Importing from Microsoft Project to PM3

PM3 will import files which have been saved from Microsoft Project in XML format. On hitting an Import icon in PM3 on the Milestone Plan or Gantt page, a dialog opens inviting you to select an existing MS Project Plan xml file from disk. On selecting the file and clicking OK in this dialog, the MS Project file is imported into the Milestone Plan and Gantt pages of the open plan in PM3. There are 3 import icons – each importing a subset of the contents of the imported file: Key: imports Workstreams and Key Milestones and their dependencies Milestones only: imports Workstreams and All Milestones and their dependencies • All only: imports Workstreams and All Milestones and Tasks and their dependencies. An MS-Project xml file can be imported into a PM3 plan whose Milestone Plan page is empty. It can also be imported into a PM3 plan whose Milestone Plan page is not empty. In this case, the imported file is merged into the PM3 page which already exists. This merging allows not only new items to be appended to the PM3 Project but it also allows existing items to be modified. (See the section below on Reimporting files for more information about this). MS-Project does not have a concept of Key Milestones. These can be marked by updating the Notes of the Milestone with the following text: [$iskey=Y$] Notes may contain other text, but as long as the string above is somewhere in the text, it will be treated as a Key Milestone. When Exporting from PM3, this field is automatically populated for key milestones. Projects can only be imported into PM3 Project level plans. For BCPs and Programmes, the Import from MS Project button is permanently disabled. Not all MS Project files are suitable for importing to PM3 since PM3 has some concepts that PMS Project lacks. Also terminology differs. In MS-Project, all rows are called Tasks – some are Summary Tasks, some are Milestone Tasks and some are plain Tasks. In PM3, these are known as Workstreams, Milestones and Tasks respectively. PM3 Tasks appear on the Gantt chart but not the Milestone Plan. The main rules for creating importable MS project files are: Summary Tasks (Workstreams) A workstream is an MS-Project row which is not indented. It is positioned leftmost in the Task Name column is an MS-Project Summary Task. 1. This means it has at least one item indented right directly underneath it iii. A Summary Task must not be marked as a milestone. 1. (See the Milestone checkbox in the Advanced tab when you open a Task within MS Project). Any Summary Tasks which are indented are ignored. If different incoming workstreams have the same name, the latter name is modified by a * at the front. (If there are several duplicate names, the number of * prefixes increase correspondingly). Milestones Milestones are marked within MS-Project are Tasks with the Advanced>Milestone Checkbox checked. Milestones must be indented under a Workstream (i.e under a leftmost Summary Task). Within PM3, these milestones will be placed into the Workstream which corresponds to that Summary Task. (PM3 milestones must be within a workstream). Different Milestones may have the same name. Tasks Each MS-Project Task is one without the Milestone Checkbox ticked It may appear indented within a Workstream It is attached to the next milestone that appears within that Workstream if there is one, otherwise it is treated as a Plan Task and so appears at the top of the MilestonePlan or Gant page. ii. In PM3, Milestone Tasks appear immediately before (above) the Milestone of which they are a member. It may also appear or outside a workstream i.e. with no indentation (provided it has no items indented under it). In this case, it is also treated as a PlanTask and appears at the top of the PM3 page. This is independent of any dependency links that may be on the Task. Such dependencies are imported and drawn between milestones and tasks, irrespective of where they appear in the PM3 pages. PM3 Tasks are visible only on the Gantt chart (not the Milestone Plan). They must have non-zero durations. Different tasks may have the same name Example: In the example below, the following workstreams are created – Proposed, Approved, Extra. The summary task Extra is indented and so is ignored. Tasks 14 and 15 are added to Milestone 16 Software within the Extra workstream. Tasks 26 and 27 are added to Milestone 28 Wifi Requirements within the Extra workstream. Task 29 has no milestone after it, and so becomes a PlanTask and appears at the top of the PM3 page. The remainder of the Milestones are created within the Workstream under which they appear.