Excel Round-trip overview
When you export any set of Work Items using the xlsx: Microsoft Excel option, the output is written to a special round-trip format for Microsoft Excel. An external user may optionally edit Work Item content in Excel and/or create new Work Items for import into Polarion. A Polarion user with the necessary permissions can then import the edited Excel workbook back to Polarion, updating the Work Item content from the externally edited Excel worksheet, and/or creating new Work Items defined externally in the exported Excel workbook.
If the Work Items were exported from a Document with the necessary export options, it is also possible for an external user to change the Document's structure externally in Excel. The structural changes are reflected in the online Document when the Excel worksheet changes are re-imported to Polarion.
Excel export may be run from any scope: repository, project group, or project. Re-importing of an Excel workbook which contains modified Work Items can also be done in any scope. However, re-importing of Excel workbooks which contain new Work Items is only allowed in the project scope.
Exported Work Item fields which are writable in the portal may be optionally locked in the Export Work Items dialog during the export procedure so that users of the exported Excel file cannot easily change the field value. If an advanced Excel user does manage to change the value of a locked field in Excel, the change is ignored when the Excel file is imported back into Polarion. (Note that fields which are read-only in the portal display the locked lock icon in the dialog, and are not unlocked when clicked.)
Images are not currently supported in the Description field, or other rich-text fields, of Work Items modified or created in an exported Excel round-trip worksheet. If images are included, they will be lost when the workbook is re-imported into Polarion. A warning is displayed and the user performing re-import may opt to cancel the operation.
Also, any advanced text formatting and lists (bullet, etc.) implemented in the exported Excel document are lost upon re-import to Polarion.
Mathematical formulas contained in rich test fields of Work Items are subject to the same limitations as images, because they are rendered as images when not in edit mode.
For procedures, see: