This article explains how to create batch configurations in the Batch Configuration Portal, name them, and add or change their parameters and allowed values. To open the portal, see Open the Batch Configuration Portal.
Available to: all roles that can open My Extensions in the Extensions Portal.
Find a configuration
On Batch Add-Ons, select Go To Configs on the extension's row.
On the extension's Configurations screen, find the configuration by its Name or by the last 8 characters of its Config Key. To check which configuration a batch run uses, compare the end of the configid= value in your batch arguments with the Config Key column. Hover over a key to see it in full.
Select Go To Values to see the configuration's parameters on the Configured Parameters screen.
Create a configuration
Create a new configuration when you need a batch run with different allowed values from your existing configurations, for example a second set of batch arguments that saves to a different field or table.
You can only create a configuration for an extension that's already listed on Batch Add-Ons, because Add New is on the extension's Configurations screen. If an extension you use isn't listed (for example, Image Resizer/Rotator, whose installation wizard doesn't create a configuration yet), submit a technical support case to have its first configuration created. Include the extension's name and the app it's set up in.
On the extension's Configurations screen, select Add New in the column header. The Add New Batch Configuration dialog opens.
Choose how to start:
Paste Parameters: Paste in the add-on parameters to quickly set up a config. Use this when you already have the batch arguments for the run. See Paste Parameters.
Create Manually: Start with a blank slate and add config parameters one by one. The configuration is created as soon as you select this tile. See Create Manually.
The portal creates the configuration and opens its Configured Parameters screen. You can name it, add parameters, and change allowed values right away.
Select Cancel to close the dialog without creating anything. If the configuration can't be created, a message box shows the reason. See Messages when you save changes.
Paste Parameters
Pasting is the quickest way to create a configuration that allows exactly the values your batch run sends.
In your Quickbase app, open a record that runs the batch and copy the value of the extension's batch arguments field, for example XL Docs Batch Processing Arguments. Copy the text the field shows on the record (the formula's result), not the formula itself. For each extension's field name, see Extensions that check batch configurations.
In the dialog, select Paste Parameters. The dialog reads Please copy the parameters from a record and paste them below. For a guide, please visit our helpsite. The link opens this section.
Paste the text into the box and select Add.
The text uses the same format as batch arguments: name=value pairs separated by spaces, with values that contain spaces wrapped in double quotes. For example:
clientid=Q# appid=<your app ID> dbid=<your table ID> tpid=3 faid=39 docfmt=pdf configid=<your Config Key>Q# stands for the letter Q followed by your company's Client ID number. See Find your Client ID, table IDs, and field IDs.
What the new configuration contains:
The extension's standard parameters: the parameters Quickbase checks for that extension by default, plus clientid and appid. Each standard parameter's allowed value is the value from your pasted text. A standard parameter that isn't in your text gets a blank allowed value, except clientid: if your text has no clientid value, it's filled in with your company's Client ID (Q followed by the number).
Parameters in your text that aren't standard for the extension aren't added. If you want to lock one of them, add it with Add New (see Add a parameter).
configid is never added as a parameter. The configuration gets its own new Config Key.
Parameter names are saved in lower case. Double quotes around a value are removed, so fn="Invoice 2026" is saved as Invoice 2026. Text without an = is ignored, and if the same parameter appears twice, the first value is used.
Create Manually
Create Manually gives you a configuration that already lists the extension's standard parameters, so you don't have to type their names:
clientid is filled in with your company's Client ID (Q followed by the number).
appid and every other standard parameter for the extension start with a blank allowed value.
Next, select Modify on each parameter your batch run sends and enter the values it's allowed to use (see Change allowed values), and add any other parameters you want to lock.
Note
A blank allowed value only allows an empty value. Until you set real values, a batch run that sends a value for one of these parameters (for example appid=bxxxxxxxx) doesn't match the configuration and stops with an error.
Name a configuration
New configurations don't have a name. A name helps you and your team tell configurations apart, for example Invoices - Project table. The name is only a label; batch runs use the Config Key.
On the Configurations screen, select the configuration's Name cell.
Type the name.
Click outside the cell or press Tab. The name is saved automatically; there's no Save button.
The name then also appears in the Configured Parameters heading for that configuration. If the name can't be saved, a message box shows Could not save the configuration name - please try again or contact support. and the previous name is put back.
The Add/Edit Batch Parameter dialog
You add parameters and change allowed values in the Add/Edit Batch Parameter dialog. It has:
Parameter Name: the batch argument to check, for example faid. You can type a name only when adding a parameter; when you modify a parameter, the name is shown but can't be changed. Names aren't case-sensitive. A name is required: Save does nothing until you enter one.
Parameter Value(s): one box per allowed value.
Select + (next to the label) to add another value box. A parameter can have up to 10 allowed values; after the tenth, + is unavailable.
Select - to the right of a value box to remove that value. The first box can't be removed, because every parameter has at least one allowed value.
Leave a box empty to allow an empty value. It's shown as blank.
Values are case-sensitive and must match exactly what the batch run sends. Any characters can be used, including ', &, #, and +, so values such as a Quickbase query ({'3'.EX.'4'}) are stored exactly as you type them.
Don't give one parameter allowed values that differ only in upper and lower case, such as Invoice and invoice. Change the formula so it always sends one spelling, and allow only that one.
Save saves the parameter. Cancel closes the dialog without saving. If the values can't be saved, a message box shows the reason and the dialog stays open with your entries, so you can select Save again.
Add a parameter
Add a parameter to lock down another batch argument, for example an output field or table the installation wizard didn't include.
On the Configured Parameters screen, select Add New in the column header.
Enter the Parameter Name exactly as it appears in your batch arguments (before the =). A name is required.
Enter each allowed value in its own box, using + for more boxes.
Select Save. The parameter appears in the list.
If the configuration already has a parameter with that name, the values you enter are added to its existing allowed values.
Change allowed values
On the Configured Parameters screen, select Modify on the parameter's row. The dialog opens with the current allowed values filled in.
Change values, add values with +, or remove values with -.
Select Save. The parameter's allowed values are replaced with exactly the values in the dialog.
Changes take effect for the next batch run that uses the configuration. You don't need to change the batch arguments.
Copy the Config Key
Batch runs identify a configuration by its full Config Key. To copy it:
On the Configurations screen, select the key (it shows ... and the last 8 characters) or the copy icon next to it, or
On the Configured Parameters screen, select the heading or its copy icon.
The full key is copied to your clipboard. Hover over a key on the Configurations screen to see the full key. Paste it after configid= in your batch arguments; see Use a configuration in batch runs.
Important
Treat a Config Key like a password. Don't post it in shared documents, screenshots, or support forums.
What you can't change here
The Batch Configuration Portal doesn't let you:
Delete a configuration.
Remove a parameter from a configuration, or rename a parameter.
Disable a configuration.
Get a new Config Key for a configuration.
For any of these, submit a technical support case. Include the extension's name and the configuration's name or the last 8 characters of its Config Key. Don't include the full key.
To remove a parameter, submit a technical support case.