Compare Project Versions Utility

[Cole]

I'm using MS Project Professional 2003 and added the Microsoft Office
Project 2003 SDK.

I am trying to use the Compare Project Versions feature. I recieve the
error dialog box:

Compare Project Versions Utility
Run-time error '13'
Type mismatch

After clicking OK I recieve the dialog box:
An error occured in the Com Add-in named:Compare Project Versions
Error #:440
Automation Error
Please restart Micorsoft Office Project to restart the Com Add-in

Can anyone help??

Within each file I'm using the Gantt View and within the Compare
Project Versions dialog box I select Gantt Print as the Task type.

I'm only showing the following columns within each file:
Name
Duration
% Complete
Start
Finish
Predecessor
Successor

 

[John]

I'm using MS Project Professional 2003 and added the Microsoft Office
Project 2003 SDK.

I am trying to use the Compare Project Versions feature. I recieve the
error dialog box:

Compare Project Versions Utility
Run-time error '13'
Type mismatch

After clicking OK I recieve the dialog box:
An error occured in the Com Add-in named:Compare Project Versions
Error #:440
Automation Error
Please restart Micorsoft Office Project to restart the Com Add-in

Can anyone help??

Within each file I'm using the Gantt View and within the Compare
Project Versions dialog box I select Gantt Print as the Task type.

I'm only showing the following columns within each file:
Name
Duration
% Complete
Start
Finish
Predecessor
Successor

Cole,
It's been a while since we had a question on that utility. The two
errors you report seem a little odd, that is, the first (Type mismatch)
points to a problem with the files being compared but the second
(Automation error) points to a problem with the utility itself.

There is nothing unusual about the fields in your view but one of the
problems that causes the utility to bomb is if any field is duplicated
in a view table. Duplicate fields won't necessarily show up as duplicate
columns in the view. To effectively check if a field is used more than
once go to View/Table/More Tables. Select the table applicable to the
Gantt Chart view (the default is the Entry table) and hit "Edit". Then
check the fields designated as columns and see if any fields are
duplicated. If so, remove the duplicates.

I don't know if having the SDK installed has any impact on running the
utility (I use 2003 Pro but do not have SDK), however I would be
surprised if it did. Here are a couple of things to try. First, run
Detect and Repair under the Project menu and see if that helps. If that
doesn't help, try uninstalling the SDK. If neither of those has a
beneficial impact, I would be willing to take a look at the files you
have and run some tests myself. Let me know if you want me to look at
your files.

John
Project MVP

 

[Cole]

Thanks for your post.

I want to clarify what you mean when you say:

"To effectively check if a field is used more than
once go to View/Table/More Tables. Select the table applicable to the
Gantt Chart view (the default is the Entry table) and hit "Edit". Then
check the fields designated as columns and see if any fields are
duplicated. If so, remove the duplicates."

Is there a dialog box showing what columns are in each view or are you
refering to withing the view itself?

I'm finding one of the files is pulling in text and flag fields I do
not have showing in the comparison file. I think this is causing the
mismatch. Also on that note, I found when I adjusted a columns width
on some of the columns I'm finding hidden columns. I have never come
across this before. Any thoughts?

I must add I didn't create these files but inherited(sp) them when I
joined the project. LOL. It's like I bought a car and found out it was
a lemon.

I think the extra fields are causing the problem. Anyone have any
suggestions on how to remove and etc....

 

[John]

Thanks for your post.

I want to clarify what you mean when you say:

"To effectively check if a field is used more than
once go to View/Table/More Tables. Select the table applicable to the
Gantt Chart view (the default is the Entry table) and hit "Edit". Then
check the fields designated as columns and see if any fields are
duplicated. If so, remove the duplicates."

Is there a dialog box showing what columns are in each view or are you
refering to withing the view itself?

I'm finding one of the files is pulling in text and flag fields I do
not have showing in the comparison file. I think this is causing the
mismatch. Also on that note, I found when I adjusted a columns width
on some of the columns I'm finding hidden columns. I have never come
across this before. Any thoughts?

I must add I didn't create these files but inherited(sp) them when I
joined the project. LOL. It's like I bought a car and found out it was
a lemon.

I think the extra fields are causing the problem. Anyone have any
suggestions on how to remove and etc....

Cole,
You don't necessarily have a lemon but even if you do, let's just shown
them and make some lemonade.

