Level 2

Question

Replace a field on a custom form with a new one and move the data from the old field to the new field. Can this be done without Fusion? If so, how can it be done?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 25, 2024
3 replies
1602 views

Hello. So, I have an old field on a custom form called "Review Proofs." We would like to replace that field with a new field called "Reviewing Proofs." I need to move all data from the old field to the new field. Can this be done in text mode versus using fusion? If so, how do I do it? I'm not good at text mode whatsoever.

Thank you for your support!

Tracy

Workfront

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K

KatherineLa

Community Advisor

Your options partly depend on the nature of the data in the existing field, and how many records already contain data in it. I'm also assuming that simply renaming your field's form display name, or re-labeling report column headers to clarify isn't an option here?

When I've had minimal records that were previously completed, I added the new field to the form and saved. Then I built a report that showed both fields side-by-side, and copy/pasted while my coffee brewed. It's not often feasible but sometimes the easiest solution.

In some instances I've had way too much legacy data for that to work, but the legacy field was also a picklist/radio button style field. In those cases, I did the same as above but then cycled through each item in the legacy drop-down with report filters. Isolate all the records where <Legacy Field> = 'Red', and then made a mass-update on all resulting records to select whatever the corresponding value was in the new picklist. Rinse and repeat for each value in the legacy picklist.

In the really difficult ones, I've had legacy data that was either text or typeaheads where neither option above is practical. In those cases, then I've built a Fusion scenario to copy everything over.

Tracy_LGAuthor

Level 2

Hi, Katherine. Thanks so much for your response. I should've mentioned this:

The old field is a string.

The new field is a numerical value.

Hence the field change.

I know, a big omission. 🙂 Sorry.

Tracy

Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore

Community Advisor

Hi @tracy_lg,

Sadly, such "Text" mistakes happens (especially being the default data type); and as you've been discussing, once data is entered into a custom parameter, the data type cannot be changed. Given that, I invite you to consider our Excel Updater solution, which -- unlike native Kickstarts, which can only insert data -- includes data updates, and with which you could:

Export a Workfront Report of each ID of interest (e.g. Project ID, if this is a Project form) along with the "Review Proofs" (text) column to Excel
Delete the first tab (with hyperlinks, etc.) from Excel
Rename the second tab to the Object Type (e.g. PROJECTS)
Rename the Reviewing Proof column to "Reviewing Proofs" (number)
Upload and run Excel file through the Excel Updater
Repeat the previous step: if it worked, this second pass will have nothing to do, confirming the first pass worked (as you'd then be able to observe within Workfront)
Delete the Reviewing Proof column if it is no longer needed
Update any existing views, reports, etc. to now refer to the new Reviewing Proofs column
Put a post-it note on your monitor that says "Got the right datatype?" to avoid future incidents

Depending on how many rows you have, the coffee brew option @katherinela mentioned might suffice, but I decided to mention this approach, too, so you and others can Save Until Needed.

Regards,

Doug

Richard_Carlson

Community Advisor

Can you create a report which isolates all of the old data and then using that report bulk move the values from one to the other by editing?

Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore

Community Advisor

That’s a good option @richard__carlson,

Doing a group by, then bulk updating each group in chunks can work. Alternatively, back to the Excel Updater approach, you could add a bullet point to cleanse the data in Excel (eg five becomes 5) prior to uploading.

Lots of alternatives to soak up this spill.

Regards,

Doug

-JC

Level 6

I use API calls to achieve this. If for example, the object type is Project, I will pull a project report in Workfront with (at minimum) the Project ID and the "Old field". I'll throw that in Excel, add a forth column, generate an API key for myself in Workfront, and write a HYPERLINK formula using the Project ID, "Old field", and API key values to then populate the new field. I still have to click in order to update the "New field", but it's less clicks than manually replacing the data within Workfront if I know I have a wide swatch of unique values.

For example, our instance unfortunately had two "Cost centre" fields that I had to consolidate. I pulled a Project report to display all projects where the "wrong" cost center field was populated. I then used the following formula in Excel:

=HYPERLINK("https://MYINSTANCENAME.my.workfront.com/attask/api/v17.0/project?ID="&[@ID]&"&apiKey=MYAPIKEY&method=PUT&DE:Cost%20centre="&[@[Old cost centre field]])

You would replace MYINSTANCENAME and MYAPIKEY with your own, as well as the project ID ([@ID] in my table), new field ("DE:Cost%20centre" in my case), and old field ([Old cost centre field] in my table). Then, I would click the links which opens up a new browser window for each click, wherein you should receive a message that the information has been updated.

Not sure this is the simplest explanation, but hopefully it helps you or someone else reading!

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