Bulk edit data

The Bulk Edit Data feature allows you to update the details of multiple submissions in your Clappia app at once, instead of opening and editing them one by one in the Submissions tab. This is particularly useful in situations such as:

• When you need to correct or update existing submissions in bulk.
• When owners of submissions need to be reassigned or updated.
• When you want to make multiple changes across records quickly without individually editing each one in the Submissions tab.

Normally, in the Submissions tab, each submission has to be opened and edited separately. With Bulk Edit, you can update hundreds or even thousands of rows of data in a single step.

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Accessing the Bulk Edit Option

Go to the Submissions tab of your app. Click on the Bulk Edit icon at the top.

A right panel will appear with upload instructions and options.

From this panel, you can download a blank spreadsheet, enter your updates, and upload the file back into the app.

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Bulk Editing Data in Your App:

Step 1: Download the Blank Spreadsheet

Click on the link in the right panel to download the blank spreadsheet.

The file will have your App ID as its name and will include all the app fields as column headers.

The spreadsheet will also contain additional headers for Bulk Edit:

• Submission Id – The unique ID of the submission you want to update. This is mandatory because the system uses it to identify which submission needs to be edited. Without a valid Submission Id, the row will not be processed, the particular submission will not be edited.
  
  
• Owner Email Ids (optional) – You can assign or change the submission owner(s). Owners are the users responsible for that submission.
  
  
• Replace Existing Owners? (yes/no) – If set to yes, the new owners you specify will replace the current ones. If set to no, the new owners will be added along with the existing owners. This is relevant when certain users need to view/make changes to the submission.
  
  

Note: Do not change the column headers. These headers map directly to your app fields, and modifying them will cause the edit to fail.

Filtering Submissions Before Bulk Editing

If you only need to bulk edit a specific type of data, you can first apply filters to your submissions table.

For example, you may want to update records belonging to a particular employee, department, or date range.

Once filtered, download the submissions. You can then use the Submission IDs from this filtered list when filling the blank spreadsheet for editing.

This helps you work only on the exact records you want to update, without touching unrelated submissions.

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Step 2: Enter Your Data

Open the downloaded spreadsheet and click Enable Editing if prompted.
Enter the Submission Id in the first column for each row you want to update. This is required for every record.

Update the relevant fields under the correct headers. Leave other fields blank if they do not need changes.

Optional:
Add or update the ‘Owner Email Ids’.
Set ‘Replace Existing Owners?’ to yes or no, depending on whether you want to overwrite or add to the current owners.

Once all data is updated, save the file in .xlsx format.

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Step 3: Upload the Spreadsheet

Return to the Bulk Edit panel. Upload the spreadsheet by either drag-and-dropping the file into the upload area or by clicking to select it from your computer.

Once the file is selected, click Upload.
If you have uploaded an incorrect file then just hover over the file on the right panel, click on ‘Remove’ and re-upload the correct file.

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File Restrictions and Limits

When preparing your upload file, keep these rules in mind:

• Only files with the extension .xlsx are supported.
  
• Minimum 1 data row is required.
  
• Maximum 10,000 data rows can be uploaded in a single file.
  
  

If you attempt to upload a file in an unsupported format, the system will reject it and show an error message like this:

If this happens:

• Drag and drop the correct .xlsx file.
  
  
• If there were failed submissions in the earlier upload, you will also see a Reset button. Use this to re-upload corrected files.

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Step 4: View the Upload Status

After clicking ‘Upload’, the system processes the file and displays the status at the bottom:

• Successful: Number of rows successfully updated.
  
  
• Failed: Number of rows that could not be updated due to errors.

Submissions that are successful are immediately updated in your app. Refresh the Submissions table to view the changes.

Let’s say this is the file that was uploaded to edit data.

Submissions that fail will not be edited. However, this does not stop the successful rows from being processed i.e. partial edits are supported.

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Download Failed Records File

If any data fails to be edited during the upload:

You will see an option to Download Failed Records.

This file contains only the rows that failed, with an additional column called Error Reasons at the end. This column explains why each row could not be processed.

To fix failed rows:

• Open the failed records file.
• Correct the errors mentioned in the Error Reasons column.
• Delete the Error Reasons column before re-uploading.
• Save the file in .xlsx format and re-upload it.
  
  

Note: Always re-upload the failed records file instead of the original spreadsheet to avoid creating duplicate edits for rows that were already processed successfully.

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Common Reasons for Failed Edits

Some typical issues that cause rows to fail include:

• Missing Submission Id
  Every row must include a valid Submission Id, otherwise it cannot be matched to an existing submission.
  
  
• Invalid Owner Email Ids
  Email IDs must be valid and belong to users in your workplace.
  
  
• Incorrect Date or Time Format
  The format must match what is configured in your workplace settings. You can also see this in the date and time fields added in the app in App Home (in case you don’t have access to Workplace Settings).
  
  
• Dropdowns, Single Selectors, or Multiple Selectors mismatch
  The values entered in the spreadsheet must exactly match the options configured in the app.
  These values are also case sensitive.
  
  
• Incorrect format for number, URL, or email fields
  Entering text in a number field, or invalid email/URL formatting, will cause errors.
  
  
• Missing values in required fields
  If a field is marked as “Required” in the app, its column must not be left blank in the upload sheet.

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After Upload

Once the upload completes, refresh the Submissions table to see your updated records.

Any owner changes you made will also reflect immediately.

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Editing a Few Submissions Directly (Without Spreadsheet)

You can also directly update a few submissions without downloading or uploading spreadsheets. This is useful when:
– You have only a small number of submissions to update.
– The same change needs to be applied across multiple records.

To do this:

Use filters if required to narrow down your submissions. Select the submissions you want to edit from the table.

On the right panel, click Select a field to edit and enter the new value to be applied.

If you want to update more than one field, click + Add Field to add another field for editing.

Once ready, click Save. Refresh the Submissions tab to view the updated values.
This method is best for quick edits without handling spreadsheets.

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Unsupported Blocks in Bulk Edit

Bulk Edit supports most input fields, but some blocks are not supported. These fields will not appear in the downloaded spreadsheet:

• Address, Geo Address, Payment blocks (rest of the Data Input blocks are supported).
• Data Upload blocks (except GPS Location block).
• Data Processing blocks (except pulled fields from Get Data blocks – these must match the source app data exactly, or they will fail).
• Content blocks (except the Validation block).
• Copyable Section fields.

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Note on Workflows and Bulk Operations

Workflows in Clappia run on individual submissions, such as when a user submits or manually edits a record. However, when using Bulk Edit from the Submissions tab, workflows are not triggered, even though new submissions may be added or existing ones updated.

This is because workflows are designed to process one submission at a time. Triggering them for bulk operations can lead to incomplete or inconsistent results, especially for complex workflows.

If you need workflows to run after a bulk operation, currently you will need to open each submission manually and save it. This will count as an edit and trigger the workflow normally.

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