Excel link

[Nathalie]

Hi,
I have been stuck on a problem that is basic and simple to solve but I can't
find the solution.
I would like to create a link between a cell in Ms Project and a cell in
Excel.
I try to copy the cell from Excel in my example, it is the work for one
day ) and paste it in the task usage view in one cell by selecting paste
special. I never works.
It gives me an error message : the OLE paste operation cannot be completed,
the data that you try to paste are not valid for Project.
Could you give me some help?
thanks
Nathalie

 

[JulieS]

Hi Nathalie,

The paste special command is not available in the Task Usage view
timescaled portion. You can only paste the information. You can
paste special into the table (left side) but if you search this
newsgroup, you'll find a number of warnings about using paste
special. Paste special links are prone to corruption. That being
said, in both Project 2003 and 2007, I was able to paste link Excel
data into the table portion using text data. Note that I did not
have the "h" after the work hours -- only the value.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Nathalie]

Hi Julie,
thanks for the answer.
In which view is this feature available if I want to link data in the
timescaled portion?
thanks
Nathalie

 

[JulieS]

I don't believe you can paste link data in any timescaled view.
Perhaps if you described more about what you are trying to
accomplish we can be of more help.

Julie

 

[Nathalie]

I am working in a company in charge of management of construction and
operation of airports and parkings.
We have different projects of construction. We contract construction
companies and track their job, advancement and costs. We don't have any
resource management. We just want to see if the dates and the budget are
respected. The directors would like to have all the information inside Ms
project, ie being able to see what was the baseline budget, task by task and
the actual costs, with the dates and % of completed. I was trying to see if I
would be able to update the monthly costs in Ms project with a link to the
cash flows report generated by accounting. That's why I wanted to create this
link in the timescale portion. If I just create the link on the table side,
the repartition of the costs between the months of the period does not
reflect the reality.
Please give me some advice.
thanks
Nathalie

 

[JulieS]

Hi Nathalie,

Thanks for the additional information. If you are generating the
reports each month from the accounting program, it doesn't sound
like you would need to link the data, just import it from the
accounting package.

You certainly can import (not link) timescaled data through VBA
(visual basic for application) code. If you have some skill in VBA
I suggest posting the outline of what you need to the project
developer newsgroup. You're likely to get some guidance there --
don't expect people to write the code for you, but they can give you
some pointers to get started in the correct direction. If you
prefer to have someone work with you and create the code on a
consulting basis, you can again post information to the developer
newsgroup with information on how to contact you by email. There
are a number of very talented developers who frequent the developer
newsgroup and may be willing to take on the project. If you post
your email to the newsgroup looking for a consultant, do not post
your exact email -- change the email address so a person can figure
it out, but it won't be picked up by automated spam bots. For
example if your real email address was (e-mail address removed), change
it to (e-mail address removed).

I hope this helps.
Julie

 

[Nathalie]

Hi Julie,
thanks a lot for the idea, I am going to post the message on the developper
group.
Nathalie

 

[JulieS]

You're welcome Nathalie. Glad to have helped and thanks for the
feedback.

Julie