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Damaged P3 File

3 replies [Last post]
Fri, 2005-03-04 08:47
Scott Tate
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Has anyone experienced a damaged P3 file? I recently created a bseline schedule whose most critical activities haave 0 float. I made a copy of this file and the copy for the update suddenly had 22 days negative float. Through discussions with Primavera Technical Support it has been determined that the baseline schedule file is damaged. Does anyone know how this happens and how it can be prevented?

This schedule is rather large (currently 5500 activities) and I had done copying and pasting within p3 to create new activities. I had then exported to Excel to revise the activity descriptions and then imported them back to P3. Could this have contributed to the damaged files?

Even running PFXW did not repair the file. P3 Te4chnical Support ran a batch on the file to repair the damage but in the porcess over half of the activity codes were wiped out. If anyone has had any experience with this please e-mail me with contact information so we can discuss.
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Replies

Fri, 2005-03-04 11:57
#1
Ronald Winter
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Don’t export/import to 3-1/2" floppy disks (especially old ones.) I am seeing a lot of problems with lost data using old disks. They still check out under chkdsk but fail to transfer all of the data on them anyhow.

I also strongly recommend that you install (and test) an Interruptible Power Supply (UPS.) You may not see the power drop but your computer may! THe $100 (or less) spent here may save you days of work recovering lost data.
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Fri, 2005-03-04 11:41
#2
Scott Tate
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Ron,
Thanks for the reply. I remeber the days when P3 would lock up during scheduling calculation due to lack of RAM and the problems it caused.
Have you ever heard of damaging P3 files using the export/import feature with Excel? All other P3 users I have spoken with haven’t, but non-users in an IT function believe this is the culprit.
I’m trying to track down what is causing the damaged files. The current schedule I am working on will probably grow to 10,000 activities and I’m trying to correct the problem now so it doesn’t re-occur later.
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Fri, 2005-03-04 11:20
#3
Ronald Winter
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Damage to P3 Btrive files happens a lot more often than people think. You need to limit the number of people who are running the same P3 program (say, on a server basis) to at the same time (10 max and 1 at a time is better.)

Back when RAM memory was expensive, we used to ’lock-up’ the computer when running P3. This required a re-boot the machine without first closing the P3 files. Interruption of the filing system in this manner is often Interruption.

Maintaining data integrity is one of the things that enterprise systems like P3ec does well. I am sure that this problem of your is (in general) one of the big reasons that Primavera is switching over to the new systems.

Be sure to keep a regular schedule of backups. Good luck!
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