Resource names issue..

[Kevin McC]

Guru's...

I'd like to (or rather, have been asked to) change the format of all of the
resource names in the resource pool from the current format of "First Name
Last Name" to be "Last Name, First Name".
I have been asked to do this so that we in the Project Office align with our
other corporate systems (HR, Payroll, Accounts etc..)

My Questions are:
(1) Can this easily and safely be done (Note, we have approx 140 named
resources)
(2) Do you forsee any real problems with doing this.
(3) Should we use a list seperator (, : /) when doing this.
(4) When this (new) format is displayed in PWA, we get "Last Name, First
Name" - Is there a way that we can still display "First Name Last Name" in
PWA.

As ever, thanks for all of your help....

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Kevin McC --

1. Yes, this can be done safely. Simply retype each resource name in the
format Last Name First Name.

2. I don't see any problems if everyone understands how the names are
configured. The benefit is that the system will alphabetize your resource
names correctly by last name, probably making it easier for project managers
to locate their resources in the Build Team from Enterprise dialog.

3. DO NOT even attempt to use a list separator character in your list of
resource names. Special characters in resource names can cause errors in
the OLAP cube and can prevent it from rebuilding.

4. You could use a custom enterprise Resource text field for this purpose.
You would need to retype the names back in their original order and you
would also need to customize a number of Views in PWA to include this new
field.

In regard to #4 above, given the fact that you've been asked to change the
naming order of your resources to Last Name First Name, why would you need
to show the names as First Name Last Name in PWA? Who asked for this
change? Can't they make up their minds?

Hope this helps.

 

[Kevin McC]

Thanx Dale...

As ever your quick response has answered/satisfied my questions..you have
(once again) been a great help....

In response to your comments on Q4 - its only me thinking that it would
(perhaps) be more pleasing to see your name on the screen as it should
be...thats all..

(Sometimes it feels like you are actually sitting only a few desks away in
this office!!!).

Cheers,
Kevin.

PS - I finally found time to have a really good look around the
"projectserverexperts.com" website....A very excellent resource - I quickly
passed the url to the rest of our team - and insisted that they use it as one
of their primary help resources.
Note: our other primary resources are (a) this Discussion group, (b) Tim
Pyron's book - 'Using Project 2003' (c) Microsoft online help...

--
Kevin,
Perth, Western Australia
-----------------------------

Kevin McC --

1. Yes, this can be done safely. Simply retype each resource name in the
format Last Name First Name.

2. I don't see any problems if everyone understands how the names are
configured. The benefit is that the system will alphabetize your resource
names correctly by last name, probably making it easier for project managers
to locate their resources in the Build Team from Enterprise dialog.

3. DO NOT even attempt to use a list separator character in your list of
resource names. Special characters in resource names can cause errors in
the OLAP cube and can prevent it from rebuilding.

4. You could use a custom enterprise Resource text field for this purpose.
You would need to retype the names back in their original order and you
would also need to customize a number of Views in PWA to include this new
field.

In regard to #4 above, given the fact that you've been asked to change the
naming order of your resources to Last Name First Name, why would you need
to show the names as First Name Last Name in PWA? Who asked for this
change? Can't they make up their minds?

Hope this helps.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Kevin McC --

Thanks for the kind compliments!

Thanx Dale...

As ever your quick response has answered/satisfied my questions..you have
(once again) been a great help....

In response to your comments on Q4 - its only me thinking that it would
(perhaps) be more pleasing to see your name on the screen as it should
be...thats all..

(Sometimes it feels like you are actually sitting only a few desks away in
this office!!!).

Cheers,
Kevin.

PS - I finally found time to have a really good look around the
"projectserverexperts.com" website....A very excellent resource - I
quickly
passed the url to the rest of our team - and insisted that they use it as
one
of their primary help resources.
Note: our other primary resources are (a) this Discussion group, (b) Tim
Pyron's book - 'Using Project 2003' (c) Microsoft online help...

 

[Reid McTaggart]

When I do this for clients, if there are more than a handful of resources, I
use a spreadsheet program such as Excel to flip the names around. It saves
time and typos.

It's easy to write a formula to put the first name after the last name; then
just a quick scan to spot and fix cases in which people have middle names.
--
Reid McTaggart
Alegient, Inc., Houston
Project Server Experts
Microsoft Certified Partner

Kevin McC --

1. Yes, this can be done safely. Simply retype each resource name in the
format Last Name First Name.

2. I don't see any problems if everyone understands how the names are
configured. The benefit is that the system will alphabetize your resource
names correctly by last name, probably making it easier for project managers
to locate their resources in the Build Team from Enterprise dialog.

3. DO NOT even attempt to use a list separator character in your list of
resource names. Special characters in resource names can cause errors in
the OLAP cube and can prevent it from rebuilding.

4. You could use a custom enterprise Resource text field for this purpose.
You would need to retype the names back in their original order and you
would also need to customize a number of Views in PWA to include this new
field.

In regard to #4 above, given the fact that you've been asked to change the
naming order of your resources to Last Name First Name, why would you need
to show the names as First Name Last Name in PWA? Who asked for this
change? Can't they make up their minds?

Hope this helps.