Difference between revisions of "Making Multi-Project Charts from Separate Microsoft Project Plans for Version 7.0"

Latest revision as of 15:12, 12 January 2021

Overview

1) OnePager Pro is capable of importing separate source plans to create a multi-project chart from individual source plans.

2) In the article at: Making Multi-Project Charts from MS Project Integrated Master Schedules, the Microsoft Project Integrated Master Schedule feature is used to construct a multi-project source plan from which OnePager Pro (OPP) created a multi-project chart.

3) Suppose you want to build a multi-project chart without first creating a Microsoft Project Integrated Master Schedule (IMS).

4) To illustrate an approach to do this, we’ll use the OnePager Pro (OPP) Add-in application following the steps described in the remainder of this article.

Setting Up Steps

Settings for Microsoft Project

1) OnePager Pro (OPP) uses the labels of the project-summary task to identify each project in a multi-project chart.

2) OnePager does not use the Microsoft Project source plan file name to identify projects.

3) If you want to display the project summary task at the top of a Microsoft Project file, go to the File tab on Microsoft Project’s ribbon tool bar.

4)Then navigate to Options tab and once there, to the Advanced tab and check the checkbox ON that is shown below:

5) When you are using the Pull operation workflow to create a multi-project chart, the setting above on the Microsoft Project’s Project Options page must be set before the first designated Microsoft Project source plan is pulled in and must stay set for all subsequent source plan Pull operations.

6) This is because, although Microsoft Project, as an application, does not appear on your screen anytime during the Pull operation, nevertheless, it is launched by OPP and operates on the designated files before OPP processes them.

7) The setting for Microsoft Project discussed above does not need to be switched ON when Push operational workflows are being used.

Predatory Steps

8) Before proceeding with the construction of a OnePager Pro multi-project chart, the first step is to assure that the Template Properties form used is for Single Project Gantt Chart - Detailed.

9) This is because OnePager Pro is going to import two or more source plans and use them to construct the desired chart.

10) Further, since each Microsoft Project source plan contains its own UniqueID sequence and since these UniqueID values may be duplicates from one source plan to the next, we need to make OnePager Pro aware that it must safely combine tasks from different source plans.

11) These steps are described below:

Modifying the OnePager Pro Template Properties Form for Creating Multi-Project Charts

12) Launch Microsoft Project and navigate to the Add-ins tab on the Microsoft Project ribbon tool bar.

13) Click the Template button which accesses the current Template Properties form.

14) Assure that the Template Properties form type is Single Project Gantt Chart - Detailed or a Template Properties form of your own that is equivalent as used in this example shown below:

15) At the Advanced tab, check the Safely combine tasks from different files checkbox ON as shown above.

16) This setting allows you to import multiple standalone Microsoft Project source plans.

17) If you do not check this checkbox ON, OnePager may confuse tasks from one Microsoft Project source plan with tasks from another when the tasks have the same UniqueID.

Making Adjustments to Rows and Swimlanes

18) With the Template Properties form used previously, go to the Template Properties form’s Rows/Swimlanes tab shown below.

19) Ensure that you are grouping and labeling the swimlane level by the Project Name.

20) This step is optional, it is strongly recommended.

21) Now click the Save and use or Use button to make this Template Properties form the current Template Properties form to support creating a multi-project chart.

22) Once you’ve saved the Template Properties form, the next series of steps below involve accessing the separate Microsoft Project source plans that we intend to use for our multi-project chart.

Load the First Microsoft Project Source Plan

23) With Microsoft Project already launched, use the Files controls in Microsoft Project to load the first Microsoft Project source plan as shown here:

24) When you click the Open button on the form above, Microsoft Project loads the source plan in the normal manner.

25) With the first source plan loaded, navigate to the Microsoft Project Add-ins tab and click the OnePager Pro button to launch OnePager and access the OnePager Start form.

26) Now click the NEW button on the OnePager Start form to access the OnePager choices (OPC) form as shown here:

27) In the illustration above, OnePager Pro already knows the name of the first source plan.

28) Complete the remainder of the fields in the OPC form such as the Title of New Chart and the Snapshot Date if applicable.

29) To add the remaining two (2) source plans used in this example, it is necessary to create a source package assuring that all three source plans are included.

30) To do this click on the Add/Remove button near the top of the OPC form.

31) This action accesses the Data source selection form where the first source plan is already present in the grid as shown below:

Add the Second Microsoft Project Source Plan to the Source Packet

32) Using the Data source selection form, click the Add button in the form which gives you the option to select a recently used source plan or to BROWSE....

33) Select the BROWSE... option so that you can select the second source plan for the multi-project chart being created.

34) Click on the desired second source plan as shown below and click the Open button on the form.

35) This action adds the second source plan to the source packet as shown below in the Data source selection form after the operation is complete.

Add the Third Microsoft Project Source Plan to the Source Packet

36) Repeat this exact same process to add the third source plan to the source packet.

37) At the completion of that step the Data source selection form looks like this:

38) When the OK button on the Data source selection form is clicked, the OPC form is updated to show that three source plans are included in the source packet as shown below:

Create the Multi-Project Chart

39) Now, go ahead and click the Create the new chart button on the OPC form and the resulting chart looks like this:

Updating Charts Created from Separate Microsoft Project Plans

1) Eventually there is a need to update your multi-project chart by either adding a snapshot or replacing a snapshot with updated data.

2) To perform either the add or the replace snapshot operation, the processes described in the article at: REPLACING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

3) The key to updating multi-project charts is the proper management of the source packet.

4) Recall that the source packet contains the file or files that are to be used to either create or update a chart.

5) They are stored as file names and path names in the chart’s .TAM file and can be accessed from the OnePager Data ribbon tool bar tab’s Selected file(s) button as shown below:

6) Validating the contents of the source packet and assuring that these are the Microsoft Project source plans to update is an essential step before proceeding to perform a multi-projectchart update.

Related Links

Creating a NEW Chart via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

REPLACING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

ADDING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

Making Multi-Project Charts from MS Project Integrated Master Schedules

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