Creating Project XML Data | Microsoft Office Project 2003 Inside Out

Microsoft Project plans can now be saved in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format. XML is a self-defining, adaptable language that's used to define and interpret data between different applications, particularly in Web documents. With XML, you can:

Define the structure of data used.
Have your data be platform-independent.
Automatically process data defined by XML.
Define your own unique markup tags that hold your data elements.

New Feature The simple and consistent nature of XML makes it very useful for exchanging data between many types of applications. Use the XML Reporting Wizard Component Object Model (COM) add-in to save your project as an XML file. You can use this project XML data in any applications that recognize XML.

By creating and applying an XSL template to the XML data, you can determine which project data is used and how it's formatted. Two sample XSL templates for HTML files are provided with Microsoft Project. If you're using your own XSL template for your project report, be sure that it's created and ready on your computer or network before running the wizard.

To generate a report using the XML Reporting Wizard, follow these steps:

Click View, Toolbars, Analysis to show the Analysis toolbar.
On the Analysis toolbar, click XML Reporting Wizard.
On the first page of the XML Reporting Wizard, click Next.
In the Specify XML File wizard page, make sure that the New File option is selected and then click Next.
In the browser window that appears, navigate to the location on your computer or network where you want to save the new XML file containing your project data. In the File Name box, enter a filename, and then click Save.

The Select The Transform To Apply Wizard page appears.
Click the Browse button to find and select the XSL template to apply to your data. The template you choose will determine the format and content of your project XML report. Click Open .
In the wizard again, with the path to your selected XSL in the Location box, click Next.
In the Complete The Report Wizard page, click Preview.

Your browser opens with the new XML report.
In the Windows taskbar, click the browser button to review your report.
Return to Microsoft Project. If you're happy with the report, click Save. Navigate to the location you want, enter a name for the report, and then click Save.

If you want to change the report before saving it, click the Back button to return to previous wizard pages.

When you finish previewing and saving your new report, click Finish.

Inside Out: Data Access Pages are defunct

With earlier versions of Microsoft Project and Microsoft Access, you could create a Data Access Page (DAP), which enabled dynamic Web page reports that could be viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer. DAP was made possible by the Microsoft Office Project OLE DB Provider. However, as of Project 2003, the Project OLE DB Provider is not installed, therefore DAP is no longer available.

There is an alternative, though. If you're set up with Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, you can use the Project Web Access to create dynamically updated Web reports for project information. All the reporting that a DAP could do is built in to Project Server, through the use of the SQL Server OLE DB Provider.

Cross-References

For more information about creating dynamic Web reports for project information in Project Web Access, download the online book "Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Administrator's Guide." Go to http://www.microsoft.com.downloads , and then search for Project Server 2003.

Also refer to the Microsoft Project Software Development Kit (SDK). Go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/project , click Microsoft Project 2003, and then click SDK Documentation.