The Newsletter of the Official Community Supporting Microsoft® Office Project Volume 7, Issue 3–2003

Microsoft® Office Project 2003 offers a set of

products that will allow organizations to better

manage project information and act on that

information quickly to satisfy colleagues, customers and

partners. Chief among these products is the Microsoft

Office Project 2003 Enterprise Project Management

(EPM) Solution, which combines client, server and Web-

based technology, specifically Microsoft Office Project

Professional 2003, Microsoft Office Project Server 2003

and Microsoft Office Project Web Access 2003, to supply

everything a business needs to orchestrate company-wide

projects smoothly and sustain a competitive edge in its

industry.

Project Professional 2003 operates as the project

management program for EPM and can be used to

connect to Project Server 2003. In turn, Project Server

2003 provides a central place for employees to publish

project and resource information. Project Server 2003 is

Microsoft® Office Project 2003 EPM Solution EnhancesBusiness Decision Making, Analysis and Success

The Project Network

Continued on page three

In This Issue:

1 Microsoft Office Project 2003 –EPM Solution Enhances BusinessDecision Making, Analysis and Success

4 Pcubed Perspective – A Case for Using a Proven Path

6 Ask Brian – The Top Fourteen Coolest Things About Project Server 2003

9 The Power of Views...and How to Create Them

13 Tommy’s Tips – Continuing and Displaying the Number of Resources per Task with Macros

15 Workaround for Importing Enterprise ProjectData

MPUG-Global sponsored by:

integrated with Microsoft Windows® SharePoint™

Services for document management capabilities (now

including versioning and check-in/check-out); risk

tracking and other collaboration tools that enable team

members to better coordinate projects regardless of their

geographic locations. Users connect to Project Server

2003 through Project Professional 2003 and Project Web

Access 2003 to save, retrieve and interact with Project

Server 2003 data.

With Project Web Access 2003 project managers and team

members can easily view and update information on the

Project Server 2003, and employees at all levels can

become instantly vested in a project’s outcome.

Combined, this total EPM solution enables organizations

to set goals and streamline the manner in which they

achieve them. This EPM solution also helps organizations

make better-informed decisions, simplify their key

business processes by reducing unnecessary work, make

teamwork easy and intuitive and enable their employees

to have a greater impact in what can be a demanding,

competitive and stressful business environment.

The EPM solution is very flexible. With it, organizations

are provided up-to-the-minute information so employees

can optimize limited resources by prioritizing projects

and synchronizing individual initiatives with the

organization’s overall business objectives. Moreover, it is

unique among management systems because it ensures

widespread participation using familiar, integrated tools.

Housed within the new Microsoft Office System,

organizations know going in these tools are easy to use

and will not require significant training and support costs.

“Our customers have requested, and we have delivered,

this next-generation EPM solution, which helps

www.mpug.org

From the Editor

A s I sit here writing on the eve of

my summer vacation, I find it

hard to believe that we are

already in the month of September;

and whilst so much has happened this

year, there is still so much to look

forward to. As Microsoft® Office

Project bursts into the marketplace,

MPUG-Global is continuing to con-

centrate on providing members with

new and improved benefits, technical

content and the latest information as and when it happens.

As a project manager, it is important to keep abreast with

any new developments and make sure that you can

respond in the most effective manner. Over the last year,

MPUG-Global has worked closely with Microsoft to report

on the launch of the Microsoft Office System — and in

particular Microsoft Office Project 2003. Working months

before the product was launched, we pulled our

newsletter schedule forward to ensure that we

synchronized our messaging, providing up to the minute

news, as the release of Microsoft Office Project was

announced. It’s important that MPUG-Global builds on the

content we deliver, and in this issue we have done just that

as featured columnist Brian Kennemer provides insight

into the new tool with his quick-hit “Top Fourteen Coolest

Things about Microsoft Office Project Server 2003”.

As a sponsor, Microsoft has been working with MPUG-

Global on several other initiatives to provide even more

member benefits. MPUG-Global members indicated that

they value special offers provided by Microsoft, so we have

built on these over the last year. Whilst we have always

been able to offer members the opportunity to beta test

the new version of the Microsoft Project tool, this year we

have worked to provide even more special offers and

benefits, including a 120-day evaluation of Microsoft

Project Server and Microsoft Project Professional, a

Microsoft Project Solutions Guide, the Right Tools for theJob CD pack, and the opportunity to attend Web Casts and

Chats, meetings and presentations given by high-level

Microsoft personnel. MPUG-Global members also

attended the Microsoft Project Technical Briefing

(previously only open to Microsoft Project Solution

Providers) in Redmond, an exclusive invitation extended

to the MPUG-Global community. These are just a few of the

initiatives that we have been working on, and as this

relationship develops, we hope to bring you more.

As the Microsoft Project tool has evolved, so has TheProject Network, which has changed dramatically both in

look and feel. As the editor, I always look for ways to

improve the quality and information provided in the

Liz Curwen

Continued on page three

The Official Community SupportingMicrosoft Office Project

Email: info@mpug.org Web: www.mpug.org

MPUG-Global World Headquarters3923 Ranchero Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (U.S.A.)

