ANN: Bulk Project Delete utility

[James Fraser]

Bulk Project Delete
-------------------

I've finally cleaned up a small utility that we use around here and
put it up on Codeplex:
http://bulkprojdelete.codeplex.com/

It's a command line application with only a few options. It takes in a
text file listing project names to be deleted and then, depending on
the options, deletes them from the draft and published or archives.
After scanning the lists of projects, it will ask for confirmation
before deleting projects. There is also a -verify switch that will go
through the motions of finding the projects to be deleted, but will
not actually delete any data. See the project page for a complete list
of options, or run the .exe with no options.

Not much to it, but it should be useful for some.

Source code and the compiled executable are freely available. Of
course, if you make improvements, it would be nice of you to
contribute them back to the project. I'm also open to suggested
improvements, but don't plan on spending much time to maintain this.

Disclaimer:
This program deletes data. We have used it on several Project Server
instances without problems, but you should test in your environment
and always have a validated restore procedure in place. The software
is licensed "as-is." You bear the risk of using it.


James Fraser
(I really need to get a blog set up for this sort of thing...)

 

[Gary Chefetz]

James:

You really need to fire up a blog, but you should continue to post
announcements like this to the NG as I'm sure you're helping someone. Thanks
for sharing.

 

[Vaso Vukovic]

I like this. Are you aware of 'bulk publish' type of tool anywhere btw??

 

[James Fraser]

I like this. Are you aware of 'bulk publish' type of tool anywhere btw??

I don't know of any bulk publish utility. It wouldn't be hard to
write: simpler than the bulk delete. One note of caution: a project
publish via the PSI has some issues that make it less complete than a
publish via Project Pro. Microsoft is addressing these issues in
Cumulative Updates, but I'm not sure they are all fixed.

Some of the differences include the population of certain Reporting DB
tables and correct recalculation of calculated custom fields. You can
sometimes see these problems when you publish using the PWA Project
Information -> Publish button.


James Fraser

 

[Gary Chefetz]

James:

The calculated field problem was fixed about a year ago, if I recall
correctly, but I do believe there are still some minor differences.