When you import or export information between Project 2010 and other applications, the information you transfer appears as though it was created in the destination application. Importing and exporting essentially converts the information from the file format of the source application to that of the destination application.
One particularly useful type of export is to convert a Project 2010 view to a PDF file, which makes the information easily readable by anyone, regardless of whether a user has Project 2010 installed.
If you use an older file format when you import and export data between other applications and Project 2010, Project 2010 might block the operation because the default security settings don’t allow legacy or non-default file formats to be opened or saved in Project 2010.
Therefore, in most cases you will not be able to finish the import or export operation until you set your Project 2010 security appropriately. To do this, follow these steps:
On the File tab, click Options, and then click Trust Center in the left pane.
Under Microsoft Project Trust Center, click the Trust Center Settings button.
In the left pane of the Trust Center dialog box, click Legacy Formats.
The default setting is labeled Do Not Open/Save File With Legacy Or Non-Default File Formats In Project. (See Figure 17-19.)
Select the option labeled Prompt When Loading Files With Legacy Or Non-Default File Format (medium security) or the option labeled Allow Loading Files With Legacy Or Non-Default File Formats (low security).
Note
Be sure to do this procedure before importing a file. Project 2010 walks you through the entire field-mapping process, which can be lengthy if the file includes many fields. Not until the final step of the mapping wizard does Project 2010 finally alert you that it cannot complete the import operation because the file is in a legacy or non-default file format.
You can bring information into Project 2010 from another application and another file format by importing it. Importing converts another application’s file format into the Project 2010 file format. You start an import process simply by using the File, Open command.
You can import the file formats shown in Table 17-2.
Table 17-2. Supported Import File Types
File format | File name extension |
|---|---|
Project files (for Project 1998 through 2010) | .mpp |
Project databases | .mpd |
Project templates | .mpt |
Project workspaces | .mpw |
Project Exchange (for Project versions 4.0 and 98) | .mpx |
Microsoft Access databases | .mdb |
Excel workbooks | .xlsx |
Excel binary workbooks | .xlsb |
Excel 97-2003 workbooks | .xls |
Text files (tab delimited) | .txt |
CSV Text files (comma delimited) | .csv |
XML format files | .xml |
To import data to Project 2010, follow these steps:
On the File tab in Project 2010, click Open.
Next to the File Name box, click the file type button, which is labeled Microsoft Project Files by default, and then click the file format of the file you are importing—for example, Microsoft Access Databases or Text (Tab Delimited).
Browse to the drive and folder that contain the file you want to import.
Click the name of the file you are importing, and then click the Open button.
Read the Import Wizard welcome page, and then click Next.
On the Import Wizard—Map page, select the New Map option, and then click Next.
On the Import Wizard—Import Mode page, select whether you want to import the file as a new project, append it to the current project, or merge it with the current project, and then click Next.
On the Import Wizard—Map Options page, under Select The Types Of Data You Want To Import, click the check box labeled Tasks, Resources, or Assignments, as applicable. (See Figure 17-20.)
Figure 17-20. Use the Map Options page of the Import Wizard to specify the types of data you are importing.
You will see a separate mapping page for each data type you select on this page—for example, Task Mapping, Resource Mapping, or Assignment Mapping.
Under Text File Options, select or clear the check box labeled Import Includes Headers if necessary, and then click Next.
On the Mapping page, complete the fields to specify the information to be imported. In the To: Microsoft Project Field column of the table, specify which Project 2010 fields are to be used to store the fields from the source application. Any unmapped data appears in red and will not be imported. Click Next.
When you click the arrow in one of the To: Microsoft Project Field columns, a long list of fields appears. Type the first letter of the field you want to move to it more quickly. For example, type n to find and select the Name field, or type d to find and select the Duration field.
If, on the Map Options page, you selected multiple types of data to import (for example, Tasks and Resources), click Next to proceed to the Mapping page for the next data type. Repeat step 10 for each additional data type.
You could potentially work through a Task Mapping, Resource Mapping, and Assignment Mapping page.
On the Import Wizard—End Of Map Definition page, click Save Map if you want to save the import map you just defined for future use.
In the Map Name box of the Save Map dialog box, type a name for the map, and then click Save.
Click Finish.
If you’re importing an older or non-default file format, you might see a message that indicates that you’re trying to open a file saved in an older file format. Click Yes to continue.
The imported data appears in your project plan as you specified. This process might take a few minutes, depending on the source of the information and the speed of your computer. However, after the information is imported, it’s set in your project plan. Save the project, and the information is there for you to work with instantly, as though you had created it in Project 2010.
Note
For information about importing data from Excel to Project 2010, see Importing and Exporting with Excel. For information about exporting information from Visio to Project 2010, see Chapter 19.
You can use information from Project 2010 in another application and another file format by exporting it. Exporting converts your Project 2010 information to the file format of another application. You start an export process simply by using the File, Save As command.
