For a portfolio with a large number of projects, maintaining the list of groups and elements can be a time consuming task in and of itself. DPL provides you with a feature for exporting and reimporting the portfolio definition as a CSV text file, so you can make edits using Excel or a text editor when doing so is more convenient than using DPL's dialogs.
While it is possible to start a CSV portfolio definition from scratch, we recommend that users first define a small portfolio using DPL's interface and save that as a CSV file, to serve as a starting point.
A CSV file defining a DPL portfolio has three types of rows:
- a PORTFOLIO row,
- one or more GROUP rows,
- and one or more ELEMENT rows.
The order is significant: the PORTFOLIO row comes first, followed by the first GROUP row, then one or more ELEMENT rows for the elements in that group. After the elements for the first group, there may be a second GROUP row followed by one or more ELEMENT rows for that group, and so forth.
To save a portfolio definition to a CSV file:
- Open a Portfolio Workspace, preferably one that has all or some groups and elements already defined
- Right-click on the Portfolio item in the Workspace Manager
- Select Properties from the context menu
- Within the Portfolio Properties dialog, click the Save Portfolio Definitions button
- Name and save the .CSV file
- Make any necessary edits to the CSV within Excel or a text editor and save the file for reimporting to DPL
To load a CSV portfolio definition file:
- Right-click on the Portfolio item in the Workspace Manager
- Select Properties from the context menu
- Within the Portfolio Properties dialog, click the Load Portfolio Definitions button
- DPL will warn you that the existing portfolio definition will be replaced. Click Yes to continue.
- Navigate to the CSV file and click Open
Your portfolio structure will be updated to match the loaded portfolio definition.
Versions: DPL Portfolio
See Also