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LexisNexis Concordance® is currently one of the most popular discovery management software and many service providers and legal departments deal with Concordance Load Files on a regular basis. In some cases, the Concordance load file is received without an accompanying database structure. Unless there is an existing database that the load file will be imported into, the person performing the import has to create a Concordance Database (DCB).

The above scenario is usually not an issue as long as the load file contains only a few fields. However, manually creating an e-Discovery database to accommodate a 100+ field Concordance Load File can be a tedious task. To make things a bit easier, we have created a Concordance CPL (Concordance program) called “Create Database CPL” using the Concordance Programming Language (CPL). The CPL reads the header row of a Concordance load file (DAT), extracts the field names and creates a Concordance Database (DCB) with matching fields. It requires that your load file starts with a header row which contains the field names.

Create Database CPL Instructions:

  • Download the Create Database CPL using one of the hyperlinks below and save it to your computer.
  • Launch Concordance and start the program using the “File/Begin program…” menu item. You do not need to have a database open.
  • Choose the Concordance Load File that you would like to work with. Make sure it has a header row. The load file can be ANSI, UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoded depending on the Concordance version.
  • If your load file is not using the standard Concordance delimiters, you will be prompted to specify the ASCII codes of the delimiters.
  • Create Database CPL will check each field name to make sure it complies with Concordance field name requirements and will prompt you if it runs into anything problematic.
  • Specify the destination path where the new database should be saved.
  • Finally, you will be taken to your new database in edit mode where you can make changes to the database structure. For example, you can change the types of certain fields or specify an Image field.

This program is available for download free of charge. Feel free to give it a try and let us know your thoughts.

View Change Log

v1.30

Released: 08/20/2014

  • Added options to create database from field list file and Field Properties File.
  • Other bug fixes and enhancements.

v1.27 (Concordance v9 Only)

Released: 03/22/2012

  • Created database is now closed in Concordance v9 before the program exits. This was done to work around a Concordance v9 issue that prevents the end user from accessing certain Concordance menus when a database is opened programmatically via CPL.

If you like Create Database CPL, you may also like our Concordance CPL to Populate Production Attachment Ranges.

Concordance is a registered trademark of LexisNexis. Other products or services may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Arman Gungor

Arman Gungor is a certified computer forensic examiner (CCE) and an adept e-Discovery expert with over 21 years of computer and technology experience. Arman has been appointed by courts as a neutral computer forensics expert as well as a neutral e-Discovery consultant. His electrical engineering background gives him a deep understanding of how computer systems are designed and how they work.

3 Comments

  • Voron Xarya says:

    I love the the program, but there is one important note: Upon completion of the conversion, until the database is closed and reopened, the security settings are such that you cannot access the vast majority of the menus. This caused some major frustration until I attempted to close and reopen the database.

    • admin says:

      Upon further correspondence with Voron, we have found that Concordance v9 disables certain menus when a database is opened programmatically via CPL. Concordance v8 and v10 work as expected and all menus are accessible once the new database is created.

      In order to work around this behavior, we have released a new version of the program (v1.27) for Concordance v9 only. This new version of the CPL closes the newly created database before it exits, preventing any confusion as to why some of the Concordance menus are inaccessible.