Integrate Jira with Excel

Question

I have some complex equations and functions set up in an Excel spreadsheet and I'd like to integrate them with Jira.  The input to the equations are custom fields in Jira, and I'd like the final result of the calculations to be returned to another custom field in Jira.

It is possible to do this in real time, meaning no exporting of data from Jira, running through Excel, and then importing the results?  Would like to have the user enter the data in Jira, automatically applied through Excel, and then the result automagically appear back in Jira.

Preference would be to do this without addition Add-Ins if possible.

Thanks in advance.

Lucas Modzelewski _Lumo_ · Answer

Hi @Steve Ungar ,

I'm from the team behind Excel 365 Connector for Jira (available on Cloud, Server, Data Center), our app allows to make 2 way communication Jira <=> Excel. You can import data from Jira into Excel, then do Excel magic and send changes to Jira.

You should give it a try

Cheers,
Łukasz

Steve Ungar · Answer

@Harald Seyr Thanks for the info.  That does look like a rather complex project, and even if I were to implement it I don't know if my company would allow me to deploy custom code like that on the server.

With smart values it looks like there are some functions available to do calcs, but the current Excel uses more complex functions to get to the final result (vlookups, ifs, sumif, etc.) so I don't technically need "Excel" if there's a way to add this type of logic to Jira.  Almost need simple programming functions.

Harald Seyr · Answer

Hi @Steve Ungar

of course this is possible. All you have to do is to integrate Excel as a plugin for Jira. Jira has an API to do this, so go ahead with implementing this. A good starting point can be Create a HelloWorld plugin project (atlassian.com)

However, using Excel as a plugin with a self developed interface to make calculations based on formulas is probably a complex and demanding project.

Maybe you check if there is some out of the box plugin that requires less effort and gives same result.

Regards,

Harald