Overview of Importing Time Sheet Data from External Applications

Some customers need to import large volumes of time sheet data from an external application into the database of PPM before or after they begin using Time Management. Micro Focus provides the time sheet data importer script (kTMDataConversion.sh) for this purpose.

The time sheets that the script creates from data you specify in .xml files have the same functionality as if they had been originally created using Time Management in PPM. For example, the data in the .xml files can represent time sheets that are submitted or approved, as reflected in the time sheets the script creates. After import, the time sheets the script creates have all the functionality of time sheets that users create in Time Management.

The time sheet data importer script does the following:

  • Processes data from one or more source .xml files that represent time sheets. The data in the .xml files must conform to the formats specified in the XML Schema Definition (.xsd) file provided by Micro Focus.

  • Converts the time sheet data into time sheets in Time Management.

    Note: During the import process, the script cannot change any of the time sheet data in the .xml files or the corresponding time sheets it creates.

  • Validates the integrity of the time sheet data as it imports the data.

  • Checks for violations of time sheet policies as it imports the data.

  • Supports the following:

    • All the PPM work item types—projects, tasks, requests, packages, and miscellaneous. (Tasks are specified by their full paths in their projects. Values of miscellaneous work items must be defined in the associated PPM validation.)

    • Importing data for which time was logged in the external application using any of the Time Management options:

      • In units of hours, day by day over the time period

      • In units of hours for the entire time period

      • As a percentage of the entire time period

      • In units of days, day by day over the time period

      • In units of days for the entire time period

    • Specifying an actual approver and an actual approval date for a time sheet line in the .xml file.

  • Determines and populates the following data:

    • Time approver for each time sheet line if the time sheet is in Unsubmitted, Pending Approval, or In Rework status and if no time approver is specified in the .xml file for that line.

    • Billing approver for each time sheet if the time sheet is in Unsubmitted, Pending Approval, or In Rework status.

    • Overall status of each time sheet based on the statuses specified for its set of time sheet lines. For information about time sheet status and time sheet line status, see the Time Management User Guide.

  • Creates records in the audit trail on each time sheet indicating the following:

    • When the time sheet line was created, if specified in the .xml file.

    • Time sheet line approver and approval date, if specified in the .xml file.

  • Runs several processes in parallel and uses multithreading for the creation of each time sheet to improve performance.

As needed, you can run the time sheet data importer script at different times for different source data, no matter how long Time Management has been in use. If you run the script a second time for the same time sheet, that is, a time sheet having the same resource, time period, and sequence number specified in the .xml file (other data can be the same or different), the script preserves the previously imported time sheet, does not process the new time sheet data, and logs an error.

If the imported time sheets include projects or tasks for which actual effort is logged on time sheets, you can establish the correct synchronization between Time Management and Project Management after importing the time sheets by running the kTMPMSync.sh script (see the Project Management Configuration Guide).