Phone: 734.741.0841 Fax: 734.741.1343

MPUG-Global U.K. Office#10 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SR (U.K.)

Phone: +44 (0)7905 326001 Fax: +44 (0)20 7462 0101

MPUG-Global Board of DirectorsPresident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marguerite KimballVice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .JD HouseSecretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heidi OstrowskiExecutive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christine BuonocoreChapter Relations Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tim CermakCommunications Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Liz CurwenInformation Systems Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kirk VantineMicrosoft Project Technical Director . . . . . . . . . . . .Mike ScanlonDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Anthony GreavesDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Richard Siddle

The Project Network NewsletterEditor in Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Liz Curwen

Editorial content: Articles, case studies, and tips are welcome! Please email LizCurwen at lcurwen@mpug.org. Entries may be edited for clarity and length.

Advertising: Advertising is open to any authorized Microsoft Office Project Consultantor Service Provider. For a Media Kit, email lcurwen@mpug.org.

The Project Network is a quarterly publication dedicated to inform themembership of MPUG-Global. The information published herein is believed to bereliable; however, the editor and other individuals associated with this periodicalassume no responsibility for inaccuracies or omissions. Publication ofadvertisements in this newsletter does not necessarily constitute an endorsementby MPUG-Global. Signed columns are the opinions of their writers and notnecessarily the opinion of the publishers.

© Copyright 2003 MPUG-Global. All rights reserved.

MPUG-Global Mission

To provide MPUG-Global members witha forum to exchange ideas, support, and

experience in order to improve understandingand utilization of Microsoft Office Project.

MPUG-Global is an independent organizationformed with the support and

recognition of Microsoft.

We at Microsoft recognize MPUG-Global as theofficial international community supportingMicrosoft Office Project. We recommend MPUGas a vital resource to any level of the MicrosoftOffice Project user seeking a community of peersto enhance their experience with this tool.

Chris Capossela, General Manager ofMicrosoft Office Project, Microsoft Corporation

newsletter. In addition to collaborating with Microsoft on

the lead articles over the last year, we have included more

how-to articles, tips, tricks and case studies than ever

before, and this issue is no different. I am pleased to

announce the launch of a new column in The ProjectNetwork, provided by MPUG-Global’s founder and

sponsor, Enterprise Premier Solution Provider, Pcubed.

Drawing on vast customer experience and expertise, the

Pcubed Perspective column provides a blend of strategic

and technical content, with a varied look at Microsoft

Project and how it is being implemented and used within

the marketplace. The column will draw on Pcubed’s

knowledge of server based solutions, software imple-

mentation, and technical support, looking not only at how

to utilise the Microsoft Project tool more effectively, but

also providing real insight as to the reasons why. It’s an

exciting new development for MPUG-Global, so make sure

you check out the first of many Pcubed Perspective

columns.

As I said, there is still so much to look forward to and

MPUG-Global is always working to build on the

community and the member benefits we provide.

Many of you have said that one of best aspects of

MPUG-Global is that it is such good value, and that

isn’t going to change. In fact, MPUG-Global continues

to work on the service that we provide, whilst

sustaining your membership fee at the lowest possible

rate. With all that in mind, make sure you don’t miss

out on what MPUG-Global has in store for you for

2004. To protect your investment in the Microsoft

Project tool, and make the most out of the MPUG-

Global community...renew your membershiptoday. The box below provides more details, but for

those of you who are ready to renew, simply visit

https://www.mpug.org/secure/renew.asp.

Best regards,

Liz Curwen, Editor

lcurwen@mpug.org

From the Editor(continued from page two)

Microsoft Office Project 2003(continued from page one)

▼

companies simplify the steps required for all team

members to update their work status,” says Microsoft’s

Giovanni Mezgec, Group Product Manager of the Project

Business Unit. “Not only does Microsoft’s Project 2003

EPM help executives monitor initiatives and synchronize

them with overall business strategies, it makes it easier

for project managers and team members alike to

participate into the process, ensuring that work is

completed on time and under budget.”

As part of the Microsoft Office System, the EPM solution

offers all employees — from entry-level to top-tier

management — a chance to weigh in on projects and

help facilitate the analysis and decision-making process.

Thanks to a customizable scorecard view of projects,

managers will be able to monitor business metrics and

adjust employee workflow as necessary (problem areas

are also easily identified). For information sharing and

coordination, the EPM solution empowers team

members to participate, report progress and collaborate

on projects. It reduces administrative work while

maintaining up-to-date status on project schedules and

budgets through Web-based Timesheets and Microsoft

Outlook Calendar integration, as well as improves team

coordination through Web portals and automatic

notifications. Organizations also can centrally store, link

and share information related to project plans.

In terms of bottom line, the EPM solution allows

organizations to more efficiently manage their projects

from the financial perspective by establishing repeatable

processes and maximizing resources to reduce costs,

improve quality and shorten time to market. Using this

system, organizations will be able to effectively assign

people to projects and track and manage across an

organization with skill-based resource assignment tools.

Organizations also can establish processes and rules for

reporting and approving time worked on projects to

ensure data accuracy.

