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  1. Jira Data Center
  2. JRASERVER-62517

Comma in a text field breaks CSV export

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      Atlassian Update – 28 August 2018

      Hi everyone,

      I am going to resolve the current issue as Not a Bug.
      Our research on the subject of CSV export showed that current problem affects only certain configurations of Microsoft Excel. The investigation demonstrated that other spreadsheet management software is not affected by the reported problem at all.

      Root of the problem

      Depending on the country in which the Microsoft Excel is installed a certain region is assigned to it's configuration.

      The region would determine a decimal point separator - such as used in different currencies. For example you can see a comma and dot as decimal separator for representing different amounts: 123,45 vs 123.45.

      28 August 2018 update

      More delimiters for CSV export were shipped with Jira Software Server 7.9. You can now choose one of the four delimiters when exporting your issues to CSV. These are comma, semicolon, vertical bar, and caret (this one: ^). You can read about other capabilities we added in Jira Software 7.9 in the release notes.

      Impact of CSV export feature on Jira users

      Jira 7.2.0 released featuring new CSV export, which deprecated previous Excel export. This had the following impact:

      • CSV export has different format of the data export which creates frictions in using data just the same as it used to be with Excel export.
      • certain Excel uniqueness with CSV handling delivers sub-optimal user experience for certain regions.

       

      Acknowledgement

      After reading all your feedback around CSV export feature we realised the change introduced unnecessary friction for the simple use cases. On the other hand - supporting a native Jira to Excel would be a significant effort which would limit our ability to deliver on other improvements such as hi-impact bugfixes we deliver now, security bugfix and new features.

      With the feedback provided we could not leave the situation unattended. Which led us to the following solution..

       

      Our solution

      We decided to re-enable the legacy export. This has been done in Jira 7.4.0. https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-7-4-x-release-notes-902079634.html We have changed the name of the export to 'HTML Export'. That is done as Jira has never supported a native export Excel export: even up until Jira 7.2 data had been always exporting data in the html format but was just changing an export file extension.

      The exported html data can be imported in Excel just as any .xls, .csv, .html file.

      If that creates too much friction - you can still make Jira export an '.xls' file.

      How to make Jira export .xls file instead of .html file

      Please edit file jira-config.properties and make sure the line for jira.export.excel.enabled exists and looks like:

       jira.export.excel.enabled=true

      After file is saved - restart Jira. Export to Excel button should appear in the Issue Navigator along with Export to HTML.

      This workaround works for Jira versions since 7.2.0 upwards (at the moment of writing up until 7.6.0).

       

      Alternative solutions

      Plug-in Better Excel Plugin provides native Excel export via XLSX files.

       

      Feedback

      Please don't hesitate to provide to provide additional feedback on the issues JRASERVER-62517, JRASERVER-63857. Please post your questions, clarifications, etc. Your feedback has helped to change the shape the feature in Jira 7.4.0 and we'll continue to listen to deliver the appropriate solution in the product.

      Thanks for the inputs!

      Cheers,
      Ignat Alexeyenko
      Jira Bugmaster

      Show
      Atlassian Update – 28 August 2018 Hi everyone, I am going to resolve the current issue as Not a Bug. Our research on the subject of CSV export showed that current problem affects only certain configurations of Microsoft Excel. The investigation demonstrated that other spreadsheet management software is not affected by the reported problem at all. Root of the problem Depending on the country in which the Microsoft Excel is installed a certain region is assigned to it's configuration. The region would determine a decimal point separator - such as used in different currencies. For example you can see a comma and dot as decimal separator for representing different amounts: 123,45 vs 123.45. 28 August 2018 update More delimiters for CSV export were shipped with Jira Software Server 7.9. You can now choose one of the four delimiters when exporting your issues to CSV. These are  comma ,  semicolon ,  vertical bar , and  caret  (this one: ^). You can read about other capabilities we added in Jira Software 7.9 in the  release notes . Impact of CSV export feature on Jira users Jira 7.2.0 released featuring new CSV export, which deprecated previous Excel export. This had the following impact: CSV export has different format of the data export which creates frictions in using data just the same as it used to be with Excel export. certain Excel uniqueness with CSV handling delivers sub-optimal user experience for certain regions.   Acknowledgement After reading all your feedback around CSV export feature we realised the change introduced unnecessary friction for the simple use cases. On the other hand - supporting a native Jira to Excel would be a significant effort which would limit our ability to deliver on other improvements such as hi-impact bugfixes we deliver now, security bugfix and new features. With the feedback provided we could not leave the situation unattended. Which led us to the following solution..   Our solution We decided to re-enable the legacy export. This has been done in Jira 7.4.0. https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-7-4-x-release-notes-902079634.html We have changed the name of the export to 'HTML Export'. That is done as Jira has never supported a native export Excel export: even up until Jira 7.2 data had been always exporting data in the html format but was just changing an export file extension. The exported html data can be imported in Excel just as any .xls, .csv, .html file. If that creates too much friction - you can still make Jira export an '.xls' file. How to make Jira export .xls file instead of .html file Please edit file jira-config.properties and make sure the line for jira.export.excel.enabled exists and looks like: jira.export.excel.enabled= true After file is saved - restart Jira. Export to Excel button should appear in the Issue Navigator along with Export to HTML. This workaround works for Jira versions since 7.2.0 upwards (at the moment of writing up until 7.6.0).   Alternative solutions Plug-in  Better Excel Plugin  provides native Excel export via XLSX files.   Feedback Please don't hesitate to provide to provide additional feedback on the issues JRASERVER-62517 , JRASERVER-63857 . Please post your questions, clarifications, etc. Your feedback has helped to change the shape the feature in Jira 7.4.0 and we'll continue to listen to deliver the appropriate solution in the product. Thanks for the inputs! Cheers, Ignat Alexeyenko Jira Bugmaster

