Microsoft Project Settings

As the administrator, it is your responsibility to set up and maintain the PPM Connector for Microsoft Project. When you log on to the application as an administrator, you can select the Microsoft Project Settings tab in the Configuration module to access the administrative tools for the PPM Connector for Microsoft Project product. You can use the Microsoft Project Settings tab to configure how users in your organization can use Microsoft Project with Mariner 2008.

Mapping attributes to Microsoft Project

The administrator determines the default Microsoft Project task attributes that must be published from a plan to an item. Users can modify this list for individual items. You need to create the attributes in the System Settings module prior to attempting to map them to Microsoft Project attributes. Further, attributes added specifically for the purpose of mapping to Microsoft Project must be added to the item types (such as project) for them to appear in the attribute mapping dialog.

To map attributes between Mariner 2008 and Microsoft Project
  1. From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Configuration.
  2. Select the Microsoft Project Settings tab.
  3. On the Publish Attributes tab, select the options for when a user of the PPM Connector for Microsoft Project publishes information to Mariner 2008 from Microsoft Project. Select Allow User To Override Attribute Selection to let users choose their own attributes in Microsoft Project.
  4. On the Refresh Attributes tab, select the options for when a user of the PPM Connector for Microsoft Project refreshes Mariner 2008 information to Mariner 2008 from Microsoft Project. Select Allow User To Override Attribute Selection to let users choose their own attributes in Microsoft Project. Select Allow User To Reorder Attributes to let users set the attribute order while using Microsoft Project.
  5. On the Attribute Mappings tab, select the mappings between Mariner 2008 attributes and Microsoft Project attributes for tasks, resources and assignments. These settings will apply to all items for all users, unless users are allowed to override attribute selections.
  6. Click Save.

Setting publish attributes

As an administrator, you determine the Microsoft Project task attributes that must be published from a plan to an item.

To publish attributes
  1. From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Configuration.
  2. Select the Microsoft Project Settings tab.
  3. Select the Publish Attributes tab.
  4. On the Task Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes.
  5. On the Resource Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes.
  6. On the Assignment Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes.
  7. For each tab, you can allow users of Microsoft Project to override attributes defined here (and to select their own attributes) by selecting Allow User To Override Attribute Selection.
  8. Click Save.

Setting refresh attributes

When a plan is refreshed with information from the associated project, there may be a specific set of attributes. Information about an item that shows in a box or column of a view that your organization always wants to be refreshed. For example, your organization may always want to refresh the Actual Finish attribute for tasks. Therefore, you can set this as a refresh attribute and the next time an item owner refreshes their plan, the corresponding information from the associated item appears in the Actual Finish attribute for the plan. You can allow users to make their own attribute selection and to reorder attributes, if you so choose.

To set attributes to refresh
  1. From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Configuration.
  2. Select the Microsoft Project Settings tab.
  3. Select the Refresh Attributes tab.
  4. On the Task Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes.
  5. On the Resource Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes. You can include resource calendars (Include Calendars) and resource rates (Include Rates).
  6. On the Assignment Attributes tab, select the attributes you want to be available from the list of available attributes.
  7. For each tab, you can allow users of Microsoft Project to override attributes defined here (and to select their own attributes) by selecting Allow User To Override Attribute Selection.
  8. For each tab, you can allow users of Microsoft Project to reorder the attributes when refreshing data by selecting Allow User To Reorder Attributes.
  9. Click Save.