You can export a project file to the file formats shown in Table 17-3.
Table 17-3. Supported Export File Types
File format | File name extension |
|---|---|
Project 2007 files | .mpp |
Project 2000 to 2003 files | .mpp |
Project templates | .mpt |
Project 2007 templates | .mpt |
PDF files | |
.xps | |
Excel workbooks | .xlsx |
Excel Binary workbooks | .xlsb |
Excel 97-2003 workbooks | .xls |
Text files (tab delimited) | .txt |
CSV Text files (comma delimited) | .csv |
XML format files | .xml |
To export data from Project 2010, follow these steps:
In Project 2010, open the project that contains the information you want to export.
On the File tab, click Save As.
Browse to the drive and folder where you want to save the exported file.
In the File Name box, enter the name for the file.
By default, the name of the project is adopted, and the extension representing the new file format is added.
In the Save As Type list, click the file format to which you want to export your project information. For example, if you want to export your project information to XML, click XML Format (*.xml).
Depending on the file format you choose, the export might happen immediately, or you might need to work through the Export Wizard. The Export Wizard opens and guides you step by step through the specifics of data mapping the information you want from Project 2010 to the destination file. (See Figure 17-21.) Some steps and choices in the Export Wizard vary depending on the file type to which you are exporting.
Work through each page of the Export Wizard, clicking Next after making your selections on each page.
On the final page, click Finish. Project 2010 exports your project information to the selected file format.
Note
If you want to export a wide and representative range of fields, click in the Export Wizard Task Mapping or Resource Mapping page, click the Base On Table button, and then click Export. The task Export table contains more than 70 task fields. The resource Export table contains more than 20 resource fields.
Note
For information about exporting information from Project 2010 to Excel, see Importing and Exporting with Excel.
You can save the current view of your project plan as a PDF file. You do not need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer to save your project plan as a PDF file.
In your project plan, display the view you want to save as a PDF file, and then arrange the view in the way you want it to appear.
On the File tab, click Save As.
In the Save As dialog box, browse to the location where you want to save the new PDF file.
In the Save As Type field, click PDF Files (*.pdf).
In the File Name box, type the name for the new file.
Click Save.
The Document Export Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 17-22.
Specify the options you want for the PDF file, and then click OK.
The file is saved as a PDF file. You can now send it to anyone, regardless of whether they have Project 2010 installed, because the file can be opened and viewed using Adobe Reader.
Note
Another way to convert your project plan to a PDF file is by clicking File, Save & Send. The Save & Send Backstage view appears. Click Create PDF/XPS Document, and then click the Create PDF/XPS button that appears. Select the location, enter the file name, and then click OK. Complete the Document Export Options dialog box, and then click OK.
Project 2010 plans can be saved in XML format. XML is a self-defining, adaptable language that’s used to define and interpret data in different applications, particularly in web documents. With XML, you can:
Define the structure of data used.
Make your data platform-independent.
Automatically process data defined by XML.
Define unique markup tags that hold your data elements.
The simple and consistent nature of XML makes it very useful for exchanging data between many types of applications. You can use project data in XML format in any application that recognizes XML.
By creating and applying an XSL template to the XML data, you can determine which project data is used and how it’s formatted for use in a particular application, you can generate a report, or you can publish the data to a website.
Note
As of Microsoft Project 2007, you can no longer save a project as an HTML or HTM file for an instant web page. Instead, save the project as an XML file and then apply an XSL style sheet.
To save your project as an XML file, follow these steps:
Open the project plan you want to save as an XML file.
On the File tab, click Save As.
In the Save As Type field, click XML Format.
In the Save As dialog box, browse to the location where you want to save the new XML file.
In the File Name box, type the name for the file.
Click Save.
The file is saved. You or your organization’s webmaster can now open it in a markup language editor, apply style sheets, and prepare the information for publication on the web.
Note
If you just want to show a view of project information in a report or on a website, you can copy a picture of the view by using the Copy Picture function. This creates a GIF graphic file, which you can insert into a report or on a web page. For more information, see Capturing a View for Other Applications.
As of Microsoft Project 2007, you can no longer save project fields to a database by using the Save As dialog box. This includes the Microsoft Project database (.mpd file) and the ODBC file for SQL Server or Oracle Server. The ability to save a project file in XML format replaces this functionality, because saving the file to XML essentially saves the contents of all fields that make up the project file database.
Although you cannot export to these database formats, you can still open Microsoft Project database and ODBC files to import them into your project plan. ODBC is the protocol used to access data in SQL Server database servers. With ODBC drivers installed, you can connect a Microsoft Project database to SQL Server databases.
To open an ODBC-compliant database file in Project 2010, follow these steps:
On the File tab, click Open.
In the Open dialog box, click the ODBC button.
The Select Data Source dialog box appears.
On the File Data Source tab, browse to select the file data source for the ODBC driver to which you want to connect.