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Clean import of summary tasks and milestones to Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM

In Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM there is a strict separation between the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the activities. This separation does not exist in Microsoft Project®. The transition between structural elements and processes is practically fluid.

As a result, Microsoft Project® allows the so-called summary tasks. This means that further activities can be inserted under an activity. The summary tasks can be linked to each other. In Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, however, WBS elements cannot be linked with each other.

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When importing Microsoft Project® XML-files into Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, the following options are available:

On the one hand, it is possible to create WBS summaries for these summary tasks, on which any links are stored. As a disadvantage, links on a WBS summary are not driving. The schedule is therefore potentially changed by the import.

Secondly, Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM can simply create a flat list of activities instead of a WBS. However, the structure of the project plan is lost during import.

Importing with the proimporter provides you with the following additional options:

In order to obtain driving links, the proimporter in Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM creates a Task Dependent activity on that the links are stored.

In Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, the tool also makes it possible to transfer the links of the summary task to the underlying activities. In this way the Microsoft Project® logic is taken into account that a link on the summary task drives the underlying tasks.

Importing milestones as an activity to Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM

Unlike Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, a milestone in Microsoft Project® can have a duration. When importing directly into Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, the user has to decide whether he wants to keep the duration or the information of the milestone.

With the proimporter this need no longer exists. In order to transfer the information "milestone" as well as the information "duration" cleanly from Microsoft Project® to Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM, the proimporter creates an activity in Oracle® Primavera P6 EPPM with the corresponding duration and the corresponding links. A milestone is attached to this activity, which contains the information that this activity was originally a milestone.

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In addition, the ID of the milestone is given the suffix "_MS" and the same identity (number) as the activity itself. At a glance, it can be seen that this milestone belongs to this activity.

Do you have any suggestions?

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