FORMA - DATA EXTRACTION

[vivek_gajjarUJ9J4]

Does the Issues data extract include custom fields defined in Issue Templates? We need the custom field 'Building' exposed as a column in the dataset so it can be used for Power BI reporting and visuals.

[atighe84 · Accepted solution]

Hi @vivek_gajjarUJ9J4 

The developers guide for Forma Issues says they do not support endpoints that configure issue types or custom attributes. See link below for reference;

https://aps.autodesk.com/en/docs/acc/v1/overview/field-guide/issues/

Regards,

Andrew

[vivek_gajjarUJ9J4]

Hi atighe84

Thanks for sharing the guide for reference.
However, post the data extraction process and  linking the data directly to Power BI, most of the custom attributes are found for data analysis.
The name of those attributes varies from the actual name on Forma, which makes it difficult to locate and use those data for analysis.

[atighe84]

Hi @vivek_gajjarUJ9J4 

What you’re seeing is likely due to how Forma reads custom attributes through its data extraction/API layer, rather than Power BI itself. The display name you give to a custom attribute in Forma may not be the same field name returned in the eventual extracted dataset. The exported/API data could also be using an internal attribute identifier, system-generated name, or a different naming convention, and from this, Power BI then displays that returned field name, rather than the expected name you set up in Forma.

To resolve this issue occurring again if you’re going to be executing this multiple times going forward, you could create a mapping table containing such key items as the Forma attribute name, extracted/API field name, attribute description, data types, and intended Power BI use. You could also look at renaming the fields within Power Query to match the names used in Forma. This means your Power BI model remains user-friendly, even if the underlying API names are different.

Regards,

Andrew