Import from a file

You can easily import your task templates from tools like MS Project, MS Excel, CSV, or OpenDocument files.

Box admins and Jira admins can import tasks from a file. When the Permissions for everyone option is enabled, every logged-in user can import tasks from a file.

To import tasks from a file:

1. Expand the Add task + drop-down menu.

2. Select Import tasks from file.

Upload a file

The maximum file upload size is 300MB. The following file types are supported:

• .mpp

• .mpx

• .xls

• .xlsx

• .ods

• .csv 

Import data from MS Project

Once you import a file from MS Project, all columns with data will be automatically detected. You can check a list of supported fields in the table below. 
The issue type for the imported tasks will be set to the default issue type in Jira. You can also enable the Convert parent tasks to Jira Epics option.

Import data from MS Excel / OpenOffice

When importing MS Excel or OpenOffice files, you need to define the columns corresponding to the imported data. To simplify this step, the application tries to recognize the column names and completes the fields accordingly.

The task fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory. Additionally, you can set the relationships between tasks (Parent row and Link columns).

• The issue types from the imported file will be replaced with their corresponding issue types in Jira.

• Sub-tasks and basic tasks are NOT supported for the issue types. 

• If no issue types are defined in the imported file or they are not recognized, the default issue type will be assigned to the imported tasks in Jira. 

You can also enable the Convert parent tasks to Jira Epics option.

Import tasks without dates

The import mechanism allows to support tasks with a single date or undated tasks in the file. These tasks will be imported with one date or without dates.

Supported fields 

The table below presents the supported fields for particular files. 

Select a Jira project

To carry out the import successfully, you need to define a Jira project where the imported issues should be created. Tasks are visualized in BigPicture and must exist somewhere in Jira itself. 

You can:

• Use one of your current projects. New issues will be added to the existing ones.

• You can also set up a new, empty Jira project in advance. It is possible to create a new Jira project using the Create with shared configuration option. This will result in copying the Jira project setup (permission, notification, issue security, workflow, issue type, issue type screen, and field configuration). For more information, refer to the screenshots below.

Now, choose your Jira project from the drop-down menu.

Convert parent tasks

If you import tasks from an .xlsx/.csv/.odt file, you can define the issue type for these tasks. Add the Issue type column and complete it for each task (e.g., Bug, Story, Epic). The issue type is identified by its name, and uppercase letters are ignored. 
If there is no Issue type column or it is empty, the imported tasks will get the default issue type as defined for a particular project in Jira.

Enable the Convert parent tasks to Jira Epics option to convert parent tasks to Jira Epics regardless of the issue type in the imported file. The values from the file for the parent tasks will be replaced with the Epic type in Jira. 

Field mapping

When importing from CSV or Excel tables, you need to match the columns from the selected file to the corresponding task fields, as presented below. 

You have to complete the required task fields:

• Summary

• Start date

• End date

Optionally, you can provide additional task fields:

• Parent row

• Link

• Issue type

• Original estimate

• Assignee

XLSX data format

If the .xlsx file has been created by exporting BigPicture data, it can be easily imported.

Otherwise, ensure that data is formatted in the following way:

Start date, End date - can be read in the following formats:

• yyyy-MM-dd (e.g. 2021-12-31)

• dd-MM-yyyy (e.g. 31-12-2021)

• MMM/dd/yyyy (e.g. Dec/31/2021).

Parent Row - the Excel row in which the parent of the task is

Link - a cell with dependencies/links, for example, 16FS-1 or 21SS+1, where:
16, 21 - pointer to Excel's row with the linked task;
FS, SS - link type:

• FS - finish to start;

• SS - start to start;

• FF - finish to finish;

• SF - start to finish.

• -1/+1 - link lag in days.

In this case:

• The target of a link is in row 33

• Start to finish link

• 0 lag days

Possible problems and solutions

The Import from file option is greyed out. 

The scope type dictates whether the option is available. If a box was created using a box type with own scope, the option is available. 

For boxes with sub and none scopes, the Import from file option is unavailable.  

Required fields

Make sure that all fields have been set to optional in the Jira field configuration before importing a file. 

The process of making this adjustment is demonstrated below.

Mapping task assignee

By importing from .mpp files, the system maps information about task assignees, so imported values are correct. To make sure the Assignee value is imported correctly, double-check if the value in the Resource name field in the .mpp file is the same as the value in the user's full name field in Jira (the case of characters will be ignored).

If there is no user match, the Assignee field will be set to Unassigned.

Circular link dependencies

Once the file is imported, the application will not create strong dependencies if the circular dependency is identified (circular dependencies also include parent dependencies). 

Link ID

• Link with missing ID

• Missing Parent Task ID

Period check failure

The start date is later than the end date.