Archive for November, 2007
SP1 before Christmas — Now there’s a good present
29 November 2007
It looks like the release date for SP1 for Office 2007 (which includes Project and Project Server) will be Tuesday, December 11, 2007.
Popularity: 1% [?]
EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool released to CodePlex
28 November 2007The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool solution starter was published on CodePlex today: http://www.codeplex.com/EPMDatapop
The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool enables you to load large amounts of EPM data: resources, projects, tasks, assignments into a Project Server 2007 database. You can then use this data to test loads and help your organization plan for your Project Server 2007 deployment. This tool is similar to the EPM 2003 Data Population utility but contains more features plus since the sources are provided you can customize it to fit your specific needs. It was written by EPM World Wide Center of Excellence (WW COE) to generate data needed to perform performance and scalability labs for large and complex EPM deployments.
The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool is a Win Form application that leverages the Project Server Interface (PSI) and/or WinProj (Project Professional).
This solution starter includes a 15 pages document, a setup.exe to deploy it, as well as all source code.
A special thank you to Mike Shughrue and Michael Jordan from the EPM WW COE for creating and testing the tool extensively during scalability labs, as well as Boris Scholl from the Product Marketing Group for reviewing the code and documentation.
Popularity: 2% [?]
EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool
28 November 2007The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool solution starter was published on CodePlex today: http://www.codeplex.com/EPMDatapop
So if you need to get some sample data loaded up for testing purposes - this is the tool for you! Documentation and source code is also posted so this will also be a good tool for learning how the PSI is used for getting data into the server.
Q & A is posted in the discussion area - but I’ll repeat this one here…
Q: Is the tool supported?< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Enjoy!
Popularity: 2% [?]
EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool
28 November 2007Christophe just passed along this information:
The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool solution starter was published on CodePlex today: http://www.codeplex.com/EPMDatapop
The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool enables you to load large amounts of EPM data: resources, projects, tasks, assignments into a Project Server 2007 database. You can then use this data to test loads and help your organization plan for your Project Server 2007 deployment. This tool is similar to the EPM 2003 Data Population utility but contains more features plus since the sources are provided you can customize it to fit your specific needs. It was written by EPM World Wide Center of Excellence (WW COE) to generate data needed to perform performance and scalability labs for large and complex EPM deployments.
The EPM 2007 Test Data Population Tool is a Win Form application that leverages the Project Server Interface (PSI) and/or WinProj (Project Professional).
This solution starter includes a 15 pages document, a setup.exe to deploy it, as well as all source code.
A special thank you to Mike Shughrue and Michael Jordan from the EPM WW COE for creating and testing the tool extensively during scalability labs, as well as Boris Scholl from the Product Marketing Group for reviewing the code and documentation.
About CodePlex
CodePlex is Microsoft’s open source project hosting web site. You can use CodePlex to create new projects to share with the world, join others who have already started their own projects, or use the applications on this site and provide feedback. A word about Microsoft’s role: Microsoft does not control, review, revise, endorse or distribute the third party projects on this site. Microsoft is hosting the CodePlex site solely as a web storage site as a service to the developer community.
Q&A
Q: Is the tool supported?
A: There is no support in terms of CSS/PSS. We expect the support being a CodePlex community effort. Please note that the customization code uses standard supported web service calls available out of the box in EPM2007.
Q: Is the tool free?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I distribute the tool and the source code to customers and partners?
A: Customers and Partners can use both. Please point them to CodePlex as they have to agree on the license terms
Q: Can a partner distribute the tool and code as is?
A: No, but he can point his customer to the website to download it, so he makes sure that the customer agrees with the license terms.
Q: Can a customer install the customization and use it?
A: Yes the customer can, but he/she is responsible for testing it and running it.
Q: Can I suggest changes to it?
A: Yes, join the CodePlex community or send us an email: epmssdev@microsoft.com
Q: Will this tool be distributed in other ways (i.e. DVDs)?
A: No.
Q: What skills do I need to modify or change the tool?
A: C#, Project Server Interface, and a good understanding of the EPM 2007 data schema.
Q: I’m trying to modify the code and do have questions. Who do I ask?
