(1) Explain your problem, don't simply post "This isn't working". What were you doing when you faced the problem? What have you tried to resolve - did you look for a solution using "Search" ? Has it happened just once or several times?
(2) It's also good to get feedback when a solution is found, return to the original post to explain how it was resolved so that more people can also use the results.
Hi there,
I have the following need:
I would like to be able to check (on a weekly basis) the updates a project manager does on a mpp file, without spending significant time going with him trough the lines of the plan. I'd prefer to save that time only for the point that really need to be discussed.
I know in MS Project there is a column "Created" that makes you possible to filter and detect the tasks added in the last week (or against another condition ). But I'm much more interested in getting the tasks where there has been a variance in the completion pourcentage. (for example getting the task that has passed from 20% to 35% completion in the last week)
Do you know a way to do so?
I know a possible workaround that is to set each week a TEMP baseline (for example baseline10) and track the work variance. But I don't like this solution because you need to rember at each revision to update manually the TEMP baseline.
Any other idea?
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To me the best thing is that files are saved in native format so you have access to the files without the need to perform a file restore.
I perform weekly updates on a separate hard disk but also keep daily updates of some work in progress files, usually estimates done in Excel, shop drawings in AutoCAD and CPM schedule files in Spider Project format.
Regards,
Rafael
this is an interesting path, wich utility do you recommend?
Damiano,
Would you consider automatically backing up your file with a backup utility, once every week and then you will have your file(s) for comparison purposes?
Then the file comparison utility can do the trick, maybe a macro can automate the creation of the file comparison, close the compared files windows and run the filter.
With the backups you will still have the different file versions just in case at a latter time you need to compare more fields or a different time span like % changes spanning several weeks.
Regards,
Rafael
P.S. I can suggest a free backup utility that can automate the task using native file format if you do not like the idea of having to restore backup files before being able to use them.
Hi Darren,
thanks for your answer, I've just tried this, quite straightforward to use, but still a bit heavy to just get the lines updated in the last week highlited. Because starting from two files (start point and end point) you get the diff in a third mppfile and then by clicking on the line where for example there is 25 of % Complete variance you get to this line in the two files (start point and end point). At the end you have three mpp files in the same window and the two files (start point and end point) are highlighted by the filter "Comparison Report: Highlight UID" that makes the layoutpretty heavy.
Regards.
Compare project versions utility should do this fairly simply (based on a table incuding % complete). It can be a bit memory hungry though
Hi Rafael,
Thanks for your answer. I will check this out with project 2007, even if ideally I'd prefer a solution where:
Regards
Damiano,
For MS Project 2002
For MS Project 2010
The option is at the Ribbon under the Project Tab.
In order to track changes you will need to save every week the updated project file with a different name, the obvious choice would be to add a suffix numbering the version (mame 01, name 02 ...), then you can compare the files and get your reports. You will be able to filter differences within the report by clicking on the difference column name of your choice and there you select your filter criteria.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Rafael
Email: PPadmin@planningplanet.com
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