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Project Central FAQs Frequently Asked Questions About Project Central
26 Nov 02: New 27 Installing Project Central for use with SQL Server
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Installing Project Central for use with SQL Server Disclaimer: This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the Microsoft Project MVPs and other contributors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
27. Installing Project Central for use with SQL Server Click on this heading for instructions in how to install Project Central.
26. Where can I find Installation Information? For information on how to install Project Central server software, see the svrsetup.htm file on your Project 2000 CD. In addition, the Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q280376, entitled "Installation and Customization of Microsoft Project Central" contains links to installation documentation on the Microsoft Project web site. For system requirements, see Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q258475, entitled "System Requirements for Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project Central". Note that if you wish to use a SQL Server or Oracle database with Project Server, you must FIRST set up the database according to the directions provided in these documents. Alternatively, if you are testing the product or have a very small user base, you can use the default standard install process, which will install MSDE and create and configure an MSDE database for you.
25. What Clients can be used with Project Central? Microsoft Project Central can only be accessed using Internet Explorer browser 4.01 or later or the Browser Module for Project Central provided on the Project 2000 CD. The browser on the CD can only be used to connect to and use Project Central websites. Project Central users cannot use Netscape or other browsers to work with Project Central. See Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q245869, entitled "Unable to Log On to Project Central Using Non-Microsoft Web Browser" for more information. Microsoft Project Central can not be accessed from Macintosh or Unix based computers due to the use of ActiveX controls. See Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q264175, entitled "Macintosh and UNIX Computers Cannot Connect to Microsoft Project Central" for more information.
24. Project 2000 Service Release SR-1 The most recent release of Project Server is SR-1. If you are encountering odd errors in your data and using Project Central, first check that you have installed the SR-1 version of Project on your client workstations, and the SR-1 version of Project Central on your server. A partial list of problems fixed by SR-1 can be found in Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q293309, entitled "List of Fixed Problems in Microsoft Project 2000 SR-1". SR-1 release is required to use SSL (HTTPS). More information and links to the SR-1 download are available in the Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q288953, entitled "How to Obtain and Install Microsoft Project 2000 SR-1".
23. Configuring Project 2000 to Work with Project Central Before attempting to publish a project or send task assignments to your resources/team members, you must configure Project 2000 so that it knows how to find Project Central. First, ensure your settings are correct in the Tools > Options > Workgroup tab in Project 2000, including the URL you use to open the Project Central website. Also, before you publish, your account must already be created in Project Central (by the Project Central Administrator user), or you can create it yourself using the Create Account button in the Tools > Options > Workgroup tab in Project 2000. Be sure to select the correct button first: Windows User Account or Microsoft Project user name. The Microsoft Project user name is set in the Tools > Options > General tab. If using Windows User Account, you will be identified as the domain\username you used to log in to your computer.
22. Creating Project Central User Accounts You can create Project Central users in several different ways. One method is to log into Project Central as the Administrator user, and type in the user accounts. Another method is to create accounts "on the fly" from Project 2000. The project manager user account can be created from the Create Account button on the Tools > Options > Workgroup tab in Project 2000. The resource accounts can be created by Project 2000 as the Tools > Workgroup > TeamAssign option is used to push assignments into the Project Central database. "On the fly" account creation may be turned off in Project Central by the Administrator, using the Admin > Customize > Security - Account Creation menu option.
21. Empty Grid Controls in Project Central When you can log in to Project Central successfully, but all grid (table) controls are tiny and empty, or you see "Error on page" messages in the status bar, or the "Loading Data" message remains in the grid area, and/or you experience script runtime errors, the cause is most likely a problem with your MSADC directory. Refer to Microsoft Knowledgebase Article Q262251, entitled "Script Run-Time Errors or Grid Controls Empty in Microsoft Project Central" for information on possible causes and fixes.
20. Publishing a Project to Project Central To publish a project to Project Central, open the project in Project 2000 and use the Tools > Workgroup > Update Project to Web Server option. Before doing so, however, be sure you have Project configured correctly to communicate with Project Central (see FAQ 23). This option publishes summary level information about the project, including its location, to the Project Central database, so that the project can appear on a line in the Project Central Views > View Your Portfolio display. If the environment is set up correctly, users will also be able to drill down into the project details as well, in which case Project Central locates and opens the actual source project and displays the requested detailed data view. Note that this option DOES NOT publish task assignments to Project Central timesheets. It ONLY supports the View > View Your Portfolio menu option in Project Central.
