Using the Excel Link

The Excel link is available on most item lists and report results and enables you to export data to Microsoft Excel. Use this link to export data that you do not wish to update each time that you open your Excel spreadsheet.

Tip: For steps on creating a Web query in Excel that displays updated report information each time the spreadsheet is launched, visit the Knowledgebase at serena.com, and search for solutions about using the Excel Web query feature with SBM.

The Excel link exports the report into Excel by formatting the report and field information into XML. The XML allows the data to be imported correctly into Excel. For example, date fields are imported into Microsoft Excel as dates, not as numbers.

Text fields that are included in exported reports do not include any line breaks. Instead, the content is exported as single line text. Some report formatting is altered for better conversion to Excel. For example, the checkmarks in privilege reports are changed to Y's and the blanks are changed to N's in the Excel output.

When you use the Excel link to export data, the Items Per Page setting in your user profile and for the system are ignored. The items returned by the search or report are exported to Excel, and not just those that appear on a specific page. For example, if there are 500 items in the results but only 50 items displaying per page, the Excel report will contain all 500 items.

Note: Your administrator may set a limit on the number of items returned by a listing report in order to improve performance.

To export SBM data to Excel using the Excel link:

Run a report or search that results in a list of items or a graphical report that you want to export to Excel.
Click the Excel link in upper-right corner of the Item List pane or in the Actions drop-down list.
The file download dialog box for your Web browser opens. Typically, you can choose to automatically open the Excel spreadsheet or save it to a location on your computer. Select one of the available options.
Tip: In Internet Explorer, Excel opens a spreadsheet in the content pane by default and only limited Excel functionality is available. You can modify this default behavior so that Excel always opens in a separate window. For details, refer to Opening Exported Excel Reports in a Separate Window.
After exporting the report, use formatting features in Excel to customize it as needed.