If you installed Primavera P6 Professional version 18.8 you may have found it difficult to import XML files. It turns out that there is a P6 XML import bug and you’ll need to install a patch to fix it.
Primavera P6 Professional version 18.8 has an annoying bug that makes XML file imports fail. I found that XER file imports still work fine, so this P6 XML import bug only affected XML files. This failed XML imports occur when the Windows login username contains a space.
Yes, Primavera P6 Professional version 18.8 chokes whenever it tries to import XML files for users that have a space in their login name. And this issue is not easily rectified by removing a space from the username in the Windows profile. However, the folks at Oracle have a patch to fix the bug and this is the most efficient and best solution to the problem.
Primavera P6 XML Import Bug Solution
This article describes a quick fix for this P6 XML import bug found in Primavera P6 Professional version 18.8.
My installation of Primavera P6 Professional is version 18.8, but the bug applies to all versions 17.12.6.0 and later, Figure 1.
Figure 1
I found this bug occurs whenever attempting to import XML files to an MS SQL and/or SQLite databases. The symptom is the software cannot find the file ‘C:\users\<username>’. I was able to avoid this bug by creating and logging into a user profile with no space in the username. Figure 2 describes the symptoms and steps to duplicate the error.
Figure 2
Again, the cause of the failed XML file import is not a corrupt file; it is a defect in P6 Professional, Figure 3.
Figure 3
The P6 Professional software does not account for situations when a user profile contains a space, so the XML file import fails. The solution is to install a patch that is version 18.8.3.0 or later, Figure 4
Figure 4
To find the patch and fix the bug proceed to the below oracle support link:
If you do not have Oracle maintenance support then you will not be able to access Oracle support and retrieve the patch to fix the bug. If that is your unfortunate situation then your only option is to avoid the bug by excluding spaces in profile usernames. Hopefully you do have Oracle support and can log in and choose Patches & Updates, Figure 5.
Figure 5
In the Patch Search frame enter the product: Primavera P6 Professional Project Management. The release is Primavera P6 Professional Project Management 18.8.0.0.0. My platform is Microsoft Windows x64 (64-bit). Execute the patch search and Oracle support returns a list of suitable patches, Figure 6.
Figure 6
We recommend you choose the latest patch. The latest patch when I was correcting this bug, was Oracle Primavera P6 Professional 18.8.8.0 (Patch).
Summary
Primavera P6 Professional version 18.8 has a bug that occurs whenever the user profile includes a space in the username. The symptom of the P6 XML import bug is a failed XML import, which is a major issue. You may avoid the bug by logging into profiles that have no space in the username. However, provided you have Oracle maintenance support, the better solution is to install patch 18.8.3.0 or later.