Google Workspace

This page covers Relativity Processing support and considerations for Google Workspace data. To view a comprehensive list of supported file types, see Supported file types for processing.

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Overview

When you gather Google Workspace data directly using Google Vault or indirectly using Relativity Collect (Collect), the collection export includes zipped Google Gmail, Google Drive, or Google Chat data, along with supplemental metadata files. When generating a collection that includes both Google Gmail and linked Google Drive items, the export also includes a cross-reference file with linking data.

Processing automatically identifies these sidecar files when present in your data source, and captures this information alongside the naturally extracted metadata from the processed Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Chat items. This supplemental metadata is made available within the Field Catalog for publishing to your workspace.

Required file structure

There are two methods for collecting Google Workspace data:

Collect—install this Relativity application to collect data from a variety of data sources. For detailed information on Collect, see the Google Workspace data source documentation.
Google Vault—use this option to manually download data.

While each method exports collection data differently, Processing supports both. The following sections explain these structures and provide guidance for submitting Google Workspace data for processing.

Both Collect and Google Vault exports can contain additional files beyond the minimum requirements. You can remove these files before processing. Otherwise, they are processed as loose individual files without any special handling.
When collecting data manually from Google Vault, you must export Gmail or GChat data in MBOX format. Relativity does not capture sidecar file metadata if exported in other formats.
Do not unzip any containers included in the collection export. Doing so will result in improper handling during processing.
Do not edit the content or the names of the native files or supplemental metadata files. Doing so will result in improper handling during processing.
Relativity Import/Export may require additional preparation of the data, depending on the transfer mode. See Importing raw unprocessed data for Processing via Import/Export for details.

Collect

When you use Collect to gather Gmail data, messages are exported to one or more MBOX files, and zipped within the Files sub-directory. The Gmail sidecar metadata is provided in a results.csv file at the root of the export directory.

The results.csv file within the Files directory.

When you use Collect to gather Google Drive data, the items are exported to one or more zip files in the Files sub-directory. The sidecar metadata for Google Drive items is provided in a results.xml file at the root of the export directory.

The results.xml file within the Files directory.

If you enable the Collect Linked Files option for Gmail collections, the export directory will contain all of the above content, as well as a file named [COLLECTION EXPORT ID]-drive-links.csv. This file captures the relationships between Gmail and linked Google Drive items. To learn more about enabling linked Google Drive item collection, see Google Workspace data source - Gmail.

Google Vault

When using Google Vault to gather Gmail data, messages are exported to one or more MBOX files in a single zip container. The Gmail sidecar metadata is provided in a file named [EXPORT_NAME]-metadata.csv. Place these files in the same folder.

Gmail files in the Files Directory

When using Google Vault to gather Google Drive data, items are exported to one or more zip files. The Google Drive items sidecar metadata is provided in a file named [EXPORT_NAME]-metadata.xml. Place these files within the same folder.

Vault files in the Files Directory

If you enable the Export linked Drive files option for a Gmail search export, the export will contain all of the above contents, with the Google Drive sidecar file named [EXPORT_NAME]-Drive_Link_Export-metadata.xml. The export will also contain a file named [EXPORT_NAME]-drive-links.csv. This file captures the relationships between Gmail and linked Google Drive items. To learn more about enabling linked Google Drive item collection, see the Google support article, Export data from Vault.

Google Chat

When using Google Vault to gather Google Chat data, messages are exported to one or more MBOX files in a single zip container. The Gmail sidecar metadata is provided in a file named [EXPORT_NAME]-metadata.xml. Place these files in the same folder.

Google Workspace discovery

The following list outlines Relativity's handling of Google Workspace data and sidecar files during discovery.

