Tips for Entering Tags and Fields
There is no need to define every tag that appears in your data file, provided that the contents of the corresponding field start on the same line as the tag itself; and the records’ continuation lines are not flush left. If you need to define every tag that appears in a record, but only want to import the information associated with certain tags, insert the {IGNORE} field from the Insert Field list where appropriate.
Note: You do not need to specify all data fields, unless each tag appears on a line by itself, with the data starting below it on the next line. You may also want to specify all tags if the continuation lines in your records are flush left, in which case an undefined tag appearing immediately after a continuation line will be read in as text.
- You might need to enter multiple variations of a source line.
You will often find more than one variation of a source line for a given reference type in a database, in which case you will need to define a separate source line in your template for each such variant. The most complex source line should appear first, followed by source lines of decreasing complexity. In the case of Journal Articles, be sure to specify the appropriate Source Parsing option (see Source Parsing in Import Filters and Connection Files).
MARC formats are an exception. See Rules for MARC Import Filters.
- A colon, hyphen, space, or other character that appears along with a tag is treated as part of the tag.
When defining tags in a filter, these characters need to be included in the tag column of the filter for EndNote to find an exact match. If spaces are inserted within a tag, they need to be defined as part of the tag as well. See Tags and Fields in Import Filters and Connection Files.
- Using a monospace font to view data files can help you count spaces which will need to be included in the template.
Monospace, or fixed width, fonts are fonts where each letter takes up the same amount of space; proportional fonts are fonts where thinner letters, such as i or l, take up less space than wider letters, such as m or w. With proportional fonts, the size of spaces are not the same size as letters, making it easy to miscalculate the number of spaces used in tags or text. Examples of monospace fonts are Courier New, Lucida Sans Typewriter, and MS Mincho, among others.