Work Files Essentials		 Updated: March 4, 2012


See Shared Work Files Help for information on how to share Work Files.

See Work File Annotations for information on how to add comments and attachments to Work Files.


What Work Files are:
Work Files are customized lists of patent records you create to work with in any manner you choose. Work Files can be saved for an indefinite period of time. When creating Work Files, you can combine the results from multiple searches into a consolidated list, choose just a few patents, enter multiple patent numbers, or import a list of patents from another application. Work Files can contain up to 20,000 records.

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What to use Work Files for:
Work Files function like file folders containing Result Sets for the specific patent records that you want. You can set them aside to work on later, without having to re-run your queries. A Work File has most of the same characteristics as a Result Set and, as such, can be manipulated like a Result Set within many of the Delphion analytical and productivity tools like Snapshot, Clustering, Data Extract, and PDF Express.

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Accessing Work Files from anywhere on the Delphion website:
Access your existing Work Files from the light blue navigation bar under the Delphion name toward the left on your screen — from any page on the Delphion website.

Screen capture of accessing your existing Work Files

The links display the Work File Administration page from which you can view, edit, share, clone, merge, or delete your existing Work Files — in addition to creating new ones.

Screen capture of the Work Files Administration page

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Overview of the Work File viewing control panel:
The following is a high-level overview of the control panel you see when viewing Work Files:

Screen capture of Work File viewing control panel

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How to create a Work File:
Method 1, from a Result Set display:

Create a Work File from any Result Set display, like the one shown following.

Screen Capture of creating new Work Files or access existing ones from the core Result Set display

  1. At the Add field, choose to include Selected Items on this Page or All Items (up to 20,000).
  2. Accept default of Create New Work File.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Delphion displays the Create Work File page (shown following).
 screen capture of the Create Work File page

  1. Enter a Work File Name (required).
  2. Optionally, enter a Description.
  3. At the Fields section, choose the patent fields you want included in your Work File display as well as the order you want them sorted by.
  4. Click Save to create your Work File.
  5. The Work File Administration page displays showing your newly created Work File as well as any Work Files you may already have.
 Method 2, from a list of patent numbers:

  1. On the Work File Administration page, click Create/Import New Work File.
  2. Delphion displays the Create/Import Work File page (shown following).
 screen capture of the Create/Import Work File page

  1. Enter a Work File Name (required).
  2. Optionally, enter a Description.
  3. In the Source field, manually enter patent numbers by typing or pasting numbers copied from another application. Enter numbers separated by commas, new lines, or both.
  4. Alternatively, in the Import from file location field, choose to import a list of patent numbers in a file (see How to import items into a new or existing Work File for further details).
  5. At the Patent Fields section, choose the fields you want to included in your Work File display as well as the order you want them sorted by.
  6. Click Save to create your Work File.
  7. If any of the records you have chosen to add or import cannot be found — or if the patent numbers are invalid — Delphion will display a message advising which record(s) cannot be included. You will have the option of continuing to create the Work File with the records that were found or canceling the operation.
  8. The Work File Administration page displays showing your newly created Work File.
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How to add items to a Work File:
Method 1, from a Result Set display:

  1. At the Add field, accept the default selection of Selected Items on this Page or choose to add All Items (up to 20,000).
  2. If you are adding only selected items from this page, in the Select column, check to identify the patents you want added.
  3. From the Work File drop down box, select the Work File to which you want to add these patents (shown following).
 Screen capture of how to access Work Files from the Result Set

  1. Click Add.
  2. The Add to Work File pop-up displays with a message confirming that the selected number of files have been added to the specified Work File.
  3. On the Add to Work File pop-up, optionally enter an annotation for that Work File, un-check Private box if you want your annotation to be viewed by others, click Save. (See the Work File Annotations Help page for more information.)
 NOTE: If choosing to add only selected (instead of all) records, your additions are limited to those records displayed on the current Result Set page. To add records that are "deeper" than the initially displayed page, complete your add from the first page, return to your Result Set display, and then advance to the next page of the Result Set display to add records visible on that page. Initially choosing to display your Result Set with the maximum number of matches per page (500) will reduce the number of times this process must be repeated.

Method 2, from the Work File Administration page:

  1. From the Work File Administration page, check to select the appropriate Work File and click Edit in the Actions column.
  2. The Edit Work File page displays.
  3. Click Edit Items.
  4. The Edit Work File page redisplays with the patent numbers for the selected Work File shown in Source, an editable text box (shown following).
 Screen capture of the Edit Work File page

  1. In the Source box, type or paste the patent numbers you want added to your Work File. (You can also delete patent numbers you want removed from your Work File.)
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
  3. If any of the numbers you have chosen to add are invalid, the Work File Patent Validation Report will display. See Manually adding or importing invalid record numbers for details.
  4. If any of the patents you requested were not available and equivalents were provided instead, The Work File Patent Validation Report will display telling you the number of requested patents that were replaced by equivalents. See Manually adding or importing records and receiving equivalents for details.
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How to import items into a new or existing Work File:
Use this function to import a list of patent numbers to be included in your Work File.

