Re: Introduction and query

Hi Ross,

I'm Kurt - I maintain the MrProject user guide.

> One of the problems I have with MrProject is that you cannot
> communicate with MsProject very well.  As such, the product is well
> named, it seems because it mimics a true marriage.  However, since
> I'm
> a linux freak and all my coworkers are Microsoft droids, this
> causes a
> problem because any schedule I create in MrProject can't be
> communicated efficiently with my management.  I've seen some mail
> messages in the archives about how support of mpp would be a
> great project if someone is interested.  So:
> 
>   - Is that still true?
>   - Does anyone on this list have specifications for the .mpp
> format?
>   - What do I do to claim this territory, so that we can avoid
>     duplication of effort?
>   - If someone else is already working on it, who is that person? 
> Do
>     they need help?
> 
> Thanks for any feedback on this.  I'd love to contribute in other
> ways, but .mpp file support is currently, for selfish reasons, the
> thing I'm most interested in working on.
> 
> - Roß

This is a subject that I've given some thought to, since MS Project
is the official tool at my office.  I don't know how available the
.mpp file layout is, and my guess is that it will be a pain in the
butt to figure out.

I did notice, though that in MSP 2002, you can save the project in an
xml format.  I tried it, and it appears that this format would be far
more simple to convert from/to since the tags tell most of the story.
 This looks to me like the path of least resistance, although a
shortcoming is that you would need either the MS Project file owner's
cooperation, or a copy of MSP of your own to do the export to xml.

I don't see the same function in MSP 2000, so another question is
what version of MSP do you want to begin support at?

I'd be willing to help test and stuff, but I have no C programming
skills (which is why I work on the docs).


=====
Kurt Maute
[email protected]

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/