In this section, the following topics are covered:
- CSV Template for Activity Details
- Using CSV Import to Update Activities
- New and Existing Activities Through CSV Import
- New "In Progress" and "Completed" Activities
- Update Activities
- Add Start Milestone Activity
- Update Existing Activity (Not Started) to Start Milestone
- Update Existing Activity (In Progress or Completed) to Start Milestone
CSV Template for Activity Details
When you export the CSV template file (using Export > Activity Details), the order of the columns in the CSV template matches the order of the data elements that are added in the integration phase. You can:
- Add new activities by specifying the details for each row.
- Enter data for all editable data. The values entered in the CSV file will be ignored if that data element is a formula column in the sheet.
- For the 20.12 release of the Unifier the CSV import does not allow activities with dependencies and assignments.
During the CSV import (for creating new activities), Unifier performs the following validations:
- Required field validations will be shown, except for the Activity ID which uses the activity sequence specified in sheet properties. New rows will automatically generate the next sequence and show it as a new Activity ID.
- Activity Name is shown as required in the exported CSV template. If you do not enter the Activity Name, then the "required field" error message will be displayed.
- Other than the Activity Name (uuu_P6ActivityName), the uuu_P6 data elements which are marked as required in the design will not show as required in the exported CSV template, if there are no default values.
- If you enter the Activity ID value in the CSV template, then this input will have high priority. A new row will be created using the Activity ID specified in the CSV template. The Activity ID value column allows alphanumeric values only in the input CSV file.
- If no value is entered, then the Activity ID will take the next auto-sequence number that is generated. If you provide the Activity ID, then a new activity is created with the value that you enter (provided that there is no activity with the same ID in the Activity Sheet).
- If not available in the input CSV file, then the default values will be used for the following columns:
- Start Date
- Finish Dates
- Duration
- Activity Status
- Activity Type
- Calendar
- If the user did not provide any value for these columns in the CSV file, then by default the value for the:
- Activity Status (uuu_P6ActivityStatus) will be: Not Started.
- Start Date will be the project schedule start date specified in the properties.
- Finish Date will be the project schedule start date specified in the properties.
- Activity Calendar (uuu_P6ActivityCalendar) will be the default calendar, as the calendar selected in the activity sheet properties window. If the calendar is specified in the CSV file, then Unifier validates the calendar name to ensure that it is a custom calendar or a company calendar.
- You must specify the entire path for the WBS Picker (uuu_cmwbs_picker) and CBS Picker (bitemID) columns in the input CSV file. Check for valid WBS Code and CBS Code when updating existing activities or importing new activities.
- All of the required fields must be entered for the CSV import to be successful.
You will encounter error messages when creating new activities by way of CSV import if:
- You enter a Start Date (uuu_P6Start) that is earlier than the Schedule Start Date (act_sch_start_date).
- You enter a Start Date (uuu_P6Start) that is later than the Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish), and vice versa.
- You enter an Actual Finish Date (uuu_P6ActualFinish) that is earlier than the Actual Start date (uuu_P6ActualStart).
- The above date-related errors will be displayed when you enter input values for the following date combinations:
- uuu_P6PlannedStart, uuu_P6PlannedFinish, and uuu_P6PlannedDuration
- uuu_P6Start, uuu_P6Finish, and uuu_P6Duration
- uuu_P6RemainingDuration, uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish, and uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart
- You enter the Actual Start Date (uuu_P6ActualStart) that is after the current date.
- If the Start Date (uuu_P6Start) is provided in the input CSV file, but the Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish) is not provided in the input CSV file.
- If the Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish) is provided in the input CSV file, but the Start Date (uuu_P6Start) is not provided in the input CSV file.
- You enter a CBS Code that is currently inactive or does not exist in the Cost Sheet.
- You enter a WBS Code that is currently inactive or does not exist in the Project WBS Sheet.
- The uuu_P6Start and uuu_p6Finish dates are different for the milestone-type activity.
You will encounter the following validations when creating new activities by way of CSV import:
- The Start(uuu_P6Start) alone is provided with the Activity Name. In this case, the activity is created with default duration 1 and finish (uuu_P6Finish) same as uuu_P6Start.
- The Duration (uuu_P6Duration) and Start (uuu_P6Start) are provided. In this case, the duration will be calculated based on Finish Date and uuu_activity_calendar.
- The Start (uuu_P6Start) and Finish (uuu_P6Finish) are provided. In this case, the uuu_P6Duration will be calculated accordingly.
- When the Start, Finish, and Duration values are provided. In this case, the Duration will be calculated based on Start and Finish values.
- When you enter Actual Finish Date (uuu_P6ActualFinish) without Actual Start Date (uuu_P6ActualStart). In this case, after the CSV import, the uu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will have the same date, and the uuu_P6ActivityStatus
- will be shown as: Completed
Note: The error validation applies to all dates in the input CSV file.
