Gary,
As usual thanks for posting. I contacted Microsoft to request an update on
timing - still unknown.
We are in the process of fixing our RBS and the enterprise resource pool
that was messed up because of this SP2. It seems to be working but it is a
time consuming process. Below is the advice they gave:
From KB 909947 :-
"To revert your Project Server 2003 database to a pre-SP2 state, see
"Chapter 7: Install Project Server 2003" in the <Microsoft Office Project
Server 2003 Installation Guide>.
This chapter simply guides through a Project server installation and
"Connecting to an Existing Database" because from the KB article 909947 -
you're advised to remove Project Server 2003. Therefore install Project
Server and SP1 as you originally did, with change to the database step,
instead of creating a new database simply choose to retain your database
(which is kept in SQL Server).
The decision to make Project SP2 unavailable was a Microsoft "best be safe"
decision :-
AH Comment - It is "Best be Safe" to wear a parachute when jumping out of a
flying plane. This is a major stuff up that hits at the core capability of
the Project Server. The fundamental reasons that you would purchase and
install Project Server are effected ....Scambled RBS -> Removed RBS values
from Enterprise Resource Pool -> Directly effects reporting and analysis
capabilities etc. It is not a peripheral bug.
1) The effect of SP2 is because a toggle field is set to true,
(PROJ_EXT_EDITED) every time the enterprise global template is opened,
Project Server turns on it's data integrity checking code and tries to "fix"
up the outline. But, that toggle field shouldn't be set and therefore,
Project Server shouldn't be trying to do anything with the lookup tables
given that they were properly saved from Project Professional.
2) It needs to be explained that this is a visual corruption problem only.
The underlying data in the database is not damaged.
AH Comment: - Only if it was publicised in time so that you did not try to
fix the "visual problem" and then it is a real corruption - and much wasted
time!!
3) Sites who don't use outline codes (yes there are some) then having SP2
installed shouldn't be a problem. Sites who have a static enterprise global
(they never open and save it in Project Professional) then keeping SP2
installed would be OK.
However :
If a site would rather not have to go through the hassles of uninstalling
Project Server 2003 and trying to find a backup from before SP2 was installed
(they may have a month's worth of updates, for example)? What do you do?
Well, there are a couple of things. Remember, this problem occurs because the
PROJ_EXT_EDITED field is improperly set. So, a temporary workaround is to do
the following update query: (in SQL server)
Update MSP_PROJECTS
Set PROJ_EXT_EDITED = 0
Where PROJ_TYPE = 2
This will turn off the eternally edited flag field for the enterprise
global. You should then be able to open the enterprise global and then see
the lookup table for the field. You may need to expand and collapse the
outline, close the customize fields dialog and go back to the dialog but you
should see that suddenly, the lookup table looks right. What this means is
that if you have a Site that wants to do some small additional work, each
time after they've opened and saved the enterprise global template, they can
run the above query and they will be OK. Outline code lookup tables will be
correct.
Will this work in all cases? Yes. Can your Site use this method? It depends
on their processes and whether or not they want to do the extra work. For
some Sites, just going back to SP1 to be safe and not have to go through
these hassles is the right approach. For other Sites, using this workaround
until the updated service pack is available is the right approach. Its a
decision to be made by the site's administrator.
Regards,
Adam
www.phigit.com