Import feature generates ~0 duration tasks

Steve Johnson

Does anyone else get errors, when importing an MPP file into Smartsheet?  The most common error I find is that some durations are changed from valid values to " ~0 ".  Has anyone else seen this?  It happens EVERY time to a handful of tasks.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kennedy Stomps

Hi Steve-- Can you send me a copy of the MS Project file that I can take a look at? There is a chance that data can change upon import from Project to Smartsheet, as there are Project features--like constraints--that don't exist in Smartsheet. We do our best to interpret the Project data and map it in to Smartsheet as best as possible, but I have seen dates change slightly between Smartsheet and Project, though not this issue specifically.

Jason

~0 is actually a valid value. It is called an extended milestone. 

 

Extended milestones consume an entire working day, whereas standard milestones consume no working time at all. 

 

When we import your MS Project file we do the best we can to preserve the start, end, and duration values of your tasks. Sometimes this means we use an extended milestone rather than a standard milestone. Unfortunately, the import process is not a perfect process; there are some settings in Project that effect your tasks dates that Smartsheet doesn't support. This results sometimes in changing dates after import. 

 

I realize after typing this all out that I basically just repeated what Kennedy said. Apologies for the redundancy. 

Steve Johnson

Kennedy: Absolutely.  I didn't notice your email address in your profile.  Where should I send it?  Thanks in advance.

 

Jason: Thank you.  Here is some additional info as FYI.  The tasks that show " ~0 " were not milestone tasks originally.  They were originally scheduled w/ durations of several days or weeks.  For example, in the picture from my original post, the circled duration was originally 2 weeks, but it was changed to ~0 during the import.  Perhaps this is the "changing dates after import" you described?

Kennedy Stomps

Hi Steve-- You can share the sheet with me at Kennedy.Stomps@Smartsheet.com with Admin permissions. I'll take a look at it and get back with you via email

Steve Johnson

Thanks to Kennedy & Sue, this issue has been resolved.   Here is their info:

 

If a task task is marked as a milestone in Project,  Smartsheet will import it as a 0 day duration task. In Project, it's possible to have milestone tasks that are more than 0 days, however in Smartsheet, all milestones must be 0 day duration tasks.

 

To resolve this:

1. 1) Double-click on the affected rows in the Project file
2. 2) Click the Advanced tab, & uncheck the box for "Mark task as milestone".  
3. 3) Now, the import will not produce ~0 duration tasks.

Kennedy Stomps

Glad we were able to solve this one, Steve!