Simple Gantt Chart In MS Project - Newbie

[swimmingindata]

Please excuse what may be an incredibly stupid question. I'm a database
developer, and well versed in my apps, but Project has me stumped. Perhaps
I'm trying to kill a fly with a F22.

I'm importing into MS Project from Filemaker Pro via ODBC a database of
about 150 seperate projects that we track. Pretty basic fields in the
database for each project: Job Location, Job Description, Project Manger,
Planning Start Date, Planning End Date, Bid Start Date, Bid End Date,
Construction Start Date, Construction End Date, Project Manager Comment.

All I want MS Project to do is import the data of all the fields above, and
plot them on a big Gantt Chart (we have BIG plotters to print).


Smith Bldg Fix Door Steve 10/1/2004 10/3/2004 10/8/2004
10/12/2004 11/1/2004 11/15/2004 custom door job

and then the next job, the next job, etc. .

For the life of me, I can't seem to make this happen. I can get the ODBC to
import, but everything ends up with a little chart of just today- instead of
the days I specify.

Any direction greatly appreciated!

 

[JackD]

Looks like your formatting got screwed up because I can't tell how you want
this organized, but it looks like you want each project on a line with
multiple dates for the planning start etc.

If there are no dependencies between tasks or between milestones and you are
just using project for display then this is what I'd do.

1) Set up a table in project which has all the fields you need. In this case
Job name would go into the task name field. I'd use text fields for
location. Notes field for description, contact field for project manager and
some of the spare date or start/finish fields for the date.

2) Since it is for display only - IGNORE the start and finish.

3) Once the date is imported into the proper text and date fields set the
formatting

4) Go to format menu/barstyles and create a bar style for planning. It
should start at the date that you stored planning start information in and
end at the date you stored planning finish data in. You can pick the color
and all that. If you have some overlap choose the thinner bars so that you
can stagger them and the overlap will be visible. Do the same for the Bid
dates, and construction dates. Delete any bars you do not want.

5) Print.