A: Go to the EPMDatapop discussion forum on CodePlex.
Regards,
Christophe Fiessinger
Popularity: 2% [?]
Help with Help
26 November 2007It can sometimes be a bit challenging to find just the right spot among Microsoft’s many web sites to find that solution to your Project question. Here is a quick list of the major sites that contain Project help content:
Office online
Office Online is the primary spot to find Help content about all Office products. You can specify where you want to search for Help, and you can restrict the scope of your search to online or offline or to a specific category within a program. You can search for up-to-date Help, templates, training, videos, or additional online content .
Go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/FX100487771033.aspx
Popular links:
Project Roadmap–http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/ha102143771033.aspx?pid=ch102202741033
Available fields–http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/HA102369301033.aspx?pid=CH100788901033
RSS feeds for Project– http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/ha102127501033.aspx
Community resources– http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/HA011587371033.aspx?pid=CH010685781033
Coming soon:
Project Management Quick Reference Guide (downloadable Word template)
MSDN
If you are Developer, you want to go to MSDN. MSDN provides articles, whitepapers, interviews, and sample code for software developers using Microsoft products.
Go to http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905469.aspx
Popular links:
Portfolio Server download materials–http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=18848D8B-6784-4E6A-B716-96D571EEB676&displaylang=en
Project 2007 SDK–http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=2672f6f9-7028-4b30-99a2-18cb1eed1abe&displaylang=en
ed with development for Project Server– http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb456485.aspx
> Coming soon:
Update to the Project 2007 SDK
Technet
If you are a Project IT Pro, you will want to go to Technet to learn everything you wanted to know about Installing and deploying Project and Project Server across your organization.
Go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/projectserver/default.aspx
Popular links:
Managing your timesheets in Project Server 2007–http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/3e36877a-657c-4299-8a3a-b259daabbc051033.mspx?mfr=true
Project Server 2003 SP3– http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c5269419-034f-458d-9255-de6c9f2a6f28&displaylang=en
Operations manual for Project Server 2007– http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/91c0c38a-51e1-4aaa-a675-a8d56cd5f08a1033.mspx?mfr=true
>
Coming soon:
Administrative Role Guide for Project Server
Troubleshooting guide for the Project Server Queuing Service
Customer Service and Support team
If you need to troubleshoot a problem with Project, search Microsoft’s extensive Knowledge Base articles on our product support pages.
Go to:
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11381 for Project client
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11388 for Project Server
Popularity: 1% [?]
EPM Connect Version 2.0 is Live!
26 November 2007We are pleased to announce the launch of the new version of EPMConnect: www.EPMConnect.com
EPMConnect puts the resources of hundreds of Microsoft Enterprise Project Management partners at your fingertips, enabling you to quickly locate the right solutions and services and connect with the ideal EPM partner for your needs.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Create and Use a Team Resource in Project Server 2007
26 November 2007
Popularity: 1% [?]
A Great Post on adding Context Menu
21 November 2007One of my colleague has created a great post on how to create Context Menu in SharePoint 2007. There are number of posts on SharePoint 2003 but it is much different and easy to understand. check it out
November 19
A couple of days back I got an email request from one of my friends who wanted to know that how can he customize the context menu for items in the document library for WSS 3.0, and the very next day I was assigned a project at my job in which I had to do exactly this as one of the requirements. So today I am writing this post to put a little light on how we can customize the context menu for items in a document library. Ok I am going to illustrate this with the help of an example problem.
More —> Customizing Context Menu in SharePoint 2007
Popularity: 1% [?]
WinDirStat
21 November 2007Do you ever run out of disk space and wonder where to start the cleanup?
WinDirStat is a great tool (under a General Public License) that helps you view and cleanup files.
For instance, below in blue you can admire the size of my 22GB EPM 2007 VPC 
Popularity: 1% [?]
Timesheeting and Statusing Data Flow Diagram
21 November 2007Please find attached a Visio 2007 diagram that shows the standard data flow for time tracking and reporting progress in EPM 2007. Might be useful if you are doing customization using the Tied-Mode solution starter released last week on CodePlex.
Popularity: 1% [?]