Bulk Update Documents from the Administrative Menu

The  Bulk Update Documents option in the GlobalSearch web client is designed for overwriting data common to multiple documents at the same time. Unlike other operations, Bulk Update does work across all pages of a Search Result, and works across all Archives specified by the search.  When you need a fast way to search and replace data across multiple documents (including document across pages or Archives), Bulk Update Documents is a tremendous time-saver. However, because it can permanently change Index Field values across a large number of documents in multiple Archives, it is only available to administrators and it must be used very thoughtfully. Before running Bulk Update Documents, it is strongly recommended that you first back up your database.

Bulk Update Documents appears in the Administration menu whenever the GlobalSearch Extensions tray application is running and the Bulk Update extension is enabled. Update Documents supports Field Lists and the ability to overwrite System Fields. Note that when updating  Multi-Value Fields with this feature, the single value you enter will replace all  the  previous values in the field. Also note that unlike Update Documents, where records must be selected for update, every record returned in the Search Results will be updated.

Possible Data Loss

Using the Bulk Update Extension will result in a  permanent change of data  for all the records in the Search. Make sure you understand the affected result set before processing an update, and you may wish to enable Versioning on Archives as a fail-safe. Be sure to have a viable backup and recovery strategy when using Bulk Update as part of your workflow.

Use Basic Bulk Update

The Basic update is a search-based update against user-provided data.  Basic operates like a typical Search, allowing you to specify their specific criteria at run time.

1. In the Administration menu on the GlobalSearch toolbar, click Bulk Update Documents.
   
   
2. To select the records to be updated, in the Bulk Update Documents interface that appears, select a Search from Searches list on the Basic tab.  The list includes all of the Searches in the database. Bulk Update Documents will not run on results generated via keyword (a.k.a., Content Searching).
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. On the Search Criteria tab, select one or more Index Field values in the Search Values text boxes. The Field list is contextual, based on the Search chosen.  The criteria provided here will generate the document results affected by the update.  It is always a good idea to run this Search and view the results in the Search Results Document List.  This will give you visibility into exactly what documents will be updated.
   
   

   

   
   
   
4. Optionally, enable Overwrite System Fields to overwrite current values in System Fields (except for the Date Last Modified and Last Modified By System Fields values, or Revisions-specific Fields, which cannot be updated by users).
   
   
5. On the Replacement Data tab, enter the values that will be replaced.  The Field list on this tab is a complete list of Fields in the database.  It is possible to update a Field that is not part of a document's current Archive.  When a document is moved to an Archive that has a specific Field, whatever indexing data that had been previously entered will be displayed.  
   
   
6. Click Update.  Note that documents will not be updated yet.  You will be prompted to confirm your desire to update records on the next screen.
   
   
7. At the confirmation message, click Update  again, if you are sure that you wish to update all records with the specified data.
   
   

   

   
   
   
8. In the Running Search confirmation window that appears, choose either Update to update the Field values or Back to return to the Update Documents interface.

Use Advanced Bulk Update

The Advanced tab of Bulk Update Documents is similar to the Basic option in terms of function, but how it gathers the documents to operate against is very different.  In the Advanced mode, document updates are all driven from a data file.  The data file will contain the data you wish to update documents with, in addition to a means to locate the specific document(s) in question.  To update from a CSV file, in the Bulk Update Documents interface, select Advanced. To locate documents, there are two choices:

1. Your CSV data file includes the Document ID and Archive ID of the specific documents you are looking to update.  This detail can be gathered from a previous Export Data and Documents operation, or your administrator may have generated the data file for you from an export of the GlobalSearch SQL database.
   
   
2. Your CSV data file includes specific search criteria that may be passed into a search at run time for each row of the data file.  Using this approach, the data file is providing specific search criteria for every row, rather than the one specific set of search criteria used in the Basic mode of Bulk Update.
   
   

CSV File with Document ID and Archive ID

If you have a CSV file with Document ID and Archive ID values, select the CSV Update tab: 

1. In CSV File, enter the full path or browse to the CSV file.
   
   
2. Specify the character used to separate fields in the CSV in the Field Delimiter text box.
   
   
3. Specify the character used to separate strings in the CSV, in the String Delimiter text box.
   
   
4. If you have changed a delimiter value, click Load CSV Fields (

   

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5. In Error File, enter or browse to the error log for logging any problems with the update operation.
   
   

6. In Field Values, select from the lists of available Archive Fields.  Values for the ArchiveID and DocID fields are required to identify the record; other values are optional but it is expected you would provide at least one additional value to update from the CSV.
   
   

   

   Direct Access Search

   A direct access search must be defined for the user on each Archive that will receive updates via the current operation.

CSV File with Search Criteria

If you have a CSV file with Search Criteria to locate documents, select the Search Update tab:

1. Select a Search from the list of Searches available for the selected database.
   
   
2. Select one or more Index Field values in the Search Values text boxes. (The Field list is contextual, based on the Search chosen.)
   
   
3. On the Replacement Data tab, for one or more of the available Fields, enter the values that will be updated (or populated, if the Field is empty) in the Map CSV Fields lists.

CSV or Search Update

For either CSV or Search Update:

1. Optionally, enable CSV Contains Column Headers to assign the first row of the CSV file as column headers. 
   
   
2. Optionally, enable Overwrite System Fields to overwrite current values in System Fields (except for the Date Last Modified and Last Modified by System Fields values, or Revisions-specific Fields, which cannot be updated by users).
   
   
3. Click Update to begin the update operation.  You will be asked to confirm the update once a a count has been generated.
   
   

   

Help

• Click the question mark icon in the Bulk Update Documents window to receive context-sensistive help on using the feature.
• Note that bulk updates may be time consuming.  It is always recommended you test bulk operations in a small batch before running against a result with tens or hundreds of thousands of records.