Before doing any mass changes to your system, we suggest doing a full contract back-up!
If you are unsure how to do a full contract back-up, click here.
Change a Field Type without Losing Data
Changing a Field's Type can be done, but it takes a bit of effort. It’s a multi-step process that basically involves creating a new Field of the correct type and replacing the Old Field with the New on your contracts!
- First, add an X in front of the existing Field so it's easy to see which one gets deleted. Example: XTermination Clause
- Create a new Field with the right name (Termination Clause, to continue the example) and select the correct Field Type. Now, insert the Field into your Field Group(s). Don't worry about deleting the other XTermination Clause from the Group just yet!
- Make a View with the following criteria to bring up all contracts with data in the old field: XField Name -- is null -- false
**Make sure to check the "Include Archived" checkbox!**
- Save and Run the View, then export that View out to a CSV file using the "report" button. Delete the first two rows (These will be a blank row and the top row, that contains the View Name)
- Make the header match appropriately to add contracts to the right field group. It should read FieldGroup::FieldName. The Contract ID column should have the header Contract::ID.
- Save this file as a .CSV
- Use the bulk loader to Update Contracts by Contract ID. This will preserve any data you have entered in those fields you're changing! :)
- Delete the old Field