You can join information from multiple projects into a consolidated project, which can be useful if you’re managing several unrelated projects at one time. Sometimes you need to see information from several projects in relation to one another, particularly when you want to view, organize, or work with project information from all projects as a single unit.
You can consolidate projects temporarily, for example, to print a specific view based on information in the projects. You can sort, group, or filter the tasks or resources of the combined projects. If this is a combination you use frequently, you can make it permanent and save the consolidated file for future use.
What’s the Difference Between a Consolidated Project and a Master Project?
A consolidated project is simply another implementation of the subprojects feature. The differences are as follows:
The consolidated project is not necessarily structured as a hierarchy, as are the master project and subprojects. With a consolidated project, you might bring all the projects together at the same outline level. With subprojects, some projects might be subordinate to others, and you’re likely to need to arrange them in a specific sequence.
The projects might be completely unrelated to one another. The consolidated project might simply be a repository for multiple project files.
The consolidation of projects in a single file might be temporary—just long enough for you to review certain information or generate a report.
To combine multiple projects into a single consolidated project file, follow these steps:
On the File tab, click New. In the Backstage view, double-click Blank Project.
A new project window appears.
On the Project tab, in the Insert group, click Subproject.
Select all the project files you want to include in the consolidated project.
If the project files are all stored on the same drive and in the same folder, open that location. Use the Shift key to select multiple adjacent project files. Use the Ctrl key to select multiple nonadjacent project files.
Click the Insert button. The projects are inserted into the new file, as shown in Figure 15-7.
If you need to consolidate project files located on other drives or folders, repeat steps 2 through 4 until all the files you want are consolidated into your new project file.
To keep this file permanently, on the File tab, click Save. Select the drive and folder where you want to store the consolidated file. Enter a name for the consolidated file in the File Name box, and then click the Save button.
If you’re just using this file temporarily, you don’t need to save it.
If the project files you want to consolidate are already open, you can use the following alternative method to consolidate them:
Be sure that all the project files you want to consolidate are open.
On the View tab, in the Window group, click New Window.
In the list of project files that appears in the New Window dialog box, click the names of the open project files you want to consolidate, as shown in Figure 15-8.
In the View list, click the view in which you want to initially display the consolidated information.
A new project window appears with the project files inserted in alphabetical order and expanded to show all tasks. (See Figure 15-9.)
3.145.7.208