is not so and will not be able to proceed.

Appender checks that there are no Item Numbers in this Case which overlap with those in the destination Case. If there is an overlap, you are told so and the only option is to abort the operation. Contact your distributing organisation for advice as to achieving your objective. This will almost certainly involve renumbering one of the Cases and any images. The scale of this task will depend on what data you have in each Case.

Appender also checks that the licence capacity for the Destination Case is big enough to permit the aggregate number of Items which will result from the append. If it will not, a message will tell you what the relevant statistics are. You can then contact your distributing organisation to order an upgrade to your licence. This is a simple matter - the cost will be based on a scale published on our web site and the licence can be upgraded immediately by e-mail. if you encounter any difficulty with this, contact Oxford Law and Computing.

The Append Process

Once you have selected a Destination and a Source Case, press <Import Data now>.

An issue with some versions of Access is covered by the next message:

A reporting screen appears which shows you the progress of the Append. The left-hand pane lists the tables and data which have been successfully appended.

Any problems with the append will be listed in red in the right-hand pane of this screen. Not all such errors are fatal to the import but should certainly be investigated before you proceed to use the Case.

In certain circumstances, you will see a message advising you to abandon the append at the end. This will usually be as a result of something in the source data which will or may cause difficulty in the imported Case. There are two broad classes of such factors: one is where Appender tries to handle data which not all users will have anyway, such as a third row of tabs or tables relevant to certain dedicated purposes. Messages about such things make it clear that you can ignore the apparent error if the function or feature is not expected. Other messages may indicate real errors and these should be investigated.

Appending Bundles

It is not taken for granted that you want to import Bundles from the source Case into the Destination Case. When all other elements have been appended, you are asked if you want to import Bundles.

If you say "Yes", the Bundles tables will be copied and their entries added to the Bundle information tables in the Destination Case.

Note that pagination information from Paginated Bundles is not imported although the Bundles themselves are.

After the Append

A log file is written during the append process which records what has been successfully imported and what errors were found.

The log file is called O2O Import.txt and will be found in the directory from which Case Builder.exe was run.

There is a hidden field which contains a copy of the text data for an Item. This is usually populated by pressing <Save> after adding or editing an Item but it will, of course, be empty for newly appended Items. See the section on Update Allfields Text for instructions for populating this field. If this is not done, the Allfields part of the Text Query will not work.

Once the append is complete,

the Case should be Verified.

Any Items containing Names which were not Parsed in the source Case will need to be parsed in the merged Case. The log file should be checked and the data should be examined to ensure that it is as expected. At a simple level, you may want to ensure that it has the expected number of Items and Bundles. At a more complex level, you may want to re-run Queries and do other queries and tests aimed at establishing that the Case is as it should be.