PRJ: Can't Link to Project in Database from Other Programs (174990)

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to link to a project stored in a database from a program other than Microsoft Project, you will receive an error message. For example, in Microsoft Project you can create a hyperlink to a project in a Microsoft Project database (MPD) file by using the following example Uniform Resource Locator (URL):

<c:\my documents\project1.mpd>\project1

If you attempt to link to this URL from another program, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, you will receive an error message similar to the following:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site Http://%3cc/my%20documents/project1.mpd%3E/project1.

The site was not found. Make sure the address is correct, and try again.

NOTE: The error message you receive will vary depending on which program you use to go to the URL.

CAUSE

Microsoft Project uses the less than (<) and greater than (>) characters to delimit the path to the database. Other programs, such as Internet Explorer, do not recognize the less than and greater than characters as valid characters in a file path. Therefore when you attempt to go to a destination URL that contains these characters, you will receive an error message identical to or similar to the error described in the Symptoms section.

WORKAROUND

You can work around this behavior by opening the database and then selecting the specific project you want. To do this, follow these steps:

Open the program in which you want to create the link to the project database file. For example, open Microsoft Internet Explorer.
In the URL box, type the path to the database.

Do not include the greater than or less than characters and do not identify the project in the path. For example, type this:
c:\my documents\project1.mpd
In the Import Format dialog box, in the Name of the project in the database to import box, select the project you want to open.
Click Open.