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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 |
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.