The fact that the creator of the file hid some columns is just what I
suspected. I thought I explained how to see for sure what fields are in
a view, (although not necessarily displayed), but I guess not so let me
try again.

1. Activate the view you are using for the compare (e.g. Gantt Chart
view).
2. Go to View/Table/More Tables
3. In the More Tables window, you will see the active view table
highlighted. Hit "Edit"
4. In the Table Definition window that pops up review all the fields
that are shown. If a field was hidden in the view by pulling over the
vertical column separator the column width will show a "0", however that
field is still "active" and will be tested when the compare utility runs.
5. Simply "Delete Row" of any fields you do NOT want as part of the view
6. Finally, hit "OK", then "Apply" and run the compare again.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Cole]

John,

Sorry about that...as I read your email I thought you were refering to
'views' once you restated it I see the 'tables'.

The saga continues. I've cleaned up the fields to only show what is
listed in my first post but Text 30 keeps showing up when I try to
compare fields but doesn't show up when I go to Edit Table?

Any thoughts?

 

[Cole]

Update.

I noticed that the Compare Project Versions Utility uses Text Field #30
in the finished file, so I removed all text enter in those fields in
both files I'm using.

I just now noticed that when the Utility completes and I get the two
dialog boxes all information from the first file columns in the
Comparison file is empty.

Name
Duration
% Complete
Start
Finish
Predecessor

Yet the second file columns in the Comparison file has values entered
in them.

Any thoughts?

 

[John]

Update.

I noticed that the Compare Project Versions Utility uses Text Field #30
in the finished file, so I removed all text enter in those fields in
both files I'm using.

I just now noticed that when the Utility completes and I get the two
dialog boxes all information from the first file columns in the
Comparison file is empty.

Name
Duration
% Complete
Start
Finish
Predecessor

Yet the second file columns in the Comparison file has values entered
in them.

Any thoughts?

Cole,
Well, it sounds like the good news is, the utility runs now without
error messages. See, we've got lemonade already

The only reason the utility would use Task Text30 is if that field is
called out in the view table selected in the opening user interface for
the utility, or there are a bunch of text based fields being compared.
(As you probably noted in the resulting compare file, the utility uses
spare fields to display the comparison information.)

I'm not sure which two dialog boxes you are referring to unless it's the
one that basically says the compare is "done", and then the legend or
information window if the user so selects.

The only reason I know why the data columns in the compare file would be
blank (and basic Project fields are not blank, they have default values
such as "NA") is if those fields are in fact data-less in the base files.

I don't have any further suggestions - it is a little difficult to
troubleshoot if I don't have the files and the problem isn't obvious. I
think I offered this before. If you like, I would be happy to run some
tests of my own on your files, that is, if you don't mind sending them
to me via e-mail. If you are interested, I'll give my address.

John
Project MVP

 

[Cole]

Well....not lemonade still get the error messages only with the file I
have refered to all along. I do appreciate your help.

I'll let you know if I can email the file and thanks for offering.
Because of where I work I'll have to check on that possibility.

I can compare other Project files against each other its just this one.
One result I think that is behind all of this is in the comparison file
(no matter which version of it is chosen as the 'before' file) the V1
columns never show information while the V2 columns do show
information. That is why i'm still getting the error boxes I think.

Anyway just posted this post in case someone in future has same problem
and realized I never got it worked out.

thanks for your suggestions and help. they were helpful.

 

[John]

Well....not lemonade still get the error messages only with the file I
have refered to all along. I do appreciate your help.

I'll let you know if I can email the file and thanks for offering.
Because of where I work I'll have to check on that possibility.

I can compare other Project files against each other its just this one.
One result I think that is behind all of this is in the comparison file
(no matter which version of it is chosen as the 'before' file) the V1
columns never show information while the V2 columns do show
information. That is why i'm still getting the error boxes I think.

Anyway just posted this post in case someone in future has same problem
and realized I never got it worked out.

thanks for your suggestions and help. they were helpful.

Cole,
Hey I appreciate the update. When we help someone it is always nice to
get feedback - good or bad, although we would much prefer the users to
be "happy campers" based on our help.

I understand the issue of sensitive information in files (that's the
only kind I worked with). If that is an issue we still may be able to
help. I can send you a macro that will desensitize the file or you can
get the equivalent macro from fellow MVP, Jack Dahlgren's website at:
http://masamiki.com/project/macros.htm
Look for Jack's "scrub" macro.

John
Project MVP