[2007] New Lookup Table in the Team Name custom field

[Robert X]

Hello,

Is it possible to remove the old one, then to "attach" a new Lookup Table in
the Team Name custom field?

Thanks

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Robert X --

The Team Name field and Lookup Table is one of the first "gotchas" we
uncovered in Project Server 2007. Perhaps by oversight, Microsoft included
the appropriate Lookup Tables for every built-in custom field EXCEPT for the
Team Name field. If you open the Team Name field, examine the contents, and
then click the Save button, the system saves the Team Name field attached to
the WRONG Lookup Table. Is this what happened to you? If so, here's how to
resolve the issue:

1. Create a Team Names lookup table, built the code mask, populate the
Lookup Table with names of teams, and then save it.
2. Launch your SQL Server Management Studio software.
3. Select the PUBLISHED database for your Project Server 2007 instance.
4. Expand the Tables folder.
5. Right-click on the the dbo.MSP_LOOKUP_TABLES field and select "Open
Table" from the shortcut menu.
6. Select and copy the LT_UID value for your Team Names lookup table to
your Clipboard.
7. Right-click on the the dbo.MSP_CUSTOM_FIELDS field and select "Open
Table" from the shortcut menu.
8. Paste the Clipboard value into the MD_LOOKUP_TABLE_UID column for the
Team Name field.
9. Exit your SQL Server Management Studio software.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sharry Heberer [MSFT]]

By default, if you edit the Team Name field, the lookup table will be
pre-populated with an existing lookup table. To avoid having the wrong
lookup table associated, first create the lookup table for your Team Name
field, then edit the Team Name field, and make sure the appropriate lookup
table is selected. Also I believe an alert pops up when you save the Team
Name field for the first time with a lookup table associated with it,
indicating that you are about to do an irreversible action (associating the
lookup table). Hopefully you got that warning.

I believe this field was intentionally left without a lookup table by
default because once the field is associated with a lookup table, it cannot
be changed. If existing customers already have migrated lookup tables with
the appropriate values already in them into Project Server 2007, then they
can just attach the existing lookup table to the Team Name custom field.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Sharry --

Thank you much for your helpful comments. Unfortunately the decision to
omit a default Team Names lookup table creates a potential problem for
people who explore Project Server 2007 before they actually begin
configuring the system. I knew the solution to Robert X's problem because
my boss, Gary Chefetz MVP, also had the same issue. When he examined the
default Team Name field while exploring the system with me, he clicked the
Save button and accidentally saved the changes to the field, linking it to
the wrong Lookup Table. I don't remember that there was a final warning
about this, but I could be wrong. Anyway, after he made the seemingly
irreversible mistake, he figured out how to fix the problem in the Published
database. In my response to Robert X, you see those same steps.

So, although I understand Microsoft's decision for not including a Team
Names look up table, I think this will present problems to new users,
especially in light of the fact that there is little documentation on the
product so far. Could you confirm that the steps I detail are actually a
solution to this problem, and won't cause more problems? Thanks!

 

[Robert X]

Thanks a lot Dale !
Very very interesting !
NB : I confirm that there was not any final warning about this irreversible
action (associating the lookup table).
Thanks again !

Robert

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Robert X --

Because of your question, and because of Gary's earlier problem and solution
to the problem, I created the following new FAQ on our ProjectServerExperts
site:

http://www.projectserverexperts.com/Shared Documents/AttachTeamNamesLookupTable.htm

Hope this helps.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Sharry --

I am using the final version of Project Server 2007. It is the one included
in the virtual image of the sample database.