It is not uncommon for project managers or their team members to organize project data in Microsoft Excel. Primavera P6 makes importing an XLS File task related project data possible.
Manual entry of task related project data into Primavera P6 Professional quickly becomes laborious. It is more efficient to import the project data directly from Microsoft Excel. Primavera P6 Professional supports several data types and their mapping to Microsoft Excel data types. In this way it is possible to import activity tasks and the myriad of project data, e.g. codes, trades, factors, and expenses, associated with them.
This article demonstrates importing an XLS file task related project data directly into Primavera P6 Professional.
Our demonstration project data file is displayed in Figure 1.
Figure 1
This spreadsheet file simply lists tasks and related project data. Importing this spreadsheet requires to use of several different data types. Activity ID, Status, Task_Name, and Duration are standard data types and are automatically mapped for us. We plan to read in Cost_Code as text. Trade will be an activity code including the following values: STRUCT, ELEC, PIPE, and HVAC. Expense is a cost data type, and Value_Factor is a number data type.
We begin by creating user defined fields (UDF) in Primavera P6 Professional. Select Enterprise | User Defined Fields…, Figure 2.
Figure 2
Code_Code will be read in as text. In the User Defined Fields dialog set the target to activities, and click +Add, Figure 3.
Figure 3
Enter the name Cost Code and set the data type to Text. Enter another activity UDF named Expense, and data type Cost, Figure 4.
Figure 4
Finally, enter a UDF named Value Factor and data type number, Figure 5.
Figure 5
Great! We have defined all our UDF data types.
Continue by creating activity codes for the skill trades. Select Enterprise | Activity Codes, Figure 6.
Figure 6
In the Activity Codes dialog select modify, Figure 7.
Figure 7
Enter +Add, Figure 8.
Figure 8
Set the activity code name to Trade and the max length to 12. Click close. In Figure 9 we enter the following trade codes: STRUCT, ELEC, PIPE, HVAC.
Figure 9
Perfect! We are now done defining our data types. In Figure 10 we set the column headings as desired and enter 1 activity.
Figure 10
We now export this one activity schedule. Select File | Export, Figure 11.
Figure 11
In the export dialog toggle spreadsheet – (XLS) and click next, Figure 12.
Figure 12
Export the types activities and expenses, Figure 13.
Figure 13
Toggle to export PROJECT DATA, Figure 14, and click next.
Figure 14
In the select template dialog we choose Task Data and click modify, Figure 15.
Figure 15
In Figure 16 we select the desired column headings for our export.
Figure 16
Note some of these variables like activity status are required for the export. You cannot deselect them. Select Ok and next, Figure 17.
Figure 17
Our spreadsheet data column headings and single activity are as displayed in Figure 18.
Figure 18
In Figure 19 we copy and paste our project data in the exported spreadsheet. Everything looks good! We are ready to import to P6.
Figure 19
Select File | Import, Figure 20.
Figure 20
Toggle spreadsheet – (XLS), Figure 21, and click next.
Figure 21
Our project data appears as displayed in Figure 22.
Figure 22
Note that our activity finish dates match the original durations. Expense is the total cost of the activity. It is summed at the top. The value factor, a number, is also summed at the top.
Summary
We still have a ways to go before we have a working schedule, but we saved ourselves a lot of tedious data entry by importing an XLS file with task related project data directly from Microsoft Excel. Proficiency in exporting and importing project data may require some trial and error before learning to extend to the full capabilities of Primavera P6 Professional.
You may want to also explore importing an XLS file with activity relationships, and, perhaps, resources, which Primavera P6 is capable of doing. You may find, however, that your imported relationship project data generates less than a working schedule. Still importing to P6 provides a short cut to meticulous data entry.