      Summary

      Having a comma in a text field will put values in wrong fields on a CSV exported from JIRA

      Environment

      JIRA server 7.1.x
      JIRA server 7.2.x

      Steps to Reproduce

      1. Create a new issue
      2. Put a comma in any place among the text in the Description field or any other text field
      3. From the issue navigator, export the issue to a CSV file (e.g. Export > CSV (All fields))

      Expected Results

      The CSV file will be created with the correct values for every field

      Actual Results

      Values after the comma will be exported to the wrong field in the CSV file, putting every field values after that in the wrong column in the CSV file

      Workaround

      Certain Microsoft Excel configurations does not correctly handle JIRA CSV export format. This typically depends on the region where product is installed.

      To workaround the problem, one can use the Export to HTML feature that is available in JIRA 7.4.0 and latter.

       

      Step 1. Export the data to HTML from JIRA

       

      Step 2. Import the file into Excel.

      Following options are available:

      • Import Menu available in Microsoft Excel, chose the .html file exported from JIRA.
      • Rename the exported file to .xls extension so it can be opened as ab Excel spreadsheet.

        1. Broken export MS Excel 2016.xlsx
          9 kB
        2. Smart Banka - Backlog (JIRA).csv
          2 kB
        3. workaround-html-export.png
          31 kB

            [JRASERVER-62517] Comma in a text field breaks CSV export

            Przemyslaw Czuj (Inactive) made changes -
            Remote Link Original: This issue links to "JSB-120 (JIRA Server (Bulldog))" [ 204810 ] New: This issue links to "RAID-120 (JIRA Server (Bulldog))" [ 204810 ]
            Edson Araujo made changes -
            Remote Link Original: This issue links to "RAID-634 (JIRA Server)" [ 330305 ] New: This issue links to "RAID-634 (JIRA Server (Bulldog))" [ 330305 ]
            Jose Antonio Uribe made changes -
            Remote Link Original: This issue links to "RAID-366 (JIRA Server)" [ 271165 ] New: This issue links to "RAID-366 (JIRA Server (Bulldog))" [ 271165 ]
            Chung Park Chan made changes -
            Labels Original: affects-server hot-jira-noworkaround New: affects-server
            Bugfix Automation Bot made changes -
            Minimum Version New: 7
            Owen made changes -
            Component/s New: Issue - Actions [ 43412 ]
            Component/s Original: Issue - Export [ 43325 ]
            Owen made changes -
            Workflow Original: JAC Bug Workflow v2 [ 2849617 ] New: JAC Bug Workflow v3 [ 2929534 ]
            Status Original: Resolved [ 5 ] New: Closed [ 6 ]
            Owen made changes -
            Symptom Severity Original: Major [ 14431 ] New: Severity 2 - Major [ 15831 ]
            Owen made changes -
            Workflow Original: JIRA Bug Workflow w Kanban v7 - Restricted [ 2588561 ] New: JAC Bug Workflow v2 [ 2849617 ]
            Kasia Derenda made changes -
            Current Status Original: {panel:title=Atlassian Update – 2 November 2017|borderStyle=solid|borderColor=#ebf2f9|titleBGColor=#ebf2f9|bgColor=#ffffff}
            Hi everyone,

            I am going to resolve the current issue as Not a Bug.
             Our research on the subject of CSV export showed that current problem affects only certain configurations of Microsoft Excel. The investigation demonstrated that other spreadsheet management software is not affected by the reported problem at all.

            *Root of the problem*

            Depending on the country in which the Microsoft Excel is installed a certain region is assigned to it's configuration.

            The region would determine a decimal point separator - such as used in different currencies. For example you can see a comma and dot as decimal separator for representing different amounts: 123,45 vs 123.45.

             

            *Impact of CSV export feature on Jira users*

            Jira 7.2.0 released featuring new CSV export, which deprecated previous Excel export. This had the following impact:
             * CSV export has different format of the data export which creates frictions in using data just the same as it used to be with Excel export.
             * certain Excel uniqueness with CSV handling delivers sub-optimal user experience for certain regions.

             

            *Acknowledgement*

            After reading all your feedback around CSV export feature we realised the change introduced unnecessary friction for the simple use cases. On the other hand - supporting a native Jira to Excel would be a significant effort which would limit our ability to deliver on other improvements such as hi-impact bugfixes we deliver now, security bugfix and new features.