Finally, at the architectural level, the EPM Solution’s

architecture provides the flexibility and security to share

data with other systems, customize the solution to align

with business processes and scale as business needs

grow. It helps to compile up-to-date portfolio-related

information via better integration with existing systems

using industry standard XML and makes it easier to

customize and integrate Project Server 2003 data through

extensive API connections.

Microsoft Office Project 2003 EPM can be extended to

suit specific business requirements with Project Data

Service (PDS) enhancements, VBA/object model changes

and an improved project guide. For more information, go

to http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/

▼

Renew your MPUG-Global membership by 28th November2003, and you will be entered into a drawing to win a FREEcopy of Microsoft Office Project 2003. For moreinformation please visit the MPUG-Global web site(www.mpug.org).

Renew online at https://www.mpug.org/secure/renew.aspor request an invoice at info@mpug.org.

Protect Your Investment in Microsoft Project . . .Renew your MPUG-Global Membership Today!

More and more businesses today are moving towards

enterprise-wide project management solutions. Microsoft

Project Server 2002 Professional and Project Web Access are

often the solution of choice. The benefit cases being

produced are showing strong potential returns. This is great!

Note however, as many businesses have little experience in

implementing a department or enterprise-wide project

management solution, they often experience difficulties in

implementing these server-based solutions. This case study

outlines how one company utilized a proven path to success.

This entailed: 1) finding out where to start from; 2) developing a prioritized list of benefits to be achieved; and 3)

implementing the biggest hitting/easiest-to-implement components first.

Fast Growing Pharmaceutical Business IT Department

While in the planning cycles for 2003, this fast growing pharmaceutical company (name withheld for confidentiality reasons;

we’ll call it ABC Pharma) recognized it was faced with enormous growth, and needed to significantly increase the number of

large IT projects. For a relatively young business, this growth represented a significant opportunity to invest in its current

processes, but had its risks.

Thankfully, ABC Pharma had budgeted for a project management solution and chose to use Microsoft Project 2002. A team leader

was appointed to work with a team of experienced project managers who defined ABC Pharma’s requirements as follows:

• Methodology integration via standard templates

• Improved project scheduling

• Resource management

• Time recording

• Portfolio reporting

The first step was to create a testing environment; a few target projects were selected to experiment with Microsoft Project

2002. While it seemed that the new product was installed correctly, the first few times using the tool proved very frustrating.

Installing Microsoft Project on the desktop had been very straightforward: users simply inserted the CD, installed the program

and started using the tool. Yet this server-based solution didn’t seem to operate that way...not all of the functions were

working; Sharepoint Team Services was not working; and there was a lot to think about regarding the enterprise coding

structure. However, once we examined the installation, we found ABC Pharma had not started with a clean server and had

some conflicting applications. That was easy to fix!

Although ABC Pharma’s requirements were similar to those we had seen in other businesses, a closer review of the

documentation from a few existing projects showed a low level of standardization. It also revealed that very few projects could

status their plans, which was a great concern.

To develop a plan to reach your goals, you must first know where you are starting

The current levels of ABC Pharma’s project management capabilities were assessed, and while it had some experienced

project managers, there was not a lot of project structure and standards. ABC Pharma believed that strong managers would

be able to adapt the tool. We provided a simple message in reply: “Assuming you have strong people to install and manage

the product is not enough. Employees need to have the relevant skills, and business processes must be in place and be strong

enough to support the desired end product.” In order to plan for a successful implementation, ABC Pharma needed to view

its current capabilities and assess its current level of project management maturity.

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) was used to measure its current level of project management

maturity. The results showed that ABC Pharma was at an average rating of 1.7 with some areas exceeding 2.0 (result summary

A Case for Using a Proven PathBy Joe Luciano, Pcubed (Member, New Jersey, USA)

Pcubed (www.pcubed.com) is a Microsoft EnterprisePremier Solution Provider, specializing in EPM, serverbased solutions, software implementation, customizedtraining and technical support.

Drawing on vast customer experience and expertisePcubed Perspective provides a blend of strategic andtechnical content, with a varied look at Microsoft Projectand how it is being implemented and used within themarketplace.

Pcubed Perspective

Continued on page five

>

Aligning and Managing IT Value Requires more than Project Management

While many organizations are led to believe that project management is the most critical component in managing ITvalue, organizations who focus only on PM ignore approximately 50% of the work of an IT operation and fail to leverage non-project based effort for corporate strategy and alignment.

By providing a comprehensive solution for IT work management, including bi-directional integration to MSP and non-project based work, organizations can effectively align and manage IT value.

Changepoint includes:

• Portfolio Management• Bi-directional integration with Microsoft Project• Extensive Resource Management• Complete Financial Management

• Time and Expense Management• Request Management• Client Relationship Management• Individual Performance Management

Contact us today to see how Changepoint goes beyond standard project management to provide greater IT Value.www.changepoint.com/mpug1

Pcubed Perspective(continued from page four)

shown in Figure 1). This was encouraging! In over 100 assessments in our database,

most businesses fell below 1.5, so this was a good sign. There was strong evidence

that ABC Pharma would be able to provide strong input to create a standard project

management practice.

