Removing Leading Zeros For TrialDirector Using MS Access
Prerequisites: this requires an older version of MS Access: Access 2007 or earlier (not older than Access 95) will do. Please back up the database you want to edit first, just in case.
- Find the database you need to edit. The .mdb file is usually the largest one in your Trial Director case folder, named after your TD case. Back it up.
- Open the .mdb file. When Access prompts you on open, choose “No” / “Open Database”. Otherwise Trial Director won’t be able to read the file afterward. (The exact wording of the prompt varies by Access version.)
- With the database open, double-click the UniObj table. Three columns matter here: ObjId (the document ID, same as what you’d see in Trial Director), ExNo (Exhibit Number), and TrExNo (Trial Exhibit Number).
- Right-click the ObjId header and choose “Sort A to Z” so your exhibit numbers are in order.
- Copy the contents of the ObjId column (Ctrl+C or right-click → Copy).
- Paste it into either the ExNo or TrExNo column. For our purposes the two are interchangeable. They let you bring up a document or page using a name different from the Document ID.
Exhibit Numbers
We’ll use the ExNo column. With it selected, press Ctrl+F to open Find and Replace, then switch to the Replace tab. You’ll mainly touch three fields: Find What, Replace With, and Match (Any Part of Field / Whole Field / Start of Field).
If your documents were padded with “00,” run:
- Find What = 00, Replace With = (blank), Match = Start of Field
- Then Find What = 0, Replace With = (blank), Match = Start of Field
(Search in the ExNo field via the “Look In” dropdown.)
Page Numbers
Same process, with a small tweak, since pages are typically padded after a dash:
- Find What = -00, Replace With = -, Match = Any Part of Field
- Then Find What = -0, Replace With = -, Match = Any Part of Field
Once done, the Exhibit Number column will be populated with no leading zeros.
Close Access and open the case in Trial Director. This is a basic example; depending on the complexity of the TD database, the exact steps may need to be adjusted. Grab an old case, make a copy of the database, and practice. The selection filters in Access can help narrow things down in more complex databases.