Is working offline (exporting, editing, and re-importing at the project level) an existing feature or supported by a plug-in?

[Beth Schaefermann]

Hi,

I have investigated import/ export functionality in Jira, and I am looking to confirm my understanding.

I have found a method of exporting data from the Issues section to view it in Excel via the Views drop down, but as of yet, I do not believe it is possible to simply edit the data in the spreadsheet and re-import it in the same view. This means, that at the project permissions level, a user cannot "work offline" and re-import the data with the expectation that validations have occurred that ensure that data that has been changed by the user via the spreadsheet does not copy over data that may have been subsequently changed by another user.

I have found an import functionality at the Jira Admin permissions level, but it seems to be more of a project "restore" feature that should be driven by the technical team (perhaps to load a backup) than a feature that would be used for simple project updates (especially apparent due to that the update cannot be a local upload).

This leaves me to believe that the Import features are more for migration support than they are for working offline and using Excel features to manipulate data in volume. Is this correct? Are there any existing plug-ins that would support project-level import/ export?

[Markus Lepper · Accepted solution]

Hello Beth,

we use the Jira Client application for all offline/travelling users.

This tool allows easy syncing in both directions and provides an UI similar to the webinterface...so no need to work on Excel sheets.

If you really want to IMport Excel sheets (EXport is provided by Jira out-of-the-box) you might want to check the Excel Connector for Jira plugin.

HTH & Kind regards,

Markus

[Beth Schaefermann]

Thanks a lot, Markus! I will look into these options.

[Beth Schaefermann]

I just wanted to come back here and say that we are currently using the ALM Works JIRA Client that Markus recommended, as it nicely suited our needs. It works kind of like an SVN client, but for tracking your issues. On top of that, their customer service is fantastic and responsive (yay, Eugene).

We are, though, going to build our own custom import scripts for our Excel spreadsheets so that we can import directly from the spreadsheet into a specific project (project level scope), because we still have a need to work with our clients at times using spreadsheets and pulling data into the system in bulk.

[Bob Swift]

JIRA Command Line Interface has some import capabilities for CSV/Excel - How to import data from external systems or databases

[Beth Schaefermann]

I can't expect my users to interact via the command line, but it's nice to see that it is an option. :)

[Bob Swift]

Agree, its more of a building block. We use a Confluence page to drive an import of a standard CSV file. User attaches new CSV file to page, puts the name in a input box, and clicks on a button (Run Plugin) and then a bunch of issues are created. Update would work the same way provided the CSV has the right format.