Exporting Elements Connect custom fields to PDF

Better PDF Exporter for Jira integrates with Elements Connect, making it possible to export PDF documents from Jira containing Elements Connect custom fields. A popular use case for this is creating purchase order documents.

A variation of the below story was implemented by a well-known transportation company. Names and the company have been changed to protect their privacy but it fully reflects the real-life implementation.

How to create purchase orders in Jira

Julie is responsible for managing the IT equipment for all campuses of the University of California.

When she needs new material for one of the locations, she creates a request in Jira Service Management where she can select what material she needs to order along with the desired location.

Once her purchase order request is complete, she can click submit and wait for approval from Chris, who is the Jira Service Management agent in charge of validating and forwarding requests. He checks Julie's request, and if it is valid he approves it and generates the purchasing order.

While Jira is commonly used in the organization, some departments still rely on other tools which are not connected to Jira. That's not a problem, as Chris can easily generate the purchase order from the issue. He'll retrieve all the important information with one click.

Create the purchase order in Jira

The process starts with Jira Service Management. Julie logs in and creates her request.

elements-connect-custom-field-sourced-from-best-buy-api.png

    

Elements Connect connects Julie directly to Best Buy, so she can pick the right items. She first selects a category and then selects the desired product from the drop-down list. In our example, those fields are fed by the Best Buy REST API, but it could be any other REST API or SQL database where the organization stores asset references.

 

elements-connect-read-only-fields.png

 

When Julie selects an item, three other fields are automatically populated: Visual, Price, and Description. Those fields are also connected to Best Buy API and their value depends on the value of Material. This helps Julie confirm her selection.

Now, Julie must select which location will receive the materials.

 

elements-connect-custom-fields-for-location.png

A university list is readily available for Julie to pick the desired location. In our example, the field is connected to Google Places API, but it could be any user directory or database where the organization stores this information.

She just has to select the right university.

 

elements-connect-access-location-data.png

Thanks to Google Maps API, she even has a map of the selected university.

Now that her request is complete, she can click on Create.

Validate and print the purchase order

Chris, our Jira Service Management agent, has all the information needed to validate the query in the issue view. There is no need to open an external tool, and get the address from the directory or the price from the supplier: all fields are connected and display up-to-date information.

Chris can validate the request and generate a purchase order from the issue. The "Purchase Order" menu option is provided by Better PDF Exporter. It is based on a template specifically defined for purchase orders.

elements-connect-jira-service-management-ticket-export-to-pdf (1).png

 

Finally, this PDF can be sent along to the purchasing department which will buy the necessary materials for the university.

20180425-purchase-order-ready-in-pdf.png

This powerful PDF template, based on Velocity, produces a clean and customized purchase order. Better PDF Exporter is compatible with Elements Connect, so all Elements Connect fields are visible in the report - even the images!

Export your custom PDF documents containing Elements Connect fields with Better PDF Exporter for Jira!

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