Combining bxp and Microsoft Project
Contents
1 Overview
Microsoft Project(MS Project) in it's various guises is a very powerful tool. It is feature rich and comes in Standard, Professional, Enterprise and online versions. [1]
As the power of bxp's pillars can provide cross system integration solutions, therefore for All n One it is important that bxp provide interoperability with MS Project. bxp has the power to be able to integrate and work with Microsoft Project(MS Project) data structures. Understanding those underlying data structures in MS Project is vital.
Microsoft provide the following specification of their fields.
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Available-fields-reference-615a4563-1cc3-40f4-b66f-1b17e793a460
2 Structure
2.1 Projects
So the first data structure is the Project table. Where in MS Project desktop versions the data is stored in a file, the Professional and Enterprise versions can be stored in a centralised database. The online version specification isn't available outside of Microsoft, though alluded to in the specifications provided by Microsoft.
bxp is able to mirror the key fields of the server thus allowing direct mapping solutions. There are more fields in bxp than Project for a number of key communications and customisation reasons.
Bxp_and_Microsoft_Project_-_Project_table_fields
A project in bxp has an Id which is used system wide rather than a name.
2.2 MS Project elements
In MS Project there are then key elements that can be created and assigned to the project.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Task fields | Task fields show task-related information and can be displayed in task views such as the Gantt Chart, Task Sheet, and Network Diagram views. |
| Task-timephased fields | Task-timephased fields show information for each task as distributed over its duration. These fields can be displayed in the timephased part of the Task Usage view. |
| Resource fields | Resource fields show information for each resource, including summarized information about all tasks assigned to each resource. They can be displayed in resource views such as the Resource Sheet and Resource Usage views. |
| Resource-timephased fields | Resource-timephased fields show information for each resource as distributed over the duration of resource availability on the project. These fields can be displayed in the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view. |
| Assignment fields | Assignment fields show information for each assignment. They can be displayed in the sheet portion of the Task Usage and Resource Usage views and at the bottom of the Task Form and Resource Form views. You can change the assignment field that appears at the bottom of the Task Form or Resource Form view by clicking in the area, clicking the Format tab, and then clicking a command. |
| Assignment-timephased fields | Assignment-timephased fields show information for each assignment as distributed over its duration. These fields can be displayed in the timephased portion of the Resource Usage and Task Usage views. |
2.3 Tasks
In bxp tasks are stored in a standard form structure with the use of the Project Header structure applied. Form_Project_Header
The Project Header structure field is not a perfect match for all the fields available in MS Project. Missing fields can be created by bxp automatically to provide a perfect mapping on the creation of a new project / project form. What_is_a_Project_form
2.4 Resources
In bxp users, including placeholders are one type of resource.
All other types of resources are created in the same task form as above.
The full field mapping can be quickly generated using the form template create option. As bxp can create a perfect mapping for Outlook contacts, it can also provide a quick template for Resources.
2.5 Assignment
There is significant overlap of the fields available in Tasks, Resources and Assignments. For this reason the form created for Tasks by the template also will facilitate the storage of Assignment information.
2.6 Time-phased
These fields are outside the scope of the bxp interface and best managed by MS Project. bxp facilitates a template form to store the data for complete accuracy but doesn't provide direct interface manipulation abilities.