19. Getting Assignments into the Project Central Timesheet To get assignments into the Project Central timesheet, you must open the relevant project in Project 2000 and use the Tools > Workgroup > TeamAssign menu option. Before doing so, however, be sure you have Project configured correctly to communicate with Project Central (see FAQ 23). Also, be sure that you have assigned the appropriate tasks to resources in Project 2000, and that the assigned resources have either (a) a Resource Name that you wish to use as their user account in Project Central, or (b) a Windows Account entered in their resource record in Project 2000. If the Windows Account value is present, Project assumes that the user is a Windows authenticated user, permitting automatic login to their Project Central home page; if it is missing, Project assumes that the user is to be a Project Central-authenticated user account who go through a log in process and supply a password to Project Central. Note that, unless disabled via a setting in Project Central, an account will be automatically created in Project Central for every assigned resource whose account does not already exist in Project Central.
18. Error: There was a problem accessing the Microsoft Project Central Server This error message may appear when you attempt to use the Tools > Workgroup > Update Project to Web Server menu option, the Tools > Workgroup > TeamAssign menu option, or the Create Account button on the Tools > Options > Workgroup. Refer to Microsoft Knowledgebase Article Q257749, entitled "Error Message: There Was a Problem Accessing the Microsoft Project Central Server" for information on possible causes and workarounds for this problem. Whenever a TeamAssign, Update Project to Web Server, or Create Account operation from Project 2000 is unsuccessful, a Project Spooler icon should appear in the task tray on the computer (in the status bar). Double-clicking this icon will bring up more detailed information on the error encountered.
17. Updated Projects not appearing in Portfolio View Rights to see projects (and specific views) within Portfolio View is controlled by the "Categories" that a user account belongs to in Project Central. The Project Central administrator configures categories and their members via the Admin > Manage Views > Specify Categories menu option in Project Central. Note that the Administrator account does not by default belong to a category that has rights to all projects. For a quick fix, add the Administrator account to the built-in Executive category, which does have rights to access all projects in Project Central.
16. Accessing Projects that are stored as MPP files & "Project too large…" error If your projects are stored as MPP files, and you want to enable Project Central users to drill down into project details from the View > View Your Portfolio menu option, you must set up the client workstation, the server, and the network environment to permit Project Central to find and open the projects. In your network, you must set up a shared folder (or set of shared folders) to hold the MPP files. From the client, projects must be saved using UNC notation (i.e., \\servername\sharedfoldername\projectname.mpp) instead of drive path notation (i.e., E:\foldername\projectname.mpp) to a shared folder. You can make the process easier on Project 2000 users by configuring the shared folder as their default save location in the Tools > Options > Save tab. For Project Central to be able to open the projects, the IIS Anonymous User (normally IUSR_servername) on the Project Central web server must have access to the shared folder. Note that since the default anonymous user account is a local account on the web server, that account does not belong to a network domain's "Everyone" group. If the shared folder is on the Project Central server, you should be able to use the default IUSR_servername account, as long as you give that account explicit permission to the shared folder. If the shared folder is on another computer, you should change the IIS anonymous user account in IIS to a domain account in that server's domain which has access rights to the shared folder (in the format Domain \ Username). The typical error experienced when the environment is not set up correctly, and a user attempts to drill down from Portfolio View in Project Central is "Project too large…". For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q265703 entitled "Project Too Large Error Selecting Views in Microsoft Project Central for a Project Saved to a Shared Folder". Also see the section entitled "For projects stored as files" in the svrsetup.htm file on your Project 2000 CD.
