How to set up additional fields mapping between PPM Express and Smartsheet

In this article, we will review how to set up task field mapping between PPM Express and Smartsheet.

How to set up fields mapping

To map the task fields from Smartsheet and PPM Express while linking Projects, perform the following:

1. Open the Project with a Smartsheet connection and click the Connect button.

2. Click on the Configure mapping button in the Sheet section.

2. Use the 'Add Mapping Fields' button to set up fields and directions for the data exchange on the 'Configure Task import mapping' page.

Click the 'Save Mapping' button to save this mapping.

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Note: Some fields can be mapped only via transformation rules as the values for these fields are different in Smartsheet and PPM Express.

Click on the gear button next to the field you need to set transformation rules for.

Select or type in the values for both systems. Click Ok.

Save the mapping.

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Note: The mapping you set up for one Project is not shared for other Projects. The task field mapping should be set up for each Project separately.

Field mapping rules and compatible fields

Task Field Mapping can be viewed and configured by clicking on the ‘Configure mapping’ icon for the Sheet. The field mapping is applied and is individual per Project/Sheet (i.e. if the task mapping is configured for one linked Project, it will not be applied in the same way to the next linked/imported Projects). The Task Field Mapping is one and the same for Summary/Parent Tasks and child Tasks/Sub-Tasks.

There is a default task field mapping of the most important fields available. The default mapping depends on the Sheet type in Smartsheet.

There are two main types defined:

Project Sheet: a Sheet with the Project Settings enabled. Enabled Project Settings for the Sheet means that there are at least two date columns for Start and Due/Finish date, Duration column that are connected and auto-calculated/auto-set, % Complete column (also takes part in auto-calculations), Predecessor column for dependencies, ‘Assigned To’ column for assignments (optional), etc. that are specified in the Project Settings.

Task Sheet (Task List, Grid, Cards Sheet): a Sheet where the Project Settings are not enabled. Such Sheets may have a different set of fields/columns for Tasks/Rows. The columns for dates, duration, assignments, progress, statuses, and description are not obligatory present in the Sheet, and if present, they may be with different column types and names.

The following default task field mapping is set for the Project Sheets:

Smartsheet Field	Field Type	PPM Express Field	Field Type	Notes
Primary Column (‘Task Name’, ‘Title’, ‘Tasks’ etc)	Text/Number (Primary column)	Title/Task Name	Text	Primary Column with any name is always mapped with Title/Task Name
Type (fake field)	String	Type	Select (single-select)	The fake field ‘Type’ is created for Smartsheet to map with the PPM Express ‘Type’ field, to differentiate Summary Tasks and Tasks (sub-tasks). Transformation Rules can be added
Comments, Description, Notes	Text/Number	Description	Text (multiline)
Start, Start Date	Date (AbsrtactDateTime)	Start Date	Date	The column that is specified as ‘Start Date’ in the Sheet Project Settings is mapped by default
Finish, Finish Date, Due Date, End Date	Date (AbsrtactDateTime)	Due Date	Date	The column that is specified as ‘Due Date’ in the Sheet Project Settings is mapped by default
Duration	Duration	Duration	Integer	The column that is specified as ‘Duration’ in the Sheet Project Settings is mapped by default
% Complete	Text/Number	Progress %	Slider	The column that is specified as ‘% Complete’ in the Sheet Project Settings is mapped by default
Status	Dropdown List (single-select)	Progress %	Slider	Mapped by default if there is no % Complete field specified, with the Transformation Rules: ‘Not Started’, ‘New’->0% ‘In Progress’, ‘Working on it’->50% ‘Complete’, ‘Done’->100%
Assigned To, Assignments	Contact List (single or multi-select)	Assigned To	Resource	Contact List type field is mapped by default with any name if no column is specified in the Project Settings. If there are a few Contact List fields, the one is mapped by default that is set in the Project Settings for Resource Management. Resources from the ‘Assigned To’ field will be added to the Team section
Priority	Dropdown List (single-select) or Symbols	Priority	Integer	Mapped by default with the Transformation Rules: Low->Low Medium->Medium High->High Critical->Urgent Urgent->Urgent Setting Transformation Rules manually may be needed for the Symbols type field
Health, Schedule Health	Symbols	Status	Integer	Synchronization to Status works if the Task Status auto-calculation is disabled. Default Transformation Rules: Green -> On Track, Yellow -> At Risk, Red -> Critical