            With the feedback provided we could not leave the situation unattended. Which led us to the following solution..

             

            *Our solution*

            We decided to re-enable the legacy export. This has been done in Jira 7.4.0. [https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-7-4-x-release-notes-902079634.html] We have changed the name of the export to 'HTML Export'. That is done as Jira has never supported a native export Excel export: even up until Jira 7.2 data had been always exporting data in the html format but was just changing an export file extension.

            The exported html data can be imported in Excel just as any .xls, .csv, .html file.

            If that creates too much friction - you can still make Jira export an '.xls' file.

            *How to make Jira export .xls file instead of .html file*

            Please edit file jira-config.properties and make sure the line for *jira.export.excel.enabled* exists and looks like:
            {code:java}
             jira.export.excel.enabled=true {code}
            After file is saved - restart Jira. Export to Excel button should appear in the Issue Navigator along with Export to HTML.

            This workaround works for Jira versions since 7.2.0 upwards (at the moment of writing up until 7.6.0).

             

            *Alternative solutions*

            Plug-in [Better Excel Plugin|https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.midori.jira.plugin.betterexcel/server/overview] provides native Excel export via XLSX files.

             

            *Feedback*

            Please don't hesitate to provide to provide additional feedback on the issues -JRASERVER-62517-, JRASERVER-63857. Please post your questions, clarifications, etc. Your feedback has helped to change the shape the feature in Jira 7.4.0 and we'll continue to listen to deliver the appropriate solution in the product.

            Thanks for the inputs!

            Cheers,
             Ignat Alexeyenko
             Jira Bugmaster
            {panel}             		New: {panel:title=Atlassian Update – 28 August 2018|borderStyle=solid|borderColor=#ebf2f9|titleBGColor=#ebf2f9|bgColor=#ffffff}
            Hi everyone,

            I am going to resolve the current issue as Not a Bug.
             Our research on the subject of CSV export showed that current problem affects only certain configurations of Microsoft Excel. The investigation demonstrated that other spreadsheet management software is not affected by the reported problem at all.

            *Root of the problem*

            Depending on the country in which the Microsoft Excel is installed a certain region is assigned to it's configuration.

            The region would determine a decimal point separator - such as used in different currencies. For example you can see a comma and dot as decimal separator for representing different amounts: 123,45 vs 123.45.

            *28 August 2018 update*

            More delimiters for CSV export were shipped with Jira Software Server 7.9. You can now choose one of the four delimiters when exporting your issues to CSV. These are _comma_, _semicolon_, _vertical bar_, and _caret_ (this one: ^). You can read about other capabilities we added in Jira Software 7.9 in the [release notes|https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-7-9-x-release-notes-946034808.html].

            *Impact of CSV export feature on Jira users*

            Jira 7.2.0 released featuring new CSV export, which deprecated previous Excel export. This had the following impact:
             * CSV export has different format of the data export which creates frictions in using data just the same as it used to be with Excel export.
             * certain Excel uniqueness with CSV handling delivers sub-optimal user experience for certain regions.

             

            *Acknowledgement*

            After reading all your feedback around CSV export feature we realised the change introduced unnecessary friction for the simple use cases. On the other hand - supporting a native Jira to Excel would be a significant effort which would limit our ability to deliver on other improvements such as hi-impact bugfixes we deliver now, security bugfix and new features.

            With the feedback provided we could not leave the situation unattended. Which led us to the following solution..

             

            *Our solution*

            We decided to re-enable the legacy export. This has been done in Jira 7.4.0. [https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-7-4-x-release-notes-902079634.html] We have changed the name of the export to 'HTML Export'. That is done as Jira has never supported a native export Excel export: even up until Jira 7.2 data had been always exporting data in the html format but was just changing an export file extension.

            The exported html data can be imported in Excel just as any .xls, .csv, .html file.

            If that creates too much friction - you can still make Jira export an '.xls' file.

            *How to make Jira export .xls file instead of .html file*

            Please edit file jira-config.properties and make sure the line for *jira.export.excel.enabled* exists and looks like:
            {code:java}
             jira.export.excel.enabled=true {code}
            After file is saved - restart Jira. Export to Excel button should appear in the Issue Navigator along with Export to HTML.

            This workaround works for Jira versions since 7.2.0 upwards (at the moment of writing up until 7.6.0).

             

            *Alternative solutions*

            Plug-in [Better Excel Plugin|https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.midori.jira.plugin.betterexcel/server/overview] provides native Excel export via XLSX files.

             

            *Feedback*

            Please don't hesitate to provide to provide additional feedback on the issues -JRASERVER-62517-, JRASERVER-63857. Please post your questions, clarifications, etc. Your feedback has helped to change the shape the feature in Jira 7.4.0 and we'll continue to listen to deliver the appropriate solution in the product.

            Thanks for the inputs!

            Cheers,
             Ignat Alexeyenko
             Jira Bugmaster
            {panel}

              ialexeyenko Ignat (Inactive)
              tsoares Teilor Soares (Inactive)
              Affected customers:
              81 This affects my team
              Watchers:
              79 Start watching this issue

                Created:
                Updated:
                Resolved: