Linking Projects

[Brendan Tuck]

I am managing a project file that consist of milestones
from approx. 5 other projects (an MLP). What we currently
do is cut and paste the individual projects into the MLP
file and then manually link the milestones to the tasks in
order they reflect the correct completion date from each
project.
We have 2 problems:-
1. Each time we paste an updated project into the MLP we
lose the links and manually type them in again.
2. The % complete figure changes for a number of the tasks
when they are pasted in.

Is there an easy way to keep track and link these?
Have tried inserting the projects but the ID's are
retained and I am unable to link the milestones to the
projects.

Help please!

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

Have all your projects open
Select Windows, new Window - this creates a new consolidated project
Link your tasks between projects as if the entire schedule was one file
Close the new project and don't save
Save ALL other projects

Now as a task moves in one file, the other files get updated.

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Rod Gill
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[John]

Brendan,
If I understand your description correctly, you have 5 individual
projects and you want a master project that contains links to select
milestones in the 5 projects. There are various ways to do this and
although cutting and pasting is one method, it is not the preferred
method.

You said you tried inserting the 5 subprojects into the master but the
IDs of the individual subprojects were retained. That is because
inserting subprojects into a master only puts a pointer to the
subprojects in the master, hence the IDs are those of the subproject.
You can however designate a spare number field (e.g. Number1) as the
master file's ID column. Just fill it with consecutive numbers. You will
have to remember to re-number though if any tasks are added or deleted
in any of the subprojects. Why is the task ID in the master file
important?

As far as the % complete value changing (I assume you mean at the
summary line level), it is simply responding to the subtasks under it.
If those subtasks are all milestones (0 duration), the summary will show
either 0% or 100% depending on whether all milestones are complete.

I recommend using a master file with inserted subprojects. Create the
virtual ID column if needed. You can apply a simple filter to show only
the milestones at the master level.

You can also create a separate quasi-master by using external links from
each of the 5 subproject milestones to a dummy set of milestones in the
master.

Another option is to use Paste Links from the milestones in the
subprojects to a master file. This method will work fine if maintained
properly but it more prone to corruption and the links tend to get lost
when the files are moved to different locations (i.e. different path).

Hope this helps.
John