Importing Requirements from Microsoft Excel

You can specify the type of requirement data you would like to import from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The Import dialog box helps you to map attribute names to columns. You can also prevent the import of certain attributes. After import, the output column of the selected rows is updated to show whether the import succeeded or failed.

When you import requirement objects for the predefined attributes, you must add values in the Excel in the same language as that of your operating system (OS).

Note: If you are mapping an Excel spreadsheet column containing money amounts to the Estimate Cost Attribute field in Traceable Requirements Management, you must include the monetary unit in each cell's contents; for example: 1 Dollar or 46 Yen. The permitted monetary units are: Euro, Dollar, Won, Yen, Yuan, Renminbi, and Pound.

Required responsibilities:

  • Baseline: Leader (when the object is in the Frozen state) or Author

Before you begin: Requirement Capture must be installed. For instructions, see Importing Requirements from Microsoft Excel. To import captures, the correct web server location, user name, password, and other credentials must be configured using the CAS Login screen that is launched using 3DEXPERIENCE in the Requirement Capture toolbar. Otherwise, connection fails when you select Import.
  1. From the Requirement Capture toolbar, click Import .
  2. Use the following fields to specify the import from Microsoft Excel into Traceable Requirements Management:

    FieldValue
    Import Rows (Start and End)

    Select the Start and End rows in the Excel spreadsheet to import data.
    AttributeFrom the list, select attribute for the object. Use the Attribute field along with the Column and Plain Text fields.
    ColumnFrom the list, select the column name associated with the attribute selected in the previous step. Then, click the button to create attribute-column mapping in the field below it.
    Plain TextType the plain text static string values that you want to add to the attribute value. Click to add the information to the field below it. You might use this field in the following ways:
    • If you want to import the same string value to a particular attribute, you do not need to add the same string value in multiple cells and then map the column to the attribute name. Type that value in the Plain Text field to create the attribute name-value mapping.
    • If you want to append, prepend, or add a static string to the text value that comes from the Excel column (and row), type that value and Excel column mapping in the correct order. This will add both of them in the correct order to the field below.
    • If you want to append values in the cells of two or more columns, but want to have a separator between the values, use the Plain Text field to create the separator text.
    MappingsOnce the attribute name-value mapping is complete, click to add the mapping to the list below. This mapping list is used during the Import process. It can be cleared by right-clicking it then selecting Clear. You can create multiple attribute name-value mappings. Once this mapping set is complete, you can begin importing data from a selected range of rows.

    Attributes can be mapped to column labels automatically. For this, you must provide attributes as column headers and create a requirement structure below it.

    Once these column headers are created, you can create mappings for each attribute automatically on the Import Form with the below steps:

    • Select the entire row or range of cells containing valid attributes
    • Click Automap Attributes

    This maps each attribute written as column header to their respective column label and display the mappings in the Mapping List box. For example, Type= [B], Level=[C], Title= [D].

    Output ColumnSelect an empty column in the Excel spreadsheet where the status is shown for each object created (row data). This allows Excel integration to display the success or failure status after the import process.

    This is an example of how this column might look like after an import:



    Object names shown in green were successfully created. A URL link is created to navigate to the 3DDashboard requirement app. When clicked on URL link, requirement objects will be shown in the Requirement Structure and Requirement Specification widget in the 3DDashboard app. Objects shown in red failed to be created and display an appropriate error message.

    Parent Type, Parent NameIf you need to associate the imported requirements to a root context such as a requirement specification, specify the Parent Type and Parent Name information. If you do not enter a name, the requirement specification is named automatically.
    Note: The allowed parent type is specified in the emxRequirement.properties file.

  3. Click Simulate.

    When you create a requirement structure and import it using the simulation mode, all the cells that have a wrong input appear in red. A comment describes the error. You can fix all the errors with minimum iterations before you execute the import operation.

    The following types of errors are detected:

    • Attribute mismatch or wrong attribute information. For example, incorrect level, priority, and type information.
    • Problem while editing a requirement object.

  4. Click Import.

    Once the data is created, you can view it in Traceable Requirements Management and perform more edits.