Use copy and paste to easily import new and updated roles into Meisterplan from spreadsheets. This helps you plan your portfolio with the most up-to-date data.
- Prerequisites
- How to Find
- Step 1: Choose Type of Data and Prepare
- Step 2: Copy & Paste
- Step 3: Assign Fields
- Step 4: Validate & Edit
- Result
Prerequisites
Required User Rights
For importing roles as described in this article, you need to have the following rights:
- Edit Resource Pool and Absences
- Import and Export Data
Supported Formats
You can import data from all common spreadsheet formats, such as Microsoft Excel (both the desktop application and the Office 365 version) and Google Sheets.
How to Find
In the Portfolio Designer, click Import and Export and select Quick Import to open an overview of all spreadsheet imports:
Step 1: Choose Type of Data and Prepare
Click Roles:
You can add new roles and update existing ones. Find a detailed overview of when roles can be updated here.
Download Sample Role List
If you don‘t have a spreadsheet of roles on hand, download our sample list of roles. This sample list serves as an outline for configuring your role related data. You can also use the sample list to run a test import into your Meisterplan system:
Your existing roles will not be overwritten or deleted by the test import. You can delete the imported sample roles at any time.
To successfully import your roles, your spreadsheet should contain one line per role, and a column for each data field you would like to import.
Fields That Can Be Imported
These are the required fields that your spreadsheet should contain:
- Role Name
The following fields are optional fields you can import:
- Cost per Hour: for the correct format see here
- Cost Type: only CapEx or OpEx are allowed
- OBS fields: You can only import OBS fields of the first level. You can import OBS fields even without Resource Pool rights. You can add new OBS sub-units in Meisterplan using “>”
Number Formatting
To successfully import number fields, follow the formatting standards below:
- To successfully import numbers with decimals (e.g., 70.0 in English, 70,0 in German), your spreadsheet and browser language also need to match. If they don’t match, the number will not be imported, and you will get an error message. Do not use a thousands separator (e.g., $10,500) because they will not be recognized and could be misinterpreted as decimals separators.
- Do not use a thousands separator (e.g., $10,500) because they will not be recognized and could be misinterpreted as decimals separators.
- Enter only positive numbers, negative numbers (e.g., -70) will cause an error message.
- Do not add units such as currency (e.g., $ or €). Your Meisterplan system will automatically use the currency selected in the left Sidebar under General Settings.
Step 2: Copy & Paste
Copy the desired data from your spreadsheet and paste the data in Meisterplan (e.g., using CTRL+V). In this step, you can copy and paste different data as often as needed.
Step 3: Assign Fields
If your imported column name matches an existing field in Meisterplan, Meisterplan will assign it automatically. If you’d like to change or add a field assignment, just drag and drop the Meisterplan field to the desired location. This step ensures your spreadsheet data maps to the appropriate Meisterplan project field.
Step 4: Validate & Edit
Validation and Error Correction
In this step you can validate and edit your roles before import. Simply edit the highlighted field by clicking on it. Fields highlighted in dark red indicate an error that will prevent the complete line (i.e. the role) from being imported:
Once you've corrected all errors, click Import. Your roles are now available in the Resource Pool.
Update Existing Roles
If roles from your spreadsheet already exist in Meisterplan, they will be updated on import. This occurs only if the names of the roles in your spreadsheet exactly match the names in Meisterplan.
Identical Names
Please note that, while Meisterplan generally supports having multiple roles with the same name, updating such data through the Quick Import is not possible.
Here are more details on when roles can be updated:
Example |
Data in Spreadsheets |
Existing Data in Meisterplan |
What Will Happen in Meisterplan |
Case 1 |
"UX Designer", |
"UX Designer" |
"UX Designer" will be updated in Meisterplan, "Designer UX" will be added |
Case 2 |
" UX Designer", |
- |
Both roles will be added to Meisterplan. |
Case 3 |
" UX Designer", |
"UX Designer" |
Meisterplan will neither update nor import these roles, because there are two roles with the same name in your spreadsheet. |
Case 4 |
"UX Designer" |
" UX Designer", " UX Designer" |
Meisterplan will neither update nor import these roles, because there are two roles with the same name in Meisterplan. |
Case 5 |
" UX Designer", "UX Designer" |
" UX Designer", " UX Designer" |
Meisterplan will neither update nor import these roles, because there are two roles with the same name in your spreadsheet and in Meisterplan. |
Result
Imported Roles
Once you've clicked Import, your roles will be available in the Resource Pool:
Newly Created Field Values
If your spreadsheet contains new OBS field values not yet in Meisterplan, they will be added during import: