Building schedule reports with MS Access

[Dirk]

We use P3 3.0 to manage a large schedule 50k plus activities. To minimize the number of people in the schedule at once, usually around 20, we do some reporting using Access and ODBC links. To further reduce the number of hits on the P3 database, the main Access query, after retrieving it's information, pushes it into a separate Access database that other users may modify, completly isolated from P3.

 

[jpgus]

what is your question

 

[munir55]

Dear Dirk,
Iam interested in knowing your method in building schedule reports using MS Access ,in detail if possible.Thanks

 

[Dirk]

Munir55,
In P3 you have to update the Data Dictonary (under Tools menu bar) to build the directory files for ODBC connections. Using appropriate drivers (we are using Merant but Primavera also provides ODBC drivers for Win 95/NT) and software (MS Access 97 for now) create the queries for the data you want. The user enters activity IDs into a table to select activities of interest. A query then pulls current dates (ES, EF) from the P3 tables for those activities. Weekly data is also stored in the Access database about changes to these dates. You can then generate Access reports that show schedule slip over time. This could also be done in Visual Foxpro or another tool that supports ODBC.

 

[HanP]

You can even make reports in Access which are not possible in P3, e.g. by linking ( through a query ) the act. table with the relations table twice ( once on predecessor once on successor ) this enables the creation of extensive logic reports with full details of predecessors and successors.
Other options involve complex global changes by means of the Access (SQL) queries. In this way Access is used as a powerful extension to P3. Giving the options of the old Artemis 6000/7000 asterisk level to P3 ( this for the Artemis experts).

 

[Tray]

I have been researching the +'s & -'s of using Access a reporting tool and also to update data. The main possitive is minimizing the number of people in the schedule at once.
I spoke with a P3 support personal and he indicated that
Primavera doesn't support data changes via linking.

My question is has anyone experienced proplem changing data,
what were they, and is the problem driver related?
(Merant VS Perrasive, P3's software dedicaded developer
version)