Bulk Updater is a web application that allows you to update in bulk the properties (also called metadata) of your AODocs documents. Only library administrators and super administrators can use Bulk Updater.
Learn more:
This article provides information about:
Formatting rules |
Tips and best practices |
Formatting rules
When you update the values of properties, respect these formatting rules. Properties won't be updated if any values entered manually don’t respect these formatting rules.
Tips: Before the update, check:
- the document for typos
- that any values you enter for Category fields are defined in AODocs (you can ignore this tip if the AODocs category is dynamic)
Note: Take care when you use the following characters in the values of properties:
- the character > (greater than) is used to separate category sublevels, for example:
USA>Georgia>Atlanta.
- the character | (pipe) is used to separate values for multi-value fields, for example:
HR|Finance
If you don't want to use these characters for these purposes, escape them with the character \ (backslash)
Column |
Formatting rule |
Property type: |
Use integer values. |
Property type: |
Use decimal values with the dot separator “.” |
Property type: |
No formatting rules |
Property type: |
Enter a string with fewer than 400 alphanumeric and special characters. |
Property type: |
Enter a link to the document. |
Property type: |
If you try to update a Person property with an invalid email address, the property won't be updated. |
Property type: |
Enter one of:
|
Property type: |
For the Date & Time field, use the format: dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss For the Date field, use the format: dd/MM/yyyy For the Time field, use the format: HH:mm:ss |
Property type: |
Enter values registered in the AODocs category definition. |
Property configuration: |
To enter several values in a single cell, use the separator | (pipe) |
Property configuration: |
Hidden fields can be updated. |
Property configuration: |
Bulk Updater doesn't force you to enter a value for mandatory fields. |
Workflow state |
If you try to update a workflow state with a value that isn't configured in AODocs, the state won't be updated. |
Tips and best practices
System properties versus custom properties
Note: Learn more about difference between system properties and custom properties in AODocs: What is an AODocs document?
In the exported spreadsheet, you can update:
- all custom properties that aren't grayed out
- only the following system properties:
- Title
- Last updater
- Last update date
Tip: Make sure you respect the formatting rules for the property when you update a cell.
Avoid modifying any properties that are grayed out in the exported spreadsheet. These properties are ignored during the update.
Keep the last modification date unchanged
By default, documents updated by Bulk Updater have the same date of last update and date of modification.
If you don't want this date to be modified, select the Preserve last modification date field checkbox in the sidebar before launching the update.
Export with multiple document classes
When you export a library with multiple document classes or a view displaying multiple document classes, the generated spreadsheet contains:
- in the rows: all documents from all documents classes
- in the columns: all custom properties from each document class
For a given document, cells corresponding to properties that don’t belong to the document’s class will be left blank in the spreadsheet. Avoid modifying these cells.
Note: On update, only the properties configured in a document’s class are updated. The others are ignored.