Chapter 20 - Sharing Information with Other Programs Introduction The Different Ways to Share Information Benefits of Each Method Copying Information Between Programs Copy Text from An
Trang 1Chapter 20 - Sharing Information with Other
Programs
Introduction
The Different Ways to Share Information
Benefits of Each Method
Copying Information Between Programs
Copy Text from Another Program
Copy Graphics from Another Program
Copy Microsoft Project Text to Another Program
Copy Microsoft Project Pictures to Another Program
Communication Between Programs: Object Linking and Embedding
A Link Provides One-Way Communication
An Embedded Object Can Be Edited
The Link from Other Programs
Create Links to Text Objects
Embed or Create Links to Graphics Objects
The Link from Microsoft Project
Link or Embed Microsoft Project Information in Another Program
Create Links to Text Between Project Files
Working with Linked Objects
Edit an Object
Cancel the Link to an Object
Importing and Exporting Project Information
File Formats Supported by Microsoft Project
Entire-Project vs Selected-Project Data Transfer: Import/Export Maps
Create an Import/Export Map
Import Data
Trang 2Export Data
Trang 3More and more people within and between organizations are working "interactively." It’s becoming unusual to work on a project by yourself or to use only one software program For example, you may need to supply project cost data to accounting personnel who analyze that data using Microsoft Excel Or, you may need to send an entire project plan to a client who doesn’t have Microsoft Project but can view the plan in a database program you aren’t familiar with In these situations and many others, you can share Microsoft Project information directly with other programs
When you share information with another program, you either insert Microsoft Project information into that program or insert information from that program into Microsoft Project Text, pictures, numerical data,
spreadsheets, project calendars, and even entire project files can all be included in other programs For example,
if your team leaders use Microsoft Team Manager to track the progress of team members, you can update your project plan with this information Or, to highlight important numerical data in a status report, you can put it into Microsoft Excel, show the data as a pie chart, and then insert the pie chart into the Gantt Chart view of your project You can also exchange Microsoft Project data with other database programs that your clients use to display and review their project data
In fact, most often, exchanging information between Microsoft Project and any other program — Microsoft or non-Microsoft — is as easy as placing an apple into a friend’s hand Just as the apple’s shape fits both your hand and your friend’s, so too is project information "shaped" to fit into Microsoft Project as well as other programs Even when information from another program doesn’t have the "shape" or format Microsoft Project usually works with, you can convert it to a compatible format
You can share information with other programs in a variety of ways:
• Copy and paste project information by using the Windows Clipboard
• Import or export project information
• Embed objects or create links to project information
With Microsoft Project, you can choose the information-sharing method that best meets your needs
The Different Ways to Share Information
With just about every project, you’ll provide information to a variety of people, at least some of whom will use programs other than Microsoft Project to work with the data
When you think of sharing project information, perhaps the first examples that come to mind are walking down the hallway to talk to a colleague or phoning a client about project status In these situations, you’re conveying
project information in a static form: your colleague or client can hear it, but can’t revise it and return a revised
version to you
With Microsoft Project, you can provide an editable form of project communication that can be shared Any one
of several methods of exchanging information will enable the receiver to view, edit, and return the revised version — or send it on to anyone else who has a program that can "read" the file
Use the following table to help determine which information-sharing method will meet your needs in various situations
Trang 4Add small amounts of information from one file to another, which you can edit
in the destination file without causing similar changes in the source file Copy to the Clipboard (Can be used between Windows
programs only.) Add large amounts of information, organized in tables and columns, from one
file to another, which you can edit in the destination file without causing
similar changes in the source file
Import and export
Add large amounts of information from one file to another, with the ability to
make a change in the source file that appears automatically in the destination
file
Create OLE links (Can be used between OLE-supported programs only.)
Add large amounts of information from one file to another Embed (Can be used between
OLE-supported programs only.)
