Past Link does not copy the task but nly the displayed fields

[Arunmozhi B]

Hello,

We have a matrix PM structure. There is a master plan which has a plan for
a particular product/release. Multiple teams work on multiple
products/release.

There is a team plan for each team.

We would like to setup Master Plan with subtasks that are nothing but
subtasks in the team plan. I tried to set this up by using the 'past
special' - I Pasted the subtasks from the team plan into Master Plan.

But not all fields are copied - only the displayed fields in the Gantt or
Task view is pasted as link. I figure that when the 'paste special' diaog
appears - it only has 'past as text' option when I select the 'past as link'
radio button.

But what I really want is the task embedded in the master plan as a link.

I have tried this on my own PC. once I am successful, this will be
published onto Project Server. Will this complicate matters?

Any solutions/suggestions?

Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks & Regards
Arun

 

[John]

Hello,

We have a matrix PM structure. There is a master plan which has a plan for
a particular product/release. Multiple teams work on multiple
products/release.

There is a team plan for each team.

We would like to setup Master Plan with subtasks that are nothing but
subtasks in the team plan. I tried to set this up by using the 'past
special' - I Pasted the subtasks from the team plan into Master Plan.

But not all fields are copied - only the displayed fields in the Gantt or
Task view is pasted as link. I figure that when the 'paste special' diaog
appears - it only has 'past as text' option when I select the 'past as link'
radio button.

But what I really want is the task embedded in the master plan as a link.

I have tried this on my own PC. once I am successful, this will be
published onto Project Server. Will this complicate matters?

Any solutions/suggestions?

Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks & Regards
Arun

Arun,
You are correct in that a Paste Link will only paste the data from the
active cell when the Copy is executed. But honestly, you don't want to
use Paste Links. They are not very stable and prone to corruption if not
handled in a VERY disciplined manner.

Your best bet is to create a master plan by first opening a blank file
(this will be the master) and then going to Insert/Project. Select all
the team plans and hit "Insert". The master will now be a dynamically
consolidated file that displays each of the team plans at once. Since
the master is dynamic, it is linked to each subproject and changes made
in either the master or subproject(s) will be reflected in the other.
Keep in mind though that the subprojects are not actually part of the
master, rather, the master simply contains linked pointers to each of
the subprojects. However, separate independent tasks can be added
directly to the master if needed.

I know nothing about Server so I can't say if this is the best approach
(i.e. Server may have another better approach to handling
master/subprojects).

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Arunmozhi B]

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your detailed response.

What was confusing to me was that when I copy from source - I do 'Copy task'
and not 'Copy cell' Hence should it not copy the entire task and past the
link to the entire task in the master?

The project insertion idea works great - but the problem I have is that the
structure of the master plan and the team plans are different (tasks are
organised differently for budgetory & phase wise tracking reasons) and hence
I am venturing into this link idea. - You mentioned in one of your earlier
posts 'are you brave...' - Looks like I am trying to be brave...!

I will search on Project server pages if there are any additional
functionality along these lines and post any useful tips if I find.

Once again thank you very much for your response.

Arun

 

[John]

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your detailed response.

What was confusing to me was that when I copy from source - I do 'Copy task'
and not 'Copy cell' Hence should it not copy the entire task and past the
link to the entire task in the master?

The project insertion idea works great - but the problem I have is that the
structure of the master plan and the team plans are different (tasks are
organised differently for budgetory & phase wise tracking reasons) and hence
I am venturing into this link idea. - You mentioned in one of your earlier
posts 'are you brave...' - Looks like I am trying to be brave...!

I will search on Project server pages if there are any additional
functionality along these lines and post any useful tips if I find.

Once again thank you very much for your response.

Arun

Arun,
Selecting the entire task (extreme left column) does copy all the
information but, if you then go to Edit/Paste Special, the Paste Link
option is greyed out, meaning that the end result will be a simple paste
with no link. The Paste Link option will only be active when a single
cell or group of cells on a task line is copied. So you ask, how about
if I drag select the whole task row starting with the Task Name? Yes,
this will allow a Paste Link, but you don't want to do that because now
you enter into the realm of asking for link corruption or circular
calculations. I've been there and done that. Take my word for it, this
approach would be a BAD idea.

As far as seeing (or needing to see) different data depending on whether
the user is looking at the master file level or subproject level, that
can be handled using various combinations of customized views, filters
and sorting. Remember that I said the subprojects do not actually become
part of the master. That also means that cusomized views, etc. are
independent of those same views in the subprojects. In other words, a
given Gantt Chart view in subproject doesn't have to look the same as
the Gantt Chart view when that same subproject is viewed in the master.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP