Copy PERT chart w/formatting intact

[Dann]

I am in the process of creating PERT charts (not Network Diagrams) that
contain sub-sets of my plan, so each of the teams can better focus on their
particular tasks.

I know I can copy the PERT view from one plan to another, using the
Organizer and putting in either the specific plan or the Global PPT, but when
I do all the layout and color coding information is lost. I can still apply
the correct filters and see only the boxes I am interested in, but everything
has been rearranged and the colors have defaulted back to their base values.

Just FYI, the reason I need to do this is the "master" plan need to remain
in production as much as possible to allow team members the ability to update
their tasks. So, I would like to do the work on a copy of the plan and then
move the new diagrams to the Master Plan. Any suggestions?

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

When you say PERT chart, what exactly do you mean?
There is no pre-defined PERT chart in Project and has not been for several
years
It is possible to customize the a template for the boxes so that they
contain PERT information and set colors for them. You would do this by
modifying or creating a new Network diagram template.
To do this:
right click on a box, choose format then click on the More Templates button.
That will let you create modify or import a template. Once you have created
one you like you need to apply it.

The layoutof the boxes is going to be specific to the project plan.

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[Dann]

Thank-you for taking the time to respond. I will try to be more clear.

You say <<The layoutof the boxes is going to be specific to the project
plan.>>
That apparently is at the heart of my problem. I have two copies of the same
plan. For reasons I I don't need to get into now I layout the boxes in a new
PERT view in one of the copies. I then want to copy that view to the other,
otherwise identical, copy o fthe plan. The arrangement and colors of the
boxes is lost. The template remains attached, so the infomration found in
each box remains correct, but the arrangement and custom colors are gone.

Expanding on this further, I am working in Project 2003 Standard Edition. I
have a number of view which are PERT view, not "network diagram" views. (By
this I do not mean the contain the information that would be used to
calculate actual PERT calculations, rather they contain the same type of
information found in the Network Diagram view.) Personally, I don't know why
there are two such similar view, but at least the way my copy is set up when
it is installed on my machine at work there are both a PERT view and a
Network Diagram view.

That said, if I attempt to copy a PERT view from one file to another, using
the Organizer, the arrangement of the boxes and all color customizations is
gone. The boxes appear to have been "auto arranged" and the colors are back
to the defaults, as if I had not made any changes. It's as if I was working
in Excel or Word and copied a selection (given the differences in products
this is not an exact analogy) from one document to another and when I pasted
the copy in the the document all formatting was lost. All lthe data remains,
as the underlying Project data is the same in both files, but the formatting
information is gone.

If this remain unclear, please ask again. I don't have my work machine at
hand, but after hours of usage, I am very clear that there is a difference
between the PERT view and the Network Diagram.

Regards,
Dann
--
Regards,
Dann

When you say PERT chart, what exactly do you mean?
There is no pre-defined PERT chart in Project and has not been for several
years
It is possible to customize the a template for the boxes so that they
contain PERT information and set colors for them. You would do this by
modifying or creating a new Network diagram template.
To do this:
right click on a box, choose format then click on the More Templates button.
That will let you create modify or import a template. Once you have created
one you like you need to apply it.

The layoutof the boxes is going to be specific to the project plan.

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

Dann,

There is no PERT view that comes with Project 2003 standard. They renamed it
the Network Diagram in Project 2000 I think.

So if you have a PERT view then it must be a remnant embedded in an old
file.

The layout is not going to copy over. Sorry.

-Jack Dahlgren

Thank-you for taking the time to respond. I will try to be more clear.

You say <<The layoutof the boxes is going to be specific to the project
plan.>>
That apparently is at the heart of my problem. I have two copies of the
same
plan. For reasons I I don't need to get into now I layout the boxes in a
new
PERT view in one of the copies. I then want to copy that view to the
other,
otherwise identical, copy o fthe plan. The arrangement and colors of the
boxes is lost. The template remains attached, so the infomration found in
each box remains correct, but the arrangement and custom colors are gone.

Expanding on this further, I am working in Project 2003 Standard Edition.
I
have a number of view which are PERT view, not "network diagram" views.
(By
this I do not mean the contain the information that would be used to
calculate actual PERT calculations, rather they contain the same type of
information found in the Network Diagram view.) Personally, I don't know
why
there are two such similar view, but at least the way my copy is set up
when
it is installed on my machine at work there are both a PERT view and a
Network Diagram view.

That said, if I attempt to copy a PERT view from one file to another,
using
the Organizer, the arrangement of the boxes and all color customizations
is
gone. The boxes appear to have been "auto arranged" and the colors are
back
to the defaults, as if I had not made any changes. It's as if I was
working
in Excel or Word and copied a selection (given the differences in products
this is not an exact analogy) from one document to another and when I
pasted
the copy in the the document all formatting was lost. All lthe data
remains,
as the underlying Project data is the same in both files, but the
formatting
information is gone.

If this remain unclear, please ask again. I don't have my work machine at
hand, but after hours of usage, I am very clear that there is a difference
between the PERT view and the Network Diagram.

Regards,
Dann

 

[Dann]

Thank-you for your reply. I will stop trying to copy the layout. While I do
have a PERT view, it is entirely possible that it is a function of the
methodology we are using and that it is simply a renamed custom view of the
Network Diagram.

As always, this forum has been very helpful.