Do you already have terminology that you'd like to bring to Acrolinx? Maybe you have a spreadsheet that contains your company's words and phrases. Use the Term Import Wizard to import terminology files in CSV, ACTIF, OLIF, or custom XML-based terminology exchange formats.
To use the term import wizard, do the following:
Before you start the term import wizard, you might want to familiarize yourself with the following topics in the Supported Terminology Exchange Formats article:
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The ACTIF format
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OLIF and custom XML-based formats
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CSV formats
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Customizing your Data Model
Tip
If you want to import terminology into a database that already contains terms, you may want to configure your Duplicate Detection Rules first.
To open the term import wizard, do the following:
In the Navigation Menu, click Terminology > Import and Export > Import.
If you have images that you want to display in your term entry details, you must include links to your image files when preparing your terminology data for import. You can link to image files that you’ve copied to your Acrolinx configuration directory, or images that are hosted on a web server.
Tip
If you're on an Acrolinx Private Cloud 
instance, contact us and we'll help you prepare your images for import!
To prepare your images for import, follow these steps:
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Ensure that your images are stored in a location that is accessible to the Acrolinx Platform. Choose from one of the following options:
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Copy your image files to the uploaded images directory in the Acrolinx Platform configuration directory.
<config directory>/server/www/uploadedImages
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Copy your image files to a web server that all users can access.
Example :
http://iq.demo.com/term-images/
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Ensure that your import file references the images correctly.
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If you copied your images to the uploaded images directory, your import file should contain the only image name as illustrated in the following example:
Term
Status
Image
fan tray
preferred
fan_tray.jpg
The Terminology Manager resolves the image location relative uploaded images directory.
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If you store your images on a web server, the import file must include the full image URLs as illustrated in the following example.
Term
Status
Image
fan tray
preferred
http://iq.demo.com/term-images/fan_tray.jpg
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Start the term import wizard.
Warning
If you want to start an import with the same settings as a previous import and have saved those settings in an import configuration, you can skip the following steps. Instead, select your saved configuration in the Saved Import Configurations table, choose your import file, and click Next.
You can’t use saved import configurations if you regularly import terms from CSV files and the following condition applies to your terms: Your terms are assigned to several values of the same custom list field at the same time and the assignments are separated by a semicolon or a colon. For example, your CSV file might contain the term "example," which is assigned to the custom list values "1;2;3" of the custom list field "Priority." If this condition applies, you must manually perform the import procedure and field mapping.
To set the import options, follow these steps:
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In the File Options section, choose the file format:
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ACTIF - import a file in the native Acrolinx terminology exchange format.
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Custom - import any XML-based format used by other terminology management solutions.
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CSV- import a delimited text or CSV file.
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CSV (Translations only) - import a CSV file that contains new translations for source terms that already exist in the terminology database.
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OLIF - import an OLIF file.
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(Follow this step if you selected the Custom format option.) Select a Transformation option from the Transformation dropdown in the Format-specific Options.
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(Follow this step if you selected the Custom format option.) Select the domain list delimiter in the Format-specific Options if you import terms with multiple domains.
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(Follow this step if you selected the CSV format option.) Open the Format-specific Options to configure the advanced CSV options.
Tip
The default value delimiter for CSV files is a comma. In most cases, you don’t have to change the advanced CSV options. The default CSV options are sufficient to import most CSV files. Check the advanced CSV options if your CSV file is tab delimited, or contains special characters or metadata.
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Locate the import file using the Browse button.
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Click Next to move to the Field Mapping Page.
The steps for mapping your source data depends on the format of the file that you want to import. In general, it consists of three major steps.
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Mapping Term Columns
This step isn’t necessary when you import in an XML format such as OLIF or ACTIF. For XML-based file types, the term import wizard automatically maps the element that contains the term names to the "Term name" field.
Due to flexibility in CSV file structure, this type of automatic mapping isn’t possible with a CSV file. When you import a CSV file, the term import wizard requires you to map your term columns first.
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Mapping Identifier Fields
If you import new term entries and want to retain identifier information from another system, you can map the relevant columns or elements to the identifier fields. If you plan to overwrite existing terms or update existing term entries, it’s best to map at least one of the term identifier fields.
When you import a file with the format CSV (Translation only), you need to map at least one of the term entry identifier fields first. This is to ensure that new translations are imported into the correct term entries.
If you don’t have identifiers in your import file, the term import wizard generates identifiers for you.
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Mapping Descriptive Information
Descriptive information can be any column or element that doesn’t contain terms or term identifiers, such as definitions or workflow-related information. When you import an ACTIV, OLIF, or Other XML file, many standard descriptive elements are mapped automatically. If you have custom elements, you'll need to map them manually.
When you import a CSV file, you need to map all descriptive information manually.
You might get the following information next to the column or element name:
In the illustrated example, the column "Usage Status" is mapped to the system field "Status" on the term template for product names.
Tip
If you want columns or element names todisappear from the source data section after you map them, you can also deselect the option Show Mapped Columns or Show Mapped Elements .
If you’re importing a standard CSV file, follow these steps:
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Select the column name in the Source Data section that contains your terms. If your CSV file stores terms in more than one column, select the column that contains your head terms.
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In the Term Template section, click the mapping button
next to the field Term name.
If you’re importing a CSV file that stores terms in more than one column, follow these steps:
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Select a column name in the Source Data section that contains additional terms such as suggestions or translations.
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In the Term Template section, click the Add Term Template tab at the top.
A new Term Template tab will appear. It will be named after the column you selected in the source data section.
The selected column or element is automatically mapped to the field "Term Name" in the new term template.
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Repeat step 1 until there are term templates for all columns that store terms.
Tip
To speed up the mapping process, double-click the name of a column that contains terms.
If the column name contains the word "term," the column is automatically mapped to the field "Term Name."
If the column name contains the name of a status or language that's recognized by the Terminology Manager, a new term template is created for the column.
To automap a group of columns or elements, select the relevant columns or elements and click the automap button repeatedly.
If you still have unmapped columns, click the first tab in the term template section to return to the head term template. If you have no more unmapped columns, review the fields on each term template and set global values for any unmapped fields.
To map your identifier fields, follow these steps:
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Select a column or element name in the Source Data section that contains your identifiers.
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In the Term Template section, click the mapping button
Important
If you import a file with the format CSV (translations only), you’ll need to map a column to the Term Entry ID or Term Entry UUID before you map any other source data.
To map descriptive information, follow these steps:
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Select an unmapped column or element name in your source data, and click the mapping button
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Repeat step 1 until you’ve mapped all of the columns in your source data that have corresponding fields in the Terminology Manager.
Tip
To speed up the mapping process, double-click a column name. If the column name is close enough to the name of an existing field, the matching field will light up green in the Term Template section and the column will be mapped to the matching field. You can also automap a group of columns or elements by selecting the relevant columns or elements, and repeatedly clicking the automap button.
To select the mapped column or element in the Source Data section, double-click a field name in the Term Template section .
Follow these steps if you have unmapped columns or elements that have no corresponding field in the Terminology Manager:
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Select an unmapped column and click the Add Field button.
You can find the Add Field button at the bottom of the Source Data section.
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In the New Field dialog, select the Field Type:
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Term-specific - save the information that applies to individual terms.
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Conceptual - save the information from that applies to all terms for the same concept.
Example: A definition or an image can be the same for all terms in a term entry and is often stored in a conceptual field.
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Select one of the following input types:
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Text - create the column or element as a free text field that can accept any value.
In the text field that appears, enter the display name for the field.
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Single-choice list - create a dropdown field that allows users to select one value from a list of items defined in a category. The data in your column or element can’t contain more than 255 distinct values.
In the text fields that appear, enter the display name for the field and the name of the category where the list items should be stored.
Example: You're importing data that includes a fixed range of product types and a term can belong to one product type only. You don't have a list of product types yet, so you want to create one based on your import data.
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Single-choice list (populated) - create the column as a new dropdown field that accepts a fixed range of values, but use an existing list and map your import data to this list.
Example: You're importing data that includes a fixed range of product types and a term can belong to one product type only. You already have a list of product types in the category manager so you want to create a new field that uses this list. You'll also map your imported product types to this list.
In the second dropdown that appears, select the appropriate category.
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Multiple-choice list - create a list box that allows users to select several values from a list of items defined in a category.
Example: You're importing data that includes a range of products and a term can belong to several products. You don't have a list of products yet, so you want to create one based on your import data.
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Multiple-choice list (populated) - create a list box that allows users to select several values from a list of items defined in a category. Use an existing list and map your import data to this list.
Example: You're importing data that includes a range of products and a term can belong to several products. You already have a list of products in the category manager so you want to create a new field that uses this list. you'll also map your imported product names to this list.
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New fields appear in italics at the bottom of the term level and term entry level custom field panels.
You can use the Remove buttons to remove any fields that you won't use.
Review the fields on each term template and set global values for any unmapped fields.
After you've mapped columns or elements in the source data section, review the field states on the term template section to see if any further action is required to import your file.
To set global values for incomplete fields, follow these steps:
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Locate any fields that are marked with an Incomplete icon.
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Select a global value from the global value dropdown.
After you select a global value, the field state icon is updated to Global Value.
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(Optional) To set a global value for a field that's currently in a mapped state, click the Unmap button next to the field, or select several columns in the Source Data section and click the Batch Unmap button.
The global value dropdown will reappear for the fields you have just unmapped. Select a global value from the global value dropdown.
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Click Next to move to the List Item Mapping page.
You use the List Item Mapping page to map unidentified values for existing fields or review the saved mapping settings. For example, you might update the list item mapping if your import file contains a domain name that your terminology database doesn’t recognize. You can map the unidentified domain to an existing domain, or add the new domain to your terminology database.
Unidentified values are indicated with a red exclamation mark icon .
To assign an action for each unidentified value, follow these steps:
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For each category, click an unidentified value and select:
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Create as new list item - add the value as a new list item.
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In the confirmation window, click the radio button next to the category to create a top-level list item or click a list item to create a sublist item.
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To enter a new name for the list item, click Rename then OK to confirm.
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Map to existing list item - to permanently map the value to an existing list item.
In the confirmation window, click the radio button next to the list item that is the closest match for the unidentified value.
If you want a certain mapping to be removed from your saved import configuration, you can also select Remove mapping and save the configuration.
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(Optional) To automatically map all unidentified values in a category to existing list items, click Map It For Me.
You can use the Map It For Me function to map values that are slightly different than the names of existing list items in their case or spelling.
For example, the Map It For Me function could map the value "feminin" to the existing list item "feminine'"where a misspelling has caused the value to be unidentified.
If the Map It For Me function can’t find a match, it creates a new list item.
This function is also useful for creating all values as new list items with one click.
Tip
When matching a list item name, the Map It For Me function checks the standard name first, followed by the display name.
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(Optional) If you need to interrupt the import at this step, click Save Import Configuration to save the settings you’ve changed so far.
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Click Finish to move on to the Import Summary Page.
Warning
The Finish button stays inactive until you resolve all unidentified values and confirm any unsaved rename fields.