Overview
This article will walk you through the process of updating or clearing fields in mass on a specific list of data.
Steps to Change or Clear a Field
Run a query to bring up the list of the records you want to perform a mass update on. In this example I will search from the address search window by a particular precinct, with the intention to update that precinct (this could be a plausible situation because precinct boundaries tend to change over time – in my case there is a spelling error I wish to correct.)
NOTE: Instead of performing these en mass updates in the Address List you can perform it in the voter/donor list, the images below display how this would look:
Img 1 of 2 (Voter > Edit > Set Fields)
Under the Application Menu follow Voter/Donor > Addresses and navigate to the District tab. Here I selected the Precinct Name “ARAGO TWP.” I want to change these records to match the other precinct name of “ARAGO TWP” minus the (.) so that it conforms.
Once the list is populated select the Edit drop-down from the search tool strip and select Set Fields.
Locate the field name you would like to update. Now you can either enter the new name or click the drop down and select <Clear> to clear the data in that field for each of the records in the list. In this example the Precinct Name is updated from “ARAGO TWP.” to “ARAGO TWP” with no (.).
Click [OK]; you will be prompted with a warning, Click [OK] to perform Mass Update. In this case 4 records will be updated.
After clicking [OK] you will be presented with the results of the update.
Click [OK] again and you are finished with the mass update.
To verify the mass update was a success, I first entered the updated Precinct Name and clicked the [Search] button. In this case I can view the Precinct Name column to validate the update.
You can perform mass updates in different search windows; you can also perform mass updates on things such as adding/modifying/removing attributes or events as well as many other options by following the same process.
After you finish updating the fields it is good practice to update the Unique Search Values (the values which reside in the drop-downs). To do this follow Application Menu > System Manager > Settings and select Update Unique Search Values (Drop Downs). This will change the Precinct Name to the correct one the next time I click the Precinct Name drop-down.