15. Accessing Projects that are stored in a database & "Project too large…" error If you want to store your projects in a database, and you want to let Project Central users drill down into project details from the View > View Your Portfolio menu option, you must set up the client and server environment to support this approach. First you must set up a database to hold the projects. Information on how to create a projects database is provided in the projdb.htm file on the Project 2000 CD. Note that Microsoft does not recommend that you store your projects in the same database that Project Central is using. Next you configure the client to access the database by creating a DSN that points to it. Use the ODBC or Data Sources tool in Control Panel (Administrative Tools in Windows 2000) to create a machine or system type DSN. From within Project 2000, you save projects to the database using File - Save As, and clicking the ODBC button. Then you can select the DSN you created earlier. Configuring the default save location on the Tools > Options > Save tab can make this step easier for Project users. After you save your project to the projects database, you should update it to Project Central using Tools > Workgroup > Update Project to Web Server, which copies the location of the project to the Project Central database. You also must also configure the Project Central server to be able to access the projects in the database. First create the same named DSN on the Project Central server. Then log in as the Project Central Administrator, and use Admin > Manage Views > Data Sources for Views menu option to supply a valid username and password for the connection. The Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q268246, entitled "How to Set Up DSNs for Microsoft Project Central By Using a SQL Database" includes detailed step by step guidance regarding how to set up and configure the DSNs. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q265509 entitled "Project Too Large Error Selecting Portfolio Views in Microsoft Project Central for a Project Plan Saved to a Database". Also, see the section entitled "For projects stored in a database" in the svrsetup.htm file on the Project 2000 CD.
14. Duplicate Projects in Project Central This situation occurs if more than one project manager user updated Project Central with the same project. Project Central uniquely identifies each project by both project name and project manager name. See Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q242674, entitled "Duplicate Projects or Tasks Are Displayed in Microsoft Project Central" for more information and instructions regarding how to remedy this problem. Often the automatic update option, entitled "Update project information to Microsoft Project Central Server on every save" (on the Tools > Options > Workgroup tab) can contribute to this problem, as every Project 2000 user who opens and saves the project file causes an automatic update to the web server. For successful use of Project Central, it is recommended that only one user be identified as the project manager for each project, with the responsibility for updating it and sending team assignments to the web server. If that is not feasible in your organization, another recommended approach is to use Project Central authenticated accounts for project managers, permitting sharing of the accounts (without the security compromise created by sharing a Windows account password!). It is also recommended that you turn off the automatic update setting mentioned above.
13. Changing Project Managers for a Project Project Central recognizes only one project manager for each project - the account that posted the project and assignments to the web server is the one to whom all team member status messages will be sent. Project Central does NOT provide a way to change a project manager, if for example the current one goes on vacation or leaves the organization completely. One frequently recommended workaround, particularly if projects are worked on by more than one Project 2000 user, is to use Project Central accounts for the project managers. These accounts can be shared with less security impact than sharing a Windows NT login password. See the Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q242674, entitled "Duplicate Projects or Tasks Are Displayed in Microsoft Project Central" for more information and workaround instructions.
Project Central timesheet users can provide status on assignments in the timesheet in one of two ways. They can enter actual hours by time period in the right side of the timesheet, or they can enter % Work Complete in the left side of the timesheet. In either case, they should also review/modify Remaining Work on the left side of the timesheet. Remaining Work is automatically updated as actual work hours or % Work Complete is modified. When Remaining Work goes to zero, and the information is posted to the project plan, the assignment will be considered complete. No other Project 2000 status related fields can be used to provide assignment status from Project Central. The Project Central timesheet includes a column called "Comments". Any data entered by a Project Central user is appended to the "Notes" field on the task in the Project 2000 project (with a time and user stamp) when the updates are sent to the project manager and processed through to the project. This process is only one way; the text of the Notes in the Project 2000 project cannot be displayed in the timesheet.
10. Deleting Tasks in Timesheets The only way a task can be deleted from a Project Central user's timesheet is with the Delete button on the Project Central timesheet page. The only person who can delete a task from a timesheet is the Project Central timesheet user. Tasks that have been deleted by the project manager in Project 2000 will have an "X" indicator in the first column of the Project Central timesheet, to identify them to the Project Central user, but they will NOT be deleted from the user's timesheet.
9. Deleting Project Central Users When the Project Central Administrator deletes users in Project Central, they are not completely removed, but are marked as deactivated (?). Deletion of accounts is generally not a recommended practice because there may be status history associated with the account. To completely remove a user account from the Users list in Project Central, the administrator can merge the account with another, such as Administrator, or a 'junk' account you use for this purpose. Use the Admin > Users > Merge User Accounts option in Project Central.
8. Errors and no confirmation when delegating tasks See Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q274290, entitled "Error When You Delegate Task in Microsoft Project Central" for explanation and fix.
