MS Project Pro - File lost data in Custom Outline Codes

L

ljsexton

I am trying not to panic but I have a critical project that has been in
progress for 6 mos and is about 60% completed. We have custom outline codes
defined in the EPS Global and have been using them for all projects for over
2 yrs. This project had data in these fields this morning when I was
processing task tiime updates from PWA. However, later I opened the project
and the data is still there but then noticed the check box for saving
timephased data was not set. When I set checked the flag and did a SAVE it
looked like the save started and lasted about 2 mins then Project Pro
CRASHED.... I had to release the checkout from within PWA and when I went
back to Project Pro and opened the file the custom data fields were all
EMPTY! Can you tell I am very upset - Does anyone have any ideas on how to
recover all this data - short of my having to re-enter all of it - which
forunately I do have that all saved in the PWA Views and have not republished
since the crash - but it will take quite a while to re-enter all the data - I
am just wondering if it is really gone.
Seems like saving Timephased data is not good unless it is set from the
begining of the project - doing it later when it contains lots of data may
not be such a good idea.
Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions/prayers would be most appreciated.
Jackie
 
M

Marc Soester

Hi Jackie,

I can feel your pain und can tell that you are upset.
I dont have an answer for your problem, but at least can give you my opinion
and some suggestions how to get your informaiton back,
first of all, I actually believe that the inforamtion has been lost within
your project plan. The only reason I say this, is when you open the project
plan, it will always show you the latest data saved within the Database, I
therefore suspect that your data is lost.

PS: Changing timephased data half way through the project is not a good idea.
So what to do. you have 2 options
1. You may want to talk to your Systems Administrator to see if he has a
backup. If so, try to recover the project and re-import it into your system.
2. You need to reenter the information within the project plan again.

For the future. Should you ever "play" with settings that you are not sure
of, just save the project as an mpp file. This would allow you to re-import
the file for usage.

As I sayed, this is only based on my experience and I may not know of
another way that may exist, but I hope this helps
 
L

ljsexton

Marc,
Thank you for your response. Logic told me it was a stupid plea for help as
I knew the most likely solution was to re-enter the data. But, I figure it
never hurts to ask - you just never know. The advice on the save as mpp file
is excellent and I typically do that in these situations - just for what ever
insane reason did not do that yesterday. Some lessons just take pain to sink
in good.
I do appreciate your time to validate the appropriate resolution to my self
inflicted pain. Maybe this little incident will help others in some way.
Thanks,
Jackie
 
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