Difference between revisions of "Using OnePager Pro Add-In with Server Resident Project Plans for Version 7.0"

Latest revision as of 16:10, 29 October 2021

Overview

The OnePager Pro (OPP) Add-in operates the same in all modes (i.e., NEW, UPDATE, and OPEN) when source plans are accessed from Microsoft Project Server or Project Online accounts as when source plan data are resident on your computer. When you intend to use Microsoft Project source plans that are resident in the cloud along with OPP Add-in, we recommend that you access your source plans using Microsoft Project Professional rather than through OPP Add-in. OPP supports access to multiple accounts, searches of online databases for specific Gantt chart source plans, and online security protocols. By so doing, OPP Add-in supports your chart creation, update, and opening operations as if your source plans were computer resident.

General Cautions

OPP Add-in supports accessing cloud resident source plans without the assistance of Microsoft Project Professional. Additionally, OPP Add-in can create, update, and open multi-project charts from source packages consisting of more than one Microsoft Project source plan.

For more information on Creating multiple charts, please see the article at: Creating Various Multi-Charts with OnePager Pro and Express (Portal)

As a caution, however, due to technical differences between Microsoft Project source plans resident on your computer and those that are cloud resident (i.e., Microsoft Project Server or Project Online), we do not recommend mixing source plans from different media (i.e., your computer and the cloud). As a protection, OPP Add-in prohibits, to the extent possible, the combination of source plans from differing media from being incorporated into a single source package for the purpose of creating a NEW chart or for UPDATING an existing chart. If you are UPDATING and previously set the Server method in the Template Properties or Chart Properties form's Advanced tab to Connect directly to Server, you should access the Chart Properties form and change the Server method setting to Use MS Project Professional if you want to use Microsoft Project to access the source data. Please keep these cautions in mind when constructing source packages for OPP Add-in.

About Using Server Resident Project Source Plans and OnePager Pro Add-in

Our recommendation is to use Microsoft Project Professional to connect, access, and verify your access to your Microsoft Project Server or Project Online account when you intend to use OPP Add-in to create a NEW chart, UPDATE an existing project, or OPEN an existing chart.

As mentioned in the portal article at: Using OnePager Pro with Server Resident Project Plans (Portal), OPP Add-in operates in the NEW and OPEN mode the same for source plans accessed from the cloud as when source plans are resident on your computer.

Using Microsoft Project Professional to Access Cloud Resident Source Plans

Using Microsoft Project Professional with Cloud Resident Source Plans to UPDATE a Chart

We assume for this sub-section that you are experienced with accessing your Microsoft Project Professional source plans from the cloud. The high level steps are as follows:

1) Make sure to close any and all instances of OnePager Pro that might be running outside of Microsoft Project (i.e., OnePager Pro Desktop).

2) Launch Microsoft Project Professional from your Desktop.

3) Use Microsoft Project Professional to access your Microsoft Project Server or Project Online account.

4) Open the required Microsoft Project Server source plan from your Desktop Microsoft Project Professional application.

5) Next, go to the Microsoft Project Professional Add-ins tab on the tool bar and click the OnePager icon.

6) Once the OnePager Pro Start form appears, click the OPEN button.

7) Now, go to the Data tab on the OPP Add-in ribbon and proceed with the UPDATE process as you would normally.

For more information on the Pull Update Operation, please see the article at: Using the OnePager "Data" Tab's "Selected file(s)" Button

Using Microsoft Project Professional with Cloud Resident Source Plans to Create a NEW Chart

For the create new chart workflow, we continue to assume that you are experienced with accessing your Microsoft Project Professional source plans from the cloud. Accordingly, we assume that the steps involved are documented elsewhere and include any access security procedures needed to access your source plans residing in the cloud. The steps are as follows:

1) Make sure to close any and all instances of OnePager Pro that might be running outside of Microsoft Project (i.e., OnePager Pro Desktop).

2) Launch Microsoft Project Professional from your Desktop.

3) Go to the Microsoft Project Professional Add-ins tab on the tool bar and click the Templates Icon. This accesses the current Template Properties form.

4) Next, go to the Template Properties form's Advanced tab and check to make sure that the Server method window is displaying the Use MS Project Professional. If not, change this setting to Use MS Project Professional as shown below:

5) If the change is made, click the Save and use to close the Template Properties form.

6) Now, you can use Microsoft Project Professional to access your Microsoft Project Server or Project Online account.

7) Open the required Microsoft Project Server source plan from your desktop Microsoft Project Professional application.

8) Next, go to the Microsoft Project Professional Add-ins tab on the tool bar and click the OnePager Icon.

9) Once the OnePager Pro Start form appears click the NEW button. From this point on, the process for creating a NEW chart follows the standard workflow.

Connecting OnePager Pro Add-in Directly to Cloud Resident Source Plans

Using OnePager Pro Add-in to Access Cloud Resident Source Plans to Create a NEW Chart

As we mentioned in the sub-section above ( About Using Server Resident Project Source Plans and OnePager Pro Add-in), we recommended that you use Microsoft Project Professional to connect, access, and validate your access to your cloud resident source plans.

Direct Connection Thru OnePager Pro Add-in

You can connect directly rather than using Microsoft Project Professional, but the access procedure requires that you first launch Microsoft Project Professional and load some source plan before launching OPP Add-in. This is required because OPP Add-in if launched from Microsoft Project Professional where there is a blank source plan, accesses the OnePager Start form with the NEW and UPDATE buttons disabled as shown below:

To avoid this, we recommend that you simply launch Microsoft Project Professional with any source plan resident on your computer for convenience. Doing this allows you to use the OnePager Start form's NEW button to access your cloud resident source plans as follows.

Setting the Sever Method in the Template Properties Form

After launching Microsoft Project Professional with some source plan from your local computer, click the Template... button on the Microsoft Project Professional tool bar's Add-ins tab. This accesses the OPP Add-in current Template Properties form previously shown in a sub-section above. What you need to do is verify or change the Server method in the Advanced tab of the current Template Properties form so that the option selected is Connect directly to server as shown below:

When this setting is selected, click the Save and use button at the bottom of the Template Properties form.

Launch OnePager Pro Add-in

After closing the current Template Properties form, click the OnePager Icon on the Microsoft Project Professional tool bar, and click the NEW button on the OnePager Start form. You are presented with the OnePager choices (OPC) form as shown here:

Access Your Cloud Based Source Plan

Next, access your cloud source plan using OPP Add-in by clicking the Add/Remove on the OPC form as shown below:

The next step is to remove this temporary source plan and go through the procedure to connect to your cloud resident source plans. To remove the temporary source plan, select it with a click in its row of the Data source selection form and then click the Remove button. The Data source selection form looks like this:

Next, click the Add button in the Data source selection form which accesses the options as follows:

Logging-in to Your Project Server Account

The previous action accesses the Account Information for Data Source form, shown below. Use the form to connect to your Microsoft Project Server account.

The function of three (3) of the five (5) fill-in windows and the checkbox are mostly self-explanatory, however, more details are provided below:

Save Password

A few comments are in order related to the Save Password checkbox. When this checkbox is checked ON, OnePager encrypts and remembers the password you provide. Essentially, checking this checkbox ON gives OnePager Pro permission to store your credentials. As with any stored credentials, you should only save your password when your device and network are both trusted and secure. The information is used to automatically connect to the same Microsoft Project Server account in the future if you make reference to its projects.

If the Save Password checkbox is not checked ON, you need to fill in the password form each time you want access one of its projects. If you previously logged into a Microsoft Project Server account via Microsoft Project Professional and gave Windows permission to remember your credentials, OnePager does not even need to know your user name and password; it can login using the Windows credentials stored on your computer for that URL. For more information go to the Windows Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\Credential Manager.

At the present time, whenever you upgrade your version of OPP on your local computer, the OPP database is purged of all data associated with Microsoft Project Server or Project Online credentials. For login actions to get to Enterprise Custom Fields see the article at: Using Enterprise Custom Fields from Microsoft Project for OnePager Pro

Account Nickname

The Account Nickname can be anything you want. It starts out as something constructed from the URL, but that is just a suggested default value for the nickname. You should choose an Account Nickname makes it easy to tell different accounts apart. OnePager Pro keeps track of all accounts (set of account parameters and credentials) that you create and lets you give the account credentials a custom name or Nickname. If you don't give a new account a custom name, OnePager Pro numbers the accounts and caches them for you. The custom names that are cached by OnePager Pro are provided to you in the Choose what to import form's Select Account dropdown list shown below where you have the option to Edit, Delete, or to Add an additional Account. Once the fields are filled in, click the OK button to go to the next form where you click the Connect button.

