MS Project: Importing and Exporting Project Data

Name: MS Project: Importing and Exporting Project Data
Author: Elissa Smith

How to import and export data from spreadsheets.

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Course: On-Demand

Hi, in this lesson we want to look at opportunities to import data from applications like Microsoft Excel to Microsoft Project. It's important to remember that really the basic important data of Project is stored in tables, therefore, other applications that have data stored in tables can be imported into Project if they are the correct file type. Excel is a great example. Now, right now, I have a very simple spreadsheet set up to show you an example of the type of data that you can bring into Project. Notice I have column headings that have already been created and then all the data that I want to import is listed directly underneath. I don't have any blank rows and I haven't even included a title because I want to keep the data as simple as possible. Now I am ready to import the spreadsheet, after it's been saved, I'm going to travel back to Microsoft Project. When I come into Project, I'm going to go ahead and have all my other projects closed because I want to import the data into a new project. To do this I'm going to go to file and open as if I were opening an existing project and browse to that Excel spreadsheet. And when you come in it's going to be focused on just opening projects, and because the file type that I'm bringing in is Excel, I need to click on this arrow and tell my computer either Excel workbook or all files. This will make it so I can see any Excel workbooks that I could import, and this is the file I want to bring in. Then I'm going to select open. Now Microsoft Project recognizes that this is not Project data that it's an Excel spreadsheet and it has to have an import wizard which is basically a map to provide it with direction on where to take the Excel data and put it into Project. So as I go through here you'll see that there are existing maps that you can actually base your imports on. In my case, though, I'm going to go ahead and do a new map where I get to decide where the Excel data goes in the Project data. Now you'll see that it's telling me where I want to put my imported data. In my case, I want to do it into a new project but notice the opportunities here to append the data or to merge it. I'm going to click on next and it's going to ask me what type of data I'm bringing in. In my case, it's tasks and notice here as well, that import includes headers. This means that if I have column headers in my Excel data it will bring that information over for me. The next step is I have to map the fields from my Excel data and tell them where to go in my Project data. So right here, I'm going to click and you'll see it tells me that I need to, first of all tell it what sheet my data is in within my workbook. My workbook only has one sheet so that helps to simplify it. And because my column headings in my Excel sheet already had column headers, it's bringing them over as well and this can help me to know what I'm mapping. So my task name field, when I come here and click on where to map it to in Project, I'd like it to go into the task name column, which is actually called name in Project, and the duration is going to be the duration field. So keeping things the same name can help simplify stuff as well. Now those are the only two fields that I'm importing so I can go ahead and click on next again. Now this is something that I'll be doing over and over again. I can actually click on save map and save these steps so that the next time I come in and do this I don't have to go through all those same steps again. Then I'm going to go ahead and click on finish. Now, Project is going to open and what you'll see is that the information from my Excel workbook has been brought into my Project Gantt chart. It's very basic, it only includes the two columns with the task name and the durations. Now, from this point forward, this is a new project, I'd need to go up and save it so that I can actually have access to this information again. But, the great news is you can import data from other applications into Project with a little extra tweaking. Thanks so much for watching. in the next lesson. In the next lesson we're going to look at how to export data out of Microsoft Project.

Advanced Provider : Elissa Smith 2 Lessons · 7m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Using data is a major part of the function of project management. MS Project makes managing your data easier by allowing project managers to import and export data spreadsheets. In this course, you’ll explore how to import and export data, including accurately mapping, merging or appending your data.

What You'll Learn

Import data from spreadsheets into MS Project
Export data from MS Project into spreadsheets
Map, merge, and append project data accurately
Bring Excel data into Project
Export Project data to Excel

Key Takeaways

Using data is a major part of the function of project management.
MS Project lets project managers import and export data spreadsheets to make managing data easier.
The course covers importing data from spreadsheets into MS Project and exporting data from MS Project into spreadsheets.
Working with project data involves accurately mapping, merging, or appending the data.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn to import data from spreadsheets into MS Project, export data from MS Project into spreadsheets, and map, merge, and append your data.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover Importing Excel Data into Project and Exporting Data to Excel.

Who is this course for?

It is aimed at project managers who use MS Project to import and export data spreadsheets as part of managing their project data.

What skills does this course build?

It builds skills in data import/export, data management, management data input/output, Microsoft Project, product data management, and project management.