7. Viewing other users' assignments and status The Project Central Views - View Assignments menu option provides a view similar to the Task Usage and Resource Usage views in Project 2000. It is useful for a manager or team leader who needs to monitor via the web the task assignments and status submitted by other resources. The Project Central administrator identifies the set of timesheets that may be viewed by a user by way of the Admin > Manage Views > User Permissions for Views menu option in Project Central.
6. Displaying Custom Fields in Portfolio Views To display custom fields correctly (with meaningful headers) in Project Central, you must use Tools > Customize > Fields in Project to set the field name for a project. Then use Tools > Workgroup > Update Project to Web Server to push the customization to the Project Central database. In Project Central, use the Admin > Manage Views > Specify Views menu option, and either Modify an existing View, or create a New View. You select the custom field by its 'original name' from the list of available fields and add it to the new or modified view. Note that for portfolio type views, unless you customize the field identically in every project you update to the web server, you may find multiple columns appearing in your customized Project Central portfolio view. A template used as a starting point for all new projects can hold the standard customizations, ensuring consistent field customizations across projects.
5. Modifying the Timesheet Columns You have some control over the set of columns that appear on the left hand side of the Project Central timesheet. Unlike the Portfolio type views, which are administered within Project Central by the Administrator, the Timesheet columns are controlled from Project 2000. Use the Tools > Customize > Workgroup menu option in Project 2000 to configure the appearance of the timesheet in Project Central. This option lets you add fields and specify whether they should be editable in the timesheet by the Project Central user. After you define your workgroup customizations, you must 'publish' the changes to Project Central. To do so for an existing project, use Tools > Workgroup > Resend all messages. You should do this step for every project whose already assigned tasks should include the customizations. New messages sent in the future will automatically include the changes. Note that you do not have complete control over the timesheet - the standard fields cannot be removed, and any added fields will by default appear to the right of the standard fields (regardless of where you put them in the field list in the Customize Workgroup dialog box).
The following methods are provided out of the box: (1) Project Central team member users can pick items from their Outlook Calendars and forward them as nonworking days to Project Managers to update their resource calendars in Project (Tasks > Transfer Outlook Calendar option in Project Central); and (2) Project Central team members can display their Outlook tasks along with their Project Central assignments in the timesheet view, temporarily or permanently (Tasks > Timesheet > View Options tab, Microsoft Outlook tasks checkboxes). In addition, by selecting the option on the Tools > Options > Workgroup tab in Project 2000, project managers can choose to send emails to team members when they are assigned to tasks. The email will contain a hyperlink to Project Central. To the integration further, the online Project 2000 Software Development Kit (SDK) provides instructions and sample code to further integrate Project Central with Exchange and Outlook. See the Microsoft Project Developer centre on MSDN online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/project.
3. Master / Consolidated Projects Master projects that consist of inserted linked projects cannot be fully expanded in Project Central. If you drill down from Views > View Your Portfolio into a master project in Project Central, you will only see one summary line for each inserted project. You will not be able to see the tasks of the inserted project. One workaround is to create a 'static' master project, by unchecking the "Link to project" checkbox in the Insert > Project dialog box. Such unlinked master projects can be viewed in entirety in Project Central. However, master projects that consist of unlinked projects are a one-time copy, and will not be updated as the source subproject changes, so the information in Project Central will not be updated automatically. Consider instead using Project Central Portfolio View as a substitute for a master project - publish each 'subproject' directly to Project Central. You can still utilize the master project capability for multi-project analysis and reporting in Project 2000 - just don't publish it to Project Central!
2. Changing the Project Central database connection If you change some aspect of the Project Central database, such as the database server, the database name, or the SQL user account or its password, you will need to supply the changed information to Project Central so it can still find and access the database. This information was originally supplied during the installation of Project Server, but you do not need to reinstall the software to update it. The database connection information is stored in the registry on the Project Central server in this registry key, and can be modified directly: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\9.0\MS Project\WebClient Server
1. Database structure information The Project 2000 CD contains files with details on the Project 2000 database structures. See file svrdb.htm for information on the Project Central database, and file projdb.htm for information on the Project 2000 projects database. A Visio diagram of the Project Central database schema is also available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads. Search for "Project Central 2000 Database Schema Diagram" to locate it. |
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