OLE Links

  • Thread starter Debbie in San Diego
  • Start date
D

Debbie in San Diego

Is anyone using the OLE link capability to link dates from one poject to
another? If so, are you experiencing problems with the links?
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Debbie --

Exactly how are you linking dates between projects? Are you creating a
master project for this purpose using the following approach:

1. Open a new blank project
2. Click Insert - Project
3. Select a project and click Insert
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for each project that needs to be linked
5. Expand each of the inserted projects
6. Select a predecessor task in one project, hold down Control, and select
a successor task in another project
7. Click the Link Tasks button
8. Edit the dependency type on the link, if necessary
9. Close but do not save the temporary master project
10. Click the Yes to All button to save each of the subprojects

This is the recommended method for setting cross-project dependencies. Is
this what you are doing? Is this what you are asking? Let us know.
 
D

Debbie in San Diego

Hi Dale,
No, that is not how we're linking. In October of last year we had a
consultant from Microsoft in house to tune our server environment. He gave me
a manual "Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Managment Solution End User
Training Kit". Chapter 2.9 is MASTER PROJECTS AND CROSS-PROJECT LINKING.
Section 2.9.3 states: "There are two ways to link information between
Microsoft Project Professional files: by using dependency links between
project files, or by using object linking and embedding via Copy/Paste
Special." The former, which is the method you listed, is not conducive for us
as it basically ghosts, or shadows, the specific task from one project to
another. The way we're using the OLE link is to enter 1 task in the master
project with the start date for this task set as the OLE link FROM the
subproject (possibly a grouping of several tasks) and then the finish date
for the task in the master project is again OLE linked FROM the subproject
(from the finish date of the last task in the group of tasks).
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Debbie --

Fair enough. Let's see if anybody has had experience with OLE links and is
willing to share their experience with you.
 
G

Gary L. Chefetz \(MVP\)

Debbie:

OLE linking is flaky at best, even when they're used within a single project
plan. If you rely on Microsoft's documentation and consultants to guide you,
should understand that they'll never tell you when one of their "features"
is of marginal use. Consider the source.

Use the external predecessors feature as Dale suggested. If the ghost tasks
bother you, turn them off. Go to Tools > Options > View Tab. You can control
the displays in the Cross-project linking section.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
"We wrote the books on Project Server"
http://www.msprojectexperts.com

For Project Server FAQs visit
http://www.projectserverexperts.com

For Project FAQs visit
http://www.mvps.org/project

-
 
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