In multiproject mode, all project-owned elements follow a simple rule: the project that owns the element is the only project that may use the element. In addition, the following elements are handled as follows:
Project-level activity codes: All project-owned activity codes are included with their respective projects when they are opened in multiproject mode. The activity code types are grouped by project and you can add, edit, or remove project-level activity codes as well as assign them to activities within their respective projects.
Project-level reports: All global reports and all project-specific reports for the open projects are available. Project-owned reports use the project as a filter.
Project-level calendars: All the project-level calendars are included with their corresponding projects when the projects are opened either alone or in multiproject mode. In multiproject mode, the layout is grouped by project, so you can easily add, edit, or remove project-level calendars as well as assign them to activities within their respective projects.
Default project: If multiple projects are open in the Projects window, but your layout is not grouped by project, you can select the default project you want to use when performing scheduling, leveling, or other functions you initiate. Choose Project, Set Default Project, to select the project from among those open that you want to use. Mark the Default checkbox next to the name of the project to be used as the default project.
Issues, risks, and thresholds (P6 Professional Only): The additional By Project grouping item is available in multiproject mode. If you are inserting a new issue, risk, or threshold, the project into which the new record should be added cannot be determined, the default project is used. However, you can change project ownership by choosing a WBS element from a different project.
Issues and thresholds (P6 EPPM Only): The additional By Project grouping item is available in multiproject mode. If you are inserting a new issue or threshold, the project into which the new record should be added cannot be determined, the default project is used. However, you can change project ownership by choosing a WBS element from a different project.
Documents: Documents are grouped by project to make it clear that documents from one project may not be moved into the document hierarchy of another project. To group by documents, group by Category; the subsequent grouping will automatically be done by project.
Expenses: The additional By Project grouping item is available in multiproject mode to group expenses.
Activities: If you are adding a new activity, and the project into which the new activity should be added is not provided within the context of the current grouping, the activity is added to the default project. Choose Project, Set Default Project, to specify which project to use.
Activity layouts: All project-level elements, such as activity codes, are available for columns, grouping, filters, dialogs, and so on. Project-level elements are similar to global elements, with the addition of the following guidelines for multiproject mode.
Item | Details |
|---|---|
Columns | When viewing project-level activity codes as columns, activities belonging to other projects have a blank value in this column. |
Grouping | When grouping by project-owned elements, such as project-level activity codes, any records from other projects are shown in the No Code group. |
Filters | When filtering by project-owned elements, such as project-level activity codes, any records from other projects are excluded by the filter. |
Copy/Cut and paste or Drag and drop | You cannot move WBS and OBS elements, expenses, and reports from one project to another. You can move all other project-owned elements within the hierarchy using the following guidelines: Calendars, activity codes, or documents cannot be moved if any of these elements is assigned to one or more activities in the current project. When connected to a P6 Professional database: Risks cannot be moved between projects. When connected to a P6 EPPM database: Risks from P6 cannot be moved between projects. Thresholds and issues can be moved between projects. However, any link between issues generated by thresholds is broken. Reports cannot be moved; project-level reports can be grouped or filtered based on project-specific data. Expenses cannot be moved; they are closely tied to specific activities. |
Selections and assignments: If you select a WBS or activity element in a different project, the project ownership of the element changes. For example, you might select a WBS element from the Activities window, an activity from the Expenses window, and a WBS element from the Thresholds, Risks, and Issues windows when P6 Professional is connected to a P6 Professional database and a WBS element from the Thresholds and Issues windows when connected to a P6 EPPM database.
Threshold monitor: Each threshold monitors the WBS/activities within its own project only; a threshold from one project cannot generate an issue for another project. Additionally, all detailed (not summarized) projects are monitored, and the primary baseline of each project is used.
Baselines: No baseline information is saved at the EPS level. If a baseline does not exist for one or more of the open projects, each of those projects uses the current plan as its primary baseline. You can select all open projects in the Baseline dialog box and click Add to add a baseline for all open projects.
Publish project Web site: All the open, detailed (not summarized) projects are published to the same Web site in multiproject mode. When you select which reports to publish, all global reports and project-specific reports for the open projects are available.
Apply actuals: Each open project's data date is used. The Apply Actuals dialog box includes a grid showing all projects opened in detail mode (not summarized). You can change each project's data date from this dialog box before applying actuals.
Scheduling/leveling: When scheduling multiple projects, you can select whether each project should use its own data date, or whether all open project should be scheduled with a data date you specify. When multiple projects are open, all projects will be scheduled or leveled using the options of the same project. You can specify which project's scheduling options should be used in the Schedule Options dialog box and which project's leveling options should be used in the Level Resources dialog box.
Project open/access level: When you open projects from the Open Project dialog box, the projects are opened with the same access level.
Scope of data opened: All EPS nodes, including the root nodes of all projects in a branch of the hierarchy, are automatically opened at the summary level when you log-in. From the Projects window, you can then open one or more projects at the detail level.
If one or more projects are opened at the detail level, you can access the project-specific views, such as the Tracking window. If no projects are opened at the detail level, you cannot access the project-specific views. Additionally, when you open a project-specific window, you can only see and work with data for projects that have been opened at the detail level.
Project menu: The entire Project menu is disabled if projects are not opened in detail mode.