Overview
You can have activities stored as a CSV file imported to Birdview PSA using a wizard.
- Activity name
- Activity description
- ID
- Parent ID
- Estimated duration
- Start date
- End date
Activity name;Description;ID;ParentID;Duration;Start date;End date
Configure;activity1;20;;25;6/5/2007;6/20/2007
Develop;activity2;21;;30;6/5/2007;6/18/2007
Test;activity3;22;;40;6/5/2007;6/17/2007
As you can see, the first line contains the names of fields the values correspond to. Whilst it is useful for some purposes, it may wreak havoc during import. For this reason, you will have the option to skip the first line while importing data from a CSV file.
Import a list of activities
To import a group of activities stored in a CSV file, follow these steps:
- Go to Activity Center | More actions () | Import from CSV.
- Select Tasks from the "Import list of" drop-down list.
- In the Default project field, select the project you want to import the tasks to.
- Click "Browse" opposite the "Select CSV file:" field, and find the source CSV file.
- In the Field separator field, select a field separator used in the CSV file (comma and semicolon are the most common separator).
- Select the Skip first line of the file checkbox (refer to the second note above)
- Click "Next".
- Perform field mapping, i.e. link fields of activities being imported with Birdview ones, including custom fields. Use "Add field" to add new fields for mapping.
- Use "Reset fields" if you have made a mistake adding fields.
- Click "Import".
You will get the message ‘Import completed. X records were imported successfully.' if import has been successful.
Importing activities to multiple projects
The activity import procedure described above covers the case where ALL activities imported from a CSV file are assigned to a single project in Birdview PSA. If you need to import activities so that they automatically assigned to their respective projects in Birdview PSA, you need to take additional steps to make sure the import is successful.
- Make sure the source CSV file contains a column "Project name" and includes the names of projects the activities being imported belong to.
- Go to Activity Center | More actions () | Import from CSV
- Select Tasks from the "Import list of" drop-down list.
- In the Default project field, select the project you want to import the tasks to if the "Project name" field is empty.
- Click "Browse" opposite the "Select CSV file:" field, and find the source CSV file.
- In the Field separator field, select a field separator used in the CSV file (comma and semicolon are the most common separator).
- Select the Skip first line of the file checkbox (refer to the second note above)
- Click "Next".
- Perform field mapping, i.e. link fields of both projects and activities being imported with Birdview ones, including custom fields. Use "Add field" to add new fields for mapping.
- Click "Import".
You will get a message ‘Import completed. X records were imported successfully.’ if import has been successful.
Note on ID and ParentID
The import routine cannot use existing ID numbers. When importing activities, Birdview PSA will not keep the IDs you’ve manually inserted under the ID and ParentID column but replace them with next available instead. However, these columns are used during import should you wish to have two or more of the imported activities be in the parent-child relationship, as shown by their corresponding ID and ParentID numbers, i.e. when ID value of one activity is equal to the value in the ParentID column of one or more other ones (child, or sub-, activities) being imported, they will remain such once imported.
In the example below, the activity IDs and Parent IDs entered will not be maintained as shown once the activities are imported, but the "Gantt Chart" will be made a sub-activity of the "Writing Progress Report", using the next available activity ID’s generated by the system.
Activity name;Description;ID;ParentID;Duration;Start date;End date
Writing Progress Report;NCSA Quarterly Report;567;;25;6/5/2007;6/20/2007
Gantt Chart;Developing Gantt Chart;569;567;25;6/12/2007;6/15/2007
The "Gantt Chart" activity will be imported as a sub-activity of the "Writing Progress Report" one by virtue of its ParentID being equal to the other’s ID (567).