Integration to Microsoft Project

For Microsoft Project Integration installation guide, please refer IFS Cloud Technical Documentation/ IFS Project Integration to Microsoft Project (PRJMSP)/ Installation.

For error log information, please refer IFS Cloud Technical Documentation/ IFS Project Integration to Microsoft Project (PRJMSP)/ Error Logs.

For initial Microsoft Project settings guide, please refer IFS Cloud Technical Documentation/ IFS Project Integration to Microsoft Project (PRJMSP)/ Microsoft Project Settings. 

Introduction

Microsoft Project is commonly used along with IFS Project for scheduling purposes. The integration to Microsoft Project enables the possibility of exchanging information between IFS Project and Microsoft Project.

The Microsoft Project integration is a two-way integration. This means that IFS project information can be transferred to Microsoft Project, or likewise information in a Microsoft Project file can be transferred to IFS Project. 

It is recommended to start the business flow by creating a Project record and necessary resource groups in IFS. Exporting a Project record in Microsoft Project to IFS as a new Project record is not supported.  

Other information like Work Breakdown Structure with relevant information in activities, Dependencies and Constraints, and Resource Assignments are transferred between IFS and Microsoft Project. 

This document gives an overview about the integration between Microsoft Project and IFS Project. 

Connecting to IFS Cloud 

To exchange information between IFS Project and Microsoft Project, a connection must be made between the IFS Cloud environment and Microsoft Project. Connection can be made by providing the IFS Cloud environment link in the Connect to IFS dialog in Microsoft Project. Once the connection is made you can log into IFS Cloud by providing the username and password. 

Import – Data Transfer to Microsoft Project from IFS Cloud 

Import Options 

Sub Project Structure: 

If Sub Project Structure check box is selected, then the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in IFS will be imported and the next level of check boxes (Resource Assignments, Constraints and Dependencies) will get enabled. 

If not selected WBS will not get imported and lower-level check boxes will be disabled. 

Dependencies: 

If IFS project is imported with dependencies check box checked, then all the dependencies that are available in Microsoft Project side will be removed and the dependencies that are available in IFS will be inserted.

If the same is done with Dependencies check box unchecked, then no dependencies will be imported and already existing ones in Microsoft Project side will remain as it is. 

Constraints: 

If IFS project is imported with Constraint check box checked, then all the constraints that are available in Microsoft Project side (including automatically added ones from Microsoft Project) will be removed and only the constraints that are available in IFS project will be inserted. 

If the same is done with Constraint check box unchecked, then no constraint will be imported and all the constraints that are available in Microsoft Project side (including automatically added ones from Microsoft Project) will remain as it is. 

Project Resources: 

If IFS project is imported with Project Resources check box checked, and if the login user has access to the project's company then all the resources belonging to the project’s company which are marked as 'Used in Project' will be imported into Microsoft Project. Changes done in IFS resources will also be imported but deleted resources in IFS will not be removed in Microsoft Project. 

If IFS project is imported with Project Resources check box unchecked, then no resources will be inserted, changed, or removed in Microsoft Project. 

If Project Resources check box is not selected and Resource Assignments check box is selected, then resources which are connected to the project through a resource assignment will only be imported to Microsoft Project. 

Resource Assignments: 

If IFS project is imported with Resource Assignments check box selected, then all the resource planning records available in IFS project will be imported into Microsoft Project. Any changes or removal done to the already imported resource planning records in IFS will be updated when re-importing. 

If unchecked, then no resource planning records will be inserted, changed, or removed in Microsoft Project during import. 

Note: If multiple resource criteria are enabled on the project in IFS, the transfer of resource assignment information is not supported by the integration.  

Include Resource Actual Hours: 

This check box will be enabled only upon selecting Resource Assignments check box. If this is selected, then any reported hours for a resource in IFS will be imported in to ‘Actual Work’ column in Microsoft Project.  

If the project is imported without selecting this check box, then ‘Actual Work’ column will be cleared out and zero will be inserted. 

Other Information about Import Process  

In Microsoft Project, sub projects are identified by a blank Activity ID.   

An activity will always belong to a sub project and will be indented accordingly.  

Sub projects are indented according to their depth in the sub project structure in IFS Project.  

Given below are the meanings of the import comments that accompany imported tasks:  

All import comments will be updated each time you import a project.  

Also note that if you would like to keep updating the project through export/import, you should not move sub projects or activities within the WBS after you have imported it the first time. If you move an activity from one sub project to another in the project in IFS Project, this will not be recognized as the same activity in Microsoft Project during import.  

During an import, IFS Early Start and IFS Early Finish in the Microsoft Project file are set equal to the Early Start and Early Finish dates from IFS Project for all activities. Duration, in days, will be calculated according to the default calendar in Microsoft Project.  

Field Mapping in Imported Project  

The following Project Information fields are updated:  

IFS Project  Microsoft Project
Project Definition: Planned Start   Project Information: Start Date  
Project Definition: Planned Finish   Project Information: Finish Date  

More information about Dates:  

The following task fields are updated.

