Exporting Project Data to Microsoft Project

The Projects application enables you to export project and work package actions to Microsoft Project. These actions are exported to the .MPP file format.

After exporting the actions, you can open the .mpp file containing the exported project or work package in Microsoft Project and edit the actions from there. If you intend to re-import the files back into Archibus, there are several guidelines outlined below that you should follow while editing exported files in Microsoft Project. If you do not intend to re-import a project back into Archibus, you can merge the exported files with other Microsoft Project files.

For information on importing the Microsoft Project file, see the Importing from Microsoft Project task

The following images shows the workflow for exporting project data to an MPP file.

Accessing the Export Tasks

From Projects: You can export to Microsoft Project from the following locations on these consoles,

Working from the following Management consoles, you select a project and then select the Actions tab . From the Actions tab, use the More Options button to access the menu option for exporting to MS Project:
- Projects / Manage / Management Console
- Projects / Execute / Management Console
Working from the following Consoles, you select a project and then select the Import / Export tab. You then select the sub- tab that contains the items to be exported: Export Project or Export Work Package. You then run the Export to MS Project action:
- Projects / Plan / Management Console: Plan
- Projects / Procure / Management Console: Procure

Exported Data

When you export project actions, you are exporting actions to an .mpp file. You can either export all of a specified project's actions, or only the actions for a specified work package. When you export an action, you are exporting a subset of the action item fields. When you export to Microsoft Project, the file is uploaded to the Activity Projects table doc_acts_xfer field or Work Packages table doc_acts_xfer field, depending on whether you are exporting a project's actions or a work package's actions. This file is also copied to your workstation, so that the file is available when you want to import it into Microsoft Project for editing.

For information on the database tables used for exporting projects and work packages to Microsoft Project, see the Exporting to Microsoft Project Tables topic.

Note: The Export to Microsoft Project action preserves predecessor information through a round trip to Microsoft Project.

Exporting to MS Project by Project

One option available to you is to export all the actions in a project.

To export actions for an entire project to Microsoft Project:

Access the Management Console by selecting a Management Console task in the Navigator. For example, select the Execute / Management Console task. See Accessing the Export Tasks for a description of the different ways to access the export task.
The Management Console appears with Select Project as the active tab.
Select the project that contains the actions that you want to export to Microsoft Project.
Depending on the console you are working from, you do one of the following:
- Select the Actions tab, click the More Options button, and select the Export to MS Project option from the menu.
- Select the Import / Export tab, select the Export Project sub-tab, and click Export to MS Project.
  A dialog asks you to select the version of MS project you want to export to. The dialog lists the supported versions.
Select the MS Project version and click Export.
A message lets you know that the export is in process. When the message disappears, the export has completed.
Click the x button to close the dialog.
An Open With / Save File window appears
Do one of the following:
- Use the Open with option to open the MPP file in MS Project for review.
- Click the Save File option to save the MPP file.
If needed, start MS Project and select File > Open and browse to the location of the MPP file to open it.
MS Project shows a new project with the Action Items from the Archibus Activity Projects (project) table. The items are grouped by work package and are sorted by Start Date.
Only the following fields are exported:
- project_id
- activity_log_id
- action_title
- date_scheduled
- duration
- wbs_id
- predecessors
- work_pkg.days_per_week
- assigned_to
- comments
- pct_complete

Verify that the action items in the MS Project file match with the Archibus Project Action Items. The fields should map as follows:

Archibus Activity Projects (project) table field	Maps to this field in MS Project
project_id	Project – Name
work_pkg_id	Parent Task – name (for grouping purpose)
action_title \| activity_log_id	Task – Name
date_scheduled	Task – Start
duration	Task – Duration
work_pkgs.days_per_week	Calendar
assigned_to	Custom Fields – assigned_to
activity_type	Custom Fields – activity_type
comments	Custom Fields – comments
predecessors	Predecessor
pct_complete	Percent Complete

Notes:
Only action items with a status of N/A, Requested, Planned, Scheduled, or In Progress are exported.
Project Name (project_id) is the default title of the .mpp file.

If an action Item is not assigned to a work package, then the action does not have the work_pkg_id and the work_pkgs_days fields. For these actions, the following mapping applies:

Archibus Activity Projects (project) table field	MS Project
action Item Title\|action Item ID	Action Item Title
Date to Perform (date_scheduled)	Start date
Duration Est. Design (duration)	Duration Note: The End Date is calculated by MS Project.
Percent Complete	Percent Complete (the inner bar on the Gantt chart).
Assigned To	shows as a MS Project custom field.
Activity Type	shows as a MS Project custom field.
Comments	shows as a MS Project custom field.
Predecessor	Predecessors

Exporting Work Package Actions to MS Project

Another option is to export only the actions in a specific work package.

To export actions for a single work package to Microsoft Project:

Access the Management Console by selecting a Management Console task in the Navigator. For example, select the Projects / Execute / Management Console task.
The Management Console appears with Select Project as the active tab.
Select the project that contains the work package actions that you want to export to Microsoft Project.
Depending on the console you are working from, you do one of the following:
- Select the Actions tab, select the check box for the work package from the list, click the More Options button, and select the Export to MS Project option from the menu.
- Select the Import / Export tab, select the Export Work Packages sub-tab, select a work package from the list, and click Export to MS Project.
  A dialog asks you to select the version of MS project you want to export to. The dialog lists the supported versions.
Select the version of MS Project that you are using, and click Export.
A message lets you know that the export is in process. When the message disappears, the export has completed.
Click the x button to close the dialog.
An Open With / Save File window appears.
Use the Open with option to open the MPP file in MS Project for review.
MS Project shows a new project with the Action Items from the A/FM Project. The items are sorted by Start Date, and are grouped by Work Package Id .There is only one group for the work package you selected to export
Verify that the following fields were exported.
- project_id
- work_pkg_id
- activity_log_id
- action_title
- date_scheduled
- duration
- wbs_id
- predecessors
- work_pkg.days_per_week
- assigned_to
- activity_type
- comments
  
  pct_complete

Verify that the action items in the MS Project file match with the Archibus Project Action Items. The fields should map as follows:

Archibus Activity Projects (project) table field	Maps to this field in MS Project
project_id	project – name
work_pkg_id	parent task – name (for grouping purpose)
action_title \| activity_log_id	task – name
date_scheduled	task – start
duration	task – duration
work_pkgs.days_per_week	calendar
assigned_to	Custom Fields – assigned_to
activity_type	Custom Fields – activity_type
comments	Custom Fields – comments
Predecessor	Predecessors
pct_complete	Percent Complete

Only Action Items of status N/A, REQUESTED, PLANNED, SCHEDULED or IN PROGRESS are

exported.

The Project Name + Work Package name is the default title of the .mpp file.

For each task that does not have a work package assignment, the following mapping is used:

Archibus Activity Projects (project) table field	Maps to this field in MS Project
<action Item Title>\|<action Item ID>	Action Item Title
Date to Perform (date_scheduled)	the tasks' Start date in MS Project
Duration Est. Design (duration)	the tasks Duration in MS Project. (End Date is calculate by MS Project).
Percent Complete	Percent Complete (the inner bar on the Gantt chart).
Assigned To	appears as MS Project custom field
Activity Type	appears as the MS Project custom field.
Comments field	appears as the MS Project custom field
Predecessor	Predecessors

Working with Exported Data in Microsoft Project

You will often want to round-trip your data to Microsoft Project and then back to Archibus, where the task statuses for all projects can be collected and rolled up. To do so, make certain you use a Microsoft Project .mpp file created by Web Central. The project file uses a particular naming convention for the tasks that lets Archibus track existing tasks back to their projects and work packages and identify newly added tasks.

If you choose not to re-import the project file, you can merge the project data with other MS Project files.

Opening the File in Microsoft Project

Use the File / Open command to load the .mpp file in Microsoft Project, and choose the "Import as a new project" option.

Editing Guidelines if Re-importing

If you are planning to re-import your project into the Archibus Projects application, you must follow the guidelines outlined below while you are editing the project in Microsoft Project.

You can use the following features of Microsoft Project to edit the project:

Add new tasks. These will be inserted in the Archibus database when you import and post your changes back to the Projects application. New items created in Microsoft Project will have an Activity Type of "PROJECT - TASK", although you can change this to anything you'd like inside Archibus. (This Activity Type must exist in the validating table before re-importing projects with new tasks into Archibus; the Activity Type field is validated and a required one.)
Delete items.
- If work had not yet begun on this action, the task's status will be adjusted to Deleted when you import and post your file to the Projects application.
- If work on this action was in progress, the task's status will be adjusted to Stopped when you import and post your file to the Projects application.
Adjust start dates and duration. (Adjusting the End Date in Microsoft Project adjusts the duration.)
Adjust percentage complete for each task. Tasks marked as 100% complete will be set to Completed when re-imported and posted.
Assign tasks to personnel using the Resources tab of the Task Information dialog.

Merging Archibus Data with Microsoft Project Files

If you do not intend to round-trip your data and re-import it into Archibus, you can use several other features of Microsoft Project to merge the data with other Microsoft Project files:

Use the Project / Insert command to insert the Projects application tasks into another project.
Use the Import Wizard to append or merge the Projects application tasks with an existing project.
Use copy-and-paste within Microsoft Project to copy Projects application tasks to another project.