Your contractor sends you an XER file with the latest version’s format. You, however, have an older version of Primavera P6 Professional that is not compatible. If this is your situation we have a simple tip to resolve this format incompatibility issue.
More often than not you receive a Primavera P6 XER file in a format that your particular version of Primavera P6 will not read. This creates a nonstarter situation that appears to “put you up a creek without a paddle”. Of course, you can ask your contractor to export the file again using your version of Primavera P6. There is, however, a quicker way to resolve this issue.
This article provides a useful tip for editing an XER file to change it to a version of your choice.
In our demonstration you have received a Primavera P6 XER file that has been created in version 15.1 and your version is 6.2. Your older version of Primavera P6 will not import this newer version P6 XER file. You are not without hope though.
Assuming your operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 and the file in question is saved to your desktop, right click on the XER file icon and select Open With > Choose Default Programs from the resulting menu, Figure 1.
Figure 1
In the Open with dialog click the Other Programs + sign to list all compatible editing programs, Figure 2.
Figure 2
We want to use the Notepad editor, which for our demonstration is a recommended program, Figure 3.
Figure 3
Normally, Notepad if found in Other Programs. Open the XER file using the Notepad editor, Figure 4.
Figure 4
Note the first number displayed in the first row of the file. This is the version number, which for our demonstration is 15.1. Simply change this version number to your compatible version of choice. In our demonstration we change it to version 6.2 and save the file, Figure 5.
Figure 5
That’s it. You’re done! Your XER file is now ready to import to Primavera P6 Professional version 6.2.
Important Note: This technique works great with the exception of Primavera P6 15.2.3 where Oracle added a checksum to the XER and XML files to “identify whether the XML/XER has been modified externally. However, in Primavera P6 15.2.5 Oracle then removed the checksum.
Summary
A simple, yet sometimes, crucial tip is to edit your XER file to change the version number to make it compatible to your installation of Primavera P6 Professional. This process will vary slightly depending on your operating system. The Microsoft Notepad works well as an editor in Windows version 7 or later. The key is to locate the XER file version number on the first row of the data file.