Develop a prioritized list of benefits to be achievedResource management and time recording were not considered the most important

benefits for ABC Pharma. They were desirable next steps, but could be postponed.

The management team decided to hold off on attacking these functions, and to focus

instead on harvesting the benefits of portfolio and improved project management. It

was also considered important to see what future releases of Microsoft Project were

offered, while the company’s people and processes matured.

Implement the biggest hitting/easiest-to-implement components firstDeveloping a proven path for ABC Pharma included a training program, some

process and standard template development in weak areas, as well as matching the

highest-level benefits to the easiest-to-implement tool components. As for ABC

Pharma, the team started by focusing on producing accurate project plans as well as managing and reporting project status.

From there it was simple to produce an overall view of portfolio health.

ConclusionABC Pharma today is extremely pleased with its server based project management solution. Following the rapid deployment,

management and stakeholders quickly reached the point where they felt more in touch with the business as a whole. On the

ground, project managers noted more control in managing the projects on a day-to-day basis. ABC Pharma has embraced the

concept of a proven path, and is actually using proven measurement techniques (put in place by us) to monitor its

improvement and project management maturity.

▼

© Copyright 2003 Pcubed. All rights reserved.

Figure 1

The Top Fourteen Coolest Things

About Project Server 2003

Ok, so I am no David Letterman (so they are not all going to

be funny) but here is my shot at the “Top Fourteen” list

regarding Project Server 2003 and its new and improved

features, and why you should care.

14. Lockdowns, Lockdowns, oh yeah and...Lockdowns!Timesheet Period Lockdown: Administrators can define

specific reporting periods, and then lock past periods so they

cannot be edited unless a user has specific permissions to

adjust locked time periods. This allows for better control of

timesheet data particularly when integrating with accounting

systems.

Actual Work Lockdowns: This feature allows administrators

to set-up Project Server so that Project Managers cannot edit

Actual Work on tasks where Resources have submitted

timesheets via PWA. This solves the problem of Project

Managers accidentally editing the status information given to

them by a Resource.

Baseline Lockdowns: Project Server 2003 has a new

permission called “Save Baseline”, which allows

administrators to set which users are allowed to save

baselines on projects in Project Professional. Now a Project

Manager cannot accidentally (or not so accidentally) save

over the top of an existing baseline, which if done, can have

an adverse effect on functions such as Earned Value

reporting.

13. Sample DatabaseProject Server 2003 ships with a sample database that can be

installed and used to see how the features of the new product

need to be implemented. The database will assist some

organizations to see how features they may be unfamiliar

with, such as Portfolio Analyzer views or Outline Codes, can

be used effectively. The database also comes with a role-based

demo script, which shows how different types of users such

as the administrator or project manager, uses the tool.

12. You no longer need a degree in physics to installProject Server!

Ask Brian

Brian Kennemer is a Microsoft Office Project MVP andProject Specialist for QuantumPM. Along with penning thiscolumn, Brian is also the Vice President for the MPUG-GlobalPuget Sound Chapter.

Ask Brian covers topics appearing in the Microsoft OfficeProject Support Newsgroup, where people with questionsabout Microsoft Office Project can interact and seeksolutions. Members can find this newsgroup and many morein the Members Only Section, www.mpug.org/members.asp

Continued on page seven

Ask Brian(continued from page six)

The improved set-up “wizard” takes a lot of the guesswork out

of installing Project Server 2003, particularly if “multi-box”

environment (where Session Manager and/or Views Processing

services will be on different machines from the main “Front

end” machine) is being installed. This new set-up routine also

attempts to automatically detect the Proxy Server settings for

your network and will run Proxycfg.exe for you. This will add

years to the life of the person installing the product!

11. Proposed Booking of ResourcesWhile this may seem like a small thing, it is huge if you are

running a Professional Services company where they have

been doing this for years (they call it “Soft Booking”). It allows

Project Managers to request specific resources with a

“proposed” assignment in much the same way that Generic

Resources allow them to request a skill. Resource Managers

can then view these proposed bookings (which amount to

the real demand for that specific resource across the

organization) of their resources and then make decisions

about how best to staff projects.

10. Active Directory SynchronizationNow Administrators can link the Project Server Enterprise

Resource Pool to specific Active Directory Group, so any

member of the Active Directory Group is automatically added

to Project Server as a Resource. You can also use a related

feature to link Project Server Security Groups to Active

Directory groups; this feature ensures that any member of a

given AD Group is automatically added to the Project Server

Group. It is important to add here that this is a one-way

operation and at no time is the AD group ever changed or

modified in any way.

9. Performance EnhancementsOk, well this can split into two different things:

• DB partitioning: One of the things the product team

found during their testing of Project 2002 was that the

performance of the SQL Server machine was NOT based on

processor usage, system RAM or disk access. Instead, they

found that it was the network card that was providing the

bottleneck. To help alleviate this issue, Microsoft has made it

possible to divide the Project Server database into three

separate databases, which can be placed on their own

individual SQL Server machine. This distributes the network

load across three servers and will, for very large deployments,

allow for improved performance.

• Faster Project and Resource Pool Opening: I don’t know

how they did it, but they did! I watched a demo where they

had the same database in two systems, one Project Server

2002 and the other had it converted to 2003. The same

project in both systems was opened into Professional.