- When you enter Activity Percent Complete (uuu_P6PercentComplete), you can enter a value for Performance Percent Complete (uuu_P6PerfPercComplete). In this case, the value must be between 0 and 100 (zero and one hundred).
- The value of the Duration (uuu_P6Duration) must be entered in the number of days, in the CSV file. You cannot enter a negative or decimal number.
- You can enter the CBS Code, or WBS Code, for the new activities. When entering the CBS Code, or WBS Code, you must specify the entire path.
- When you enter the Activity Type as "Start Milestone" (for the new activities in the input CSV file), the sheet shows the activity as milestone-type with uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish shows the same date and duration as 0, after a successful import.
- You only enter the uuu_P6Start in the input CSV file for the milestone-type activity.
Using CSV Import to Update Activities
The editable data elements in the activities that exist in the sheet can be updated by using the CSV import, including:
- Activity Name (uuu_P6ActivityName)
- Start Date (uuu_P6Start)
- Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish)
- Duration (uuu_P6Duration)
- Activity Status (uuu_P6ActivityStatus)
- Percent Complete (uuu_Percent Complete)
When updating through CSV import, Unifier validates the existing activities including:
- Activity Name (uuu_P6ActivityName)
- Start Date (uuu_P6Start)
- Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish)
If the Start Date (uuu_P6Start) exists for an activity and the Duration (uuu_P6Duration) is also provided in the input CSV file, then Unifier calculates the Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish). In this case, if Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish) is provided, then Unifier calculates the Duration (uuu_P6Duration) based on the Finish Date (uuu_P6Finish) and uuu_P6ActivityCalendar.
In the CSV file, for existing activities:
- You cannot change the status of an activity that is "In Progress" to "Not Started."
- The Actual Finish Date cannot be earlier than the Actual Start Date.
- You can update the Percent Complete column. The range of values are 0 to 100 (zero to one hundred).
- When you enter the Actual Start Date (uuu_P6ActualStart) in the CSV file after the import, Unifier changes the
- status for that activity from "Not Started" to "In Progress."
- You can update an activity with Actual Finish Date (uuu_P6ActualFinish) status as "In Progress."
- If you update the Actual Finish Date for an activity that has not started (Status + Not Started), then the Actual Start Date shows the same value as the Actual Finish Date, and the status shows as "Completed" with the Percent Complete as 100% (one hundred percent).
- If you enter the Percent Complete value without providing an Actual Start Date or an Actual Finish Date, then Unifier dismisses the Percent Complete value.
- For an activity that is in progress (Status = In Progress), if you update the Percent Complete value to 100% (one hundred percent), then Unifier updates the Actual Finish Date to the current date.
- When you update the Actual Start Date and the Actual Finish Date values, the dates cannot be earlier than the Scheduled Start Date.
- When you update the Actual Start Date and the Actual Finish Date values, the dates cannot be later than the Current Date.
- You can add or update the CBS Code (bitemID) and the WBS Code (uuu_cmwbs_picker).
- Unifier changes the Start Date of the successor activities accordingly and based on the Scheduling.
- You can use reschedule the remaining activities by way of the Schedule option, in the toolbar.
New and Existing Activities Through CSV Import
For the new activities with uuu_P6ActivityStatus as "Not Started" the following cases apply for Start, Finish, and Duration:
- Note: Invalid values for any of the date and duration columns will result in error.
- If duration is provided without a start date, then the duration will be ignored.
- If duration is provided with a start date, then the finish date is calculated.
- If the start date and the finish date are provided, then duration is calculated.
- If duration is provided without a start date or a finish date, then an error message will be displayed.
- If only the duration is provided, then an error message will be displayed.
- If only the start date is provided, then an error message will be displayed.
- If only the end date is provided, then an error message will be displayed.
- If the start date and the duration are provided, then the finish date will be calculated.
- If the start date and the finish are provided, then the duration will be calculated.
Note: Any new activities created without any dates entered in the input CSV file will retain the Project Start Date.
