Automatic (server-side) creation of new projects in Project Server

Z

Zane

Is there a trustworthy method to create new projects in Project Server
without human intervention and without MSP being involved at all in the
process? For example: an XML import mechanism or some sort of API.
 
T

Tony

There are only two ways to programmatically create a project; you can
use the MSP Object Model or you can use MSP PDS. And that's it.
Believe it or not, this is by design--no hope of getting around it.
You can't add the correct data to the DB because some of it is kept in
binary fields (not worth the trouble to figure it out).
It's sad but true! Please, Microsoft, change this!

Best,
-Tony
 
M

Mike Glen

Hi Tony,

Don't tell us - tell Microsoft via the feedback options in their support
web pages.

Mike Glen
Project MVP
 
Z

Zane

Tony,

The way I'm reading your response (and reading the summary of what the
PDS is), this sounds like a good answer: they offer an API that I can
call programmatically to create projects. But, based on your comments,
there's obviously more to it than that. Why won't I be tickled with a
PDS approach?
 
T

Tony

PDS is useful, but limited. However, it's tons more reliable than
coding it straight into the database (most things you can't code
reliably into the database).

I'm working on integrating MS Project Server 2003 with a home grown
enterprise app. I need to create projects feeding information from the
enterprise app and using the correct MSP template based on that
information. Sometimes, PDS can be clunky and it's not as robust as
you'd like. For instance, you cannot set the security of a project
through PDS, so be careful which user account makes the project as that
account will be the only one with access until someone goes into the
Project Server web interface and changes it.

There's a help (.chm) file that ships with MSPS 2003--copy it to your
computer because it will quickly become your best friend. And don't
make any promises about what PDS can do until you know there's a PDS
call to do it. MSP is designed to be used from the MSP app and the web
interface. It's not designed to be extensible. PDS is incredibly
useful, but limited.

Oh, and if you use custom fields, they can be tricky to populate in
PDS. Make sure you learn the difference between a text field and a
custom outline code since the latter are populated differently (steps
instead of 1).

Finally, checking a project out and checking it back in is slow through
PDS. So if performance is an issue, be ready to use some serious
hardware for the server.

Ok, done pontificating. Good luck!
 
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