Knowledge Base

PRJ: Task Start Date Changes When Importing Assignments

Article ID: 195637

Article Last Modified on 1/23/2007

Microsoft Project 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Project 98 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q195637

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Project, when you import task assignments from Microsoft Excel or from a database, task and assignment start dates may change.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

You import a project from one of the following formats: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, SQL or Oracle.
In the Import Format dialog box, you click Selective Data.
The task import map for task mapping does not include the Start field.

If the task Start field is not included in the import map, Microsoft Project ignores assignment start dates included in the mapped assignment fields, and instead uses the current system date as the start date for all imported tasks and assignments.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, edit the import map to include the task Start field.

NOTE: Though task ID is required only for Assignment Mapping, you should also include the Task ID field in Task Mapping to make it clear which task's Start corresponds to which assignment, when importing the project. If you do not include the Task ID field in Task Mapping, you need to verify that the records in the database task table or Excel task worksheet are arranged in ascending task ID order, so that the import process can match the assignments to the correct start date.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about exporting selective data and working with import/export maps in Microsoft Project, click the Office Assistant, type "export project data to Access" or "export project data to Excel", click Search, and then click the first topic in the list of topics found.

For more information on importing selective data from Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel, click the Office Assistant, type "import data", and then click on "Exchange information between Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the standard toolbar. If Microsoft Project Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120802 Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or Component

Additional query words: prj2000 ODBC

Keywords: kbbug kbconversion kbnofix KB195637