Server Automation of Project

[Kent]

We are writing an application that enforces that specific events are
implemented in project files. The basic work flow would be:
User opens our web application.
User selects some criteria.
Project file is generated based on the selected critieria.
User is able to download the file locally and make modifications to it.
User uploads the file.
File is validated that specific required events/ information exists.

This would require using automation on the server which Microsoft does not
recommend and which we wish to avoid
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/Q257757).

My question is, are there any third party solutions which allow manipulation
of project files on the server with out the performance and other risks
associated to automating project on the server? Has anyone else implemented
an application like this, how did you accomplish these goals?

Thanks.

 

[Rod Gill]

Why not create the project as a .xml file? The user then saves and opens the
xml file in Project locally and then saves. The web app can upload from the
local folder and import?

xml support is 2002+ I think. Save a schedule in .xml format to see the
structure.

 

[Kent]

Thanks for the response Rod. The issue that I have with that is when the
user opens the XML they are prompted how they want to "Import" the file. To
the user this creates confusion. The users are engineers and don't expect to
work any differently tomorrow than they did yesterday.

I have played around with and think that we may end up implementing it by
automating the project file client side using an EXE linked in the web page
using No Touch Deployment. This will give us the benefit of client side
processing of the rules and file generation, but allows us to keep it
web-based from the users perspective. It is always accessed from the
intranet and we have already deployed an MSI to allow applications from a
specific folder on our deployment FTP servers to be trusted.

Best Regards,
Kent