About Xpand IT
Xpand IT with several customers across the world, we provide the top IT knowledge for our customers, so they can focus on their core business and still have the best IT resources for their company needs, seamless integration into their business processes. We identify ourselves as a Team with Passion for Excellence, and we differentiate our services by having the best people with the best expertise in the following areas: Business Intelligence, Business Process & Integration, Enterprise Mobility, IT Systems, and Enterprise Applications.
Problem
Xpand IT developed an Add-On for JIRA, called Xporter for JIRA. This Add-On offers to users the possibility of exporting their JIRA issues content to several formats, using Microsoft Word and Excel. Among several features we highlight as more relevant for this situation:
- Defining templates in XLSX, DOCX, RTF or ODT files, upload and configure through JIRA Administration
- Single and multiple issue export to PDF, DOCX, RFT, ODT, PNG and SVG
- Export images and attachments
- Exporting comments, subtask fields, and linked issues
- And many others.
The problem emerged when several clients asked about the possibility of exporting issues based on Microsoft Office Documents. Such a feature wasn’t available in JIRA.
Solution
Why did you choose an Aspose product? How did you implement it? What are the inputs and outputs? What does the user see?
Xpand IT chose Aspose.Total for Java, since we were already satisfied clients, as we previously used Aspose.Words for Java.
Our development team investigated all available libraries that provided manipulation and creation of both Word, PDF, and Excel files. After that investigation, we concluded that Aspose.Total for Java was the best mature library relative to others, it has good support and nice product evolution.
We need to build documents dynamically, so the input that can variate, and Aspose.Total for Java provides a way to do that, easily.
Xporter for JIRA templates are managed in JIRA Administration and allow us to manage templates (upload/remove templates) and set templates permissions (which templates to be displayed for a project, issue type, user, etc…)
Image 1:- Exporting issues for JIRA
Image 2:- Excel template
Xporter for JIRA offers the ability to export data along with a customization component, all in an extremely simple and effective way. Project managers can export JIRA issues and thus create your custom reports in seconds.
Image 3:- Result of Exporting issue data into Excel format
Experience
Finding a solution
Did you look at other products? How did you find Aspose? Did you use a free trial to qualify our product against others? Did you use support?
We have been using Aspose.Words for JAVA since 2009 in our Product and the feedback couldn’t be better. Because of that, we thought about as for Aspose.Total for Java and we started using a trial version and our implementation using it is almost done, and this will be a great and powerful future for our product. We’re using a trial license and we didn’t need any support until now.
Implementation
How long did the implementation of the solution take? What were the challenges? Did you use Aspose support and did you get the help you needed? How did other team members take to the Aspose product?
The implementation took around 7/8 weeks, but most of the time was more due to the complexity of the engine than with the use of the Aspose.Total for Java libraries.
Our business logic is based on templates. We have a document engine that receives some data and a Word/Excel file known as the template file. This template file has mappings that will be processed by our document engine.
As a result, we generate a “compiled” file, i.e., the template file with mappings replaced by real data. Until today everything went smoothly and there was no need to ask for support.
Outcome
What was the outcome of your implementation? Did you meet your objectives? How did the implementation affect the work in the team, department or company?
As described above, we have a document engine that processes template files. This introduced a high complexity but it was not related with the usage of Aspose.Total for Java. Regarding the usage, it is simple to use and provides a simple way to read, create, and manipulate data into the entire workbook. All the objectives were fully met and we do believe that with the help of Aspose.Total for Java, we created a great feature for our product, making it even more competitive.
Next Steps
Do you plan to take your solution further or to implement other Aspose products? What is your next focus, now that the initial problem has been solved?
As our product is constantly following our client’s needs, we are always upgrading it and thinking about new features. For sure if in the future, if we find that any other Aspose products could be the answer to some of our requirements, we have no doubts that they are going to be our first priority.
Summary
What was your overall experience of working with Aspose and Aspose’s products? How well did the product you chose meet your objectives? How has the solution affected how you work now? Would you recommend Aspose?
Our overall experience with Aspose products was very positive. This component increased business value to Xpand IT product - Xporter for JIRA, allowing us to develop a reference solution for data export. The Aspose.Total for Java components are extremely complete and they have been very important in implementing new features in the plugin.
Xpand IT is very satisfied with the Aspose.Total for Java performance and until now we are fully confident that we made the right decision in choosing it. We sincerely recommend Aspose products as their components have a key role in Xporter for JIRA, and in its success.