Benefits of Each Method
The following sections summarize the benefits of each information-sharing method
Copying to the Windows Clipboard
Copying information to the Windows Clipboard is simple, familiar, and completely independent of the source and destination file formats
Importing and Exporting
The importing and exporting method enables you to share large amounts of information with other programs, such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Access
Creating Links to Objects or Data and Embedding Objects
Creating links and embedding objects are the methods that are most useful when information that’s common to two different files needs to be updated frequently
Copying Information Between Programs
When you have relatively small amounts of information to move between programs — such as a few columns of data or a picture — the familiar copying and pasting action is probably faster than most other methods of sharing information This method works between any two Windows programs, as long as the information actually appears on the screen
You can copy information between different sheet views and project files within Microsoft Project, as well as between Microsoft Project and other programs Typically, Windows programs can share copied information even
if the destination program can’t save files in the format of the source program The amount of information you can copy at one time depends on how much memory is available on your computer The greater the available memory, the more information you can copy
Copy Text from Another Program
Typically some project data is initially collected or calculated in a program other than Microsoft Project Data
gathered outside of Microsoft Project is usually in the form of text, that is, words or numbers For example, you
might enter and calculate cost data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet You may want to add this data to your project plan
To copy text from another program to a sheet view
1 Open the source program and the source file
2 Select the text, noting the size and type of the information
Trang 53 Click Copy (or the program’s equivalent command)
4 Open the Microsoft Project file into which you want to paste the text
5 On the View Bar, click the sheet view into which you want to paste the text
6 If necessary, apply a table with columns that match the order and type of the copied text
7 If necessary, insert more rows to accommodate the entire text (Select the number of rows you’re
inserting, and then click New Task or New Resource on the Insert menu.)
Rows copied from other programs are pasted to replace existing rows
8 To paste the text into new fields or rows, select the first field of the blank rows
9 Click Paste
Copy Graphics from Another Program
Many companies like to include logos or other sophisticated pictures in their Microsoft Project files This usually means that the pictures have been created with a dedicated graphics program No problem Pictures and text can be copied from other programs into Microsoft Project Keep in mind that when you copy a graphic from
another program and then paste it into a graphics area, it is transferred as a static picture If you update the
original picture in its source file, the copy in the destination file remains unchanged
To copy a graphic from another program to a graphics area
1 Open the source program and the source file
2 Select the object
3 Click Copy (or the program’s equivalent command)
4 Open the Microsoft Project file into which you want to paste the graphic
o To paste the graphic into the Gantt Chart view, click Gantt Chart on the View Bar, and then click Paste
o To paste the graphic into a note, double-click a task, resource, or assignment in a sheet view,
click the Notes tab, and then click Insert Object Select the options you want, and then
click OK
o To paste the graphic into a header, footer, or legend, switch to a view that has a header, footer,
or legend On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Header, Footer, or Legend tab Click the Left, Center, or Right tab, and then click Insert Picture Select the graphic
you want to insert, and then click Insert
Copy Microsoft Project Text to Another Program
When you have Microsoft Project text to paste into another program, just copy the text to the Windows Clipboard and paste it into the other program In most cases, you’ll copy fields from the sheet portion of a view
Keep in mind that the order and type of information you’re planning to copy must fit exactly into the place you plan to paste it For example, if a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet consists of the Resource Name and Resource Cost
columns, that spreadsheet can accept only text and numerical information in that order
To copy Microsoft Project text to another program
1 In Microsoft Project, display the view and apply the table containing the text
2 Select the text you want to copy
3 Click Copy
4 Open the destination program and the file into which the Microsoft Project text is to be pasted
5 In the destination file, select the area where you want to insert the text
6 Click Paste (or the program’s equivalent command)
Copy Microsoft Project Pictures to Another Program
Entire Microsoft Project views or selected view information can be copied as pictures into any program capable of displaying graphics information as images You might want to add Microsoft Project views to reports and
presentations You copy this information as a static picture — a graphics object that’s not linked to its source
