I was asked about Primavera P6 transferring filters. My response was to suggest making the filters global then anyone in the database may access them, but she said that the filters reside on another Primavera P6 database. Yes, it is possible to transfer Primavera P6 filter files between P6 databases.
Primavera P6 Professional is capable of generating complex filters. It makes reasonable sense then that one would want to transfer these filters rather than regenerating the filters again. If you make the filters global, then they will be available to anyone in the P6 database. If you need to transfer the filters between different P6 databases then you can use the export/import layout feature to transfer the filters between databases.
This article discusses a quick tip for transferring Primavera P6 Professional filters between different P6 databases.
Primavera P6 Transferring Filters
The key to the process is to make the filter active and then save the layout with the active filter. In Figure 1 we select the critical baseline filter, making it active.
Figure 1
We then save the layout, Figure 2.
Figure 2
Note we made the layout available to project. Next go to the open layout dialog, Figure 3, and select export.
Figure 3
Select a suitable PLF filename and directory location, Figure 4.
Figure 4
Login to the new database, and select open layout, import, Figure 5.
Figure 5
Select the PLF file that has the active filter, Figure 6.
Figure 6
Make the respective layout available to project, Figure 7.
Figure 7
Finally open the layout, Figure 8.
Figure 8
Your transferred filter will appear in the list of layout filters, Figure 9.
Figure 9
To view the transferred filter select modify.
Summary
It is possible to transfer filters from one P6 database to another. The trick is making the filters active in a layout, and then export/import that layout, accordingly. So active filters are exported along with their associated layout. This is a Primavera P6 quick tip that will spare you the trouble of having to regenerate a complex filter for each separate P6 database.