Corrupted Project 2002 master plan

[Diver512]

I have a Project master plan with 4 sub plans on a shared drive. Upon
opening the master plan recently, I received one of the typical Microsoft
"Send Report" error messages causing the MS Project session to close. Other
users with access to this master plan received the same error. The only way
we could solve this was to revert to a previously saved version. I am
wondering what could have possibly caused this master plan to be corrupted,
so as to prevent it from happening again. We have discovered that people are
using MS Project 2000, 2002, or 2003. It was created and maintained on 2002.
Would this cause a problem? I appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[John]

I have a Project master plan with 4 sub plans on a shared drive. Upon
opening the master plan recently, I received one of the typical Microsoft
"Send Report" error messages causing the MS Project session to close. Other
users with access to this master plan received the same error. The only way
we could solve this was to revert to a previously saved version. I am
wondering what could have possibly caused this master plan to be corrupted,
so as to prevent it from happening again. We have discovered that people are
using MS Project 2000, 2002, or 2003. It was created and maintained on 2002.
Would this cause a problem? I appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks,
Brian

Brian,
There are various things that can cause a dynamic master to become
corrupt, but I doubt that having users on the three versions of Project
that you mention is the basic cause, unless users on later versions are
utilizing features that are not available in earlier versions.

More likely causes of corruption are the following:
a. Have the files been moved off the shared drive and then put back?
b. Are there links between the projects that through a chain reaction of
updating is giving circular relationships?
c. Are there any links on summary lines, in any of the files?
d. Did any user experience a glitch or other anomaly on their PC while
working on a file?

If none of the above apply, can the individual files be opened or is
everything corrupt? How are you saving backups?

John
Project MVP

 

[Diver512]

John,

This info is very useful, seeing as the Help Desk here was worthless. They
said it is definitely the versions causing the problem. Anyway, to answer
some of your questions:

The 3 subprojects, along with the Resource Pool had no problems opening.
Only the master project had problems.
People are not supposed to be removing the files at all from the shared
drive, but it is possible that it could happen. Moving forward we plan to
create an archive folder on the shared drive to save all previous versions by
date.
After looking at the master project, there are some links on summary lines.
Most if not all are successor links.
There were no glitches on anyone's computers when accessing the plans.
As far as Relationship circles goes, I am not sure at this time on how to
even check if that is a problem. I can understand how it can cause a
problem, but do not know how to find that out.

They are contemplating combining all of the projects onto one project, which
I highly suggested against. I am just hoping we can solve this problem
before it gets to that. Thank you for your time and I look forward to
hearing what you think about this added information.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Diver512]

John,

This info is very useful, seeing as the Help Desk here was worthless. They
said it is definitely the versions causing the problem. Anyway, to answer
some of your questions:

The 3 subprojects, along with the Resource Pool had no problems opening.
Only the master project had problems.
People are not supposed to be removing the files at all from the shared
drive, but it is possible that it could happen. Moving forward we plan to
create an archive folder on the shared drive to save all previous versions by
date.
After looking at the master project, there are some links on summary lines.
Most if not all are successor links.
There were no glitches on anyone's computers when accessing the plans.
As far as Relationship circles goes, I am not sure at this time on how to
even check if that is a problem. I can understand how it can cause a
problem, but do not know how to find that out.

They are contemplating combining all of the projects onto one project, which
I highly suggested against. I am just hoping we can solve this problem
before it gets to that. Thank you for your time and I look forward to
hearing what you think about this added information.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[John]

John,

This info is very useful, seeing as the Help Desk here was worthless. They
said it is definitely the versions causing the problem. Anyway, to answer
some of your questions:

The 3 subprojects, along with the Resource Pool had no problems opening.
Only the master project had problems.
People are not supposed to be removing the files at all from the shared
drive, but it is possible that it could happen. Moving forward we plan to
create an archive folder on the shared drive to save all previous versions by
date.
After looking at the master project, there are some links on summary lines.
Most if not all are successor links.
There were no glitches on anyone's computers when accessing the plans.
As far as Relationship circles goes, I am not sure at this time on how to
even check if that is a problem. I can understand how it can cause a
problem, but do not know how to find that out.

They are contemplating combining all of the projects onto one project, which
I highly suggested against. I am just hoping we can solve this problem
before it gets to that. Thank you for your time and I look forward to
hearing what you think about this added information.

Thanks,
Brian

Brian,
I didn't say that using various versions of Project was NOT relevant to
the problem, but I would look in other areas first. For example, if you
have links on summary lines, they need to removed. This is the one
single most prevalent reason for circular relationships and those can
lead to corruption. You might want to go to our MVP website at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm and take a look at FAQ 48 - Summary
Task Linking.

Once the summary line linking issue is resolved then you will be able to
tell if circular relationships still exist. And you might also just be
able to re-build the master and be on your way.

With respect to converting the dynamic master with separate subprojects,
there are pros and cons. The big advantage of a dynamically linked
structure is that projects are kept to a more manageable level and each
project owner basically deals with their own project without having to
wade through a large file. The disadvantage of a master with subprojects
is that the inherent linking structure is subject to corruption and
therefore working with a dynamic structure requires a lot of file
management discipline. The main advantage of a single file is that there
is no linking structure to worry about - it's all in one big "happy"
file. The disadvantage of a single file is that multiple concurrent user
access is not possible and of course the file is much larger.

So what's my preference? I favor the linked structure. It's a good
approach for multiple project owners and given a good set of corporate
groundrules for users, there should be little chance of problems.
However, for your reference, if you elect to go with a single file
structure and those files have links between subprojects, I have a macro
that will do the conversion. It is not freeware, but if you are
interested, let me know.

John
Project MVP
Project MVP

 

[Diver512]

John,

After removing these summary task links, how can I tell if there are
circular relationships? I read that paragraph on the FAQ page of the MVP
site. I thought it was useful and makes sense, so we are going to attempt to
start there. I am just not sure how to find the circular relationships.

Brian

 

[John]

John,

After removing these summary task links, how can I tell if there are
circular relationships? I read that paragraph on the FAQ page of the MVP
site. I thought it was useful and makes sense, so we are going to attempt to
start there. I am just not sure how to find the circular relationships.

Brian

Brian,
Circular relationships stop Project's schedule calculation algorithm in
its tracks, and it will tell you so. If when you open the master, you do
NOT get any messages about circular relationships, then you don't have
any. If you DO get a message about circular relationships then there are
various ways to ferret them out. First, turn off automatic calculation.
That should allow you open the file. I've had pretty good luck with the
manual approach - start with the task that was flagged for a circular
relationship and then follow all predecessors while making a little
logic map of them. Sooner or later, the loop will tie back to itself.
However you could also try fellow MVP, Jack Dahlgren's Trace macro found
on his website at: http://masamiki.com/project/macros.htm

John
Project MVP