Relativity performs standard identification, expansion, text and metadata extraction on the zipped Gmail MBOX and Google Drive files. In the case of MBOX discovery, Relativity uses the RFC 4155 and RFC 5322 standards to properly identify and parse individual messages and their properties from the MBOX files. These messages are stored in EML format, with a file type designation of SMTP E-Mail Message.
In addition to performing discovery of the Google Workspace data, Processing also identifies the related sidecar files. These files receive a special file type designation, and the Google Workspace metadata is captured and applied to the corresponding Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Chat files from the same data source. These sidecar files are ignored during publish, but can still be viewed from the Processing Files tab.
Where possible, Processing attempts to identify data sources containing partial Google Workspace collections, for example, a missing sidecar metadata file. In these cases, a file exception is reported on either the Gmail or Google Chat MBOX file or the Google Drive items zip file. Relativity still processes the data source. However, based on this warning, you may choose to prepare and process a more complete collection.
For Gmail collections containing linked Google Drive files, Relativity processes both the Gmail and Google Drive data, but does not capture any formal relationship between them. Note however, the cross-referenced data found within the drive-links.csv file is captured and applied to their respective files. For example, processed Gmail messages include a metadata field that references a concatenated list of all linked Google Drive items by DriveItemId, also known as DocId. Refer to the tables on this page for a complete list of metadata fields available for mapping.
Google Gemini data is converted to Relativity Short Message Format (RSMF) for processing when using Collect. The sidecar metadata is also integrated. If using Google Vault directly, you should convert Google Gemini data to RSMF before processing. Otherwise, this data is processed as standard XML data, and will not include sidecar metadata.

All processing profile settings apply to Google Vault collection data, as with any other data source.
The Gmail sidecar file only includes metadata for top parent message items. Embedded attachments are extracted, but will not contain any supplemental metadata.
Similarly, neither embedded objects extracted from Google Drive items, nor files extracted from Google Drive-hosted compressed archives, are referenced in the Google Drive sidecar file. Relativity does not attempt to propagate Google Drive item metadata to extracted descendants. As such, these items will not contain any supplemental metadata.
Sidecar metadata is not used for publish deduplication. In the case of Google Drive files, Relativity relies on the standard hash it calculates from the native. In the case of Gmail messages, Relativity creates the standard composite hash using only the properties extracted directly from the MBOX file.

Sidecar metadata in publishing

Google Vault sidecar files contain the metadata fields listed below, all of which are extracted and made available within the Field Catalog for publishing to your workspace. To learn more about using the Field Catalog, see Mapping Processing Fields.

Google Drive metadata fields available for publish may be found within the list of Other Fields in the Field Catalog, and have a prefix of GoogleDrive\. Gmail metadata fields may be found within the list of Metadata Fields, and have a prefix of Google\.
As with other optional metadata fields, these fields are not made available in the Field Catalog until at least one item containing such metadata is discovered within your workspace.
Google may add, remove, or edit fields at any time. If a metadata field is not listed here, it is not officially supported by Relativity. For the most recent list of exported fields, refer to the Google support article, Vault export contents.

