It's surprising to me how many people across so many countries have been helped by Plan Academy's Primavera P6 tutorials & training. I mean I know I'm tooting my own horn here, but it's not to be an egotist. When I first started blogging about Primavera P6 in 2011, and I would gaze daily at my little Google Analytics screen that would inform of what sort of visitors were visiting our site. I
Importing and Exporting Data - Primavera P6
Browse our helpful tutorials on importing and exporting data from Oracle Primavera P6.
How to Clean Your P6 POBS Table On MSSQL & Oracle DB
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In my last post I went deep on how to quickly clean POBS data from a Primavera P6 XER file using a simple text editor. And we discovered that removing POBS data from an XER file greatly improved the import time for large XER files. A big thanks to readers who left comments on that post letting me and you know that there are some 3rd party tools (free and paid) that handle this in a more automated
XER File Slow To Import to P6? Try Cleaning POBS Data
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The other day one of our Plan Academy members called our support line with an unusual P6 problem. I'm always happy to help out our members solve P6 problems, even when it's 4:30pm on the Friday afternoon before I'm off on a full week of vacation.... OK. Full disclosure here. I had already powered down my laptop for the weekend and was just about to grab something ice-cold and carbonated when the
What is a .PLF File And How Do I Open It in Primavera P6?
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A .plf file is a Primavera Layout File that stores information about screen layouts. If you're having trouble opening a .plf file, let me show you how it's done using Primavera P6. Opening A PLF File In Primavera P6 A .plf file can't be double-clicked in your file browser in order to open it in P6. Double-clicking it doesn't work, and typically Windows will try to open it in some unrelated
Compare XER Files With Change Inspector
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What's the easy way to compare XER files? Are you an owner or client who uses Primavera P6 but has to review a schedule that is constantly being updated from a 3rd party? When receiving an updated schedule, a few common questions might include: What actuals data was changed since the last update? Were any activities added or deleted and how do I find them? Were there any other
The One Indicator That Can Foil Your Excel Import into Primavera P6
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There is the temptation to think that because you can export a data field from Primavera P6 to Excel that you can import the same data field back to Primavera P6 after manipulating the field’s data in Excel. If you have ever imported data into Primavera P6 using Excel, you would have experienced instances where despite getting the familiar message of a successful import, some of the changes you
What is XML [in under 100 words]
6 Comments![What is XML [in under 100 words]](https://www.planacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/what-is-xml-featured-264x200.jpg)
XML is a computer language originally developed for the web to be a companion to HTML. Because XML is so versatile, you'll find it in lots of software packages, including Primavera. XML is perfect for storing and exchanging database data between incompatible systems but has other uses too. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language - I know.....<snore>. What IS interesting is that anyone can
Cleanup Exported Primavera P6 Data for easier use in Excel
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We all export data from Primavera P6 to Microsoft Excel and sometimes we would like to manipulate the data in Excel (such as performing calculations in Excel using P6 numeric, date or cost data) but unfortunately P6 formats all data exports as text (appends an apostrophe in front of all data). Using Excel “Format Cell” function will not change the text data to the data format you require but this
XER Reader is a free tool to run DCMA 14 point checks
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Why the DCMA 14 Point Checks Matter Usually when I review a Primavera P6 schedule, I use the excellent reference by Ron Winter, or at least a subset of all those checks. I am probably being biased here, but for the Primavera users community, no one would argue that actual dates in the feature are bogus, or why negative float is a no go, or why constraints are evil and dates should mostly be
Import an XER File From a Newer Version of Primavera P6
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To import a newer version XER file to an older version of Oracle Primavera P6 installed on your computer, follow this quick fix. 1) Open the XER file in any text editor like Windows Notepad. 2) On the very first line, you should see the version of Oracle Primavera P6 that this XER file was saved in. Edit the version in the file to match the version installed on your machine. You can check
How to Export Resource Assignment Data to Excel from P6
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Export P6 Resource Assignments to Excel As you know Primavera P6 has a lack of graphical features so often we schedulers need to export everything to other software packages (mostly Excel) to produce an understandable schedule and graphs. I always had a problem exporting resource related data to Excel with the standard exporting feature on P6 until I found this way to use the Reports feature.