uuu_P6Start | uuu_P6Finish | uuu_P6Duration | uuu_P6PlannedStart | uuu_P6PlannedFinish | uuu_P6PlannedDuration | uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart | uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish | uuu_P6RemainingDuration | Behavior after Import |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | No value entered | Activity will be created with default value as project Start date for Start, Finish, Planned Start, Planned Finish, Remaining EarlyStart, Remaining EarlyFinish. |
Valid date entered >= Project Start Date | Valid date >=Project Start Date and > uuu_P6Start | Calculated field if not provided explicitly | If not provided then should show same as P6Start | If not provided then should show same as P6Finish | Duration calculated between planned start and Planned finish | If not provided then should show same as P6Start | If not provided then should show same as P6Finish | Duration calculated using remaining start and remaining finish | Activity will be created with duration calculated based Start and Finish Dates |
No date entered, then same as uuu_P6PlannedStart; otherwise, retain the date entered | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6PlannedFinish; otherwise, retain the date entered | Calculated field if not provided explicitly | Valid date entered >= Project Start Date | Valid date >= Project Start Date and uuu_P6PlannedStart | Duration calculated between planned start and Planned finish | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6PlannedStart; otherwise, retain the date entered | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6PlannedFinish; otherwise, retain the date entered | Duration calculated using remaining start and remaining finish | Activity will be created with duration calculated based Start and Finish Dates |
No date entered, then same as uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart; otherwise, retains the date entered | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish; otherwise, retains the date entered | Calculated field if not provided explicitly | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart; otherwise, retains the date entered | No date entered, then same as uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish; otherwise, retains the date entered | Not applicable | Valid date entered >= Project Start Date | Valid date >= Project Start Date and uuu_P6RemainingStart | Duration calculated using remaining start and remaining finish | Activity will be created with duration calculated based Start and Finish Dates |
The validations mentioned above will be applied to the following dates and durations:
- uuu_P6PlannedStart
- uuu_P6PlannedFinish
- uuu_P6PlannedDuration
- uuu_P6RemainingDuration
- uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish
- uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart
New "In Progress" and "Completed" Activities
In the input CSV file for a new activity creation, the following applies to:
- Actual Start
- Actual Finish
- Actual Duration
The invalid values for any of the date and duration columns will result in error.
uuu_P6ActualStart | uuu_P6ActualFinish | uuu_P6ActualDuration | uuu_P6ActivityStatus | uuu_P6PercentComplete | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid date entered and on or after Project Schedule Start Date | Valid date entered and >= uuu_P6ActualStart | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Activity will be created with Activity Status as "Complete" Activity Complete will be 100% Actual Duration will be duration between Actual Start and Actual Finish. uuu_P6RemainingStart and uuu_P6Reamining Finish will not show any dates as the activity is complete If provided, the remaining dates in the input CSV file for completed activity will be ignored and remaining duration will be 0 (zero) Note: If not provided in the CSV input file, the P6Start, P6Finish, P6PlannedStart, and P6PlannedFinish will be the project start date; otherwise, the user-provided dates will be retained. |
No date entered for uuu_P6Start, uuu_P6Finish and entered uuu_P6ActualStart | No Value provided | No Value provided | No Value provided | Valid value entered | Activity will be created with Activity Status as "In Progress" Activity Percentage as entered in input CSV file Actual Duration will be 0 (zero), if not entered Note: If not provided in the CSV input file, the P6Start, P6Finish, P6PlannedStart, and P6PlannedFinish will be the project start date; otherwise, the user-provided dates will be retained. The uuu_P6RemainingStart will be the Actual Start Date and the uuu_RemainingFinish will be the uuu_P6RemainingStart + uuu_P6RemainingDuration |
Valid date entered for uuu_P6Start, uuu_P6Finish but no uuu_P6ActualStart is provided. | Valid date entered and on or after Project Schedule Start Date | No Value provided | No Value provided | No Value provided | Activity will be created with Activity Status as "Completed" Actual Start and Actual Finish Dates are shown with same date as provided in Actual Finish Date and Activity % Complete should be 100% (one hundred percent) Actual Duration will be duration between Actual Start and Actual Finish Note: If not provided in the CSV input file, the P6Start, P6Finish, P6PlannedStart, and P6PlannedFinish will be the project start date; otherwise, the user-provided dates will be retained The uuu_P6RemainingStart and uuu_P6Reamining Finish will not show any dates because the activity is complete (if provided in the input CSV file for completed activity, then the dates will be ignored and remaining duration will be 0) Actual Duration will be total duration between Actual Start and Actual Finish |
No Value provided | No Value provided | Valid value entered for uuu_P6Actual Duration | No Value provided | No Value provided | Activity will be created with Activity Status as "Not Started" Activity Complete will be 0% (zero percent) Actual Duration value will be ignored if entered without uuu_P6ActualStart If the uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Actual Start are both entered, then those dates are retained; otherwise, the uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the project start date, if it exists The uuu_P6PlannedStart will be same as uuu_P6Start, and the uuu_P6PlannedFinish will be same as uuu_P6Finish The uuu_P6RemainingStart and uuu_P6Remaining Finish will be the same as uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish |
Valid date entered in uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish Valid date entered and on or after Project Schedule Start Date | Valid date entered and <= uuu_P6ActualStart | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Error message indicating that the uuu_P6ActualFinish cannot be earlier than uuu_P6ActualStart |
Update Activities
uuu_P6Start | uuu_P6Finish | uuu_P6Planned Start | uuu_P6PlannedFinish | uuu_P6ActualStart | uuu_P6ActualFinish | uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart | uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish | Behavior after import |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
For Not Started Activity: Valid date provided | No Change | No Change | No Change | No Value | No Value | No Change | No Change | Activity will be updated with uuu_P6Start update provided uuu_P6Finish will be calculated based on Start and duration All other dates - Planned Start, Planned Finish ,Remaining Early Start and Remaining Early Finish will be updated same as Start and Finish Activity status will be "Not Started" |
No Change | Valid date provided | No Change | No Change | No Value | No Value | No Change | No Change | Activity will be updated with uuu_P6Finish and duration will be recalculated All other dates - Planned Start, Planned Finish, Remaining Early Start and Remaining Early Finish will be updated same as Start and Finish Activity status will be "Not Started" |
No Change | No Change | No Change | No Change | Valid Value entered | No Value | No Change | No Change | Activity will be updated with uuu_P6Start same as uuu_P6ActualStart Planned Start and Planned Finish will not be changed Remaining Early start will be same as uuu_P6ActualStart and Remaining Early Finish will be same as uuu_P6Finish Activity status will be "In progress" |
No Change | No Change | No Change | No Change | No Change | Valid date entered | No Change | No Change | Activity will be updated with uuu_P6Finish same as uuu_P6ActualFinish Planned Start and Planned Finish will not be changed Remaining Early start and Finish will not show any dates (empty) as the activity is completed Activity status will be "Complete" Activity percent will be 100% (one hundred percent) |
Note: When you change any of the above dates, Unifier updates the dates accordingly. For activities that are marked as "Not Started," the values for the Start, Finish, PlannedStart, Planned Finish, Remaining Early Start, and Remaining Early Finish will be the same.
Add Start Milestone Activity
uuu_P6Start | uuu_P6Finish | uuu_P6Duration | Activity Status | Activity Type | uuu_P6ActualStart | uuu_P6ActualFinish | uuu_P6PercentComplete | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid date provided | No value | No value | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as given in input CSV for uuu_P6Start. uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
No value | Valid date provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same as uuu_P6Finish uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
No value | No value | No value | Activity Status is provided as 'Not Started' | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the project schedule start date uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
No value | No value | No value | Activity Status is provided as 'Completed' | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Completed" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the project schedule start date uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will be the project schedule start date uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6PercentComplete will be 100 (one hundred) |
Valid date provided | Valid date provided and not same as uuu_P6start | Valid value provided or not provided. | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as given in input CSV for uuu_P6Start uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
No Value | No Value | Valid value provided or not provided. | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as given project schedule start date uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
Valid date provided | Valid date provided and not same as uuu_P6start or Value not provided | Valid value provided or not provided. | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | No value | No value | No value | Error message Note: This is the same case when uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish are provided, and they are different dates. |
Valid date provided | Valid date provided and same as uuu_P6start or Value not provided | No value | No value | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | Valid date provided | No value | No value | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be 'Completed'. uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will be same date as provided uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as uuu_P6ActualStart uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6PercentComplete will be 100 (one hundred) Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be 'Completed'. uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will be same date as provided uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as uuu_P6ActualStart uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6PercentComplete will be 100 (one hundred) |
The following dates will show the same date as uuu_P6Start, uuu_P6Finish and uuu_P6Duration for the milestone activities:
- uuu_P6PlannedStart
- uuu_P6PlannedFinish
- uuu_P6PlannedDuration
- uuu_P6RemainingDuration
- uuu_P6RemainingEarlyFinish
- uuu_P6RemainingEarlyStart
Update Existing Activity (Not Started) to Start Milestone
uuu_P6Start | uuu_P6Finish | uuu_P6Duration | Activity Status | Activity Type | uuu_P6ActualStart | uuu_P6ActualFinish | uuu_P6PercentComplete | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Not Started" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same as project schedule start date uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) |
Update Existing Activity (In Progress or Completed) to Start Milestone
uuu_P6Start | uuu_P6Finish | uuu_P6Duration | Activity Status | Activity Type | uuu_P6ActualStart | uuu_P6ActualFinish | uuu_P6PercentComplete | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Activity type is provided as 'Start Milestone' | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Valid value provided or not provided. | Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Completed" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as uuu_P6ActualStart uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will be same date and uuu_P6ActualDuration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6PercentComplete will be 100 (one hundred) Activity will be created as milestone with Activity Type selected as "Start Milestone" Activity Status will be "Completed" uuu_P6Start and uuu_P6Finish will be the same date as uuu_P6ActualStart uuu_P6Duration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6ActualStart and uuu_P6ActualFinish will be same date and uuu_P6ActualDuration will be 0 (zero) uuu_P6PercentComplete will be 100 (one hundred) |