Separators(like comma) not allowed in lookup of text custom fields

[Vivek Gupta]

Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text field, say text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I remove comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project works fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?
2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project 2007?

 

[JulieS]

Hello Vivek,

My comments are inline.

Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text field, say
text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error
message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I remove
comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project works
fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.

[Julie] As noted by the error message, lookup table values must
match any defined mask, cannot include the list separator character,
cannot duplicate another value, cannot exceed 255 characters. The
list separatator character for US English installtions is the comma.
Other separators (colons, semicolons, dashes) work fine in my
testing.

If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?

[Julie] Sorry, I don't know why. The list separator character has
not been allowed in the Resource Name field for as long as I can
remember. I can only assume it has something to do with the
underlying database structure of the product.

2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project 2007?

[Julie] As noted above, I assume this is integral to the underlying
database, so my assumption is no. Would other separators not work
for you?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Vivek Gupta]

Thanks julie!

The problem is I have projects created in project 2003 in which values with
comma already exist and it works perfectly fine there.However , I now want to
move these projects to Project 2007 and there we are encountering this
issue.We can tell the user to stop putting comma for any new projects in
project 2007,but how we do handle the ones that were already created in
Project 2003 and now opened in 2007?There is a huge number of such projects
and correcting each of them manually does not seem to be a feasible solution.

Regarding using other separators,it will cause great change in the context
or meaning of the code.So dont think that will also be quiet the feasible
solution.

Vivek Gupta
MCTS

Hello Vivek,

My comments are inline.

Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text field, say
text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error
message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I remove
comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project works
fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.

[Julie] As noted by the error message, lookup table values must
match any defined mask, cannot include the list separator character,
cannot duplicate another value, cannot exceed 255 characters. The
list separatator character for US English installtions is the comma.
Other separators (colons, semicolons, dashes) work fine in my
testing.

If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?

[Julie] Sorry, I don't know why. The list separator character has
not been allowed in the Resource Name field for as long as I can
remember. I can only assume it has something to do with the
underlying database structure of the product.

2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project 2007?

[Julie] As noted above, I assume this is integral to the underlying
database, so my assumption is no. Would other separators not work
for you?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[JulieS]

Hello Vivek,

The data will need to be corrected before opening the file in
Project 2007 as any of the value lists with commas included will not
retain the entry once opened in 2007. I don't know if there is any
consistency in the values but you may be able to get part way there
by importing a new value list (without the commas) into the project
2003 files. Again, that would most likely only work if the value
lists were consistent from one file to another to allow you to
import the same list to multiple files.

If you change the value list in Project 2003 to allow values not in
the list, you can do a find - replace to replace the commas with
another character.

There may be an option through VBA to do a global find and replace
in not only the field values but in the lookup tables as well. If
you have some talent for coding and wish to pursue that avenue, try
posting to the developer newsgroup and someone there may be able to
get you pointed in the right direction.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Julie

Thanks julie!

The problem is I have projects created in project 2003 in which
values with
comma already exist and it works perfectly fine there.However , I
now want to
move these projects to Project 2007 and there we are encountering
this
issue.We can tell the user to stop putting comma for any new
projects in
project 2007,but how we do handle the ones that were already
created in
Project 2003 and now opened in 2007?There is a huge number of such
projects
and correcting each of them manually does not seem to be a
feasible solution.

Regarding using other separators,it will cause great change in the
context
or meaning of the code.So dont think that will also be quiet the
feasible
solution.

Vivek Gupta
MCTS

Hello Vivek,

My comments are inline.

message

Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text field,
say
text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error
message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I
remove
comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project
works
fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.

[Julie] As noted by the error message, lookup table values must
match any defined mask, cannot include the list separator
character,
cannot duplicate another value, cannot exceed 255 characters.
The
list separatator character for US English installtions is the
comma.
Other separators (colons, semicolons, dashes) work fine in my
testing.

If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?

[Julie] Sorry, I don't know why. The list separator character
has
not been allowed in the Resource Name field for as long as I can
remember. I can only assume it has something to do with the
underlying database structure of the product.

2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project
2007?

[Julie] As noted above, I assume this is integral to the
underlying
database, so my assumption is no. Would other separators not
work
for you?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Vivek Gupta]

Hello Julie,

I appreciate your suggestion of importing new value list and replacing comma
with other characters using VBA.I am a VB developer and I have been exploring
on the same lines as suggested by you.Unfortunately,the value list varies
greatly from one project plan to another with hardly any conistency between
them.I will also post the query on the developer newsgroup to find more on
this issue.

Thanks,
Vivek Gupta
MCTS for project

Hello Vivek,

The data will need to be corrected before opening the file in
Project 2007 as any of the value lists with commas included will not
retain the entry once opened in 2007. I don't know if there is any
consistency in the values but you may be able to get part way there
by importing a new value list (without the commas) into the project
2003 files. Again, that would most likely only work if the value
lists were consistent from one file to another to allow you to
import the same list to multiple files.

