Microsoft Project and Open formats
Just been mucking about with MS Project 2003. It now has a handy export to XML feature - Project has always been the was always the bastard child of interoperability, but this is a grudging move in the right direction. Before this feature the only options (other than MS MPP format - which isn't always the same, as Project 95 cannot seem to open later versions) were really ugly data extract functions - do you want Cost_per_unit_Baseline? How about Cost_per_unit_agg? Rinse, repeat. Eventually you get out either a hideously ugly excel sheet or a hideously ugly HTML doc or (guess what) a hideously ugly CSV. Their trying to tell you something: Stay away!
I then found Open Workbench - a CA funded "opensource" (bits are proprietory still, so they haven't really "got" it yet) project clone. Its free, and though very ugly compared to project does render up gants etc and handle resource. Seems quite new. It loads Project 2002+ xml files, and also can save them.
So I thought "I'll try and export and import the other way". Project 2003 GPFed. Then I tried loading its own creation. Bang! Great work.
I have now installed service pack 2 for Project. It now can open its own file without a GPF, but the Open Workbench one causes it to explode again. If this is an indicator of their new "open" formats, I think Open Office is the only way to forward, since MS can barely be bothered to support their own.
Now I'm off to see if I can do anything with these XML files...
Update: Looks like Open Workbench is probably the reason MS cannot read the XML file as it seems to be a bit sh?t, and save it out in its *own* xml format? WTF?! It also seems to be quite a bit more rubbish than I though when editing things - everything seems locked, possibly cos of the source. Not really ready to let project managers loose on I'd say.
Still MS shouldn't GPF cos the XML wasn't what was expected. XML formats are likely to become a big bane of users if they all just get ".xml" as the extension. Especially if the apps just GPF when they aren't understood! Grrhh...
I then found Open Workbench - a CA funded "opensource" (bits are proprietory still, so they haven't really "got" it yet) project clone. Its free, and though very ugly compared to project does render up gants etc and handle resource. Seems quite new. It loads Project 2002+ xml files, and also can save them.
So I thought "I'll try and export and import the other way". Project 2003 GPFed. Then I tried loading its own creation. Bang! Great work.
I have now installed service pack 2 for Project. It now can open its own file without a GPF, but the Open Workbench one causes it to explode again. If this is an indicator of their new "open" formats, I think Open Office is the only way to forward, since MS can barely be bothered to support their own.
Now I'm off to see if I can do anything with these XML files...
Update: Looks like Open Workbench is probably the reason MS cannot read the XML file as it seems to be a bit sh?t, and save it out in its *own* xml format? WTF?! It also seems to be quite a bit more rubbish than I though when editing things - everything seems locked, possibly cos of the source. Not really ready to let project managers loose on I'd say.
Still MS shouldn't GPF cos the XML wasn't what was expected. XML formats are likely to become a big bane of users if they all just get ".xml" as the extension. Especially if the apps just GPF when they aren't understood! Grrhh...
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