2003 annoyances and how 2007 fares in these areas

[Stephan Steiner]

Hi

I'm currently spending a lot of time bypassing PDS to get done what we need
done in Project Server 2003. The company has not scheduled the move to the
Office 2007 line yet, so we in charge of the Project Server solution can't
spend too much time figuring out each feature in the new release and see how
our existing solution can be adapted and if there are any improvements that
would make a quick upgrade worthwhile.

So I've compiled a small list of things I find lacking in 2003 and I was
wondering if those that are already using 2007 might be able to tell what
improvements have been made in those areas:

1) Creating a project. PDS doesn't copy any enterprise fields so I copy them
via SQL stored procedure - does creating a new project based on a template
result in a complete project in PS2007?
2) Can you set the project manager via PSI?
3) Upon creating tasks, will PSI return the task UIDs of the task created?
PDS doesn't so I ended up doing a task reload of the project, then identify
the newly created tasks by line number (task ID).. it works but considering
when creating a project you get back its proj_id I really think a taskcreate
should result in a task_uid returned.
4) Can you write Task EFs and Resource EFs via PSI?
5) Does autopublish finally work? There may be a flag in PDS but it does
nothing.. any task / assignment changes require the project to be opened and
resaved.. and if you have projects where scheduling is a lot less important
than just getting those tasks into timesheets, this is a major headache.
6) Are outline codes still using a TEXT field? This is a PITA.. I never put
anything that would require text in there.. it's char(X) or ints and writing
two new SPs for each OC (one for reading, one for writing) is annoying and
it makes the whole thing really unpractical from a development point of view
(you can't have a nice table and views with that info but need an SP that
returns a table every time something needs an OC along with some of the flat
information (i.e. if you need a task name, task uid, remaining time ,some
text / number EF and an OC... without the OC it's a simple SQL query... with
the OC it's writing a cursor, iterate through the flat information, get the
OC, return the table) but unfortunately a lot of the sorting functionality
in PS2003 is OC dependant.
7) Can you delete tasks / assignments via PSI?


Thanks so much in advance
Stephan

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

The 2007 SDK is now available for download from Microsoft.com so get your
PSI answers there. PDS has gone completely and any PDS code will need
re-writing for PSI. Any work on PDS is therefore of limited use. Microsoft
has not published the 2007 table structure (except for the reporting db as
they reserve the right to change it as required from now on. For future
proofing, you need to use VBA or automation, PSI, or read from the reporting
db. The PSI is a solution for professional developers.

So far the only reliable way to manipulate Tasks etc that survives all
project versions is using VBA or automation in Project Professional itself.

If you just want to generate reports, the new Project Reporting database in
2007 is the recommended way to go.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP

NEW!! Project VBA Book, for details visit: http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Stephan Steiner]

Rod

I'm aware the SDK is out.. I even have the final version now. But,
getting familiar with a completely new API takes time. On top of that,
my questions are rather specific.. so can you be sure that the SDK
answers them all? I tend to think that with each API, you will end up
having to experiment as no SDK can give the answer for every problem. I
know for a fact that the 2003 SDK doesn't answer any of these
questions, and I ended up having to figure it all out on my own by
looking and experimenting. I don't even have the 2007 software (I
suspect our IT could get it though), and setting up a proper
environment for testing takes even more time, so I could easily spend
several weeks until I can answer these questions on my own.. that's
time I cannot afford to spend right now. I'm sure when you buy new
software, you'll also ask ahead about new features and if the new
software solves problems you're having with the old one and don't just
get the software and see for yourself.

That is the reasoning why I posted these questions and I'd much
appreciate if anybody could give me an answer. Depending on how the
answers go I can come up with a good argument why I need some "getting
adjusted" time and a test server and in time adjust our existing
framework.

Regards
Stephan