Trang 6program — using the Copy Picture button, and then paste the object into another program Nearly every view allows this; only the Task PERT Chart, Task Form, and Resource Form views do not
To copy a picture of Microsoft Project information to another program
1 In Microsoft Project, select the information
2 Click Copy Picture
3 To copy the selected information as it would appear in print, click For printer, and then click OK
Otherwise, the information is copied as it would appear on the screen
4 Switch to the file into which you want to paste the information
5 Click Paste (or the program’s equivalent command)
Communication Between Programs: Object
Linking and Embedding
Sometimes you need more than one program to manage your projects For example, you may want to track, store, and calculate project costs in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and then transfer that data to Microsoft Project
Doing this the slow way, you’d update that information first in one program and then in the other, perhaps repeating this process many times But it’s more efficient to update the information in just one program and have the update appear in the second program automatically When you embed an object or create a link to it using object linking and embedding (OLE), that’s just what happens When you double-click the object, you automatically open the program in which it was originally created If you want to add objects that reside in several source files, you can link or embed more than one object within a destination file
Both linked and embedded objects are generated by a source program and displayed in a destination program When placed in a Microsoft Project graphics area, an OLE object can be represented as either a graphic or an icon When placed in a sheet view, an OLE object can be represented as text — looking and behaving as if you had typed the information directly into the project file
A Link Provides One-Way Communication
Linking an object is a special form of copying in which the copied object continues to reside in the source file,
even though it’s being displayed in the destination file Any changes you make to the object displayed in the source file are reflected in the destination file
An Embedded Object Can Be Edited
Embedding an object is a form of copying in which the copied object resides in the destination file only — with no
link to the source file You edit the object using the same tools that are available in the source program (though
you don’t need to use the same source program) When you embed an object, any changes you make to that
object exist only within that destination file For instance, you can activate and edit the object only from within the Microsoft Project file in which it’s embedded
Therefore, changes you make to an embedded object do not change the source file from which you copied the object Likewise, later changes made to the source file are not reflected in the embedded object, because there
is no link between the two files
Trang 7You can link or embed objects with any program that supports object linking and embedding With either
method, objects can be placed in any graphics area: the chart portion of the Gantt Chart view; the Objects box of the Task Form view or Resource Form view; headers, footers, and legends of printed views and reports; and Note boxes Text objects can be linked to sheet views
The Link from Other Programs
When you manage complex projects you may want to bring relevant information into your project plan from other programs This is exactly why the object linking and embedding feature in Microsoft Project shines Create links or embed objects from a program other than Microsoft Project (a source program) when doing so makes the information easier to update and when the material needs frequent updating
Create Links to Text Objects
When you’re managing projects with Microsoft Project, you can increase your effectiveness by creating links to programs that provide mainly text-based information (such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word) When you find yourself using other programs regularly to help maintain project-related textual information about your project plan, you can create a link to that information as an object in a Microsoft Project sheet view
When you create a link to a text object, the information looks and behaves as if you had typed it into Microsoft Project But the lower-right corner of each field of linked text in a sheet view contains a small, triangular marker
If you try to edit this object, a message is displayed giving you the choice of saving your changes, canceling the changes, or breaking the link
Keep in mind that the type of information you link within a sheet view must match the type of information already in the view that receives the text Because of this, you must first prepare your project file to match the linked text, and then create the link
To create a link to a text object in a sheet view
1 Open the source program and the source file
2 Select the object, noting the size, order, and type of the information
Trang 83 Click Copy (or the source program’s equivalent command)
4 Open the Microsoft Project file in which you want to create the link
5 On the View Bar, click the sheet view in which you want to create the link
6 If necessary, add columns or create a new table to make the view compatible with the order and type of information in the object
7 If necessary, add more fields to the table to accommodate the entire object (Select the number of rows
you’re inserting, and then click New Task or New Resource on the Insert menu.)