IFS Project   Field names in Microsoft Project   Field names in Microsoft Project after customizations  
Resource Group Resource ID   Initials   Initials  
Resource Group Description   Resource Name   Resource Name  
Resource Group Resource Category   Group   Group  
Resource Group/ Project Related Cost/ Validity Period  
 
If no value is defined there, then Resource Group/ General Cost/ Resource General Cost/ Validity Period  
 
Note: multiple records are imported  
Costs A (default): Effective Date   Costs A (default): Effective Date  
Resource Group/ General Cost/ Cost Standard Rate   Standard Rate  
Resource Type   Resource Text1   Resource Type  
Activity Description / Sub Project Description   Task Name    Description  
Activity Sub Project ID   Task Summary Name   Task Summary Name  
Sub Project ID   Task Text1   Sub Project ID  
Activity ID   Task Text2   Activity ID  
  Task Text4   Import Comments  
Project ID   Task Text5    
Activity Responsible   Task Text6   Responsible  
Activity Status   Task Text7   Activity Status  
Activity Seq.   Task Text11    
Total Estimated Cost for the Activity   Task Number1   IFS Cost Estimated  
Total Estimated Hours for the Activity   Task Number4   IFS Hours Estimated  
Total Planned Hours for the Activity   Task Number5   IFS Hours Planned  
Total Planned Cost for the Activity   Task Number6   IFS Cost Planned  
Total Used Hours for the Activity   Task Number7   IFS Hours Actual  
Total Used Cost for the Activity   Task Number8   IFS Cost Actual  
Total Work Days   Task Duration   Duration  
Activity Early Start   Task Start   IFS Early Start  
Activity Early Finish   Task Finish   IFS Early Finish  
Activity Actual Start   Task Actual Start   Task Actual Start  
Activity Actual Finish   Task Actual Finish   Task Actual Finish  
Activity Calculated Cost Progress   Task %  Complete   Progress  
Project Activity Notes   Notes   Notes  
Project Activity Resource Planned Hours   Resource Work   Resource Usage: Work  
Constraint Type   Task Information: Constraint Type   Task Information: Constraint Type  
Constraint Date   Task Information: Constraint Date   Task Information: Constraint Date  
Successors/Predecessors Predecessors   Predecessors  
Successors/Predecessors Dependency type   Predecessors Type   Predecessors Type  
Successors/Predecessors Lag   Predecessors Lag   Predecessors Lag  
Activity Baseline Start   Baseline Start   Baseline Start  
Activity Baseline Finish   Baseline Finish   Baseline Finish  

Export – Data Transfer to IFS Cloud from Microsoft Project   

For the IFS project the following information is created or updated. (The Microsoft Project must be calculated if the Project Information Start or Finish Date is revised)  

Microsoft Project   IFS Project  
Project Information – Start Date   Project Definition – Planned Start 
Project Information – Finish Date    Project Definition – Planned Finish   

For new sub-projects, the following information is created:  

Task Data in Microsoft Project   IFS Project - Sub Project Information  
Sub Project ID, 10 characters   Sub Project ID  
Description, 35 characters   Sub Project Description  

For existing activities, the following information is updated:   

Task Data in Microsoft Project   IFS Project - Activity Information  
IFS Early Start  
Note: If the IFS activity has an actual start date, the early start date will not be updated when exporting.  
Activity Description  
IFS Early Start  
Note: If the IFS activity has an actual start date, the early start date will not be updated when exporting.  
Activity Early Start  
IFS Early Finish  
Note: If the IFS activity has an actual finish date, the early finish date will not be updated when exporting.  
Activity Early Finish  
Late Start  
Note: If the IFS activity has an actual start date, the late start date will not be updated when exporting.  
Activity Late Start  
Late Finish  
Note: If the IFS activity has an actual finish date, the late finish date will not be updated when exporting.  
Activity Late Finish  
Free Slack   Activity Free Float  
Total Slack   Activity Total Float  
Notes   Notes  

For new activities the following information is created:   

Task Data in Microsoft Project   IFS Project - Activity Information  
Activity ID   Activity ID  
Task Text1 (Sub Project ID, 10 characters)   Activity Sub Project ID  
Task Name (Description, 200 characters)   Activity Description  
IFS Early Start   Activity Early Start  
IFS Early Finish   Activity Early Finish  
Late Start   Activity Late Start  
Late Finish   Activity Late Finish  
Free Slack   Activity Free Float  
Total Slack   Activity Total Float  
Notes   Notes  

Note: During transferring data from Microsoft Project to IFS no actual date values will be passed through the integration.  

For new resources, the following information is created:   

Resource Information in Microsoft Project IFS Project - Resource Details  
Initials   Resource Group Resource ID  
Resource Name   Resource Group Description  
  Resource Group Company, is automatically set to the Project's Company.  
 
Schedule Capacity and Capacity Calculation Base are set as 'Infinite Capacity' and 'Individuals' respectively.  

Note: In order to create a new resource group through an export to IFS, there must be a valid Resource Type entered in the 'Resource Text1' field in Microsoft Project.  

Cost and capacity information is not sent to IFS. The recommendation is that resource information is normally created in IFS and imported into Microsoft Project, rather than the other way around.  

Information about resources allocated to activities, constraints and dependencies will be created or updated:   

Microsoft Project    IFS Project  
Resource Usage: Work   IFS Project Activity Resource Planned Hours  
Task Information: Constraint Type   Constraint Type  
Task Information: Constraint Date   Constraint Date  
Predecessors    Successors/Predecessors   
Predecessors Type   Dependency Type  
Predecessors Lag   Lag  

Note: If multiple resource criteria are enabled on the project in IFS, the transfer of resource assignment information is not supported by the integration.

As a result of the transfer from Microsoft Project, activities and sub projects that exist only in IFS Project (sub projects and activities that have been deleted while in Microsoft Project) will not be deleted. These sub projects and activities should be deleted manually in IFS Project.  

Task status in Microsoft Project (Active/ Inactive) will be ignored when transferring data in both directions. Hence, all tasks in Microsoft Project will be transferred through integration disregarding the status of the task. For a successful integration, it is recommended to transfer tasks with status "Active". Trying to update "Inactive" task information in Microsoft Project through import process will result integration failure.