Importing projects into Asta Connect

You use the Import Project page to import a project that you have created in another application such as Asta Powerproject into Asta Connect, for use as a master schedule.

To access the Import Project page:

Click Projects in the left pane. The Projects page appears.
Click New Project.
Click Import.

You can import the following types of project:

Projects that have been exported from Asta Powerproject in JSON format, using the Asta Connect export add-in.
Projects that have been exported from Microsoft Project in XML format.

To import a project into Asta Connect:

On the Import Project page, click the Powerproject JSON or Microsoft Project XML radio button to specify the type of project you want to import.
Click Choose file. The Open dialog appears.
Browse to the folder that contains the project you want to import, then select the project file and click Open. You return to the Import Project page, where the name of the selected file appears.
If you are importing a project that has been exported from Asta Powerproject, select the Import Build Locations from check box to include details of the build locations at which tasks take place, or clear the check to omit build location information from the imported file - or if build locations have not been specified in the project. Click the appropriate radio button to specify the way in which build locations have been specified in the project:
- Click UDF Plot_No to import the entries that have been recorded against the 'Plot_No' bar-level, string-type, user-defined field as build locations. To use this option, the project must contain a 'Plot_No' bar-level, string-type, user-defined field, and build location information must have been recorded into this user-defined field for each bar that contains tasks that are to be imported. Each activity, milestone and summary task in the resulting master plan is assigned the appropriate build location, according to the contents of the 'Plot_No' user-defined field for the bar on which it was located in the Asta Powerproject project.
- Click Code Library, and enter the name of a code library in the Asta Powerproject project in the field beneath, to import the named code library as a build location group, and the individual codes within the code library as build locations. To use this option, the project must contain a code library at the top level of the code library hierarchy, containing codes that represent build locations, and the appropriate code from this library must have been assigned to each task, milestone and summary group in the project. Each activity, milestone and summary task in the resulting master plan is assigned the appropriate build location, according to the code from this library that is assigned to it in the Asta Powerproject project.
  
  Note that only one code from the specified code library can be used to identify location, so if you use this method to identify the location of tasks, do not assign more than one code from the 'location' code library to each task. If more than one code from the specified code library has been assigned, Asta Connect uses the most recent code to be assigned to identify location.
Click Import. The project is imported and you are taken to the Project Details page, where you can enter some high-level details of the project and begin working with the project in Asta Connect.

Depending on the size of the project you are importing, the import may take some time. Do not attempt to import files with a size greater that 20 Mb.

What is imported from Asta Powerproject projects

When you import a project that has been exported from Asta Powerproject in JSON format, the following elements are imported into Asta Connect:

Tasks, milestones and summary tasks are converted into activities, milestones and summary tasks in the project's master plan, all with the correct names and dates.
Expanded tasks are converted into summary tasks.
Percentage progress recorded against tasks, milestones and summary tasks is recorded against activities, milestones and summary tasks in the project's master plan.
Depending on your selection in the Import Build Locations from field, build locations are created from either entries that have been recorded against the 'Plot_No' bar-level, string-type, user-defined field; or from the names of the codes in the specified code library. These build locations are assigned to the activities, milestones and summary tasks in the project's master plan. The build locations are restricted to the imported project. If build locations are created from the codes in a specified code library, the named code library becomes a build location group.
Code library assignments to tasks, milestones and summary tasks: each activity, milestone and summary task in the project's master plan is assigned project tags that correspond to the code library assignments in the Asta Powerproject project.
Code library entries are imported as project tags, with the correct patterns and similar colours. The code's background fill colour and pattern are retained, but the code's foreground fill colour is used only to colour the borders of activities in Asta Connect, with the foreground fill colour of activities always appearing as black. These project tags are restricted to the imported project. The name of the code library becomes the category of each project tag.