If you change the value list in Project 2003 to allow values not in
the list, you can do a find - replace to replace the commas with
another character.

There may be an option through VBA to do a global find and replace
in not only the field values but in the lookup tables as well. If
you have some talent for coding and wish to pursue that avenue, try
posting to the developer newsgroup and someone there may be able to
get you pointed in the right direction.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Julie

Thanks julie!

The problem is I have projects created in project 2003 in which
values with
comma already exist and it works perfectly fine there.However , I
now want to
move these projects to Project 2007 and there we are encountering
this
issue.We can tell the user to stop putting comma for any new
projects in
project 2007,but how we do handle the ones that were already
created in
Project 2003 and now opened in 2007?There is a huge number of such
projects
and correcting each of them manually does not seem to be a
feasible solution.

Regarding using other separators,it will cause great change in the
context
or meaning of the code.So dont think that will also be quiet the
feasible
solution.

Vivek Gupta
MCTS

Hello Vivek,

My comments are inline.

message
Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text field,
say
text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error
message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I
remove
comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project
works
fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.

[Julie] As noted by the error message, lookup table values must
match any defined mask, cannot include the list separator
character,
cannot duplicate another value, cannot exceed 255 characters.
The
list separatator character for US English installtions is the
comma.
Other separators (colons, semicolons, dashes) work fine in my
testing.


If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?

[Julie] Sorry, I don't know why. The list separator character
has
not been allowed in the Resource Name field for as long as I can
remember. I can only assume it has something to do with the
underlying database structure of the product.

2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project
2007?


[Julie] As noted above, I assume this is integral to the
underlying
database, so my assumption is no. Would other separators not
work
for you?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[JulieS]

Best of luck Vivek. You're welcome for the suggestions and thanks
for the feedback.

Julie

Hello Julie,

I appreciate your suggestion of importing new value list and
replacing comma
with other characters using VBA.I am a VB developer and I have
been exploring
on the same lines as suggested by you.Unfortunately,the value list
varies
greatly from one project plan to another with hardly any
conistency between
them.I will also post the query on the developer newsgroup to find
more on
this issue.

Thanks,
Vivek Gupta
MCTS for project

Hello Vivek,

The data will need to be corrected before opening the file in
Project 2007 as any of the value lists with commas included will
not
retain the entry once opened in 2007. I don't know if there is
any
consistency in the values but you may be able to get part way
there
by importing a new value list (without the commas) into the
project
2003 files. Again, that would most likely only work if the value
lists were consistent from one file to another to allow you to
import the same list to multiple files.

If you change the value list in Project 2003 to allow values not
in
the list, you can do a find - replace to replace the commas with
another character.

There may be an option through VBA to do a global find and
replace
in not only the field values but in the lookup tables as well.
If
you have some talent for coding and wish to pursue that avenue,
try
posting to the developer newsgroup and someone there may be able
to
get you pointed in the right direction.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Julie
message

Thanks julie!

The problem is I have projects created in project 2003 in which
values with
comma already exist and it works perfectly fine there.However ,
I
now want to
move these projects to Project 2007 and there we are
encountering
this
issue.We can tell the user to stop putting comma for any new
projects in
project 2007,but how we do handle the ones that were already
created in
Project 2003 and now opened in 2007?There is a huge number of
such
projects
and correcting each of them manually does not seem to be a
feasible solution.

Regarding using other separators,it will cause great change in
the
context
or meaning of the code.So dont think that will also be quiet
the
feasible
solution.

Vivek Gupta
MCTS

:

Hello Vivek,

My comments are inline.

message
Hi,

When i try to add a code in lookup table of custom text
field,
say
text1
that has comma in it value then i get the following error
message,"One or
more code values in lookup table is invalid".However,when I
remove
comma from
code values,it works fine in Project 2007.Also same project
works
fine with a
comma in Project 2003.I have following queries regarding it:

1.Are separators no more allowed in lookup in Project 2007.

[Julie] As noted by the error message, lookup table values
must
match any defined mask, cannot include the list separator
character,
cannot duplicate another value, cannot exceed 255 characters.
The
list separatator character for US English installtions is the
comma.
Other separators (colons, semicolons, dashes) work fine in my
testing.


If yes,why,when
they are allowed in Project 2003?

[Julie] Sorry, I don't know why. The list separator character
has
not been allowed in the Resource Name field for as long as I
can
remember. I can only assume it has something to do with the
underlying database structure of the product.

2.Is there any way to allow separators in codes in Project
2007?


[Julie] As noted above, I assume this is integral to the
underlying
database, so my assumption is no. Would other separators not
work
for you?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project