Incorrect Duration while integrating MSP with Oracle Projects (OP)

Question

Please help with regard to the below mentioned issue:
1. Created a WBS in MSP file. (Task T1.1 Duration = 5d in MSP)
2. Created a project from MSP. The structure used is a partially shared structure.
3. The duration received in OP is not the same as that in MSP. (Task T1.1 Duration = 7d in OP)
4. Entered progress for the project in OP.
5. Received the workplan (WBS) from OP into the same MSP file, the duration was neither 5d nor 7d but 1.67 d.(Task T1.1 Duration = 1.67d in MSP)
The calendar used in MSP is a standard calendar 5 days * 8 hrs. Which calendar in OP is being used for calculating the duration? I've defined a schedule calendar that is attached to the project template in Additional Information. The schedule calendar is 6 days * 8 hrs.
Regards,
Sahoo
Edited by: user12209290 on Jan 2, 2012 5:49 AM
Edited by: user12209290 on Jan 2, 2012 5:49 AM

Answer 1

The Scheduled Start and/or Finish dates in Oracle Projects are not used by MSP to schedule a project if task level Scheduling Options have been populated in Oracle Projects. Constraint Type/Date, Scheduled Duration and Slack fields are used to schedule the project in MSP, not the Scheduled Dates.
To review the Scheduling Options for a task:-
Projects: Delivery -> Search Projects [Find project and open it]
Go to the Workplan tab
Update the current working version of the workplan
Update a task (using the pencil icon) in the workplan
In the Task Details page, select the Schedule sub-tab
Expand the Options section at the bottom of the page
To sumamrise, if you schedule a project in MSP then you should continue to use MSP for all scheduling activity on that project. Updates to the scheduled dates in Oracle Projects will be ignored when the plan is downloaded to MSP. MSP will build the plan based on the following fields:-
Constraint Type
Constraint Date
Free Slack
Total Slack
Task Type (Schedule task type, not to be confused with Oracle task type)
Scheduled Duration (not to be confused with the difference between the Scheduled Start and Finish dates in Oracle Projects)
Actual Duration
Remaining Duration
Effort Driven Flag
Level Assignments Flag
This is all not documented very well in the Oracle Projects manuals, and comes as a surprise to most users. Some useful additional reading can be found on MOS:-
Integration with Microsoft Project, Volume 1: Best Practices [ID 987752.1]
Integration with Microsoft Project, Volume 2: Implementation Recommendations for Project Process [ID 1166372.1]
Integration with Microsoft Project, Volume 3: Implementation Tips for Project Structures [ID 1166396.1]
Hope this helps,
Andy.