  1. Choose to edit an existing Work File or create a new one.
  2. You will be working from the Edit Work File page or the Create/Import Work File page. Both pages have the Import from file location field (shown following).
 Screen capture of the Create/Import Work File page

  1. At the Import from file location field, enter a file name in the text box or click Browse... to select a file. File for import should be a .txt file with patent numbers separated by commas, new lines, or both.

    NOTE: Patent Publication numbers must be in the Delphion 12-character standard format, see Publication Numbers: Formats and Searching for a description of that format.

  2. After selecting the appropriate text file, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save (from the Create/Import Work File page) or Save Changes (from the Edit Work File page).
  3. If any of the numbers you have chosen to import are invalid, the Work File Patent Validation Report will display. See Manually adding or importing invalid record numbers for details.
  4. If any of the patents you requested were not available and equivalents were provided instead, The Work File Patent Validation Report will display telling you the number of requested patents that were replaced by equivalents. See Manually adding or importing records and receiving equivalents for details.
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Correcting invalid record numbers during Work File import:
The Work File Patent Validation Report displays when record numbers you requested to add are found to be invalid. This applies when you type or paste in record numbers or import them from a file.

Screen capture of the Work File Validation Report page
  1. The Work File Patent Validation Report will display the rejected/invalid patent number(s) for you to edit.
  2. Edit the number(s) and click Submit Changes to have the edited numbers validated and added to your Work File.
  3. Click Save at the bottom of the page to save your Work File.
  4. You can also ignore the edit box and refrain from clicking Submit Changes to continue adding all valid numbers to your Work File — this will omit the patent(s) in question. Click Save at the bottom of the page to save your Work File.
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Manually adding or importing records and receiving equivalents
The Work File Validation Report displays when patents you requested were not available and alternative/equivalent patents were provided instead. This applies when you type or paste in record numbers or import them from a file. (See screen example above.)
  1. The Work File Validation Report will display telling you the number of requested patents that were replaced by equivalents. There will also be a link from which you can review details about the substitution(s).
  2. Click Save at the bottom of the page to save your Work File.
  3. If you choose not to accept the equivalent substitutions, click Cancel Import to cancel the entire Work File import operation.
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How to delete items from a Work File:

Method 1, from a Result Set display:

  1. Access your Work File by clicking the linked number of Patent Items from the Work File Administration page.
  2. The Result Set interface for the selected Work File displays (shown following).
 Screen capture of the Result Set with Work File displayed

  1. Select those items you want to delete from the Work File.
  2. Click Delete to delete the items.
  3. A confirmation box appears. Click OK to delete the items or Cancel to continue without the deletion.
Method 2, from the Work File Administration page:

  1. From the Work File Administration page, check to select the appropriate Work File and click Edit in the Actions column.
  2. The Edit Work File page displays.
  3. Click Edit Items.
  4. The Edit Work File page redisplays with the patent numbers for the selected Work File shown in Source, an editable text box (shown following).
 Screen capture of the Edit Work File page

  1. In the Source box, delete the patent numbers you want removed from your Work File. (You can also enter patent numbers you want added to your Work File.)
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
  3. The Work File Administration page displays with a message confirming that the Work File has been modified.
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How to copy or clone Work Files:
  1. From the Work File Administration page, check to select the file you want copied. Click Clone.
  2. The Clone Work File page displays.
  3. Optionally, enter a new name for the cloned Work File (two Work Files can have the same name, but it may be less confusing to change the name of a cloned Work File).
  4. Optionally, add, delete, or import items or change the display before saving your new cloned Work File.
  5. Click Save to save your new Work File.
  6. The Work File Administration page displays showing your newly cloned Work File.
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How to merge Work Files:
  1. From the Work File Administration page, in the ID column, check the Work Files you want merged.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and choose the method you want used for the merge.

    • Choose OR to combine sets of records and eliminate duplicates.
    • Choose AND to include only records that appear in all selected Work Files.
    • Additionally, you can select AND NOT and choose a Work File whose patents you do not want to appear in your new merged Work File.

  3. Click Merge.
  4. The Merge Work Files page displays.
  5. Enter a name for the new merged Work File.
  6. Optionally, you can choose to change the description and display parameters before saving your new Work File.
  7. Click Save to save your new Work File.
  8. The Work File Administration page displays showing your new Work File.
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How to delete Work Files:
  1. From the Work File Administration page, in the ID column, check the Work Files you want to delete.
  2. Click Delete.
  3. The Delete Work Files page displays asking you to confirm that you want these Work Files deleted.
  4. Click Delete to delete the selected Work Files.
  5. The Work File Administration page displays confirming that the selected Work Files were deleted.
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