Microsoft KB Archive/113995

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PRJ4: Usage Questions and Answers for Project 4.x

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Q113995

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Project for Windows, version 4.0

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SUMMARY
This article contains usage questions and answers for Microsoft Project for Windows, version 4.0.

MORE INFORMATION
 '''Q. I created some templates in Microsoft Project and now I want to add information to one of them. However, each time I open the template file, it gives me a window with no extension. How can I modify the template file directly?'''

A. To add information to a template (.MPT) file, follow these steps:

 Open the template file. Modify the information in the file. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save File As Type list, click Template. In the File Name box, type the name of the existing template file. Click OK.

When you open a template file, an identical copy of that template file is opened. So when you save the resulting file as a template file with the same name, you update the information in the template file. '''Q. I want to delete only a specific cell of information about a specific task. When I press DELETE on the keyboard, I delete the entire task. In version 3.0 of Microsoft Project, I can use the DELETE key to delete a single cell; how can I do this in version 4.0?'''

A. The DELETE key functionality has changed in version 4.0 of Microsoft Project. Pressing DELETE now deletes the entire task. To remove the contents of a specific cell in Microsoft Project, you can press CTRL+DELETE. You can also press CTRL+Z to undo any action that you just performed. '''Q. I have started tracking actual information in my project. What should I be aware of when I enter new information?'''

A. When you update actual information, such as Actual Work for a particular resource, you should make sure that the task is not already 100-percent complete. When a task reaches 100-percent complete, some calculations are no longer performed. When you update information in a task, you should set the value in the Percent Complete box to some number less than 100% (for example, 99%). Changing this value ensures that Microsoft Project is able to calculate all the necessary fields when the information is changed; it also ensures that resource views show the correct information.</li> '''Q. I noticed that the Gantt Chart now has dependency lines. What other enhancements have been made to the Gantt Chart?'''

A. The new items in the Gantt Chart include the following:

<ul> </ul> </li> '''Q. I am using the Routing option in Microsoft Project to send a Microsoft Project file to several people through electronic mail. When the file is routed back to me with everyone's comments, I open the mail message and double-click the Microsoft Project icon to open the file in Microsoft Project. Then I save the file by clicking Save on the File menu or by clicking the Save button on the Standard toolbar. Then I close Microsoft Project. However, the next time I run Microsoft Project and open the file from its original location, the changes made during routing are no longer there. What has happened to the changes?'''

A. When you double-click an embedded Microsoft Project object in an electronic mail message, the project file is stored in and opened from a temporary location on your hard disk. This location is determined by the SET TEMP setting in your Autoexec.bat file. In Microsoft Project, when you click Save on the File menu or when you click the Save button on the Standard toolbar, the file is saved to this temporary location.

To save a file sent to you through electronic mail to a particular location, use either of the following methods:

<ul> While the file is open in Microsoft Project, click Save As on the File menu. Select the directory in which you want to save the file, and then click OK.</li> When you receive the mail message, use the options in your mail program to save the attached file to a location on your hard disk instead of double-clicking the object icon. In Microsoft Mail you can click Save Attachment on the File menu. You can then choose the location where you want the file to be saved.</li></ul> </li> Q. How do I set up a custom calendar that will be used for each new project that I start?

A. To create a calendar that each new project file will use, follow these steps:

 In a new project, click Change Working Time on the Tools menu. Make the needed changes to the working days and hours. (Don't forget to select the actual day or day titles that you want to change. Click the Help button for more information about making these changes.) Click OK. The modified calendar is automatically stored in the active project. The Global.mpt Standard calendar remains unchanged.</li> To copy this new calendar to the Global.mpt file so that it will be used by each new project, click More Views on the View menu. Then, click Organizer and click the Calendars tab.</li> In the Calendars Available In list on the left side of the dialog box, click GLOBAL.MPT.</li> In the list under your new project name, click Standard. Click Copy. In the Replace dialog box, click Yes. Close the Organizer dialog box. Close the More Views dialog box.</li></ol>

Each new project you create will use this modified calendar by default. You can close the new project that you modified the calendar in without saving the changes.</li> '''Q. When I open several project files at one time, I get the error message "Too many open files." How can I avoid this error message?'''

A. In Microsoft Project 4.0, you cannot have more than 20 individual projects open at one time. However, you can use the Consolidation feature to combine up to 80 project files into a single window. You can use the outlining options in Microsoft Project to collapse and expand the various tasks in each of the projects so that you can work with the detail of tasks that you need. When you make changes at the task level, these changes are automatically saved to the originating file.

To be able to open 80 project files at one time, the FILES= line in the Config.sys file must be set to 255. This setting only has to be this high if you will be opening 80 files at one time. For more information about this specific command or how to modify the system files, please refer to your MS-DOS reference manuals. NOTE: This setting may have special requirements in a network environment. Some networks have their own file handle settings that work in conjunction with the FILES= statement in the Config.sys file. Please consult your network administrator before making any changes to this setting.