Continued on page eight

Ask Brian(continued from page seven)

Results: 2002 took about 6 minutes. 2003 took about 10

seconds. Enough said.

8. Use ASP, DAP, C#, C++ or VB to customize PWA orIntegrate with your PSA or ERP via the PDS!! (HUH?)I swear that if you were a developer this one would be really,

really cool! Project Server 2003 adds about a billion new PDS

methods. (Well OK maybe only about 100, but that’s still a

lot!) For the rest us, this means that it is now much easier to

build customizations for, and integrations with, Project

Server. The full timesheet and custom field API makes it much

easier to build custom solutions around Project Server. There

are also new methods that make it easy for developers to

programmatically create new projects and resources as well

as associating a resource with a specific project and assigning

tasks to resources.

7. A New Outlook on...OutlookIt’s likely to be the first application your resources open in the

morning and the last one they close at night. Now they can

load up an Outlook COM add-in, providing some new forms,

options and menus to Outlook (2000 or higher) that will let

them have full access to the task assignments they are given

in Project Server 2003. It adds a new tab to the calendar item

dialog that contains the controls required to let them update

the status of that assignment right in Outlook. What this really

means is that PWS users can now choose which application

they want to use to provide a status update to their Project

Managers.

6. A bunch of cool stuff that I don’t have space enoughto give them their own numbers...Give me a break, Ialready had to make it a Top 14 list!Administrative Projects: This is a new type of project that

makes it easier to track the work that Resources do that is not

part of a regular project.

Grid Printing in PWA: The Timesheet, Project Center and

Resource Center views now support printing. (Woo-hoo!)

PM Self Check-In: Project Managers can now check-in their

own projects if they become “stuck” in a checked-out state.

Improved Filters (value lists show up when creatingfilters): When building a filter that includes a field that has a

pick list (or lookup table) associated with it, the filter dialog

will automatically have the pick list or lookup table values

available for the building of the filter. No more hand entering

the values!

Copy Picture to Office Wizard: This is a cool little wizard

that walks users through the process of formatting and

adjusting Project Professional for the creation of a screen shot

for use in other Office applications.

Deleting Resources: Yes! Administrators can now easily

delete resources from the Pool.

5. Now you Really, Really don’t need to save/publishMaster Projects.

You can now select several projects or select a group header

and then open all of them in Project Professional, thanks to a

new feature added to the Project Center views in Project

Server 2003. Using this creates a temporary master project

and inserts the selected projects into it, so that users can see

how projects interact at a task level. Now, you no longer have

to save master projects to the Project Server. Those users who

need to see a master project can just select the projects and

click on “Open” on the Project Center toolbar.

4. “What do you mean Microsoft said our resourcemanagers don’t need to buy a copy of Project Pro!?”That’s right, so take note. Project Server 2003 adds a feature

specifically aimed at moving functionality from Project

Professional into Project Web Access. The product team found

that most Resource Managers only needed Project

Professional on their desktops in order to use the Build Team

from Enterprise feature and that was the ONLY thing they

used in Professional. So the team added a “lite” version of this

functionality to PWA so now those Resource Managers do not

need a Project Professional license to do their jobs! Team

Builder Lite allows Resource Managers to staff projects right

from PWA. This includes the ability to match and replace

generic resources.

3. Multi-Value Enterprise Resource Outline CodesSay that ten times fast! Anyway, this feature allows 10 of the

Enterprise Resource Outline Code fields (20-29) to contain

more than one value from the Lookup Table. So now a Skill

code created with one of these fields could contain the values

ASP, VB, C# and SQL whereas in 2002 you would have needed

to use 4 different outline codes to capture that same data

about a resource. The drop-down when filling in one of these

fields now just contains check boxes next to the values and

you simply check all the boxes that apply for a given resource.

2. SharePoint Team Services version 2.0 no...wait! I meanWindows SharePoint ServicesSharePoint Team Services v1.0 has a new version (2.0), but it

is now called Windows SharePoint Services. It adds great

features, but there is some confusion about the name.

1. The best?Well maybe this is a rip-off, but ever since I started working

with the early beta versions of this product back in February, I

have been asked about which feature was THE ONE. My

answer is still the same; this release is not about that “one big

feature.” In my mind, it is about a big collection of features

and feature enhancements (I have by no means hit all of them

here in this short article) that work together to create a

product to which you will want to upgrade. This version

builds on the foundation laid by Project Server 2002, fixing

some flaws and adding some great new functions. If you really

had to nail me down, I would say there are two: the new set-

up and the multi-value outline codes!

▼

Views: A DefinitionMost of us who use Microsoft Project would informally

define a View as a way of looking at our project data. Going

one step further, one can formally define a View in

Microsoft Project 2000 and 2002 as the following:

View = Table + Filter + Group + Screen

If you click on View, Most Views, and then select any of the

Views, click on Edit to display the definition for the selected

View. Figure 1 shows a View Definition for the Tracking

Gantt View and illustrates the formal definition of a View.

Figure 1: View Definition Dialog Box

So what is the purpose of each of the components that make

up a View, as shown in the View Definition dialog box?

