This session creates, updates, and deletes Candidates in bulk. The data for create and update is provided by the consumer via the form object. OsidForms are requested for each create or update and may not be reused.

Create and update operations differ in their usage. To create a Candidate, a CandidateForm is requested using getCandidateFormsForCreate() specifying the desired race, resource, and record Types or none if no record Types are needed. Each of the returned CandidateForms will indicate that it is to be used with a create operation and can be used to examine metdata or validate data prior to creation. Once a CandidateForm is submiited to a create operation, it cannot be reused with another create operation unless the first operation was unsuccessful. Each CandidateForm corresponds to an attempted transaction.

The CandidateForms returned from getCandidateFormsForCreate() may be linked to the originating request through the peer Ids of the CandidateForm. In the case where there may be duplicates, any CandidateForm of the same peer Ids may be used for a create operation.

Once a batch of CandidateForms are submitted for create, a CreateResponse is returned for each CandidateForm, although the ordering is not defined. Only errors that pertain to the entire create operation are returned from createCandidates(), errors specific to an individual CandidateForm are indicated in the corresponding CreateResponse. CreateResponses may be linked to the originating CandidateForm through the CandidateForm Id .

For updates, CandidateForms are requested to the Candidate Id that is to be updated using getCandidateFormsForUpdate() where the reference Id in the CandidateForm may be used to link the request. Similarly, the CandidateForm has metadata about the data that can be updated and it can perform validation before submitting the update. The CandidateForm can only be used once for a successful update and cannot be reused.

Once a batch of CandidateForms are submitted for update, an UpdateResponse is returned for each CandidateForm, although the ordering is not defined. Only errors that pertain to the entire update operation are returned from updateCandidates(), errors specific to an individual CandidateForm are indicated in the corresponding UpdateResponse. UpdateResponses may be linked to the originating CandidateForm through the CandidateForm Id.

The delete operations delete Candidates in bulk. To unmap a Candidate from the current Polls, the CandidatePollsAssignmentSession should be used. These delete operations attempt to remove the Candidate itself thus removing it from all known Polls catalogs. Bulk delete operations return the results in DeleteResponses.