Please at first read about flex.bi cubes, dimensions and measures - you will need to understand multi-dimensional data model to be able to map new source data columns to cube dimensions and measures.
From Source Data tab select Add new source application or Source Files tab to upload new source data.
On this page:
Source data preparation
Before data import, it is necessary to see if the source data have a column by which flex.bi will be able to find members you would like to map imported measures or properties. It should be either Project key, Issue key, Time dimension (see here what date formats will be recognized by flex.bi as date or datetime), full Sprint name or any of the member IDs or names matching the flex.bi dimension member names.
Currently, you can import additional measures only to the custom field dimensions that are created from single select type custom fields with parameter separate_table = true enabled in flex.bi advanced settings for custom fields.
If you have selected any of source applications, please first follow source parameter specification in flex.bi core documentation
No source parameters are necessary in the case of source file upload; you can proceed directly to preview the data that will be imported.
Column mapping
Next step is column mapping to Jira dimensions and defining what will be the new measures. Before that, select Jira issue cube you want to import data into.
First, you need to specify which column you would like to map the imported data to. In the example below, there is a Project column that I would like to map to Project dimension Project level. In advanced options, the Name column is selected because the projects in this column have the name specified exactly as this project name is in flex.bi and this is how flex.bi will be able to find to which project each of the Measures or properties should be imported.
You can use any issue default field dimension for mapping. You can enable and use mapping to single value custom field dimensions as well.
Note that it is also possible to select advanced option Skip missing: in that case if flex.bi does not find Project member with such name as is in this column, the data from that row will not be imported. flex.bi will throw an error if Skip missing option is not selected and you have rows that do not have a match.
Next, it is necessary to specify how to import other columns. By clicking in any of dimensions the default import dimension will be suggested
- Numbers will be suggested to import as Measure.
Note that this measure in detailed level will be visible for linked dimensions only. For example, if Budget is linked to Project dimension, but, in a report, you will also wish to select, e.g. Time dimension in Pages for filtering various time periods, only the Total Budget for All Time will be displayed, not for individual projects. This is because we have not imported Budget that would depend on Project and Time, but only Project. If you wish to import number that should be displayed the same no matter what filter is selected, import the number as Property. - To import property select the same level as you have selected in the column that you map by and enter the Property name. The property name does not have to match the Field name that is detected from source data column header.
- Date will be suggested to be imported as Time. In the example below if Deadline would be imported to Time dimension then Budget would be mapped to Project and Time.
This is not what we want in this case, so a date can also be changed to be imported as Property and Date count measure. In the example below besides "Deadline" property as well "Projects with deadline" measure will be created that combined with Time dimension will show how many projects have a deadline in selected Time period.
The columns where Dimension will not be specified will remain unmapped and will not be imported.
After mapping is complete you can proceed to import. If there will be any errors they will be displayed or import will stop on the first error. In this case, you should see the error and edit source application parameters or correct source file and upload new version for import.
Please contact flex.bi support if you need any assistance for column mapping.
Mapping to single value custom field dimensions
flex.bi supports additional data import to single value custom field dimensions with one level. Please add additional separate_table parameter in the custom field definition in flex.bi advanced settings:
[jira.customfield_NNNNN] data_type = "string" dimension = true separate_table = true
Use custom field ID instead of NNNNN in the definition above. Add the updated custom field definition to flex.bi advanced settings or ask Jira administrator or flex.bi admin to do this for you. flex.bi advanced settings are common for all accounts and only Jira and flex.bi administrators have access to them. After that run an import in account where this custom field is selected for import as dimension. You should be able to select this custom field for additional data mapping after import.
Using additional data in the report
After successful additional data import, you can proceed to Analyze tab to include the imported data in reports.
- The Imported measures will be displayed in Measures dimension as User defined measures
- Imported properties will be visible in Measures dimension under the Custom properties section