Selecting a Project or Projects from Your Project Server Account

Clicking the OK button on the form above accesses the Choose what to import form shown below:

The Select Account control group of the form, as mentioned above, contains a list of previously cached account names. Use the dropdown list to select the account you wish to access. You can also Edit the selected account name, Delete it from the dropdown list, or Add a new account name. Clicking the Edit button accesses the Account Information Data Source form for the selected account containing the associated account parameters and credentials when can then be edited. Clicking the Delete button immediate removes the selected account from the dropdown list. Clicking the Add button accesses a blank Account Information Data Source form that is ready to be filled in with information to create a new account.

The form above allows you to establish Microsoft Project Server account connections, perform edits on the account log-in information, and delete accounts. Once connected, the form provides a scroll space to display the projects in the account and a filtering mechanism to assist in searches.

The OPP Desktop application does not let you mix ordinary projects (e.g., non-Project Server files) with server-based project. It never gives you the option to add a server object to the ordinary projects that are already in your source packet. If, however, you delete all the projects from the source packet, it gives you the option to add either type of project (i.e., ordinary or server-based) to the empty source packet.

Using the Automatically Connect Checkbox

If you plan to ultimately select several projects to create a multi-project chart, we recommend that you check the Automatically connect checkbox before clicking on the Connect button as described below. As a warning, be advised that once the Automatically connect checkbox is checked ON, this checkbox must be unchecked in order to disconnect from your Microsoft Project Server account with the Disconnect button. Checking the Automatically connect checkbox automatically logs in to the selected account every time you open the form.

Connecting to your Project Server Account Projects

When you click the Connect button in the Connect to Source group, the form displays the project information available at the site and looks something like this:

There are three groups of controls in the Choose what to import form:

Select Account

The left-most field contains the Account Nickname you gave the account and has a dropdown menu so that, if you have several accounts available, you can select among them. Clicking the Add button accesses the Account Information for Data Source form allowing you to enter another set containing a URL, User name, Password, and Account Nickname. Clicking the Edit button accesses the Account Information for Data Source form containing the information for the Account Nickname in the window at the left. With this form available, you can edit the data and save it when you click the OK button. Clicking the Delete button deletes the account information for the Account Nickname displayed in the window to the left. The account itself is not deleted.

Connect to Source

The Connect and Disconnect buttons allow you to make the connection or break it. When the Connect button is clicked, OnePager displays a message providing you with the status of the connect operation. When the connection is made a green dot appears to the right with a tag stating Connected. If the attempt to connect fails, a red dot with the tag of Not Connected appears. Additionally, one of the following error messages appears in red in the Connect to Source group of the form:

Clicking the Disconnect button immediately disconnects Microsoft Project Server and OPP from the account. The form does not close and a red dot with the tag Disconnected appears. If you do not click the Disconnect button before exiting OPP Desktop, the connection is terminated OPP Desktop is closed. As mentioned above, in the Save Password group, OPP remembers your login information in encrypted form if the Save Password check box is checked for the account. Checking the Automatically connect checkbox ON tells OPP to keep the connection to the URL displayed in the Select Account window active until the Disconnect button is clicked.

Choose Projects

This group on the form displays the list of files available for import from the designated Microsoft Project Server account. You have some options available when searching the projects to import:

• Scroll-Down the List. Scroll down the list until you find the project or projects to import.
• Select the project or projects desired by clicking on them.
• Click the OK button at the bottom of the form.

Use the Filter. You can filter through the projects by placing filter text in the window to the immediate right of the Filter button. When the Filter button is clicked, OnePager displays those files that meet the filter criteria as shown here:

You can then select the desired project or projects. Show All. Clicking the Show All button displays all the projects available for selection. Use the scroll bar at the right to search down the project names. Select BROWSE Project Online/Server..., to access the Choose what to import form as shown below:

Selection Source Plan(s)

Next, click the Connect button in the Choose what to import form, select the source plan from the list that appears and then click OK as shown here:

Clicking the OK button in the above step updates the Data source selection form to display your cloud resident source plan as shown below:

Finally, click OK on the Data source selection form and OPP Add-in updates the top of the OPC form to reflect the new cloud resident source plan selected.

