Before undertaking any of the below actions, please save file locally with .xlsx extension. Otherwise you may encounter this error: "Cannot render Jira worksheet in this file due to column file limit. Please make sure you are using Excel Connector in .xlsx file.
Fetching issues from JIRA
You have two options to choose from. You can either use one of your saved filters from JIRA or type custom JQL query in order to get specific set of issues. All this is done under "Excel Connector for JIRA" tab.
Using filters
- Expand the combobox in the Filters section, choose the desired filter (1)
Click Get issues button (2)
If you need to update current Excel spreadhseet you may consider using "Append to existing issues" option (3). By doing so, issues are to be added at the bottom of a current sheet.
Please be advised that after each time you press "Get issues" button, you should quickly be presented with such prompt:
This indicates that data is being transferred into an Excel spreadsheet from a Jira server and you you should start to see it getting filled.
2. Using custom JQL queries
- Instead of expanding the combobox, just type your JQL query in there (number 1 below presents an exemplary JQL query: Reporter = admin)
Click Get issues button (number 2)
Presence of "Favourite Filters" from Jira in Excel Connector
Anytime you save your JQL query as a new filter in Jira (1) , you can find it Excel's Connector dropdown (2):
After selecting the filter and pressing "Get Issues" you will get the same amount of issues displayed, as in Jira itself.
Getting issues from multiple filters / JQL queries
You may want to download other issues using another filter but keep the ones you downloaded before. If that is the case just check Append to existing issues checkbox (marked with number 3 on the above picture) before you get other issues. As a result, the new issues will be simply appended below a last, filled line of your opened sheet.
Exemplary JQL query
The below scenario presents what can you expect to see in Jira and then compare it with Excel Connector, when implementing similar practices by yourself.
In Jira you may be logged as any user (not necessarily as project administrator or as a Jira administrator) with adequate access rights for a particular project. Please follow the below illustrated and commented steps:
- Select "Issues" drop-down menu and access "Search for issues"
2. In order to use and view JQL queries, the best method is to switch to advanced search using JQL:
3. After clicking on "Advanced", as presened above, new view should be present:
The field contains predefines values appearing as drop-down menu tips. When you start to type and insert even a single letter, all commands starting with it will start to appear.
For more information about possible syntax usage, please refer to "Syntax Help" at the bottom of the syntax list's drop-down → https://docs.atlassian.com/jira/jcore-docs-076/Advanced+searching.
4. Comparison of an exemplary search query results in Jira and in Excel (entered query: type = Bug AND assignee = admin):
As one can see, Excel Connector add-in usage provides the same search results as the JQL search query in Jira
If you need to customize the view of the Excel display, please consider using Page Break Preview. It is highly recommended to use this to customize the view (doing it in a default view can be extremely frustrating as Excel scrolls the page down and it is impossible to manually adjust the height of a particular row that you need to change).