If there’s not enough room, information already in the view may be replaced by the incoming object
8 Select the field where the upper-left cell of the linked information should begin
9 On the Edit menu, click Paste Special
10 Click Paste Link, and then click a format in the As box
For example, if you want to paste the information as text, click Text Data
Embed or Create Links to Graphics Objects
You can use graphics from Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and other programs to spiff up your project files You can add luster to any report you create using Microsoft Project If you use other programs to create or maintain pictorial information that you want to add to your project plan, you can create a link to that information
as an object in a Microsoft Project graphics area
When you place an object in a graphics area, you can display it either as a picture from the source program or as
an icon representing the source program An icon that represents the source program is like an electronic logo that readily identifies the program You might choose to display an icon instead of the full object if the object would take up a lot of space on the screen You can move or size an object in a Gantt Chart, note, header, footer,
or legend, but you can’t move or size an object in the Objects box
To embed or create a link to a graphics object in a graphics area
1 Open the source program and the source file
2 Select the object
3 Click Copy (or the source program’s equivalent command)
4 Open the Microsoft Project file in which you want to create the link
5 Select the graphics area in which you want to create the link
o To paste the object into the Gantt Chart view, click Gantt Chart on the View Bar
o To paste the object into the Objects box, select the task or resource to which you want to attach the object On the View Bar, click More Views In the Views list, click Task Form or Resource Form, and then click Apply On the Format menu, point to Details, and then click Objects
6 On the Edit menu, click Paste Special
7 To create an embedded object, click Paste
To create a linked object, click Paste Link
8 In the As box, click a format
9 To display the object as an icon representing the source program, select the Display As Icon check box. The Link from Microsoft Project
Creating links to another program is especially useful in two situations: when you need to share information created in a Microsoft Project file with another program and when you must keep the project data up to date in both programs For example, if you work in a large organization, you may very well share project cost data with the accounting group, so that they can calculate and track project cost data using Microsoft Excel
Trang 9Link or Embed Microsoft Project Information in Another Program
You can copy existing Microsoft Project information, even an entire view, into a file created in another program
by including the information as an object You can embed an object independent of its original Microsoft Project file or link it for dynamic updates from the source file You can do this from any Microsoft Project view
For specific information about copying Microsoft Project objects into another program, see the documentation for that program
To embed or create a link to a Microsoft Project graphics object in another program
1 On the View Bar, click More Views
2 In the Views list, click the view that contains the information you want to copy, and then click Apply
3 Select the information you want to paste in the other program, and then click Copy
4 Open the program and file into which you want to paste the Microsoft Project information
5 Select the location for the object
6 To embed the object, click the program’s Paste Special command
To link the object, click the program’s Paste Link option
Create Links to Text Between Project Files
When you manage several projects at a time that have some information in common, you can link information dynamically in a sheet view from one Microsoft Project file to another Then, whenever you change information in one file, Microsoft Project updates the information in the other file automatically You can also use this technique
to create links to information from different areas within a single project file and to create multiple links to one object
You can create links only to text, not graphics, between Microsoft Project files
To create a link to text in another project file
1 Open the project file containing the text
2 On the View Bar, click the sheet view that contains the text, and then select the text
3 Click Copy
4 Open the project file in which you want to create the link
5 On the View Bar, click the sheet view in which you want to create the link
6 If necessary, add columns or create a new table to make the view compatible with the order and type of information in the object
7 If necessary, add more fields to the table to accommodate the entire object
If there is not enough room, information already in the view may be replaced by the incoming object
8 Select the field where the upper-left cell of the linked information should begin
Trang 109 On the Edit menu, click Paste Special
10 Click Paste Link
Working with Linked Objects
As project information changes, you may decide to change either an object or a link that you have already created
As you edit the linked object in your project file, you’re making changes to that object from within the source program You may sometimes decide to cancel a link between programs, when the link no longer serves a purpose
Edit an Object
As your project progresses and the project information changes, you’ll inevitably need to edit some of the linked objects that you’ve included in your project file, to correspond to these changes For example, if you have included a spreadsheet about costs as an object in your project file, you’ll want to edit the spreadsheet data whenever costs change
Editing an embedded object has no effect on the source file from which the object was copied Likewise, changes made to the source file are not reflected in objects that have been embedded in Microsoft Project files Linked objects work differently, however, because editing the source information in the source file changes the linked information in the destination program
If you decide to cancel the link while saving these edits, you delete the source-destination relationship, but the existing information remains intact in the destination file At that point, you can make any changes you want to the object in the destination file Because it is no longer a linked object, those changes will no longer be
reflected in the source file
To edit an object in Microsoft Project
1 Double-click the object
2 Edit the object using the source program commands
3. On the File menu of the source program, click Exit and Update (or the program’s equivalent
command)
Cancel the Link to an Object
If you decide you no longer need to maintain updates between your project file and a source file, you can cancel links between objects in the two programs from the destination file When you break a link, the information remains in your project file, but you no longer receive updates from the source file
Once object links are canceled, you can edit the contents of formerly linked objects in sheet views as you would edit any other information in the project file When you cancel the link to an object in a graphics area, the object
is converted to a static picture A static picture is like a snapshot of the object
To cancel the link to an object
1 On the Edit menu, click Links
2 In the Links list, click the link
3 Click Break Link
Importing and Exporting Project Information
You can use project management information from other programs, such as spreadsheets, databases, or word- processing documents, by importing files saved in other file formats You can export Microsoft Project files in another file format to use in a different program You can also convert files for use in different versions of
Microsoft Project
File Formats Supported by Microsoft Project