Our customers always require that we provide updated project schedules.
Since the project files contain more data than we wish our customers to see,
we usually hide fields, roll up tasks, remove resources, etc. and create a
pdf file. This is preferable over sending the project file electronically
because then the customer can un-hide fields, un-roll tasks, etc. The
problem is that more customers are requiring the data in Project format so
they can incorporate it into larger projects. In these cases, we manually
generate a separate “summary project” which is a list of only the summary
tasks with durations, start dates, and finish dates (no work, no sub-tasks,
no resources). This is a time consuming process as two files for each
project have to be maintained.

I have saved the project file as an Access Database for custom reporting,
etc., but it seems the database is not linked back to the Project file as
evidenced if changes are made in Access. I would like to use the Access data
as the source for the new project (“summary project”). If it is possible to
write to MS Projects utilizing ODBC or MS Access, then the creation of these
“summary projects” will be much easier.

In short, please advise the easiest way to write to a project file without
using conventional Project methods and controls so the process I’ve described
above can be automated. I am proficient in ODBC and Access and I hope that
either of these can be part of the solution.

Thanks.

A VBA macro can certainly achieve this, or maybe even Views copying only
Tasks you flag to a new project. It won't be quick or straight forward
though, expect to spend several days getting it right.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP

Project VBA Book, for details visit:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

NEW!! Web based VBA training course delivered by me. For details visit:
http://projectservertraining.com/learning/index.aspx


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Tim Peterson" <TimPeterson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E1502ECD-C997-4978-B716-674ADF8C38E2@microsoft.com...
> Our customers always require that we provide updated project schedules.
> Since the project files contain more data than we wish our customers to
> see,
> we usually hide fields, roll up tasks, remove resources, etc. and create a
> pdf file. This is preferable over sending the project file electronically
> because then the customer can un-hide fields, un-roll tasks, etc. The
> problem is that more customers are requiring the data in Project format so
> they can incorporate it into larger projects. In these cases, we manually
> generate a separate "summary project" which is a list of only the summary
> tasks with durations, start dates, and finish dates (no work, no
> sub-tasks,
> no resources). This is a time consuming process as two files for each
> project have to be maintained.
>
> I have saved the project file as an Access Database for custom reporting,
> etc., but it seems the database is not linked back to the Project file as
> evidenced if changes are made in Access. I would like to use the Access
> data
> as the source for the new project ("summary project"). If it is possible
> to
> write to MS Projects utilizing ODBC or MS Access, then the creation of
> these
> "summary projects" will be much easier.
>
> In short, please advise the easiest way to write to a project file without
> using conventional Project methods and controls so the process I've
> described
> above can be automated. I am proficient in ODBC and Access and I hope
> that
> either of these can be part of the solution.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

As I wrote in the other newsgroup, I can help in VBA but I don't know any
Access (why make the detour, BTW)

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project MVP
http://users.online.be/prom-ade
"Tim Peterson" <TimPeterson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E1502ECD-C997-4978-B716-674ADF8C38E2@microsoft.com...
> Our customers always require that we provide updated project schedules.
> Since the project files contain more data than we wish our customers to
> see,
> we usually hide fields, roll up tasks, remove resources, etc. and create a
> pdf file. This is preferable over sending the project file electronically
> because then the customer can un-hide fields, un-roll tasks, etc. The
> problem is that more customers are requiring the data in Project format so
> they can incorporate it into larger projects. In these cases, we manually
> generate a separate "summary project" which is a list of only the summary
> tasks with durations, start dates, and finish dates (no work, no
> sub-tasks,
> no resources). This is a time consuming process as two files for each
> project have to be maintained.
>
> I have saved the project file as an Access Database for custom reporting,
> etc., but it seems the database is not linked back to the Project file as
> evidenced if changes are made in Access. I would like to use the Access
> data
> as the source for the new project ("summary project"). If it is possible
> to
> write to MS Projects utilizing ODBC or MS Access, then the creation of
> these
> "summary projects" will be much easier.
>
> In short, please advise the easiest way to write to a project file without
> using conventional Project methods and controls so the process I've
> described
> above can be automated. I am proficient in ODBC and Access and I hope
> that
> either of these can be part of the solution.
>
> Thanks.
>
>