Approved budget field in portfolio analyzer

[Ed]

Hi all,

I think (I'm worried) that this will be a simple answer (no you can't), but
I'm going to ask the question anyway!
I have added a custom field to enterprise for "Approved budget", at the
moment as a custom field it neatly shows up in the 'Edit' area from the
project centre which makes it easy to edit for an administrator but doesn't
show up in Portfolio Analyzer which makes it less helpful than it could be.
I would like to get this field into portfolio analyzer. I realise that only
outline codes travel to PA so my question is - How do I do it?

Thanks,

 

[Marc Soester]

Hi Ed,

You are very right by saying that only outline codes travel to the OLAP
Cube"out of the box". You will need to extend your Cube manualy to include
your custom code. In order to achieve this, you will need to know how
Analysis Server works. In a nuthsell. All required informaiton is stored in
the Project Server Database. You are able to retrieve your information from
there and extend the Cube accordingly.
Not sure if this helps, but it is the only way to get the custom codes into
Portfolio Analyser

 

[Ed]

Thanks Marc,

If I'm reading your message correctly Outline codes travel to OLAP
naturally, custom fields do not and so require the cube to be extended.
I've looked at various posts and notes about how to do this but haven't
really found one (even the MS one) that convinces me I'm doing the right
thing. Any recommended reading matter?

Thanks,

 

[Marc Soester]

Hi Ed,

you may want to check out the Project SDK. There are some solution starters
that show you how to extend the OLAP cube with Risks and Earned value. I can
image that you find this very helpful.
You can find this information on:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/code/list/project.asp
The solution starter you are looking for is called: Portfolio Analyser OLAP
Extention
I hope this helps

 

[Reino Schneidergros]

Hi Everybody,

you may add any Project Custom fields in OLAP by using this tool:
http://www.bogdanov-associates.com/eng.asp?rubr_id=484

Regards,
Reino

 

[Marc Soester]

Excellent Reino, most impressive. Looking at your page, you have some very
nifty tools that we may need. Thanks

 

[Ed]

Hi Reino,

This looks like the answer to many prayers! I've seen previously people who
haaven't got the link in admin for the extender properties. I seem to be a
step ahead as I now have a link called "Portfolio Analyzer Extender setup" on
the admin page.
When I click the link I get a message "You cannot currently connect to the
Project Server. There may be a problem with your server installation or with
your Project Server database. See your Project Server administrator."

any ideas where to look? I used the dbowner account in the setup and it
claimed to install successfully.

Thanks,

Ed

 

[Ed]

Sorry, sorted this out. PE uses the MSprojectserver user and requires this
user to be DB_owner NOT just for you to specify a DB_owner during setup.
Seems to be running now, will see if I can get any results without breaking
the system and post here.

 

[Vadim Bogdanov]

Hi Ed,

I wonder if you managed to run PAE?

thanks,
Vadim

 

[Ed]

Vadim,

I have installed and can see the PAE tab in Projectserver however I have
sent two emails requesting a trial licence key so that I can test the
functionality but have still not recieved a response.
As such I cannot test the functionality and am beginning to have doubts
about running the software. The lack of response to the trial licence email
gives me concerns about the company that developed it. I have also not yet
seen any information from anyone who has successfully even installed the PAE,
what does this say about the robustness of the solution once it is changing
my OLAP?

 

[Ed]

Well, I tried the PAE and it doesn't work.
You get a nice configuration page where you can set the custom fields you
want in PA, you specify what you want, rebuild the OLAP cube and .....nothing.

 

[Vadim Bogdanov]

Hi Ed,

could you please contact our support service via
(e-mail address removed).
In order to make a diagnostics of what is the reason of PAE strange
behaviour, we need to get log files from your server.

Log files are located under Program files\BA\PAE\Logs folder. Could you
please zip them and send to our support service?
Also screenshots of PAE screens will be of help.

Regards,
Vadim

 

[Ed]

I'll try and get these to you tomorrow.

--
Ed

Hi Ed,

could you please contact our support service via
(e-mail address removed).
In order to make a diagnostics of what is the reason of PAE strange
behaviour, we need to get log files from your server.

Log files are located under Program files\BA\PAE\Logs folder. Could you
please zip them and send to our support service?
Also screenshots of PAE screens will be of help.

Regards,
Vadim

 

[Sandeep]

Hi ,
Its easy man ..no need to purchase a 500$ software for that..
Mail me with your requirement..Hopefully i can send you some piece for
code.when i am free..

Sandeep

 

[Vadim Bogdanov]

Hi Ed,

I wonder if you finally managed to build the cube?
Did you contact our support service?

Regards,
Vadim

 

[TCS]

Ed,
Did the PAE product ever work for you. It looks interesting, we don't have
the programming cycles to spend on extending the cube ourselves. I would be
very interested in your experience.

 

[Gegga]

We implemented the PAE product in July and it work perfectly well. Now we can
get data on task level from the OLAP cube. I added week to the time dimension
an this gives us a useful information when we on a weekly basis report hours
spent to our customers. In addition we have added custom outline codes so I
can really recommend this product.