CSV import creates one item per row of a spreadsheet. You choose which item type the rows become and which column fills which attribute, and you see the resulting items before anything is created. Use it for requirement lists kept in Excel or exported from another tool. For Word and ReqIF files, see Importing documents.
Preparing the file
Save the sheet as .csv. The first row must contain the column names.
Commas, semicolons, tabs and pipes all work as separators; the wizard detects which one the file uses.
Files saved with a byte-order mark (the invisible marker some versions of Excel add) import correctly.
Blank rows are skipped. Cells that contain the separator or line breaks must be in double quotes, which is what spreadsheet software does by default.
The file can be up to 100 MB.
Starting the import
Click the ... button on the Items header in the left sidebar, or on an item, and choose Import (.docx, .reqif, .csv).
Pick the .csv file. The import wizard opens on its own page with three steps across the top: Configure, Map columns and Preview import. Next stays disabled until the current step is complete.
Step 1: Configure
Under Destination in Tree, choose the parent for the imported items. If you started from an item's menu it is already selected. Every imported row becomes a direct child of this item; a CSV cannot describe a hierarchy.
Step 2: Map columns
Next to Attributes of, choose the item type the rows should become, or No type. The grid then lists every CSV column on the left with a Select attribute dropdown on the right. Columns whose name matches an attribute name are mapped for you.
For each column choose one of:
an attribute of the type. The dropdown shows an icon for the attribute kind and tags the heading attribute with Item heading. Each attribute can be used once; choosing it for a second column clears the first.
Don't import field to skip the column.
nothing: the column is imported as a new text attribute named after the column.
When you map a column to a picklist or user list attribute, a sub-table opens under it with one row per distinct CSV Value in that column and a Map to cell where you pick the picklist option or the users it stands for. Values you leave unmapped are imported as empty.
The panel on the right shows an Item type preview of the attributes, and while a dropdown is focused, a Data preview of up to three example values from that column, so you can check the mapping makes sense.
The step is complete once at least one column is mapped to an attribute. Changing the item type resets the mapping.
Values are converted by attribute kind: numbers are read as numbers, dates as dates, and a boolean is true only when the cell says true in any capitalisation.
Step 3: Preview import
The rows appear as a table of items, one column per mapped attribute followed by any unmapped columns, with values rendered as they will look in Trace.Space. Untick rows you do not want, or use the header checkbox to select or clear all. The footer counts n/total items will be imported; at least one row must be selected.
Click Import items. The items are created under the chosen parent and the wizard opens that parent so you can review the result.
Leaving the wizard
Cancel abandons the import and returns to the dashboard. If you navigate anywhere else before finishing, a Leave CSV import? dialog warns that your column mapping and selection will be lost; choose Stay or Leave. Nothing is created until you click Import items.
CSV compared with Word and ReqIF
CSV is flat: one row, one item, all at the same level, with you deciding the attribute mapping. No traces are created.
Word (.docx) builds a hierarchy from headings and asks only for the item types to use.
ReqIF carries its own types, picklists, hierarchy and relations, and imports them all without a dialog. See ReqIF import, export and the ReqIF viewer.
Imported items are ordinary items from the moment they exist; you can retype, move, trace and baseline them like any other.
If a column will not map, the preview looks wrong or the import stops part-way, see Troubleshooting import, export and AI.