When operating workflows, you may encounter situations where you need to initiate multiple Cases with similar content at once. Examples include starting a request to do a PC upgrade for the Sales Dept. for each division separately, or when the data for the Cases to be initiated is already compiled in a spreadsheet. Initiating these Cases one by one using [Start New] can be quite time-consuming.
In Questetra BPM Suite, you can manually bulk-start multiple Cases simultaneously. This article explains how to perform this operation along with some useful tips.
1. How to Bulk-Start Multiple Cases
First, navigate to [Start] > click [Details] for the relevant App. Next to the [Start] button, you will find the [Bulk Start Cases] button. Click it to open the input screen for bulk initiation.
2. Entering Data and Starting Cases in Bulk
The Bulk Start Cases screen displays a table where the Data Items set to “Editable” in the initial Human Task (the first step after starting a Case) are arranged as columns. Initially, the table contains only one row. Use the [+] button to add rows, and enter the values into each row for as many Cases as you wish to start. Once the values are entered, click the [Bulk Start Cases] button to initiate all Cases simultaneously.
Please note that only Data Items with data types compatible with bulk initiation will appear as columns in the table. Supported data types are String (Single-line), Numeric, Select (Radio/Select/Search Select), Date, Datetime, User, and Organization. Unsupported types such as String (Multiple-line), Select (Checkbox), File, Discussion, and Table will not be displayed. If you need to set values for these items, please enter them in a subsequent step after the Cases have been initiated.
In addition, Numeric items set for automatic calculation are calculated automatically and cannot be entered by users; therefore, they will not appear in the table (nor can they be edited in subsequent steps).
When entering a large number of data items or when the details to be initiated are already organized in a spreadsheet, the [Import] function is convenient. By writing the values for each Case into a dedicated template file and uploading it, you can populate the table all at once.
* Only tab-delimited text files in UTF-16 format can be imported. To ensure smooth importing, download the template by clicking [Export current settings as TSV File] on the Import screen, edit it, and then import it.
3. Processing Initiated Cases Continuously
Bulk initiation covers up to starting the Cases and saving the entered values at the initial Human Task. The initial task is not yet completed, leaving it ready for the assignee to proceed with operating.
The initial task is not completed right away to allow you to perform a final check on the entered values. Additionally, if there are data items that cannot be entered via bulk initiation (such as String-type (Multiple-line) or File-type attachments), you can input them at this stage. Review the contents, make any necessary corrections or additions, and then complete each task.
When you want to process multiple tasks sequentially, the [Execute tasks sequentially] button displayed on the completion screen of the bulk initiation is useful. This allows you to work through tasks rapidly, which is faster than opening each item one by one from My Tasks.
When launching multiple Cases with identical or similar contents, bulk initiation is faster and helps prevent missing entries compared to starting each Case individually. We encourage you to make active use of this feature.
If you want Cases to start automatically based on the number of choices or organizations, you can also use a Timer Start Event (available in the Advanced edition and higher). For details, please refer to Using Timers to Auto-start Multiple Cases.
