Importing Microsoft Excel (.csv) Files

Innoslate's Import Analyzer consists of four essential steps that users follow to configure their Excel (CSV) import and accurately map their data to their Innoslate project's schema.

Configure Settings
Select a File
Enter Custom Field Mapping
Importing a Microsoft Excel (.csv) File

In the subsequent sections, we will provide a comprehensive breakdown of each step outlined above, accompanied by precise instructions to facilitate your understanding of the process. Additionally, we will discuss the capability to import relationships, supported by a concise sample to enhance your experience in this section.

Innoslate’s Import Analyzer processes your CSV by treating each row as a separate entity and using the column headers to map data to entity attributes in Step 3. At a minimum, your file must include either a Name or Number column for the import to succeed in step 4.

Step 1: Configure Settings

1. Open the 'Import Analyzer' and select the ‘Excel (.csv)’ tab.

2. Select from the drop-down menu which Artifact type you'd like the analyzer to focus on. This will help the Analyzer indicate what classes to recall for step 4 and will send the artifact to that particular view. Options include:

- Document (Default)
- Compilation
- Test Suite
- Presentation
- None

3. If Document is chosen select the Document Label desired (i.e., Requirements Document, Concept of Operations, etc.).

4. For Compilation and Document artifacts, select the default class of entities that will be created during the import. You can either type in the field for your desired class or scroll through the options available in the drop-down list.

5. Select the attribute you’d like the analyzer to use when fetching existing entities. Search or scroll within the drop-down menus to find your desired attributes.

6. Select the attribute you’d like the analyzer to use when fetching related entities. Search or scroll within the drop-down menus to find your desired attributes.

Below is a table mapping out the options available by Document Type.

	None	Compilation	Document	Presentation	Test Suite
Default Class Options	All	All Classes, All	Statement, Requirement	Artifact	Test Case
Fetch Existing	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number
Fetch Related	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number	Global ID, Name, Number

7. (Document Setting Option Only) Toggle on 'Set entity to specific class when description contains a certain word or phrase' to automatically assigns a specified class based on keywords in the description. By default, this rule assigns the Requirement class when the description contains the words "must", "shall", or "will". You can select, add or remove these default keywords as needed.

8. Select 'Next' to Proceed.

Step 2: Importing a Microsoft Excel (.csv) File

Image: Importing a CSV File

Drag and drop your .csv file over the drop area, or click within the drop area to browse your computer’s file system to select the file to upload.
When your ‘Analyzer Progress’ bar reaches 100 percent, ‘Done,’ click the ‘Next’ button to proceed.

Step 3: Enter Custom Field Mapping

Select what columns you'd like to include with the blue checkmarks on the left.
In the ‘Custom Field Mapping’ wizard, you will need to identify the columns that you wish to import into Innoslate and accurately map them to the appropriate entity attributes. The default options presented will be influenced by your selections made in 'Step 1: Configure,' as well as the alignment of the Schema with your project's specifications and the names of the column headers. If your CSV does not match the attributes 1:1 then you can choose the desired attribute in the dropdown by column.
Then, click the ‘Next’ button to proceed.

Step 4: Preview the data from your CSV

This step allows you to see how the data will be imported into the database.

Verify the preview of the import is what you were expecting.
To finish the import process and save the entities to your current project’s database, click the ‘Save’ button. To go back, you can remap and modify as needed even reimport again by clicking the ‘<Prev’ button.

You will see the following columns the preview table:

New or Updated (depending on if you updated entities with the import or adding entites)
Entity Class
Name
Number
Description

Other attributes if imported will not be shown in step 4.

Troubleshooting

If rows or columns are skipped, you will see a Report warning as shown below. Make sure the attributes are mapped correctly in Step 3.

Importing Relationships

In order to import relationships using the CSV importer, the CSV file must be formatted with the relationship name as a column title

Add the relationship name as a column title.
Fill in the information as you normally would.
Next, find the global ID of the target entity you would like to relate the entity to. There are multiple ways of doing this. One way is to look at the metadata.
Copy and paste the Global ID into the relationship name column in the CSV.
If the target entity is in another project, you will need to find the Project ID of the target entity. This can be found by looking at the URL.
Enter the Global IDs into their respective columns, and if the relationships are cross-project, followed by a ‘-‘ and the project ID in the CSV. Note: The CSV Importer can handle cross-project relationships as long as the user has permission for both projects.
Hit save when you are done, then go to the Import Analyzer. In step 1, make sure “Select the attribute you’d like analyzer to use when fetching related entities:” is set to Global ID.
Continue with the import process as usual, and note the mapping in step 3. Make sure the relationship and Project ID is mapped correctly.
Once Analyzer has finished, you should see the number of new and updated entities. Hit save, and you are all done.