Jira Integration

The Gantt page contains a new mechanism to import data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The import allows you to populate PM3 Milestones, Tasks, Issues, Agile Stories and Sprints, based on the LineType field on the row. LineType Mapping Because the import is designed specifically to help with Jira imports, the LineTypes on the spreadsheet reflect LineTypes that Jira can export, but they map to ordinary PM3 entities as follows: LineType => PM3 element Task Task SubTask/ Sub-Task Task Story Milestone (if Sprint is associated with a Task) or Sprint (if Sprint is associated with a Story) Bug Issue So for example, a LineType of Bug will be imported as an Issue within PM3. Jira does not produce a LineType of Sprint, so the information for Milestones or Sprints is obtained from other LineTypes. Column Mapping PM3 have imports available for various different data groups – Benefits Definition and Plan, Financial Status, Lessons Learned and now Jira. These imports have all now been made more flexible with column mapping. This means that you can now produce spreadsheets with your own custom column headings, as long as you specify how they map to the standard headings that the import expects. The system comes with a default set of mappings, but you can create multiple versions by cloning one of the existing sets. This can be managed via Admin > File Import Mappings. There is a lot of flexibility in the format of the spreadsheet you wish to import, which makes life much easier when such files are produced from third party systems: Column names may be customized Columns may be in any order Non-mandatory columns may be excluded altogether Additional columns may be included – they are ignored by the import. You populate your spreadsheet from any source you like. For example, data in a LineType of Task does not have to be from an Agile Task page. It can come from any place inside or outside Jira, as long as you want it to end up in a PM3 Issue. Jira Hyperlinks Jira exports come with a column called ‘ItemKey’ which is a hyperlink to the item within Jira. We import that into PM3 and it can be made visible within the Gantt table via the column selector by choosing Jira Link. When you click on that link, you are taken to the related Jira page, provided you have Jira permission. (The transition is seamless if you are already logged in or have a login cookie for the page. Otherwise you have to login first before arriving at that relevant Jira page). Jira Import Validation Rules The import validation rules are as permissive as possible. However, there are some constraints that necessary to allow the creation of the relevant PM3 objects: LineType must be one of Task, SubTask, Sub-Task, Bug, Story, Epic (the latter is ignored) • Item ID (Jira Issue ID) is mandatory Name field is mandatory for LineTypes: Tasks, SubTasks, and Stories Description and RasiedDate fields are mandatory for LineType: Bug. Status must be one of – To Do, In Progress, Done, Backlog – it not empty Jira Re-Importing Jira import files may re-imported into the same PM3 plan. This has the effect of updating the PM3 items with values from the Jira file. So, for example, certain dates or status values may change over time and be re-imported. A Jira import file may be imported into different PM3 plans. They are treated as totally separate. So, if a Jira file has been imported into PM3 plans A and B, then re-import bringing updates into plan A will not automatically update Jira items in plan B. You will need to re-import into plan B as well, to see the effect of the updates there. The Jira links on the imported items are the same in both plans, so clicking a Jira link in any plan within PM3 will take you to the same original Jira page.