PRJ: Converting Project for MS-DOS to Later Versions of Project (79694)

MORE INFORMATION

You can obtain this utility (Convert.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center. The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

INTRODUCTION

You can use the conversion utility, Convert.exe, to convert files from Microsoft Project for MS-DOS to files that you can load directly into later versions of Microsoft Project. Because the different versions are not identical, the conversion process may lose or change some information.

This document describes how to convert a file, what data will be changed, and what will not be converted.

NOTE: If you are converting files from a non-English version of Microsoft Project for MS-DOS, make sure your .TXT files use numbers rather than letters for dates. If Microsoft Project for MS-DOS is not currently set up this way, run the Intl program (included with Microsoft Project for MS-DOS 3.x), and choose an option that displays the dates in number format. There should be no letters in the date or time format. You can then convert the file as follows.

PROCEDURES

Export the Microsoft Project for MS-DOS File

1. Start Microsoft Project for MS-DOS.
2. Open the file that you want to use in the later version of Microsoft Project.
3. Select the Transfer command, then Export, then Project.
4. Type a file name, using .TXT as the file name extension. You can also specify the directory in which Microsoft Project for MS-DOS is located, for example:

         c:\project\filename.txt
   					

5. For the Filetype option, select Complete.
6. Fill in the other fields as appropriate. (Either single or double quotation marks will work.) If you want to export the entire file, press ENTER, leaving the other fields blank.
7. Quit Microsoft Project for MS-DOS.

Convert the Exported File to Microsoft Project Format

1. Run the conversion utility by typing the following at the command prompt:
   
   convert path\filename where path and filename are the location and file name of the export (.TXT) file that you created in Microsoft Project for MS-DOS. The conversion utility creates a file with the same name as the Microsoft Project for MS-DOS file, but with an .MPX extension.
   
   NOTE: If you have an .MPX file with the same file name, the newly created file will overwrite it.
2. If you need to transfer the .MPX file from your MS-DOS-based computer to a Macintosh computer, you can use Apple File Exchange to do this. For more information about using Apple File Exchange, please refer to the reference manual that came with your Macintosh.

Open the File in the Later Version of Microsoft Project

1. Start the later version of Microsoft Project.
2. Before opening this file, click Options on the Tools menu. (In Microsoft Project version 1.0 or 3.0, click Preferences on the Options menu.)
3. Verify that the Date Format setting is the same as the date order you used in Microsoft Project for MS-DOS. (In Microsoft Project version 1.0 and 3.0, this is the Date Order setting.)
   
   If the date format is different, modify it to match the date order in Microsoft Project for MS-DOS.
4. Open the file in Microsoft Project by clicking Open on the File menu and selecting the appropriate .MPX file. Click Open.

HOW THE DATA IS CONVERTED FROM MICROSOFT PROJECT FOR MS-DOS

• Because the calendars are functionally different in the MS-DOS version of the products, the following translations apply:
  
  Standard days are converted.
  
  Standard hours are ignored. 8:00 A.M.-12 A.M. and 1:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. are used for the shifts.
  
  Exception days are converted, ignoring hours. If the work day length on an exception day is 0 (zero), the day is designated Nonworking. Otherwise, it is a Working day.
• If the standard calendar in Microsoft Project for MS-DOS is different than the one in the later version of Microsoft Project, dates for tasks may vary. This is because durations in Microsoft Project for MS-DOS are very closely tied to the calendars.
• Only the first 50 calendar exceptions are converted. If you have more than 50, a message tells you that the rest of the exceptions are ignored.
• If you have values in the Priority field in the .TXT file, the following translations are made:

        .TXT    .MPX
        ------  -------
  
        0       Highest
        1-25    High
        26-50   Medium
        51-75   Low
        76-100  Lowest
  					

• Percent Complete values are rounded to whole numbers (integers) on conversion.
• Months are converted to days, substituting 21.67 days for one month. This is the same substitution that Microsoft Project for MS-DOS makes when it uses a different file format.
• A Resource Amount greater than 100 (for resource assignments) results in an error message and assigns 100 units to the task.
• Resource ID is converted to Code for each resource.
• Capacity is converted to Max Units. If Capacity was No Limit (or 0), it is converted to the maximum capacity, or 100.
• If any task has more than 20 immediate predecessors or successors, an alert appears (in Microsoft Project version 1.0), and no predecessors or successors for that task are imported. You will need to link the tasks once you get the data into Microsoft Project version 1.0.
• In Microsoft Project for MS-DOS version 3.x, the Percent Complete value is not converted for ALAP (As Late As Possible) tasks.
• Fixed costs are not converted. Per Month costs are converted into Per Week costs.
• If your data contains a character with a decimal value less than 32, the character is ignored in the conversion, and that character will not be in the .MPX file.