n Wolf Pak Capturen What Are e-Discovery Load Files?
e-Discovery load files are standardized data files that allow evidence and document collections to be imported into litigation review platforms. They act as an index — telling the review platform what files exist, where they are, and what metadata is associated with each one.
In the context of web evidence, load files bridge the gap between forensic capture and legal review workflows.
The Two Key File Types
.DAT Files (Delimited ASCII Text)
The .dat file is a delimited text file containing metadata for each document in the collection. Each row represents one document, and columns contain fields like:
- DOCID: A unique identifier for the document
- BEGDOC / ENDDOC: Bates numbering range
- DATE: Document date (capture date for web evidence)
- SOURCE: Origin URL
- CUSTODIAN: Who collected the evidence
- HASH: Cryptographic hash for integrity verification
- FILETYPE: Document type (HTML, PDF, image, etc.)
Fields are typically separated by the Concordance delimiter (ASCII 20, the paragraph symbol ¶).
.OPT Files (Opticon Cross-Reference)
The .opt file maps each document to its image files. For each page of each document, it specifies:
- The Bates number
- The volume or drive path
- The image file path
- Whether it’s a new document start
- The page count
This allows review platforms to display the correct visual representation alongside the metadata.
Why Load Files Matter for Web Evidence
Litigation support teams already work with established e-Discovery platforms — Relativity, DISCO, Concordance, Everlaw, and others. When web evidence arrives as a folder of files with no load files, someone has to manually:
- Create metadata spreadsheets
- Map files to Bates numbers
- Build cross-reference tables
- Format everything for the specific review platform
This manual step is time-consuming, error-prone, and billable. Load files eliminate it entirely.
How AEGIS Generates Load Files
AEGIS automatically generates both .dat and .opt files as part of every forensic capture:
- EDISCOVERY_LOADFILE.dat: Contains Concordance-delimited metadata for every evidence file in the capture package, including document IDs, capture dates, source URLs, file types, and SHA-256 hashes.
- EDISCOVERY_OPTFILE.opt: Maps the evidence files to their visual representations for image-based review workflows.
No manual conversion, no reformatting, no billable hours spent building load files.
Import Compatibility
AEGIS load files are compatible with standard e-Discovery platforms:
- Relativity — Import via Processing or structured import
- DISCO — Concordance .dat import
- Concordance — Native .dat/.opt support
- Everlaw — Delimited data import
- CloudNine LAW — Standard load file import
The Bottom Line
Most forensic capture tools stop at the evidence package. AEGIS goes one step further by including e-Discovery-ready load files in every capture — bridging the gap between evidence collection and legal review without manual intervention.
If your evidence workflow includes Relativity, DISCO, or any standard review platform, native load file support saves real time and real money.