Importing Information > Exporting information

Exporting information from another program

The first task is to export the existing information from the other program. Most software programs let you export information to a text file. Please refer to the program's documentation for specific instructions on how to export practice information.

You need to specify the format of the export file. When you are prompted for a filename, give it a self-explanatory name like Contacts.TXT. In the same window in which you name the export file, there may be a "List files of type" drop-down list. Amicus requires the file to be a plain text file that is either fixed width or delimited, with or without field qualifiers. For further details, see Step 2 - Import file description.

Remember where you save the export file. You will need to locate this file when you import the information into Amicus.

Phone format

In order to import phone numbers properly, the Amicus Attorney phone format must be used. This is particularly true if you use Phone as a match criteria.

Amicus phone information is divided into four components: Country Code, Area Code, Local Number, and Extension. You can use any the following formats (whichever is appropriate) in your import records:

+CountryCode (AreaCode) LocalNumber xExtension
+CountryCode (AreaCode) LocalNumber
(AreaCode) LocalNumber xExtension
(AreaCode) LocalNumber
LocalNumber xExtension
LocalNumber

For example, the format of a phone number could be as complete as +1 (416) 977-6633 x123 or as simple as 977-6633. Note that a space is required between each division, a Country Code must be preceded by a plus sign, an Area Code must be surrounded by parentheses, and an Extension must be preceded by an "x".

Blank field in last columns

Comma Separated Value format files that have undelimited blank fields in the last columns cannot be imported ("Number of fields found is less than expected" error). The exporting of Outlook Contacts creates files of this type.

Before importing, open the file in Excel, add another column, and enter any multiple-character data in it. In the Import Field Mapping and Attributes dialog of the Amicus Import wizard, map that extra column as an "<Unused Field>".