The MSP Add-in
After the latest version of the MSP Add-in has been downloaded and installed (see this FAQ) follow these steps to update your MSP plan with information from PPO.
It is important to note that the Update from PPO functionality will only work for project plans that have previously been imported into PPO. The MSP Add-in cannot create project plans from scratch by exporting information from PPO into a blank MSP plan. The plan must first be drawn up in MSP, imported into PPO using the Task Import Wizard, and the data updated within PPO. Only then can the Add-in be used to update the existing, previously imported MSP plan with information on the corresponding plan in PPO.
STEP 1: Connect MSP to PPO
- Open the MSP plan you wish to update.
- Under the Tools Menu (for MSP 2007) or the Add-Ins Menu (for MSP 2010 / 2013 and 2016) you will find the Update from PPO option.
- When the Add-in opens, you will be asked to provide the following information on the Connection tab:
- PPO Instance: Here you should provide the URL you use to access your instance. The complete URL should be entered (remember the https://)
- User name: Specify the username with which you log onto your PPO instance.
- Password: Type in the password you use to access your PPO instance.
- You can opt for the Add-in to remember your password, in which case you will not have to re-enter it when accessing the Add-in in the future.
- Click on Connect.
- At the bottom left corner of the Add-in you will see the status of your connection. If any errors are indicated, ensure your instance name is typed in completely and correctly and that your user name and password is accurate. If you still receive an error message, you can consult the Log tab for details on why the login failed. The contents of the log file can be copied into a document and attached to a support call if the problem persists. The PPO Support Team will assist from there.
STEP 2: Import Resources
- Click on the Import Resources tab. This tab allows the user to synchronise the resources in their MSP plan with the resources in PPO. This ensures that all tasks are assigned to the correct resources in MSP and PPO.
- Click on Import. If resources have already been loaded into the resources sheet, ensure the resource names or phonetics keys match the resource names and resource keys of the resources available in PPO. The MSP Add-in will do a comparison of the resources and update the resources in MSP that either match in phonetics key (resource key) or that match the first and last name of a resource in PPO. If no matches are found, the MSP Add-in will add the resource with their phonetics key to the resource sheet, using information from PPO's resource list. The update will ensure that all resource information on MSP is the same as what is available from PPO.
Allan Werners key in PPO can bee seen in the URL when on the Resource View page: https://www.ppolive.com/acme/request.aspx?context=employee&mode=view&key=32
All user group and global filters are applied during this update.
To import these resources with your project plan back into PPO, ensure that the Resource Phonetics field is mapped in PPO's system configuration.
STEP 3: Map fields
- Click on the Task field mapping tab. This is the tab used to indicate which fields in MSP should be updated from which fields in PPO. Only one field can be updated at a time, but you can repeat the mapping and updating process in order to update more fields.
- The PPO From Field is the field name in PPO.
- The Project To Field is the field in MSP that you want to update. The from field in PPO has to match the to field in MSP in order for the update to occur.
STEP 4: Update Tasks
- Click on the Update Tasks tab. This tab contains the project information and update options required to complete the update.
- The list of projects will be retrieved from the specified instance. Select the project from which you want to update from the drop-down list.
- Indicate whether you want to update only tasks (Included non-summary tasks) or summary tasks as well.
- The “Include summary tasks” option is provided for clients who only use summary tasks in their project plans. However, this option should not be selected when you are using tasks in conjunction with summary tasks. For most client instances, the summary tasks are not automatically updated with the rolled-up progress percentages of the underlying tasks. This means the progress percentage fields of the summary tasks will be 0% prior to the update from PPO. If the “Include Summary Tasks” option is selected and the actual progress percentage field in PPO is mapped to the percent complete field in MSP, the Add-in will update the summary tasks in the MSP plan with the summary task information from PPO (which is still 0%). This update of the summary task fields will then force the progress percentage of the underlying fields to also be 0%.
- If only the “Include non-summary tasks” option is selected and the actual progress percentage field in PPO is mapped to the percent complete field in MSP, the actual progress percentage of the summary tasks will automatically roll-up, based on the actual progress percentage of the underlying tasks, which is being updated from PPO.
- Click on update.
- Once the update is complete, click on Close.
After the MSP plan has been updated, changes can be made to the structure of the project plan and the project plan can be re-uploaded without losing any data previously recorded on PPO.