Documentation/ Working with documents/ Batch actions
Batch actions
Tick documents in the list and the batch operations come alive. It is the mechanism that closes a day's work in a few actions instead of document by document.
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Ticking the documents
The first column of the list lets you tick documents one by one, or use the header tick box.
Ticking only reaches the records that are loaded. The list brings documents in in blocks; the header tick box covers what is on screen, not the whole total. To work on a large set, narrow it with filters first rather than loading block after block.
The list header says at all times how many documents are ticked, and how many are loaded out of the total. And pressing an action with nothing ticked brings up a notice rather than doing nothing.
What is available
| Action | What it does | Can you undo it |
|---|---|---|
| Approve selected | Signs off everything ticked. | Yes, by unapproving |
| Delete selected | Deletes the ticked documents. | No |
| Merge selected | Joins the ticked ones into a single document. | Yes, by splitting |
| Assign project | Charges the ticked ones to a project. | Yes, by assigning again |
| Download selected | Downloads the original files. | Not applicable |
| Transfer/Duplicate | Changes the ticked ones to another type, or makes copies under another type. | No |
| Send | Sends the ticked ones to the ERP you have set up. | No |
| Change status | Puts the same status on everything ticked. | Yes |
Approve selected
Approves every ticked document in one operation. The application asks you to confirm, saying how many it is about to approve.
The usual use is to filter by the correct-checks status, select and approve: those documents do not need looking at one by one.
Delete selected
The application asks you to confirm, saying how many documents are affected.
Deleting does not give your allowance back. A processed document has spent the allowance whether you delete it afterwards or not. The usage figure includes deleted documents.
Merge selected
Joins the ticked documents into one. It needs at least two ticked; with one, the application says so.
It is what you want for documents carrying the waiting-to-be-merged status: parts of one document that came in separately. It can be undone: a merged document can be split later.
Before it goes ahead, a dialog lists the documents ticked, and any ticked by mistake can be taken out there. At least two have to remain.
Auto-merge is no longer on the list. The automatic merge still works where it matters — at upload, with the auto-merge everything tick box — and what is left on the list is merging by hand, which is the one that needs judgement.
Assign a project
Charges the ticked documents to a project. The dialog says how many documents it is about to assign and asks which project.
It is the way to put things right when a batch went up with no project, or the wrong one. Choosing the project at upload time avoids this step altogether.
Send to the ERP
Sends the ticked documents to the system you have set up. The application asks you to confirm first.
What it checks before sending, depending on the destination:
- Documents already sent. If any of the ticked ones is recorded as sent, you are warned and asked to confirm sending it again.
- Required data missing. Some destinations insist on data the document has to carry; if it is missing, the documents concerned are listed instead of sent.
- Project required. Where the set-up insists on one, documents without a project are picked out before the send.
When only part of it works
A batch operation can half succeed: some documents go through and others do not. The application does not report that as an outright failure.
- On a delete, it says how many went and how many could not.
- On a send, it separates a complete send from a partial one, with the detail of what was left out.
- The list refreshes either way, including when the operation failed, so what you see matches what is really there.
After a batch operation the view keeps the page and the filters it had rather than going back to the top of the list.