Concept of a field

Owned by Anna Ciepłota
Last updated: Sept 10, 2024
9 min read

Contents:

 

Contents:

 

Introduction

BigPicture visualizes information based on the integrations with other tools you have set up. Field values in Jira, Trello, etc., must be mapped to the App's available fields. Information about the data source can be listed in the “origin” column and shown as an appropriate icon. 

There are two possible field options:

  • native external tool fields - they display the value from an external platform; if the value is unavailable, it is left empty (if a column is supposed to display Jira “Start Date,” nothing can be displayed for a Trello task - the task doesn’t exist in Jira, so the App can’t find a value for it)

  • built-in fields - can take information from various external platforms and map it to a built-in field, effectively letting you see a single column showing values for multiple types of tasks coming from many external platforms and native BigPicture elements.

When adding a column, the icon on the right indicates what data will be shown—whether it will be based on a value of a Jira field, Trello field, or a built-in field (the last option in the picture above).

In the below example, three icon columns have been added to show the difference between them.

  • Left = Jira

  • Middle = Trello

  • Right = Built-in 

The Jira icon column displays values from Jira only. This means that nothing is displayed for Trello cards and Basic tasks. 

The Trello icon column displays values coming from Trello only. This means that nothing is displayed for Jira issues and basic tasks.

The Built-in icon column displays all values; it finds the appropriate field value in both Jira and Trello and displays them. Native BigPicture Basic tasks are also included.

Hover your cursor over any field value to see the present setup of the column.

For example, the “Assignee” column below uses a built-in field.

Custom fields created at the BigPicture installation

When you install BigPicture, the App will automatically create the following custom fields as explained in the table below:

Name

Type

Description

Name

Type

Description

Baseline end date

Date Picker

Baseline end date field used by SoftwarePlant plugins

Baseline start date

Date Picker

Baseline start date field used by SoftwarePlant plugins

End date

Date Picker

End date field used by SoftwarePlant plugins

Progress

Number Field

Progress field used by SoftwarePlant plugins (BigPicture, BigGantt)

Start date

Date Picker

Start date field used by SoftwarePlant plugins

Task mode

Select List (single choice)

Task mode field used by SoftwarePlant plugins

Task progress

Number Field

Progress field used by SoftwarePlant plugins (BigPicture, BigGantt)

Risk consequence


Select List (single choice) 

Risk Consequence field used by the BigPicture plugin
(only issues with both Risk Probability and Risk Consequence values selected will appear in the Risk Matrix)

Risk probability

 Select List (single choice) 

Risk Probability field used by the BigPicture plugin
(only issues with both Risk Probability and Risk Consequence values selected will appear in the Risk Matrix)

Program Increment

Text Field (single line)

Program Increment field created by BigPicture 

You can check these fields by navigating to Jira administration (cog icon) > Issues > Custome fields and searching by SoftwarePlant or BigPicture. 

Mapping Options for Built-in Fields

Built-in fields can function in the following ways:

  • configurable fields (e.g., End Date)

  • non-configurable fields (e.g., summary)

  • native App fields (don’t correspond to any external tool)

  • fields that vary depending on the external platform (for example, mapping of a field can be changed for Jira but not for Trello; or a field exists in one external platform but not in another)

Configurable Fields

For some fields, you can select the value you want to use.

For example, you define synchronization rules on the App Configuration > General > Fields page. The “End date” field could be mapped to Jira “Due date” field. In such cases, the built-in end date of the App effectively displays the same value as the Jira due date.

Mapping options

Available options vary across external platforms (something can be ‘mappable’ in Jira but not in Trello). You can change the mapping of an “End date” for Jira and decide to use the “Due date” Jira value as an end date, but you can’t change the settings for Trello.
Effectively, the built-in “End date” field will display:

  • For Jira, what has been specified in the App Configuration (in the example below, “Due date” has been used)

  • Trello due date (Trello doesn’t have an “End Date” - due date will always be used to populate the built-in “End date” field)



Non-Configurable Fields

For non-configurable fields, you can’t change the mapping. 

For example, Summary in Jira = summary built-in, and this cannot be changed. You can’t decide that a built-in “summary” will display “description” or anything else. The built-in summary will always display the same value as the Jira summary.

Native App Fields

Native fields exist only in the App and can’t be found in Jira, Trello, or any other connected tool.

For example, the “Color”, and “Task ID” fields.

Some native fields, such as “Milestone,” can be mapped to external tools in Configuration.

Fields that vary depending on the external tool

Some fields may not have an easy corresponding value depending on the external platform. For example, Assignee is easily found in Jira (the built-in field can display the value), but Trello doesn’t have a corresponding field (members can be added to a card, but no single person is assigned). This is why a built-in Assignee column will not display any value for Trello cards. Basic Tasks also don’t have an assignee that could be listed in the column.  

Built-in fields matrix

The table below provides you with an overview of how built-in fields function in the App.