Duration values in days are synchronized as they are in the source, not recalculated in PPM Express. If the Duration value is decimal, the value will be rounded to an integer number of days. If Duration values are in hours, they will be converted into days as the default ‘Duration’ column in PPM Express displays values in days. In this case, the setting ‘Length of day’ in the Project Settings in the Sheet is taken for calculating the number of days based on hours. For example, the task Duration is 24h, and the length of a workday is set to 6 hours. Then, the task Duration in PPM Express will be 4 days.

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Note: The ‘Predecessors’ Smartsheet column cannot be mapped, and task Dependencies (Predecessors) are not supported for synchronization.

The following default task field mapping is set for the Task Sheets:

Smartsheet Field	Field Type	PPM Express Field	Field Type	Notes
Primary Column (‘Task Name’, ‘Title’, ‘Tasks’ etc)	Text/Number (Primary column)	Title/Task Name	Text	Primary Column with any name is always mapped with Title/Task Name
Type (fake field)	String	Type	Select (single-select)	The fake field ‘Type’ is created for Smartsheet to map with the PPM Express ‘Type’ field, to differentiate Summary Tasks and Tasks (sub-tasks). Transformation Rules can be added
Comments, Description, Notes	Text/Number	Description	Text (multiline)
Start, Start Date	Date	Start Date	Date	Mapped if such a field is added to the Sheet
Finish, Finish Date, Due Date, End Date	Date	Due Date	Date
Duration	Text/Number	Duration	Integer	Mapped if such a field is added to the Sheet. There may be a mismatch between the Duration and Start, Due Dates as they are not dependent
Status	Dropdown List (single-select)	Progress %	Slider	Mapped by default with the Transformation Rules: ‘Not Started’, ‘New’->0% ‘In Progress’, ‘Working on it’->50% ‘Complete’, ‘Done’->100%
Done	Checkbox	Progress %	Slider	Mapped with the ‘Progress %’ field if there is no ‘Status’ field in the Sheet. With Transformation Rules ‘True’-> 100% ‘False’->0%
Priority	Dropdown List (single-select) or Symbols	Priority	Integer	Mapped by default with the Transformation Rules: Low->Low Medium->Medium High->High Critical->Urgent Urgent->Urgent Setting Transformation Rules manually may be needed for Symbols type field
Assigned To, Assignments	Contact List (single or multi-select)	Assigned To	Resource	Resources from the mapped ‘Assigned To’ field will be added to the Team project section
Health, Schedule Health	Symbols	Status	Integer	Synchronization to Status works if the Task Status auto-calculation is disabled. Default Transformation Rules: Green -> On Track, Yellow -> At Risk, Red -> Critical

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Note: If the mapping for the Type field is removed, the field will be empty for tasks, but the task hierarchy (Summary Tasks – Sub-tasks) will be preserved in PPM Express.

The Task Field Mapping can be changed and configured as needed. The following mapping of compatible fields is possible:

Smartsheet Field Type	PPM Express Field	Notes
Primary Column (Text/Number)	Task Name/Title Description (Text multiline) Text custom field (single and multiline) Tags Select a custom field (single and multi-select) Hyperlink	The field can also be mapped with Duration, Progress %, Priority, Impact, and Slider fields, but values will not be synchronized. Values may be synchronized if they are numbers or if they match in the source and target, or with the Transformation Rules specified
Text/Number, with text (‘Comments’, ‘Notes’, ‘Description’ etc.)	Task Name/Title Description (Text multiline) Text custom field (single and multiline) Tags Select custom field (single and multi-select) Hyperlink	The field can also be mapped with Duration, Progress %, Priority, Impact, and Slider fields, but values will not be synchronized. Values may be synchronized if they are numbers or if they match in the source and target, or with the Transformation Rules specified
Text/Number, with numbers, formulae, or functions (‘Baseline Variance’, etc.)	Duration (Integer with Days format) Effort, Completed Work, Remaining Work, Original Estimate, Story Points (Decimal) Integer custom field Decimal custom field	Other fields that are compatible with the Text/Number type with Text can also be mapped
‘% Complete’ Text/Number field with % display format	Progress % Integer custom field Slider custom field	With the Slider type custom fields, values are set if they match in the source and target fields (ex. Slider allows 1-100 values), or with the Transformation Rules specified
Date, Baseline Dates	Start Date Due Date Date custom field	Mapping with the default ‘Due Date’ field impacts the Status auto-calculation, and Key Dates import
System Date (Created, Modified)	Start Date Due Date Date custom field
Contact List (single-select)	Assigned To (Resource type) Resource custom field (single-select) Resource custom field (multi-select) User custom field (single-select) User custom field (multi-select) Other fields (Tags, Text, Select)	Only Resources from the field mapped with the default PPM Express field ‘Assigned To’ are added to the Team section. Resources from the Resource custom field are created or matched, but not added to the Team. The field can be mapped with fields Tags, Text, Select type, the values will be in the email format (clickable) in this case.
Contact List (multi-select)	Assigned To (Resource type) Resource custom field (multi-select) User custom field (multi-select) Other fields (Tags, Text, Select (multi-select))	Only Resources from the field mapped with the default PPM Express field ‘Assigned To’ are added to the Team section. Resources from the Resource custom field are created or matched, but not added to the Team. The field can be mapped with fields Tags, Text, Select type, the values will be in the email format (clickable) in this case.
Created By, Modified By (system fields)	Assigned To (Resource type) Resource custom field (single-select) Resource custom field (multi-select) User custom field (single-select) User custom field (multi-select)	Mapping works in the same way as for the Contact List type field
Duration (auto calculated)	Duration (Integer with Days format) Integer custom field
Dropdown List (single select)	Progress % Priority Status State Select custom field (single select) Select custom field (multi-select) Tags Text custom field Impact custom field	Mapping with Progress %, and Priority, Impact fields works with Transformation Rules for values. Mapping with other fields works with or without Transformation Rules. For Select field without transformation rules - the same values are matched; if there is no such value in the target, it is created in the field. Mapping with the ‘Status’ field works if the Task Status auto calculation is disabled
Dropdown List (multi select)	Select custom field (multi-select) Select custom field (single select) Tags	Mapping works with or without Transformation Rules. Also, can be mapped with Text fields with Transformation Rules. For other PPM Express fields that allow only one value, the values will not be set even with Transformation Rules
Checkbox	Progress % Is Milestone Flag custom field Text custom field Select custom field	Checkbox values are synced as ‘True’, and ‘False’ without Transformation Rules. The mapping with the Progress % (Slider) field works with Transformation Rules: ‘True’->100, ‘False’->0. The mapping with the ‘Is Milestone’ field allows synchronizing checked items as Milestones to the Key Dates section and Tasks
Symbols	Priority Impact custom field Status State Progress % Select custom field (single select) Select custom field (multi select)	The mapping works if the source (text values) and target field values match. If not, the Transformation Rules can and should be specified. Mapping with the ‘Status’ field works if the Task Status auto calculation is disabled
Auto Number	Integer custom field Decimal custom field Default Integer or Decimal fields Text custom field Tags Select custom fields	The mapping with Integer, Decimal fields: values are synchronized when they are numbers without text or symbol prefix and/or suffix, synchronized when prefix and suffix are also numbers, numerical places are removed. Not synchronized when values contain text or symbols. The mapping with Text, Tags, Select fields: values are synchronized in the same format, with prefix, suffix, and numerical places
Latest Comment	Task Name/Title Description (Text multiline) Text custom field (single and multiline)
Predecessors	-	Cannot be mapped with any PPM Express field yet

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