Microsoft KB Archive/131526

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Duration May Change When Opening FoxPro or dBASE Tables

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Q131526

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Project for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0a, 4.0
 * Microsoft Project for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0

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SYMPTOMS
When you save a Microsoft Project file in a Microsoft FoxPro or dBASE file format and you then open that file in Microsoft Project, duration values may be different from the original.

WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Method 1
To export the project data, follow these steps before you export the file:


 * 1) From the View command, choose Table, and then choose More Tables. In the More Tables dialog box, choose the Copy button.
 * 2) Under Field Name, go to the first blank row, and type Text1. On the second blank row, type Text2.
 * 3) In the Width column, give Text1 a width equal to the Start field width and Text2 a width equal to the Finish field width.
 * 4) From the Date Format list, select a format that has both a date and a time. Choose OK and then choose Apply.
 * 5) From the Tools menu, choose Options. Select the View tab and choose the date format that matches the Start/Finish date format you chose in step 4. Choose OK.
 * 6) To select the Start column, click its heading.
 * 7) From the Edit menu, choose Copy (Cell).
 * 8) Select the Text1 column, and then choose Paste from the Edit menu.
 * 9) Repeat Steps 6-8 for the Finish and Text2 fields, respectively.

Method 2
To import the .DBF file (bring it back to Microsoft Project version 4.0), follow these steps:


 * 1) From the File menu, choose Open.
 * 2) Under List Files Of Type, select FoxPro Tables (on the Macintosh, you don't need to select a file type).
 * 3) In the files list, select the .DBF file, and choose OK.
 * 4) In the Import dialog box, select the new table that was created in Step 2 of Method 1.
 * 5) Select (put a check mark in) the Merge Into  check box if you want to overwrite data in the active project. (If a check mark does not appear in the Merge Into  check box, the data will be placed in a new project). Choose OK.
 * 6) From the View command, choose Table, and then choose More Tables. Select the table you created in Step 2 of Method 1.
 * 7) Select the Text2 column, and then choose Copy (Cell) from the Edit menu.
 * 8) Select the Finish column, then choose Paste from the Edit menu.
 * 9) Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for the Text1 and Start fields, respectively.

NOTE: All tasks will now have a constraint of Start No Earlier Than since the start dates were last pasted in.

MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft Project date fields are stored in a .DBF file with the date but not the time. For example, if a task has a start date of 10/1/94 8:00 AM and a duration of 2.5 hours, the Finish field is calculated as 10/1/94 10:30 AM. However, when the project is saved in a .DBF format, the Start and Finish dates are both saved as 10/1/94 but without the time. Because the new date does not have time included, Microsoft Project chooses the Default Start and Finish time for the task and then recalculates the duration.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kb3rdparty

Issue type : kbbug

Technology : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbProjectSearch kbProject400Mac kbProjectMacSearch kbProject300Mac kbProject300 kbProject300a kbProject400