Google Drive sidecar fields

Google Drive .xml field	Relativity source field name	Field type	Description
#Author	GoogleDrive/Author	Long text	The email address of the person who owns the file in Google Drive. For a shared drive file, it shows the shared drive name.
Collaborators	GoogleDrive/Collaborators	Multiple Choice	The accounts and groups that have direct permission to edit the file or add comments. This field also includes users with indirect access to the file if you chose this option during export.
ContentVersionDate	GoogleDrive/ContentVersionDate	Date	If a version date was included in the export query, the date when a specific version of a Drive document was saved.
#DateCreated	GoogleDrive/DateCreated	Date	The date a Google file was created in Google Drive. For non-Google files, this is the date the file was uploaded to Google Drive.
#DateModified	GoogleDrive/DateModified	Date	The date the file was last modified.
DocID	GoogleDrive/DocID	Long Text	A unique identifier for the file. Also known as DriveItemId. For site exports, the value is the page ID.
DocParentID	GoogleDrive/DocParentID	Long Text	For Google sites, the site ID.
DocumentType	GoogleDrive/DocumentType	Long Text	The file type for Google files. Possible values are: DOCUMENT—a document created in Google Docs. SPREADSHEET—a spreadsheet created in Google Sheets. PRESENTATION—a presentation created in Google Slides. FORM—a form created in Google Forms. DRAWING—a drawing created in Google Drawings. SITES_PAGE—a page from a site created in new Google Sites.
Duration	GoogleDrive/Duration	Long Text	For Google Vids, the duration of the video recording in milliseconds.
FileName	GoogleDrive/FileName	Long Text	The file name. Use this value to correlate the metadata with the file in the export ZIP file.
FileSize	GoogleDrive/FileSize	Whole Number	The size of the file in bytes.
Hash	GoogleDrive/FileHash	Long Text	The MD5 hash of the file.
Others	GoogleDrive/Others	Multiple Choice	The accounts from your query that have indirect access to the file if you opted to exclude access level information during export. This field may also include users for whom Google Vault could not determine permission levels at the time of export.
PublishedURL	GoogleDrive/PublishedURL	Long Text	For Google sites, the web address of the published page. Value is empty for unpublished sites.
SharedDriveID	GoogleDrive/SharedDriveID	Long Text	The identifier of the shared drive that contains the file, if applicable.
SitesTitle	GoogleDrive/SitesTitle	Long Text	For Google sites, the name of the page.
SlideRecording	GoogleDrive/SlideRecording	Long Text	Metadata about recordings, if the exported item is a Slides presentation with associated recordings.
SourceHash	GoogleDrive/SourceHash	Long Text	A unique hash value for each version of a file. This field can be used to deduplicate file exports and verify the exported file is an exact copy of the source file. This field is supported by Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides files only.
#Title	GoogleDrive/Title	Long Text	The file name as assigned by the user. Because some operating systems cannot expand zip files with extremely long file names, Google Vault truncates the file name at 128 characters during export. The value shown by the #Title tag is not truncated.
Viewers	GoogleDrive/Viewers	Multiple Choice	The accounts and groups that have direct permission to view the file. The field also includes users with indirect access to the file if you chose this option during export.

Gmail sidecar fields

Google mail .csv field	Relativity source field name	Field type	Description
Rfc822MessageId	Google/Rfc822MessageId	Long Text	A message ID that is the same for receiver and sender messages. Use this value to correlate metadata with the message in an MBOX export. For classic Hangouts, the value is for the first message in the thread.
GmailMessageId	Google/GmailMessageId	Long Text	A unique message ID. Use this value to manage specific messages with the Gmail API. For classic Hangouts, the value is for the first message in the thread.
Account	Google/Account	Long Text	The account that had the message in their inbox. For example, user1@company.com received a message sent to groupA@company.com because they are a member of the group. If a search returns that message because it was in user1 's inbox, then the value of To is groupA@company.com while the value of Account is user1@company.com.
From	Google/From	Long Text	The sender account.
To	Google/To	Long Text	The recipient account. Multiple recipients are comma-separated and the list is in double quotes.
CC	Google/CC	Multiple Choice	Accounts in the cc: field.
BCC	Google/BCC	Multiple Choice	Accounts in the bcc: field.
Subject	Google/Subject	Long Text	The message subject.
Labels	Google/Labels	Multiple Choice	Labels applied to the message by Gmail or the user.
DateSent	Google/DateSent	Date	The message send date in UTC, yyyy-MM-dd 'T 'HH:mm:ssZZZZ.
DateReceived	Google/DateReceived	Date	The message received date, yyyy-MM-dd 'T 'HH:mm:ssZZZZ.