If you encounter difficulties connecting to your Microsoft Project Server or Project Online accounts please reference the links to the OnePager Frequently Asked Questions section of our website at Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or at the suggested specific FAQ articles at the Troubleshooting section of this article.

Create the New Chart

The OPC form now looks like this after the chart name and the Flag selections are made:

By clicking the Create new chart button in the OPC form above OPP Add-in directly accesses (without relying upon Microsoft Project Pro) the cloud resident source plan and create the desired chart that looks like this:

The new chart can be edited, saved, or shared as required.

Connecting OnePager Pro Add-in Directly to Cloud Resident Source Plans to UPDATE a Chart

You can use OnePager Pro Add-in to directly access (i.e., without need for Microsoft Project Professional) your cloud resident source plans for the purpose of performing an UPDATE on an existing chart as follows.

Accessing the Cloud Resident Source Plan

Launch Microsoft Project Professional and load a temporary source plan from your local computer. Follow the steps outlined in the section immediately above . Click the OnePager Pro button on the Microsoft Project Professional tool bar to launch OPP Add-in. When the OnePager Start form appears, click the UPDATE button and select the chart you want to UPDATE as shown below:

Doing this accesses the OPC form showing the selected chart at the top of the form as shown here:

Create the Updated Chart

Since the chart is associated with a source plan and OPP Add-in knows the path name to access that source plan, OPP Add-in retrieves the source plan from your cloud resident location when you click the New button at the bottom of the OPC form. Assuming that the source plan at this cloud location was updated with current information, in this case up to 10/1/2019, OPP Add-in creates a new snapshot with this date as shown below:

The updated chart can be edited, saved, or shared as required.

Sharing Charts Created from the Cloud

OPP Add-on is able to update charts from cloud source plans because it has access to the credentials. These credentials can be stored for convenience in the OPP database or in the Windows Credential vault. Sharing charts created in the cloud is, therefore, a bit more involved because the recipient needs access to the same cloud data sources (i.e., Microsoft Project Server account) if there is a need to update the shared chart. Your internal procedures for giving various team members cloud access credentials should govern these considerations. More information is available on sharing charts at these links:

Disconnecting from Microsoft Project Server

Your individual installation of Microsoft Project Server or Project Online probably has procedures for disconnecting from these applications. We recommend using these installation specific procedures to assure proper disconnection/log out from these applications. We also recommend that when using Microsoft Project Server or Project Online with OnePager Pro Add-in that you make sure that OnePager Pro Add-in is closed at the end of your session and all instances of Microsoft Project are also closed to assure that OnePager Pro Add-in is disconnected/logged off from Microsoft Project Server or Project Online. The steps provided below can be used to disconnect/log off from Microsoft Project Server or Project Online from OnePager Pro Add-in: To Disconnect from your Microsoft Project Server cloud files which is essentially the same as logging off from the OnePager Pro's Chart Editor, first click the OnePager Pro Data ribbon tool bar tab and click the Select file(s) button to access the OnePager Data source selection form and then click the Add button on the form as shown below:

Clicking the Add button accesses the dropdown menu as shown below:

Clicking the BROWSE Project Server ... option accesses the Choose what to import form where clicking the Disconnect button disconnects or logs off from your Microsoft Project Server account as shown here:

Clicking the Disconnect button closes the connection and afterward the Choose what to import form looks like this:

Disconnecting OnePager Pro Add-in from Microsoft Project Server has no impact on the current chart in OnePager Chart Editor. However, the source plan accessed from the cloud is no longer accessible for update and the subsequent update of the chart.

Troubleshooting

Please refer to these two Frequently Asked Questions if you are having issues:

Related Links

Using Enterprise Custom Fields from Microsoft Project for OnePager Pro

Basic Workflows (Portal)

Creating a NEW Chart - OnePager Pro Add-in

Creating Another New Chart - OnePager Pro Add-in

Opening an EXISTING Chart - OnePager Pro Add-in

ADDING a Snapshot via Push Update - OnePager Pro Add-in

REPLACING a Snapshot via Push Update - OnePager Pro Add-in

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