Child Case - How to Change Parent_ID (Assign to New Parent)

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1

Hi all! I am trying to figure out the best way to change the parent ID for a child case, so that the child case is linked to a different parent case.

Is there a way to do this easily, without LookUp Tables or archiving and re-entering the whole child case form?

1 Like
2

I am also curious about this.

3

Hello all,

If you need to update many child cases at once, you can use the Case Import feature:

  1. Export the child cases from CommCareHQ (Include the case_id and parent_id columns).
  2. Update the parent_id column in the spreadsheet with the new parent case IDs.
  3. Re-import the spreadsheet to CommCareHQ to update the cases.

For more details, please take a look at our documentation here.

Best,
Shahid

4

Hi Shahid,

Thank you!

First question, is there another way to do it if we don't need to update multiple at once?

Second question, I'm running into a problem for how to delete duplicate cases. Specifically, a mobile worker has accidentally opened two household cases for one household. Let's say they opened Household A first, and Household B second. There are child cases (clinic appointments) under both household cases. For the child cases of Household B, I need to change their parent case to Household A. Then I need to delete Household B by archiving the form that created it. However, when I try this, I am not able to archive the form that created Household B because CommCareHQ says I need to archive all the forms that created Household B's former child cases first, even though they have been moved under a new parent case. I don't want to delete these child cases, as they are real clinic appointments, they were simply logged under the wrong household case. I know I could just "close" the incorrect household case, but I would rather delete it because we use "closed" cases to represent real households that stopped participating, rather than data entry errors. Is there a solution for this?

Thank you again!
Nina

5

Hi Nina,

Although the suggested method is recommend for multiple cases, you can most definitely use this option for single cases as well.

  • Export the child case, update the parent_id column in the spreadsheet with the new parent case ID, and re-upload the modified case data via the bulk case import tool.

Regarding your second query, this is how you can achieve this:

  1. Reassign Child Cases:
  • Update the parent case ID for each child case (clinic appointment) from Household B to Household A.
  1. Close Household B:
  • Since CommCare does not allow archiving a case while child cases exist, simply close Household B instead of deleting it. More information on this point can be found on our Data Management documentation.
  • This ensures that the case is no longer active but remains in the system for data accuracy.

Let me know if this helps.

Best,
Shahid