Task Attribute

Mapped to External Platform
(non-configurable)

Mapped to External Platform
(configurable)

Available for Basic Tasks
(tasks that exist only in the App)

Comment

Task Attribute

Mapped to External Platform
(non-configurable)

Mapped to External Platform
(configurable)

Available for Basic Tasks
(tasks that exist only in the App)

Comment

Icon

YES

NO

YES

If an icon is not available on the external platform, the default icon will be used (same as for Basic Tasks)

Key

YES

NO

YES

The built-in “Key” column aggregates issue/task/card keys from different platforms and displays them in a single column. A “Key” field cannot be modified to display a different value.



Summary

YES

NO

NO

A built-in summary field cannot be removed. The mapping of the field can’t be changed.



Start date

YES

YES

YES

The mapping of the start date (built-in) field for Jira can be changed in the App Configuration.

Trello cards don’t have a start date. A built-in field uses the due date value (effectively, built-in field start and end dates of Trello cards are both mapped to Trello due date).

Basic Task dates are displayed in a built-in Start date column.



End date

YES

YES

YES



Baseline start date

YES

YES

YES



Baseline end date

YES

YES

YES



Progress

YES

YES

YES



Milestone

YES

YES

YES

Native App field. It exists only as a built-in field, but its value can be mapped to display a Jira value.





Period mode

YES

YES

YES



Color

NO

NO

YES

Native App field. It can’t be mapped to display values from external tools.

Task ID

NO

NO

YES

Native App field. It can’t be mapped to display values from external tools.

Assignee

YES

NO

YES

Single choice field.

For the Jira task, it corresponds to the default Jira assignee field (mapping cannot be changed).

For basic tasks, information is stored in BigPicture and isn’t synchronized with Jira.

Skills

NO

NO

YES

Native App field. It can’t be mapped to display values from external tools.

Status

YES

NO

NO



Duration Calendar Days

NO

NO

YES

Based on the number of calendar days (start to end date).

  • counts all days between the start/end date (including weekends, holidays etc.)

  • inline editing (NO)

Duration working days

NO

NO

YES

Based on the number of working days (non-working days excluded).

  • counts days between the start/end date → excludes weekends, holidays, absences of an assignee etc.

  • inline editing (YES)

Outline level

NO

NO

YES

Dynamically built Data Type - the values aren't permanently associated with tasks; the field value adjusts to reflect WBS changes.

Display Options:

  • indent level

  • sequential index

Outline level → shows how deep the task is in the tree structure (WBS). 

Sequential Index → shows where the task is located in the WBS structure (similar to the notation of the table of contents in the book)

Note: filtering does not affect the Sequential Index. 

Overdue Start/End Date

NO

NO

NO 

The Overdue Start Date field calculates the difference between the current task Start Date (when status category is To Do). 

  • Data type: number

  • Only calculates full calendar days

  • If the difference is larger than 0, the difference as a number of days is displayed as an integer

  • If the difference is 0 or smaller, the field is blank

  • If the status category is In Progress or Done, the field is blank

  • No inline editing

  • Aggregations: default Number data Type aggregations


The Overdue End Date calculates the difference between the current task End Date (when status category is not Done).

  • Data type: number

  • Only calculates full calendar days

  • If the difference is larger than 0, the difference as a number of days is displayed as an integer

  • If the difference is 0 or smaller, the field is blank

  • If the status category is Done, the field is blank

  • No inline editing

  • Aggregations: default Number data Type aggregations

Team

NO

NO

YES

The Team field is based on the Team data type. Team created in BigPicture is visible in a column view on Gantt and Scope modules and is inline edited. 

The field can also be used even not synchronized. Check App Configuration > General > Fields > General mapping.

 

Workload Contouring Mode

NO

NO

YES

The Workload contouring allows to spread the effort of the task over its duration. There are three automatic options and one manual mode to choose from. 

  • Flat

  • Front-loaded

  • Back-loaded

  • Manual (available only for BigPicture Enterprise)

Sub-box

YES

NO

YES

The field displays a name of child boxes in which the task is located (only the name of the box of one level down is displayed). The field can hold more than one box name - as a task can be present in more than one box.

The field is in the ready-only mode.

The field is especially useful in higher-level boxes to group tasks:

Basic Tasks

A built-in field lets you easily visualize all data related to Basic tasks native to the BigPicture App itself. Some values, such as Assignee, are not available (because this attribute doesn’t exist for them), but all existing attributes of Basic Tasks can be displayed using built-in fields. 

Custom fields from third-party Jira apps in BigPicture and BigGantt

Depending on the functionality of a given plugin, custom fields based on third-party Jira apps may have limited or different functionality in the Cloud version of the product. For example, Traffic Lights can be displayed only as a text field. 

JMCF duration field

Jira Misc Custom Fields (duration field) is visible in available fields for Column Views/Card Views.

  • The JMCF Duration is displayed in 24h mode

  • The JMCF Duration is blocked for inline editing even though it is mapped to the Estimation Data Type, which allows for inline editing. This is due to the fact that the JMCF Duration field is a scripted field, which means that it displays the results of calculations involving other fields.