Cannot modify newly created Enterprise Global view

[Christina]

I recently created a new Table and View to be available to use in Enterprise
projects. Once I created the Table and View, I went to the Organizer and
Copied the view and table from "Checked out Enterprise Global" to "Global
(+non-cached enterprise). I closed Enterprise Global, closed MS Project and
then reopened it. I was able to see the new view in my list of Views. I
realized I forgot to add an element so I went back into the Enterprise Global
to make the change to the Table. When I copied the updated table and view I
received a message asking if I wanted to replace or rename. I chose replace
and it updated correctly.

I had to go back into the Enterprise Global one last time to make a
change.... this time, I received the following message when I attempted to
overwrite the previous Table and View
"Cannot delete or overwrite item

This is an enterprise global item that can only be deleted or overwritten
from a checked-out enterprise global. You can delete or overwrite items that
originate in your local global"

What I don't understand is that I WAS overwriting from the Checked-out
Enterprise Global.

Can anyone please help?

Thanks!
Christina

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Christina --

By creating the custom View and Table directly in the Enterprise Global
file, you have accidentally "polluted" the Enterprise Global file with a
nonenterprise View and/or nonenterprise Table. To clean up the pollution,
refer to the following FAQ:

http://www.projectserverexperts.com/ProjectServerFAQKnowledgeBase/cantoverwriteobject.aspx

Hope this helps.

 

[Christina]

hi Dale-

I went ahead and removed both the View and the Table from the table on the
Right (Checked out Enterprise Global). Of course, they are both still listed
in their respective tabs on the left (Global + cached enterprise). So does
that mean that the table and view are now part of only the global.mpt file on
my pc?

I apologize for my lack of understanding. I was trying to create a new view
for our organization and didn't realize it shouldn't be created directly in
Enterprise Global. I referred to a couple of MSPE's books but found myself
getting a little confused on the proper procedure.

So, is the best way to create the view in a local project ,then open
Enterprise Global, and then copy the view from Global +cached enterprise into
Checked Out Enterprise? Or am I way off base.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!
Christina

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Christina:

You can create a view directly in the Enterprise Global, but this is risky
and not a best practice. Your mis-step, in this case, was to copy it into
your local mpt. If you want to create an Enterprise view, it must live only
in the E-global and not in your local mpt as this causes the conflict error
your received.

Best practice is:

Start Project connected to the server
In the blank project file Project 1, or whatever number is open, create your
table, filter, grouping and view
When you're done creating these objects, open the E-Global and copy them in
and save and close the E-global.
Destroy the current project by closing without saving, or if you are
uncertain whether the objects got copied, save the project file as a local
mpp file and close it
Next exit and restart Project, the view should be available to you to use.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Christina]

Hi Gary-

That makes sense now. I will tread much more carefully next time

I truly appreciate both yours and Dale's help! And your books are
wonderful. They provide critical information and procedures that are lacking
in most books

Thank you!
Christina

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Christina --

I think you misunderstood the FAQ. When you create a custom View and Table
by copying an existing View and Table in the Enterprise Global (such as
copying the Gantt Chart view and task Entry table), the system actually
copies the ORIGINAL non-enterprise View and Table into the Enterprise
Global, and then makes your new copy as well. So, if you copy the Gantt
Chart view and call it something like msPE Gantt Chart, the system places
BOTH Views in the Enterprise Global. The msPE Gantt Chart view is a true
enterprise View, intended for everyone in your organization, but the Gantt
Chart view is a local View that is already on the PC of every PM in your
organization. The presence of a local View or Table in the Enterprise
Global is what triggers the "Duplicate View or Table..." error message when
anyone opens an enterprise project.

So, here's what you need to do:

1. Open any project Read-Only and then apply both the new View and Table
you created.
2. Open the Enterprise Global file for editing.
3. Click Tools - Organizer.
4. In the lower left corner of the dialog, click the pick list and select
the project you have open Read-Only.
5. In the lower right corner of the dialog, make sure you still have the
Checked Out Enterprise Global file selected.
6. On the View tab, select your new View on the list on the left and copy
it to the list on the right.
7. In the list on the RIGHT, delete any non-enterprise projects (such as
Gantt Chart or Resource Sheet), but DO NOT delete the Enterprise Gantt Chart
view.
8. Select the Tables tab.
9. Select your new Table in the list on the left and copy it to the list on
the right.
10. In the list on the RIGHT, delete any non-enterprise Tables (such as the
Entry table), but DO NOT delete the Enterprise Entry table.
11. Click the Close button.
12. Save and close the Enterprise Global file and the Read-Only project.
13. Exit and relaunch Project Professional 2007 and connect to Project
Server.

Remember this important fact: the Enterprise Global file is your
organization's "library" of custom enterprise Views, Tables, Filters,
Groups, Reports, etc. To make any custom View, Table, Filter, Group, or
Report available to every PM, create it in a Read-Only project and then copy
it to the Enterprise Global file using the steps detailed above. Hope this
helps.

 

[Christina]

Hi Dale- My apologies as I neglected to mention that we are still on 2003.
Not sure if that makes a difference with respect to the procedure but I
thought I would throw that in.

I will try this again using your procedure. I am a little confused by the
fact that I actually created the new tableand view from scratch... meaning I
didn't take an existing table or view, copy it and then modify it. I started
absolutely from scratch. Based on Gary's reply, I realize that I was also
copying the view and table to my local Global template, which probably added
to my confusion.