How to clean a Primavera P6 XER file using the XER File Parser
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In the third part of our Primavera P6 databases and data cleansing series, we will show how to use the parser to clean an xer file. But if you haven't read them go back and read: XER File Parser Excel utility Part 1: 6 Ways to Clean Up Your Primavera Database Nightmare Part 2: Understanding Primavera XER Files Cleaning an XER File for Import NOTICE: the Primavera XER File Parser is not
Understanding Primavera XER Files
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In this second part of Primavera P6 databases and data cleansing series, we will discuss the data structure of an XER file, and how the XER File Parser & Builder works. As the XER File Parser is a manual process (it does not honour P6 business rules), it is handy for the user to have a working knowledge of the P6 database. That’s why in this P6 tutorial we will show a general overview of P6's
How To Link A P6 Schedule To The BOQ With Different Levels Of Detail
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Tutorial Files Excel Spreadsheet (Excel 2007+): PlannerTuts_BOQ_Pay_Item.xlsx P6 Schedule and BOQ challenges A contract's Bill of Quantities is always meant to be more details then the schedule, at least in theory. In many cases, the planner and the estimator are not working in perfect coordination and you may end with two different level of details for the same project. In case you need some
[Ask Plan Academy] How Can I Remove Resources From A Primavera P6 Project When I Send A Project To My Client?
8 Comments![[Ask Plan Academy] How Can I Remove Resources From A Primavera P6 Project When I Send A Project To My Client?](https://www.planacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ask-plannertuts-primavera-p6-help-264x200.jpg)
Plan Academy, I have to send my client a copy of my schedule every month. But the client would like me to exclude any resourcing information in the copy that I send them. How can I easily remove resources in the copy of the project I send to my client?Signed, Geoff. Geoff, it turns out that this is easily accomplished in Primavera P6 with the features included in the software's smart project
Solve Primavera P6 Import from Excel Problems with ASAP Utilities
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Many P6 users have trouble importing data from Excel. Many of the problems are focused on importing costs or other numeric data fields that have been manually typed into Excel. Why can't I import Primavera P6 cost data from Excel? Primavera P6 only imports data that is formatted as "Text" in Excel. If you have manually typed in a value like "$32000" into an Excel cell, Excel will
Video: Import Primavera P6 Updates from Excel
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Occasionally we revisit some of our reader's favourite posts from the annals of the Plan Academy tutorial library, and today we're revisiting a topic that is always hot - importing updates from excel. Let's take a look! Often large projects demand many sub-teams or subcontractors update a portion of the master project plan on an on-going basis. If your subcontractors are not up to speed on
Approve Updates from Subcontractors using Reflection Projects in Oracle Primavera [Video]
31 Comments![Approve Updates from Subcontractors using Reflection Projects in Oracle Primavera [Video]](https://www.planacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/merge-p6-updates-reflections-264x200.jpg)
Featured this week is a great way to use Primavera P6 Reflection projects. If you've perused our other Primavera P6 tutorials, you may already know reflection projects are great for working with and managing scenarios. But they can also provide a way to preview and selectively approve activity updates from sub-contractors or other groups. The key to getting project updates to merge back to a
Using Primavera’s .Xer File Parser – Import WBS From Excel Without The SDK
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In this tutorial we explain how to import a WBS dictionary in Primavera P6 without the SDK. NOTE: The steps needed to transform a classical WBS presentation (which is WBS Path and Description) to a format understood by the database (which is parent / child) is covered in Steps 1 to 6 of this tutorial. To load the WBS data into Primavera P6, instead of using the SDK we will use the XER File
How To Import WBS From Excel To Primavera P6 Using The SDK
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In this tutorial we explain how to use the Oracle Primavera P6 SDK to import a WBS from Excel to Primavera P6. We are using the WBS.xls P6 SDK spreadsheet made available by Oracle Support. The SDK is a very handy tool, but the data must exactly respect the required format, we used a sample WBSand a step-by-step guide to prepare the data to be imported. We assume you already have the Primavera SDK
Quick Tip: Zoom! P6 Activities to Excel in 8 clicks!
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Faster is better. That should be Oracle-Primavera's mantra. Well, in this case it is! When exporting data to excel from P6, it can take a while to choose which columns to export and what filters to use when running the Export Wizard. Here's how to export your Activities list only in less than 10 mouse clicks. Step 1 - Open an Activities Layout Go ahead and open a layout that has
Filters Fail when Exporting from P6 to Excel
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Primavera's custom Activity filters are great for focusing in on a subcontractor's work list or even to hide Activities that are already completed. But when it comes to filtering down a 5000 line project plan to Activities in a specific timeframe, P6's filters fall flat. Here's the Gotcha: any filter that uses a rolling date or P5 / P6's built-in date variables will not work when exporting P6
Importing, Exporting and Emailing Layouts in Primavera P6
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If you haven't yet mastered all the shortcut keys and can't yet write a 200 word essay on what "Store Period Performance" does, then you're probably still on your way to becoming a Primavera SuperHero. To get your tights, cape and cowl, you'll first have to master Primavera's Activity Layouts which are an invaluable tool that you will use incessantly. The fact that you can combine column
