Export or Import Data from or to Microsoft Project

You can import data from Microsoft Project (MSP) into SAP Portfolio and Project Management and export data from SAP Portfolio and Project Management to MSP.

Recommendation

We recommend that you use the interface to export the online project schedule to an offline version file of Microsoft Project. The schedule can be changed, new elements created, and existing elements that were not released can be deleted. Those changes can be reimported to Project Management. Every export generates a new file in Microsoft Project.

End of the recommendation.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be met before you can import a project or a project schedule from Microsoft Project:

Microsoft Project is installed on your PC. For more information about the supported versions of Microsoft Project see SAP Note 1326709.
You have write authorization for all project elements and admin authorization for all portfolio items.
If you want to import newly created phases, checklists or tasks from MSP, you have to use the object types defined in Project Management. The phase types, checklist types, and task types must have been assigned to a corresponding enterprise field (user-defined field) in Microsoft Project. For more information, see Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Define Phase Types , Define Checklist Types, or Define Task Types.
The corresponding activities in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Common Functions Import and Export of Project Data Microsoft Project Integration have been performed. The required target options for the import have been defined. For more information, see Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Structure Define Project Types .

For more information about the prerequisites, see SAP Note 1326709.

Features

The following table shows which objects are transferred to or from Microsoft Project and which objects they are mapped to there:

Object in Project Management	Object in Microsoft Project
Project definition	Project summary task
Phase Task Checklist Checklist item	Task and summary task
Role	Resource

Furthermore, when you transfer project elements, you transfer the following attributes as well:

Information about the phase type is automatically displayed in a Microsoft Project text field for the phase. The task type and checklist type are also displayed.
For the project elements, you can transfer additional attributes that were specified by your system administrator in Customizing.

Transferring Project Element Data

You can assign standard fields and user-defined fields (enterprise fields) to project element fields in Project Management in the configuration. If you assign enterprise fields, the system automatically copies the names of the corresponding fields from the project in Project Management. If there are fixed values or value tables for the fields in the project in Project Management, a list of values is generated in Microsoft Project in the appropriate field.

Transferring Dates

When you export to Microsoft Project, dates are transferred for each task. This can cause differences in scheduling because Microsoft Project has its own scheduling logic.

Note Note

In the standard system, Microsoft Project does not process any calendar information from projects in Project Management. Since Microsoft Project carries out its own scheduling, taking its own calendar into account, the duration values in the Microsoft Project project and the Project Management project may differ. However, you can use the calendar information from the project in Project Management by means of a Business Add-In (BAdI). For more information, see Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Start of the navigation path Common Functions Next navigation step Import and Export of Project Data Microsoft Project Integration BAdI: Change Project Plan Data in Project Management and Microsoft Project End of the navigation path .

You cannot directly influence the start and finish dates for summary tasks in Microsoft Project. They are always derived from the dates of lower-level tasks (subtasks). For this reason, dates for project elements that are displayed as summary tasks in Microsoft Project can differ between the project in Project Management and the project in Microsoft Project.

End of the note.

Transferring Roles

Roles are transferred to Microsoft Project Client as resources and assigned to the corresponding tasks as in the project in Project Management. You can assign attributes to the resources in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Start of the navigation path Common Functions Next navigation step Import and Export of Project Data Microsoft Project Integration Assign Fields for Export from Project Management End of the navigation path . Microsoft Project does not set any attributes when it assigns the tasks.

Note Note

Microsoft Project uses its own logic to calculate values for work and resources from the task assignments. There is no direct equivalent for these values in the project in Project Management. Depending on the settings in Microsoft Project, other values can be provided for work and demand.

End of the note.

Import/Export Log

The system creates a log of all imports and exports. The log table displays the log name, date of the import and the user who performed the import. If you choose Check during the import, you can view the messages in the message area by clicking on the link in the Log Name column. The system opens the log details in a new window. You can select the log entry and choose Delete to delete the log entry. This does not affect that data which has been imported. If you choose Check during the import, the system fills the Changed On and Changed By fields and displays logs in the Import/Export Log table if an import or export for this project has taken place before.