How to remove assignments from a user's timesheet in Project Server 2003 (875263)

INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to remove assignments from a user's timesheet in Microsoft Office Project Server 2003.

You may want to remove assignments from a user's timesheet if a project is closed and the timesheet still contains assignments from that project. A user can still modify and submit work for assignments from closed projects that appear on a timesheet. To prevent users from modifying or submitting work for assignments from closed projects, and to remove assignments that clutter timesheets, programmatically remove the assignments that are no longer required in timesheets.

MORE INFORMATION

To remove assignments from a user's timesheet in Project Server 2003, follow these steps:

Step 1: Install the latest service pack for Project Server 2003

For additional information about how to obtain the latest service pack for Project Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

873458 How to obtain the latest service pack for Project Server 2003

Note The ability to remove assignments from a user's timesheet was introduced in Project Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Step 2: Obtain the Project Data Service (PDS) reference for Project Server 2003

The PDS reference for Project Server 2003 includes documentation about XML-based API, test tools, and code templates. Use these items to help you develop applications and components that access Project Server 2003 portfolio data. The PDS reference contains sample XML requests and replies and contains information about how to remove assignments from a user's timesheet in Project Server 2003.

To obtain the PDS reference, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=27272b45-c315-418f-9f79-03190df43c49&displaylang=en

The PDS reference includes the following updated PDS timesheet methods:

The AssignmentsGet method
The AssignmentsSave method
The AssignmentsProjectManagerUpdate method

Use the methods to configure the new LockedDownByManager parameter. A full programmatic solution requires an application that uses the PDS methods with XML requests that include the <LockedDownByManager> tag. You can create XML requests and then use either of the sample applications that are included in the PDS reference to execute the requests for a specified Project Server 2003 virtual directory. You can use PDSTest.exe or PDSTest.NET.exe on any computer where you have administrative access to Project Server 2003 through Project Web Access.

When you use the updated PDS timesheet methods, the assignment is removed from the timesheet when the WASSN_REMOVED_BY_RESOURCE field in the MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS table is set to a value of 1. Project managers can still view assignments if the WASSN_LOCKDOWN_BY_MANAGER field in the MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS table is set to 1. For example, the project manager can view the assignments in Timesheet view and in the Resource Center.