Bulk changing fields to update multiple items

If you need to change the same information in a large number of items, use bulk change fields instead of manually editing each item. For example, you may need to change the priority of 50 issues from low to high. Instead of editing each issue, you can bulk change fields to update the items simultaneously.

You can change the following fields based on the item type. Fields you can change depend on your security permissions. See Security notes for more information.

Item type Fields you can change
Issues System fields, custom fields, workflow events, and Reported by records, including steps to reproduce and computer config
Requirements System fields, custom fields, workflow events
Requirement documents System fields, custom fields, workflow events
Test cases System fields, custom fields, workflow events, steps, test variants
Manual test runs System fields, custom fields, workflow events

1. Select the items to update. Make sure you only select items you want to change. There is no undo available for bulk changing fields. If no items are selected, every item that passes the applied filter will be updated.

You can select items from the following areas:

  • Item lists—Issues, Requirement Documents, Requirements, Test Cases, and Manual Test Runs lists.
  • List tab on the Folders list—Unless you are working with a Test Case Suite or Manual Test Run Suite folder, make sure only one item type is selected in the Display Options pane. The Recursive option and selected filter are respected when changing fields.
  • Task Board tab on the Folders list—You must select the items to change.
  • Open requirement document—You must select the items to change. You cannot change fields in snapshots.

2. Click Actions and choose Bulk Change Fields.

The Bulk Change Fields dialog box opens.

3. Click the tab for the field types to update. The available tabs depend on the item type you are updating fields for and your security permissions.

Tab Item types available for Contains:
General Fields All All system and custom fields that can be changed for the item type.
Workflow Events All Workflow event fields.
Reported By Fields Issues Reported by record fields for issues, including the Steps to Reproduce and Other Hardware and Software fields.
Steps Test cases Steps and comments for test cases.
Test Variants Test cases Included and excluded test variants for test cases.

4. Click a field name to expand options for the field. You can search for a field.

5. Make any changes. The available options depend on the field type. See Changing specific field types for information about changing issue Reported by records, test case steps, test variants, and workflow events.

  • To set the field to a new value, select Set to value and enter a value. If the field is a dropdown field, you may be able to work with the list values. Click Configure List Values. See Configuring dropdown field values.
  • To set a check box to selected or cleared, select Set to selected or Set to not selected.
  • To add text to the beginning of a text field value, select Prepend and enter the text.
  • To add text to the end of a text field value, select Append and enter the text.
  • To find replace a text field value, select Find and Replace and enter the text to search for in the Find field. Enter the replacement text in the Replace with field.
  • Do not change value indicates that no changes are set for the field.

Note:  Fields with changes have Modified displayed next to the field name. If a field value is invalid, is displayed next to the field name, which indicates you need to correct it.

6. Click another tab to make additional changes or click Change if you are finished.

The Bulk Change Fields Summary dialog box opens and displays the changes that will be made.

7. Click Change again to confirm the changes.

The items are updated. If there are problems with the updates, the Bulk Change Fields Warnings and Errors dialog box opens. Click Save to open or download (depending on the browser) a text file that contains the warnings and errors.

Changing specific field types

The following information provides additional details changing issue Reported by records, test case steps, test variants, and workflow events.

1.When bulk changing issue fields, click the Reported By Fields tab in the Bulk Change Fields dialog box.

2. Select the Reported by records to Apply changes to.

  • First report only changes fields in the first report.
  • All reports changes fields in all reports.

1.When bulk changing test case fields, click the Steps tab in the Bulk Change Fields dialog box.

2. Select how to update steps in the test cases.

  • Do not change steps does not make any changes.
  • Add comment before steps adds a comment before all steps. Enter a Comment.
  • Add comment after steps adds a comment after all steps. Enter a Comment.
  • Find and replace text finds the specified text in the steps and replaces it with the specified text. Enter the text to find and replace.

1.When bulk changing test case fields, click the Test Variants tab in the Bulk Change Fields dialog box.

2. Click Add Variant To Change to add a change for Included Variants or Excluded Variants.

A new row is added to the list.

3. Select the Test Variant to change.

4. Select the Action to perform on the list of variants on each test case.

  • Add selected values adds the selected values to the list of variants.
  • Remove selected values removes the selected values from the list of variants.
  • Set to selected values replaces any values in the list of variants with the selected values.

5. Select the values to apply using the selected action.

6. Click the Accept button to save the change.

Note:  To edit a change, click . To remove a change, click .

7. Add any additional variant changes.

1.Click the Workflow Events tab in the Bulk Change Fields dialog box.

2. Select Event to change fields for.

3. Select the events to Apply changes to in the items.

  • Most recent <event> event only changes the most recent event.
  • All <event> events changes all instances of the event.

Security notes

Keep in mind that command and field security are respected when bulk changing fields. In addition to the following requirements, users can only bulk change fields they have editing Read/Write privileges for in their security group.

Item type Security notes
Issues The Bulk Change Issues and Edit Issues security commands must be enabled for the user's security group to bulk change issue fields. The Edit Issues Assigned To Anyone command must be enabled to change issues assigned to other users. The Edit Closed Issues command must be enabled to change closed issues. The Edit Locked Issues command must be enabled to change issues locked by the workflow.
Requirements The Bulk Change Requirements and Edit Requirements security commands must be enabled for the user's security group to bulk change requirement fields. The Edit Requirements Assigned To Anyone command must be enabled to change requirements assigned to other users. The Edit Closed Requirements command must be enabled to change closed requirements. The Edit Locked Requirements command must be enabled to change requirements locked by the workflow.
Requirement documents The Bulk Change Requirement Documents and Edit Requirement Documents security commands must be enabled for the user's security group to bulk change document fields. The Edit Requirement Documents Assigned To Anyone command must be enabled to change requirements assigned to other users. The Edit Closed Requirement Documents command must be enabled to change closed documents. The Edit Locked Requirement Documents command must be enabled to change documents locked by the workflow.
Test cases The Bulk Change Test Cases and Edit Test Case security commands must be enabled for the user's security group to bulk change test case fields. The Edit Test Cases Assigned To Anyone command must be enabled to change test cases assigned to other users. The Edit Closed Test Cases command must be enabled to change closed test cases. The Edit Locked Test Cases command must be enabled to change test cases locked by the workflow.
Manual test runs The Bulk Change Manual Test Runs and Edit Manual Test Runs security commands must be enabled for the user's security group to bulk change manual test run fields. The Edit Manual Test Runs Assigned To Anyone must be enabled to change manual test runs assigned to other users. The Edit Closed Manual Test Runs command must be enabled to change closed manual test runs. The Edit Locked Manual Test Runs command must be enabled to change manual test runs locked by the workflow.