I do notice that our enterprise global contains the Gantt Chart view, so now
I understand why our PMs continually receive messages about there already
being a Gantt view. This also explains why PMs receive similar messages
about duplicate filters when publishing projects. I have verified that the
enterprise global has all of them listed for each element. Is it safe to say
that the only views/ tables, etc that should be in the Enterprise Global are
the Enterprise Gantt View, Enterprise Entry table, and any other custom
elements we create? Ie. the Standard calendar should not be listed in
Enterprise Global since is located locally on each PC... but the custom ones
we created SHOULD be in the Enterprise Global?

I sense an epiphany coming so I truly appreciate your patience in explaining
this to me.

Christina

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Christina --

The only Views you should see in the Enterprise Global are the Enterprise
Gantt Chart and any custom enterprise Views you create. The only Tables you
should see are the task Enterprise Entry table and any custom Tables you
create. There are also three or four default enterprise Filters that ship
with the tool, so you can leave them alone. My suspicion about Views and
Tables is that someone in your organization mistakenly copied all of the
default local Views and Tables into the Enterprise Global file. That is a
huge mistake because it triggers the error message every time any PM opens a
project, and it also renders the PMs unable to edit any of their own local
Views and Tables. So you are right to delete those local objects from the
Enterprise Global and to confirm that it holds only enterprise objects.

Regarding the Standard calendar in the Enterprise Global, leave that alone.
The enterprise Standard calendar contains all of your company holidays,
assuming you opened that calendar for editing and added your company
holidays. You did that, right? If not, you need to open the Enterprise
Global for editing, and then click Tools - Change Working Time. From there,
you can add company holidays. Beyond this, the Enterprise Global will also
contain any additional enterprise calendars you create as well.

So, you are on the right track, but not quite there yet! Hope this
helps.

 

[Christina]

Dale-

I helps immensely. We have been receiving the errors regarding duplicate
views, filters, tables, etc ever since the server was set up.

When the server was set up, we did create a custom calendar that would be
the "standard" for our organization, with the addition of a couple other
custom calendars for departments that have a different work schedule than the
rest of the organization. But we left the "Standard" calendar as an available
option in the list of calendars. However, I don't quite understand why that
was done. My involvement with helping to manage the server came a couple
years after it was set up. So I'm still playing "catch up" to an extent.

Thank you again for all of your help!! I'm wondering if it would be
helpful for me to find a class the delves (sp?) into these concepts. Most MS
Project classes are about the basics and often do not include the interaction
with PRoject Server.

Have a great day

Christina

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Christina --

Here's the problem with using a custom enterprise calendar other than the
Standard calendar for your company holidays: every new project
automatically uses the STANDARD calendar as both the Project Calendar (click
Project - Project Information) and the Nonworking Time Calendar (click
Format - Timescale - Nonworking Time). To use the custom enterprise
calendar in a new project, your PMs must do both of the steps I indicate in
the last sentence to set the correct calendar for their project. If you put
company holidays on the Standard calendar, there is no need to change the
calendar.

If you absolutely must use a custom enterprise calendar for your company
holidays, you will need to do two things:

1. Teach everyone how to change the Project Calendar and Nonworking Time
Calendar for every project and then mandate that they actually make these
changes. If they don't, they end up with a project with an overly
optimistic schedule, since it is missing company holidays.

2. In any enterprise project templates you create for your organization,
you must also specify these two calendars in the actual template. You can't
do this in the Enterprise Global file. You must do this in every enterprise
project template. Then, when a PM creates a new project from the template,
he/she will not have to change the calendars manually.

Hope this helps.

 

[Christina]

Dale-

I feel like I am taking up a lot of your time ;-) But that does help!

Here is the current (high-level) procedure we have provided to PMs for
creating a new project:
1. PM clicks on Project/ Project information and selects the Organization
calendar before entering any tasks or resources.
2. PM saves project as mpp file and starts building out project tasks.
3. PM Builds Team from Enterprise to include necessary resources (who have
also been assigned to the Organization's calendar and includes vacation time)
4. PM adds resources to appropriate tasks
5. PM imports project to Enterprise, ensuring that the project is still
using the Organization's custom calendar (assignments may not be published at
this point)
6. Once task assignments are finalized, PM publishes assignments to
resource timesheets.

Given that our organization decided to use a custom calendar, do you feel
this procedure is sufficient?

One thing we haven't specified is going into Format/ Timescale and changing
the calendar for Non-working time. In doing a quick review of several
projects, it appears this field is matching up with the Project calendar.
But I agree that it would have been easier to use the Standard calendar to
enter holdiays and such so PMs don't have to do an extra step. I have
noticed a couple of projects using the Standard calendar (indicating that the
PM did not fully follow the procedure) but since all resources are currently
using the custom calendar, the tasks are being scheduled in alignment with
the Organization's schedule.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to explain these processes to me.
This forum has become an invaluable resource for me!

Christina

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Christina --

The Nonworking Time Calendar is what shows weekends and company holidays as
gray shaded bands in the Gantt Chart. If the PM does not set the custom
enterprise calendar as the Nonworking Time Calendar, this does not affect
the schedule at all. However, since the Gantt Chart doesn't show the
holidays, it can give the schedule a bit of a weird look in the Gantt Chart.
If it were up to me, I would mandate that the PMs have to set the Nonworking
Time Calendar as well. But that's just me! Hope this helps.

 

[Christina]

Thanks Dale!

Christina --

The Nonworking Time Calendar is what shows weekends and company holidays as
gray shaded bands in the Gantt Chart. If the PM does not set the custom
enterprise calendar as the Nonworking Time Calendar, this does not affect
the schedule at all. However, since the Gantt Chart doesn't show the
holidays, it can give the schedule a bit of a weird look in the Gantt Chart.
If it were up to me, I would mandate that the PMs have to set the Nonworking
Time Calendar as well. But that's just me! Hope this helps.