The Power of Views . . . and How to Create ThemBy Dale A. Howard (Member, Denver Chapter)

• A Table can be defined as a collection of columns of

project data, for example: the Task Cost table is a

collection of columns of task data – all relating to task

costs.

• A Filter can be used to extract rows of project data,

according to the specific criteria that you have

specified.

• A Group is used to organize and sort data according

to one or more selected fields

• A Screen determines the layout of the View you will

see, such as with a Gantt Chart on the right hand side

of the screen (the Gantt Chart screen), no Gantt Chart

on the right hand side of the screen (the Task Sheet

screen), or the time-phased grid on the right hand

side of the screen (the Task Usage screen).

Why Create Custom Views?Custom Views allow us to quickly display the exact data

that we want to see in our project. For example, most

project managers are concerned about three types of

variance in their project plans: Cost Variance, Work

Variance, and Date Variance. To expedite the variance

analysis process in our projects, we could create three new

custom Views, which show us Cost Variance, Work

Variance, and Date Variance. Each of these custom Views

can be quickly applied with only two clicks of a mouse.

Continued on page ten

A Four-Step Method for Creating ViewsYou can create custom Views by following this simple four-

step process based on the previous definition of a View:

1. Select an existing Table or create a new Table

2. Select an existing Filter or create a new Filter

3. Select an existing Group or create a new Group

4. Create a new custom View using your selected Table,

Filter, Group and desired Screen layout

Create a Custom Cost Variance ViewWhen planning a project, cost is one of the most important

aspects. Below I have listed how to create two Cost Variance

views using this 4-step method. Once these views are

created, I will be able to determine which tasks in the project

are over budget on cost. To create the first View, open one of

your current projects and then follow these steps:

1. Select an existing Table or create a new Table:We want to determine which tasks in our project are

currently over budget, so the Cost Table would be a good

custom View to use. Although we could probably include

this Table in the custom View without editing, I would

personally like to see the Indicators column so that I can

read the Task Notes during the variance analysis process. So

we need to create a new Table by copying the Cost Table and

then modifying the copy to include the Indicators column.

To create a new Table, make sure that you have a Task View

applied, then click View, select Table and then click on

More Tables. In the More Tables dialog box select the CostTable, and click on the Copy button. Give the new Table a

unique name, such as “_Cost Variance” and select the

Display in menu option. (Note: I like to add the under-

score character at beginning of the Table name to indicate

that it is a custom Table and to force it alphabetically to the

top of the Tables list.) To add the Indicators column, select

the Name field and then click on Insert Row, in the blank

row select the Indicators field from the drop-down list in

Field Name column. Set Align Data to the Left and the

Width to 7. Click OK and then Apply to temporarily display

the Table Definition dialog box for the _Cost VarianceTable (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Table Definition Dialog Box

The Power of Views(continued from page nine)

2. Select an existing Filter or create a new Filter:You can set up a Filter to display tasks that are over budget

against their Baseline (original) Cost. If you take a look at

the Filter drop down list, the best default for our custom

View is the Cost Overbudget Filter. I always make it a habit

of testing a prospective Filter before using it in a custom

View, however, so let’s test this filter!

To test the Cost Overbudget Filter, select it from the Filter

drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar, then examine

the filtered task list in the new “_Cost Variance” Table. Do

all of the filtered Tasks show a Cost Variance which are

greater than $0.00? In this case, the answer is yes.

However, if a Filter does not perform as desired, the next

step is to copy the default Filter and rename it and then

modify the copy according to our criteria. In this particular

case, the Cost Overbudget filter is performing as desired,

so we will use it as our new custom View.

3. Select an existing Group or create a new Group:I would like to group the list of over budget tasks by

intervals of $1,000, with Groups from $0 to $1,000, $1,001

to $2,000, etc. To accomplish this type of grouping, we’ll

need to create a new Group from scratch.

To create a new Group click on Project, select Group By,

click More Groups and then click New. In the Group

Definition dialog box, give the Group a unique name such

as “_Cost Variance in $1K Intervals” and select the Showin menu option. In the Field Name column, select the CostVariance field and set the Order to Descending. Click on

Define Group Intervals, in the Define Group Interval

dialog box set the Group on value to Interval and set the

Group interval value to 1,000, then click OK. The Group

Definition dialog box for this new Group is shown in

Figure 3.

Figure 3: Group Definition Dialog Box

Continued on page eleven

Group: _Cost Variance in $1K Intervals

Filter: Cost Overbudget

The View Definition dialog box for this custom View is

shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: View Definition Dialog Box

Select the Show in Menu option, click OK and then Close.

To apply this new View, click the View menu and select the

“ _Cost Overbudget in $1K Intervals” View. Figure 5 shows

this new View.

Click OK and then Apply to temporarily apply this new

Group. After successfully testing this new Group, press

Shift+F3 to reapply the group called No Group, press F3to reapply the All Tasks filter, and then reapply the Entry

table by clicking View, selecting Table, and then clicking

Entry.

4. Create the new View: Before we can complete this final step, we need to decide

which Screen to use for the layout of our new View. For

most Task Views, the user will typically select one of three

Screen layouts: the Gantt Chart, the Task Sheet, or the Task

Usage Screen. In this case, we will use the Task Sheet

Screen to display our custom View in a spreadsheet format

without a Gantt Chart on the right hand side of the page.

To create the new View, click View, select More Views, click

New and then click OK to create a Single View. In the ViewDefinition dialog box, give the new View a unique name,

such as “_Cost Overbudget in $1K Intervals”. Set the

definition for this custom View as follows:

Screen: Task Sheet

Table: _Cost Variance

The Power of Views(continued from page ten)

Continued on page twelve

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The Power of Views(continued from page eleven)

In some cases, the user may not want grouping applied to

a custom View, as the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of

the project is not displayed when a Group is applied (this

is clear in Figure 5). You can create another custom View

using the same Table and Filter, but without grouping so

that WBS can be seen whilst viewing the list of our

overbudget Tasks.

Figure 5: _Cost Overbudget in $1K Intervals View

To do this, click View and More Views, select the “_CostOverbudget in $1K Increments” View and click Copy. Name

this new View “_Cost Overbudget with WBS” and change

the Group setting to No Group, click OK and then Apply to

display this new custom View. The “_Cost Overbudget withWBS” view is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: _Cost Overbudget with WBS View Applied

At present these custom Views (along with their

component custom Table and custom Group) exist only in

the current project plan; it would be wise to copy them to

the Global.mpt file to use with all current and future

projects. To do this, select the Tools menu and select

Organizer. In the Organizer dialog box copy both of the

new Views, plus the new Table and the new Group to the

Global.mpt file, and then click Close.

The creation of these two custom Views allows us to

quickly view all of the Tasks that are currently over budget

in our projects at two clicks of the mouse. Using the 4-step

method found in this article, you can create your own

custom Views, including a Work Overbudget view for

tracking work variance and a Date Slippage view for

tracking date variance in your projects. Good luck!

Counting and Displaying the Number of Resourcesper Task with Macros

Offshore drilling platforms are similar to floating hotels;

care must be taken to not ‘overbook’ the living quarters. If

this occurs, the oil company representative may have

several irritated personnel knocking at his door because

they don’t have a place to sleep...and they’re 250 miles

from shore. With this in mind it became necessary for my

client, when updating or revising his schedule, to take a

count of Resources assigned to Tasks on the offshore

platform.

To count and display the number of Resources in a Task

you need to create the following macros. First, you must

insert the Number1 Custom Field into your Table so you

can see the Resource count. If your Number1 Field is in

use, insert any Custom Number field you like, just be sure

to change the name of the Field in the macros listed below.

The following three macros can be copied to your Global

Template Module. A button should be assigned to the

macro entitled “People” so that the Resource count can be

done easily after each schedule revision or update.

‘Macro set to count number of resources per task and

show sum in the summaries.

Sub People()

Macro Name:=”Turn_off_sum”

Dim T As Task

Dim A As Assignment

For Each T In ActiveProject.Tasks

If Not (T Is Nothing) Then

T.Number1 = 0

For Each A In T.Assignments

T.Number1 = T.Number1 + A.Units

Next A

End If

Next T

Macro Name:=”Turn_on_sum”

End Sub

Sub Turn_on_sum()

‘ Macro Turn On Sum

‘ Macro Recorded Mon 6/16/03 by Tommy Lovelace -

Tommy’s Tips

Continued on page fourteen

Tommy’s Tips is presented by Westney Project Services

(www.westney.com) to promote the applications of

Microsoft Office Project and provide a few real life

applications that ‘aren’t in the books’.

Tommy Lovelace is a Senior Consultant with Westney, and

is a valued member of MPUG-Global.

Figure 3

Then insert that Text Field into your schedule, rename it

and hide the Number1 Field to show the number of

Resources needed for each Task (see Figure 4).

Figure 4

As with all tips and tricks you receive, my column

included, be sure to perform your modifications on a

Saved As version of your original schedule. Please bear in

mind that my results may differ significantly from yours

due to the difference in schedule logic and the crazy way

that I do things!

Schedule ON!.........................Tommy!

Turns on Summary Sum Calculation in Number1 Field.

SelectTaskColumn Column:=”Number1”

CustomFieldProperties

FieldID:=pjCustomTaskNumber1,

Attribute:=pjFieldAttributeNone,

SummaryCalc:=pjCalcRollupSum,

GraphicalIndicators:=False

End Sub

Sub Turn_off_sum()

‘ Macro Turn Off Sum

‘ Macro Recorded Mon 6/16/03 by Tommy Lovelace -

Turns off Summary Sum

calculation in Number1.

SelectTaskColumn Column:=”Number1”

CustomFieldProperties

FieldID:=pjCustomTaskNumber1,

Attribute:=pjFieldAttributeNone,

SummaryCalc:=pjCalcNone,

GraphicalIndicators:=False

End Sub

Below is a sample of the Resource count. You should take

care not to over allocate resources or they will be counted

more than once. Notice below, in Figure 1, that several

resources are scheduled more than once for separate tours

of offshore work and are therefore counted properly.

Figure 1

As you can see (in Figure 1) from the Start to Finish for the

Acquisition summary of Tasks, the number of personnel

requiring living quarters on the rig is 15. The number next

to the Task is important, as it shows the number of actual

people working on a particular Task.

Now, if you really want to get fancy and impress your boss,

insert a Custom Text Field that contains a little formula that

connects the word Resources to the results in the Number1

Field. In the first dialog box that appears, be sure to select

the check box that says Use Formula. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

Next, select the Formula button and type in the following

formula (see Figure 3):

Tommy’s Tips(continued from page thirteen)

▼

Would you like to have your article featured in the

next issue of The Project Network newsletter? This

newsletter is distributed to over 4,000 people every

quarter. To find out more about how you and your

organization can get your name in lights, contact

Liz Curwen, lcurwen@mpug.org.

The Import Wizard in Microsoft® Project Professional 2002 doesnot work on enterprise project fields. Making manual editingchanges to enterprise project fields contained within a table ispossible. However, if there is a repetitive activity on every newproject and each consists of a fair amount of data. Here is aworkaround that saves some time, and eliminates the errors thatusually occur when transcribing information.

Enterprise project fields are used to classify/tag informationabout a project file. For example, a “work order number” thattriggers the initiation of a project; the “customer” or “sponsor”for whom the project is being performed; or a “project office”(where multiple instances may exist) etc. This can be usefulinformation, especially at the enterprise level when performingqueries and consolidating information across all projects withinan organization/enterprise. This type of data should be definedand used in a consistent manner across an organization.Moreover, this data could already exist in some other form (e.g.,Excel, Access), and therefore it would be advantageous to beable to import it into the project file.

One way to transcribe this information is to manually editenterprise project fields within a table. The Project summarytask must be visible to do this (table row ‘0’). To view the Projectsummary task, go to Tools, Options, under the View tab selectthe Show Project summary task. As such, the enterprise projectfields may be edited on that row (row ‘0’), based on theirrespective predefined rules/values, of course. Note: the valueentered will cascade down to all the tasks in the project file, if anew task is inserted, the enterprise project field values willautomatically be populated.

Another way to obtain this information is to use a macro andvisual basic. We can do this because the Import Wizard startsimporting from row ‘1’ and not ‘0’, and thus it cannot affectenterprise project fields. To gain access and then activate achange to such fields at the “Project Summary Row” (i.e. row‘0’), a macro with the following visual basic code can helpaccomplish this.

SelectCell 0, column#, False SetActiveCell desired value, False

There are only forty (40) enterprise project fields available foruse with the enterprise edition. These fields are typically underthe control of the Microsoft Project Server System Administrator.If there is a field that only one department within anorganization is interested in, the System Administrator may bereluctant to waste one of the enterprise project fields. SinceMicrosoft did not extend the use of project fields beyond theenterprise level, this type of field and its attributes are notavailable on the stand-alone/non-enterprise level. Once again,there is a workaround! The procedure is as follows:

For text fields with a value list, add the value to the list (if it’s notalready there); make it the default value; then clear the entirecolumn to force the default value.

Workaround for Importing Enterprise Project DataBy Spiro Theopoulos, Sympatico (Member, Greater Toronto Chapter)

CustomFieldValueListAdd FieldID:= field_id, Value:= desiredvalue, Description:=”” CustomFieldValueList FieldID:=field_id, ListDefault:=True,DefaultValue:= desired value,_ RestrictToList:=True,AppendNew:=False, DisplayOrder:=pjListOrderDefault

SelectCell 0, column#, False SelectTaskColumn EditClear

For text fields without a drop down menu, clear the old value;add the new value and make it the default value. In this instancethe default value forces a change in all the rows, so there is noneed to clear the entire column.

CustomFieldValueListDelete FieldID:= field_id, Index:=1 CustomFieldValueListAdd FieldID:= field_id, Value:= desiredvalue, Description:=”” CustomFieldValueList FieldID:= field_id, ListDefault:=True,DefaultValue:= desired value,_ RestrictToList:=True,AppendNew:=False, DisplayOrder:=pjListOrderDefault

Let’s look at an example. Assume that we want to import thedata from the following Excel file named “ProjectABC.xls”, seeFigure 1.

Figure 1

The destination table named “Workbook” is located in aMicrosoft Project Professional file, and is set up with thefollowing fields: “Name” is the enterprise field, “Customer” isthe text field without a predefined drop down list, the otherfields to the right of “Customer” are text fields with predefineddrop down lists, see Figure 2.

Figure 2

To import the data correctly, the headers from Excel need tomatch the column titles in Microsoft Project precisely. However,the column order in both the Excel and Microsoft Project filesdoes not matter. The Excel table could have a few morecolumns, and this would not be a problem. However, themacro will advise you if columns are missing in the MicrosoftProject file.

To obtain the visual basic code, which is the actual code thatimports the data from the Excel spreadsheet to the MicrosoftProject “Workbook”, please visit the MPUG-Global membersonly section, http://www.mpug.org/login.asp. Go to theMicrosoft Project 2002 section in the MPUG-Global File Librarywhere you will be able to access “Workaround for ImportingEnterprise Project Data VB”.

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