Version Usage Question - Project Server 2003

[Bryan Loveday]

I understand from reading Gary Chefetz book “Implementing Enterprise
Portfolio Management with Microsoft Project Server 2002' on page 184 that
"You may use versions for planning and then save an alternate nonarchived
version as the new published version by overwriting the currently published
version."
When we try to accomplish this, it publishes the draft version as a separate
Project Centre view but does not replace the view produced from the
..Published version
..
Also, what is the purpose of a version that can only be used for modelling
but cannot replace the .Published and therefore establishing the enterprise
resource link functionality?

I am attempting to use a draft version to model different resource scenarios
that I may then want to use as the .published version. Up to now, I have not
discovered a way to accomplish this. Am I missing a crucial concept?

Thanks in advance for any helpful reply.

 

[Gary L. Chefetz \(MVP\)]

Bryan:

In order to overwrite the original plan, you need to first save both (or
all) versions as mpp files to your hard drive, then delete al the
non-published versions and then the published version from the PS database.
Next use the import tool to import the version you want as the new published
version.

Frankly, this isn't the best use of versions.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
"We wrote the book on Project Server
http://www.msprojectexperts.com

-

 

[Bryan Loveday]

Gary,

Thank you for your quick reply.

I want model enterprise resource task allocations to evaluate the effect on
the resources accross the portfolio. Then I want to 'update' the original
..Published with the new model? The .Published is the original used to start
the modelling process. In doing so, I want to maintain external links and
unique ID's and not have to re-establish the project document repository.

Do you know of a way to accomplish? Version seemed to be the only mechanism
that started to satidfy the requirments.

Cheers,

Bryan

 

[Gary L. Chefetz \(MVP\)]

Bryan:

You can use the portfolio modeler to do this with your various versions
using various resources. When you're done, you need to repeat the changes
you decide to go with in the published plan. Versions simply don't play
forward unless you use the technique I described in my previous post, and
you're already aware of the inability to preserve external links during this
exercise.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
"We wrote the book on Project Server
http://www.msprojectexperts.com

-

 

[Doug]

A word of caution when saving a .published project to a local machine as a
..mpp file.

Before saving as a .mpp file, you should ensure the "Publish project plan on
every Save" is disabled. In project 2002 saving a .published project as a
local .mpp may result in duplicate projects in client user's Project Web
Access pages.

Doug