Activities are uniquely identified within one Microsoft Project file by the Unique ID (<UID>). The following applies when importing activities from Microsoft Project:
- New activities inserted
- A new activity row will be created for each <UID>
- The <ID> will be copied into Activity ID (uuu_P6ActivityID)
- The <Name> will be the Activity Name (uuu_P6ActivityName).
- The Unique ID (<UID>) will be copied from the corresponding Microsoft Project activities.
- All other default (mapped) elements will be copied into the new activity.
- Dependencies of new activities
- Dependencies will be added for the new activities (if dependencies exist) using elements within the PredecessorLink tags.
- WBS summaries for new activities
- The WBS will be identified using the hierarchy provided within the <WBS> tag in the .xml file.
- This is WBS Code field in the source (the .mpp file for each activity in the Advanced tab).
- All the summary tasks (in .mpp file) will be created as WBS in project WBS Sheet, if they do not exist.
- Resource assignments for new activities
- When a new activity is created, all assignments for that activity will be created. If the resource does not exist (resource ID does not exist), then a new resource will be created in Master Rate Sheet, with resource name from Microsoft Project as resource ID and Name. If the resource exists and matches the source, then the resource will not be updated, and the existing resource will be assigned to the activity. If the resource exists but does not match the resource (resource ID is different from the ID in the source Microsoft Project file), then you must create a new resource with resource ID and Name identical to the source file.
Also, when importing the project schedule by using Microsoft Project (.mpp), for:
- Activities with start date earlier than the project schedule start date:
The project schedule start date will show the earliest start date across all the activities and the activities will be imported according to the schedule specified in the import file. In case the project schedule start date is selected (from shell attribute), then Unifier displays: Import has failed as activities have <label of uuu_P6start> earlier than project schedule start date for the selected Activity Sheet. This takes place when importing the project schedule with activities earlier than project start date. Similarly, when the required field values are missing in the source Microsoft Project file, then Unifier displays: Could not add Activity <Activity ID> as <Field1> is required.
- WBS Code import:
The summary tasks in Microsoft Project will be imported as a WBS summaries into the project WBS Sheet. All of the summaries with hierarchy will be imported as a WBS hierarchies into the Project WBS Sheet. Only the WBS Code and the Name will be populated for the WBS Summaries.
Note: Ensure that you add a new WBS Code and associate the activity, or task, with the existing WBS Code if there is an existing WBS Code (with the same WBS name but different WBS code), when importing the summary tasks as WBS codes.
If the WBS Code exists in the project WBS Sheet, then create an activity with the WBS Picker populating the WBS Code. The Used By field, in the project WBS Sheet, will be populated with Activity Sheet that the WBS Code is associated with. Similarly, when the required fields are missing in the source Microsoft Project file Unifier displays the message: Could not add WBS <WBS Code> as <Field1> is required.
- Resources that do not exist in the Master Rate Sheet in Unifier:
Unifier matches the resources by resource name, in the Master Rate Sheet.
If the resource is not found in the Master Rate Sheet, then the resources will be added with the resource ID and Name because the resource name (from the Microsoft Project), and the source are selected as user-defined (User Defined).
If the resource already exists in the Master Rate Sheet with the same name, but the ID does not match, then you must create a new resource.
The default values will be used for the resources that you create.
If the resource has a required field that is not available in the source Microsoft Project file, then Unifier displays the message: Could not add resource <Resource ID> as <Field1> is required.
- Roles:
The Microsoft project resource assignment does not specify a role.
- Project calendar in the Microsoft Project does not match with the Activity Sheet:
Use the project schedule calendar that is selected for the Activity Sheet. All of the imported activities will be adjusted based on the calendar in the project schedule start date.
- Resource calendar in the Microsoft Project does not match with any calendars available in Standards and Libraries:
Use the company calendar for the resources that have calendar that do not match. All of the imported resource assignments will be adjusted to the company calendar.
- Currencies and formats:
All costs will be converted to the shell currency, from the source file, for the activities and assignments.
- Constraints and dependencies:
The import process will match the dependencies based on the connected activities. If a dependency is matched, then all properties of the dependency will be updated from the Microsoft Project file, based the mapping described earlier. Activities will be moved to retain the new dependency values. By default, all of the activities will have the "As Soon As Possible" constraint even if there are different constraints set for the activities.
- Impact on milestone activities:
You can import the milestone activities into the activity sheet. All the activities that are created as milestone will have activity type selected as: Start Milestone.
- Required fields not part of Import file:
If there are any required elements in the activity attributes, and the imported file does not have any values for the required elements, Unifier will display the following message in the History tab, and the import will fail: <field name> is a required field in activity details. Or <field name> is a required field in WBS details.
Note: The above condition applies to all of the required elements (in the WBS Sheet and Master Rate Sheet) when importing the WBS Summaries and Resources.
- Rollback on error:
The various conditions (such as resources are not matched or no data for mandatory fields) described above can cause the import process to abort. In such cases, all of the changes made in the project schedule, by the import, will be reverted.
The errors and warnings will be reported in the History tab (log) for various miscellaneous conditions such as: Activities with start date that is beyond the project start date, and the activity sheet has "From Shell" attribute that is selected for project start date.
You can import the schedule irrespective of the status of the activity sheet.