When you receive the "Too many open files" error message, you must close some files in Microsoft Project, or you must close other programs that are running, in order to save your current files.

For more information about working with multiple projects see the "Working with Multiple Projects" chapter in the "Microsoft Project User's Guide" or search on the word "Consolidating" in Microsoft Project Help.</li> Q. Why don't my linked files open when I open a file and click Yes in the Reestablish Links dialog box?

'''A. Microsoft Project 4.0 uses object linking and embedding (OLE) version 2.0 links. When you open a file that contains OLE version 2.0 links, a dialog box that asks "Reestablish Links?" is displayed. If you click Yes, the file that contains the source data is opened but is not visible. This allows the link to be updated with the new information from the object (source) document. This behavior occurs in other programs that support OLE version 2.0, such as Microsoft Excel version 5.0.'''

If you want to view the file that contains the source information, you can double-click the information that is linked from another project file or another program. You can also open the file by clicking Open on the File menu.

NOTE: If a source file is sharing resources from a pool and the source file is opened when you click Yes in the Reestablish Links dialog box, you receive a message asking if you want to open the resource pool. If you click Yes, you receive a message asking if you want to consolidate sharing files into one consolidated window. If you choose to consolidate, the project files sharing resources from a pool are consolidated in a visible project window. If you choose not to consolidate, the pool file is not displayed.</li> '''Q. I have been opening my Microsoft Project version 3.0 view files, and now I have several toolbars that all look the same. Why is this happening?'''

A. When you open a Microsoft Project version 3.0 view file in Microsoft Project version 4.0, the toolbar contained in that view file is automatically displayed. For each view file you open, another toolbar is displayed. The toolbars displayed when you open these view files are given the name TOOLBAR<n>, where <n> is a number that increments each time you open another view file.>

To hide unwanted toolbars, follow these steps:

 Click the right mouse button in the toolbar area.</li> Click the name of the toolbar that you no longer want to be displayed.</li></ol>

To remove a toolbar from the list of available toolbars, follow these steps:

<ol> <li>Click the right mouse button in the toolbar area and click Toolbars from the shortcut menu.</li> <li>Click Organizer.</li> <li>In the Toolbars Available In list, click GLOBAL.MPT. Select the Toolbars that you want to remove completely (use the CTRL key to select multiple toolbars) and click Delete.</li></ol> </li> <li>'''Q. When I use the Open From Database and Save To Database commands, all I get are two error messages stating "Cannot find the macro 'SaveToDatabase'" and "Cannot find the macro 'OpenFromDatabase'." I also get error messages when I click some of the toolbar buttons. Why am I receiving these error messages?'''

A. Some of the functionality in Microsoft Project is provided through the Microsoft Visual Basic Programming System, Applications Edition, macro language. These macros are stored in the Global.mpt file that is installed with Microsoft Project version 4.0. If this file has been deleted, Microsoft Project will re-create the file; however, Microsoft Project will not re- create these additional macros.

If you have not customized your Global.mpt file, you can restore the Global.mpt file by copying the file Backup.mpt to Global.mpt and restarting Microsoft Project. This file is located in the directory in which Microsoft Project was installed. The file Backup.mpt is a copy of the original Global.mpt file that was available at the time you installed Microsoft Project.

If you have customized your Global.mpt file, follow these steps to restore the additional macros to your Global.mpt file while retaining your customized elements:

<ol> <li>Quit Microsoft Project version 4.0.</li> <li>In File Manager, rename your Global.mpt file to Global.bak. Copy the file Backup.mpt to Global.mpt. Do not rename the file Backup.mpt.</li> <li>Start Microsoft Project version 4.0. On the View menu, click More Views. Click Organizer. Click the Module tab. The modules in Global.mpt should be displayed on the left and the modules in Project1 should be displayed on the right.</li> <li>From the list of modules in Global.mpt, select Auxiliary, Database, and Schedule. To select multiple items, hold down CTRL on your keyboard. Click Copy. In the Organizer dialog box, click Close. In the More Views dialog box, click Close.</li> <li>On the File menu, click Save. In the File Name box, type Macros.mpp and click OK. On the File menu, click Exit.</li> <li>In File Manager, delete the Global.mpt file. Then, rename the Global.bak file to Global.mpt.</li> <li>Start Microsoft Project version 4.0. Open the Macros.mpp file. On the View menu, click More Views. Click Organizer. Click the Module tab. Select the three modules under the MACROS.MPP file name and click Copy. In the Organizer dialog box, click Close. In the More Views dialog box, click Close.</li></ol>

All options in Microsoft Project 4.0 should now function correctly.</li></ol>

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbdta

Issue type : kbinfo

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