Google Drive links sidecar fields

Google Drive links.csv field	Relativity source field name	Field type	Description
Account	N/A	N/A	This field is not used for drive links overlay.
Rfc822MessageId	N/A	N/A	This fields is not used for drive links overlay.
GmailMessageId	GoogleDrive/LinkingGmailMessageIds	Long Text	Populated for Google Drive Items. This fields contains a semicolon-delimited list of messages within the same collection that contained a link to the Google Drive item.
DriveItemId	Google/LinkedDriveItemIds	Long Text	Populated for Gmail messages. This field contains a semicolon-delimited list of Google Drive items within the same collection that was linked to the Gmail message.
DriveUrl	Google/LinkedDriveUrls	Long Text	Populated for Gmail messages. This field contains a pipe-delimited list of URLs for Google Drive items within the same collection that was linked to the Gmail message.

Google Classic Hangouts metadata fields

The following table lists the Google Class Hangouts metadata fields found in the Google Gmail .csv file. Use these fields for mapping Google Classic Hangouts data.

Google mail .csv field	Relativity source field name	Field type	Description
SubjectAtStart	Google/SubjectAtStart	Long Text	The subject of the conversation when the first message was sent.
SubjectAtEnd	Google/SubjectAtEnd	Long Text	The subject of the conversation when the last message was sent.
DateFirstMessageSent	Google/DateFirstMessageSent	Date	The time stamp for when the first message in a conversation was sent.
DateLastMessageSent	Google/DateLastMessageSent	Date	The time stamp for when the last message in a conversation was sent.
DateFirstMessageReceived	Google/DateFirstMessageReceived	Date	The time stamp for when the first message in a conversation was received.
DateLastMessageReceived	Google/DateLastMessageReceived	Date	The time stamp for when the last message in a conversation was received.
ThreadedMessageCount	Google/ThreadedMessageCount	Decimal	The number of messages in the conversation.

Other considerations

Upon export, Google Vault appends a DocID to the original name of Google Drive files so that it can be matched with Google Workspace metadata found in the .xml file. Google Vault may also truncate the original name portion to avoid file system errors when unzipping the Google Drive file package. The Google Vault exported file name is captured in the metadata .xml FileName tag, along with the original file name in the #Title tag. Relativity records the actual file name using the #Title value, but also captures the Google Drive FileName and Google Drive Title values.
Google Vault may export Google Drive files that do not contain the original internal created or modified dates. This is especially true of Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides file exports. Relativity captures the actual created date and time, as well as the last modified date and time, using the #DateCreated and #DateModified values provided in the Google Workspace metadata .xml file. These dates may also appear in publish-calculated fields such as SortDate.
In some scenarios, Google Vault may generate unique binary files for the same Google Drive file when it is exported multiple times. In other scenarios, Google Vault may generate duplicate binary files for the same Google Drive file when it is exported multiple times, but with different Google Workspace metadata, such as Title, Collaborator, and so forth. For deduplication purposes, Relativity always generates a standard SHA256 hash from the binary of non-email native files, including Google Drive files. As such, use caution when considering whether to perform deduplication of Google Vault Drive data during processing.
Google Vault Drive exports contain a Google-calculated hash, exclusive to Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, which is referenced in the metadata .xml file as SourceHash. This field is captured during processing and can be used post-processing, in conjunction with the Processing duplication workflow, to identify duplicate Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides files within the Relativity workspace.
Google Drive and Gmail sidecar xml includes information about data classification labels applied to the source data. Relativity does not capture this information.
Google Drive and Gmail sidecar xml includes query parameters used to generate the Google Vault export. Relativity does not capture this information.
Google Vault exports of Google Drive data into a file named [EXPORT_NAME]-custodian-docid.csv. Relativity does not capture any information in this file; it is processed as a loose individual file unless removed before processing.
Google Vault exports also typically include a -results-count.csv, -errors.xml, and .md5 file. Relativity does not capture any information in these files; they are processed as loose individual files unless removed before processing.
Beyond those mentioned here, Google Vault collections can contain other data types, some of which may be included within Google Drive or Gmail exports. For a complete list of these data types, see the Google support article Supported services & data types.

Resources

To learn more about using Google Vault to collect Google Workspace data, see Google's resources on Google Vault Help.