In general, EndNote ignores lines of text which do not begin with a tag unless the lines of text are continuations of a previous tagged item. We call these continuation lines. Here is an abstract from a data file illustrating the concept of continuation lines (all but the first are considered continuation lines):
AB- A single-subject research design that used
multiple baselines across behaviors compared
traditional adaptations to computers.
Because EndNote only imports tagged lines and continuation lines, it can avoid importing extraneous text that might interrupt a reference, such as your logging on or logging off text. Examples of extraneous lines are:
-->>Press any Key to continue
<Record 5 of 42>
EndNote provides two general options for dealing with continuation lines:
Ignore Indents: Untagged lines are always a continuation of the preceding line
With this option set, every line of text in the data file will import according to the tags that are defined in the Templates panel. Do not select this option if there is any text in your data file that is not tagged. If you use this option and do not want to import certain tagged lines, you must use the "{IGNORE} option (see The Ignore Field).
Continuation lines must be indented
This option allows you to specify the exact number of spaces on the left margin for the continuation lines.
The following example is an abstract where the first line of data is indented four spaces from the left margin, and the continuation lines are properly indented four spaces. EndNote’s default Smart Indent Identification would import this abstract correctly. (Spaces are shown as periods for clarity.)
AB-.Two experiments compared the performance of 23 12
....old dyslexics with that of 8 age-matched controls on a
....battery of tests of motor balance. A dual-task paradigm
....was used: Ss performed each test as a single task and as
....a task concurrent with a secondary task. In all single-
....task conditions there was no difference between groups.
However, you may find data files where the continuation lines are not aligned with the first line of data. In the following example, the continuation lines are indented two spaces from the left margin, whereas the first line is indented four spaces:
AB-.Beyond the inevitability of
..is the question of countertransference enactments. From a
..two-person, participant-observer or observing-participant
..perspective, enactments are inevitable. The analyst becomes
..influenced by the patient (and influences the patient as
..well) and enmeshed in the patient's internalized
..interpersonal configurations.
For EndNote to treat the subsequent lines as continuation lines in the preceding example, the filter must specify the exact number of spaces indented on the left margin. In the example just given, you would enter "2" in the "Indent _ spaces" option.
If most of the lines in a data file import a fixed number of spaces (like two spaces in the example above), but one tagged field is indented differently (perhaps keywords are indented four spaces), you can enter exceptions in the table provided. Simply enter the number of spaces in the left column next to the tag. You only need to enter a number for the tagged field with the inconsistent import. All other lines that are left blank will use the general indent setting.
Note: For a quick and reliable way to count how many spaces are inserted on the left margin, turn on the setting in your word processor to display formatting characters.