Delete/retract enterprise field customization

[Earl Lewis]

Anyone have any advice for how one might go about removing an enterprise
field customization? We had several fields setup early on in our
implementation and found that we wanted to change from one field type to
another (from cost to text for example). Since all of our projects were
published under the original field definition/customization (which happened
to be a formula, i.e. calculated values) I'm sure all those projects have
some "forensic" links back to the original field. Now that we've got the
field redefined using a different field type we can't seem to find any way
to keep the original field from showing up in the custom fields list in the
project information window. Anyone worked through this one?

Just so you know what we've already tried, in the enterprise global template
under field customizations we:
1) removed the name given to the original field so it now appears with its
actual project server name, i.e. "Enterprise Project Cost1"
2) went into the formula editing window and removed the formula entirely and
made sure to select the radio button to use the newly blanked out formula.
MSPS dutifully notified us that all the original values would be removed and
they would be calculated based on our new (blank) formula.
3) after the above step we went back into the field customization and
selected the None option for the value.
4) also removed any remnants of the calculations for summary rows and
graphical indicators to display

I don't have direct access to the SQL server so can't go trolling around in
the db schema to try to track it down there. Any suggestions will be greatly
appreciated.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Earl --

The answer is not obvious, but I congratulate you on trying all of the
obvious steps.

The problem lies in the fact that the custom field still exists in the
Enterprise Global under its original name, and must now be removed. To do
this, open the Enterprise Global file and then click Tools - Organizer.
Select the Fields tab and look on the right side of the dialog for the
original name of the field before you customized it (such as Enterprise
Project Text1). The list will display both enterprise Task and Project
fields. Select any fields that you no longer want and then click the Delete
button. Select the Resource option in the upper left corner of the dialog,
scan the list for unwanted resource fields, and then delete them as well.
Click the Close button, then save and close the Enterprise Global, and then
close Microsoft Project as well. You will probably want to have all of your
project managers open every one of their projects and then republish them
using Collaborate - Publish - Project Plan. Hope this helps.

--
Dale A. Howard [MVP]
Enterprise Project Trainer/Consultant
Denver, Colorado
http://www.msprojectexperts.com
"We wrote the book on Project Server"

 

[Earl Lewis]

Dale,

Aha!!! The Organizer! I forget that too often. Obviously it's there for very
good reasons.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try and see what happens. After
all, isn't that all we can ever do?

Earl