Upload data from Google Sheets to ALM

After you define requirements, tests, or defects in your spreadsheet, you can upload them to ALM.

Version control considerations

You can upload requirements or tests from Google Sheets to a version control enabled project in ALM.

Consider the following when uploading to a version control enabled project:

When you upload a new requirement or test, it is created in ALM, with a checked in status.
When you upload an existing requirement or test that is checked in, it is automatically checked out and then checked in during upload. ALM adds a comment to the version history specifying that the requirement or test was updated by upload from Excel.
If you upload an existing requirement or test that is checked out by the same user that you use to upload the data, the data is uploaded. If the requirement or test is checked out by another user, the upload fails and an error message is displayed.

For more information on version control, see Version control.

Considerations for uploading data to ALM

To upload data to ALM, you must first map ALM fields to the Google Sheets spreadsheet columns. You can manually map ALM fields to spreadsheet columns, or the Google Sheets add-on can map fields automatically. For automatic mapping to succeed, the column headings in your spreadsheet must be identical to the field names in ALM.
When you upload a new or existing requirement, test, or defect to ALM, it is created with the user name that you use to upload it.

Example: If you upload a defect to ALM with alex_alm as the user name, the defect’s history shows alex_alm as the person who changed the defect.
You must have full create and modify permissions in ALM for the type of record that you are uploading.

Example: If you are uploading tests, you must have permissions for adding and modifying the test plan tree, design steps, and folders.

Upload data to ALM

Log into ALM from the add-on

Connect to your ALM project from within the Google Sheets add-on.

Open a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Select Add-ons > Micro Focus ALM > Start.

In the login page, provide the following information.

Field	Description
Server Address	Enter the ALM server address in the following format: `http://<server name>[:port]/qcbin`
Authentication Method	Select an authentication method: Username & Password: Select this if you want to log in with your username and password. API Key & Secret: Select this if you want to log in with your API key and API secret.
Username Password	If you select to use username and password to authenticate, enter your username and password.
Client ID Secret	If you select to use API key and secret to authenticate, enter your Client ID and secret.
Automatically log into my last domain and project	Select this if you want to log into your last domain and project after getting authenticated.

For SSO users: If you already logged into another application with your credentials, you only need to specify the ALM server.

Click Authenticate.
Select the domain and project you want to connect to.

Map data

You can manually map ALM fields to spreadsheet columns, or the Google Sheets add-on can automatically map them.

To map your data:

Select the cells in your Google Sheets spreadsheet that contain the data that you want to upload. Do not include the column headings row in your selection.
Click Mapping. The Field Mapping dialog box opens.
Click Open to open the file explorer to search for existing mapping files to use for mapping your spreadsheet data. The file contains the entity type and the field mapping to use.
Select the entity type (Requirements, Defects, or Tests) to which you are mapping your data. The ALM fields for the selected entity type appear in the lower left pane. The required fields appear in red in the lower right pane.

Note: If you select Requirements, you can apply a requirement type to assign to all requirements you are uploading.
Map your Google Sheets spreadsheet columns to the ALM fields:
- Manually. Move the non-required ALM fields to which you want to map from the left pane to the right pane, and then enter the Google Sheets spreadsheet column letter that corresponds to each ALM field.
- Automatically. Click Auto-map and enter the column headings row number.
  
  Note: The column headings must exactly match the ALM field names.
Unselect Add ALM field label as header to Google Sheets if you do not want to create a header row in Excel.

Note: If you click Auto-map, you will be prompted to unselect Add ALM field label as header to Google Sheets.
Click Save if you want to save your field mapping for future use.
Click OK to apply your mapping to your Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Validate data

Once you have mapped your data to the ALM fields, you must check that your data is valid for its mapped field. For example, if the ALM field allows only certain values, your data cannot contain other values.

To validate your data:

Select the cells that contain your data and click Validate Data. Do not include the column headings row in your selection.

The ALM Microsoft Excel add-on validates your data against the requirements for each ALM field.

Any invalid cells are marked in red, and an error message is displayed when you put your cursor on the cell.
Correct any invalid cells and click Validate Data again.

Note: If you subsequently add or modify your data, you can validate again, selecting only the modified or added cells or selecting all the cells. If you do not validate prior to uploading your data, the ALM Microsoft Excel Add-in validates your data before uploading.

Upload data

You upload data to ALM from your Google Sheets spreadsheet.

To upload your data:

Click Upload Data to ALM. The data is uploaded to ALM.

Note: If you click Upload Data to ALM without first clicking Validate Data, the ALM Google Sheets add-on validates your data before uploading. Any invalid cells are marked in red, and an error message is displayed when you put your cursor on the cell. If there are no errors, the data is uploaded to ALM.
Refresh the view in ALM. Review the uploaded data and make the necessary additions and adjustments.