Adding a user-defined field

You use the Add User Defined Field dialog to create user-defined fields for projects that are stored on the Enterprise server.

To access the Add User Defined Field dialog, select the User Defined Fields folder of the data source to which you want to add a UDF in the left pane, then select User Defined Fields from the Custom menu, then the Add command.

You create user-defined fields for projects that are stored locally within Asta Powerproject itself. Refer to Asta Powerproject Help for details of how to do this.

If you baseline projects from one data source into another and you add a user-defined field to one data source, you must also add it to the data source into which you baseline projects, as both data sources must have the same user-defined field structure.

To add a user-defined field to a project stored on the Enterprise server:

In the left-hand pane, select the data source to which you want to add your own field, then select the User Defined Fields folder. The user-defined fields that have been added to the data source are listed in the right-hand pane.
Select User Defined Fields from the Custom menu, then select the Add command. The Add User Defined Field dialog appears.
Select the Asta Powerproject object with which you want to associate the field in the Object type field. For example, if you want this user-defined field to be available for entering information relating to milestones, select Milestone.
Select the type of field you want to create, for example Integer or Boolean (Yes/No), in the Field type field. To enable users to link objects to external documents using this field, select URL.
Enter a name for the field in the User defined field name field. Try to give the field a name that describes its use. It is good practice to prefix the names of your user-defined fields with, for example, your company name. This prevents any user-defined fields from having the same name as fields that already exist in Asta Powerproject.
Click OK to confirm your changes and close the Add User Defined Field dialog.

If you are adding a user-defined field to a type of data source other than direct connection (ADO), the user-defined field creation process is complete. If you are adding a user-defined field to a direct connection data source, a dialog appears asking if you want Server Admin to generate an SQL file that you can run to add the user-defined field to the data source.
Click Yes to create an SQL file, or click No if you do not want to create the SQL file. If you choose not to create an SQL file, you will have to add the user-defined field to the data source manually.
If you choose to create an SQL file, enter a path and file name for the file.
Enter exit at the Enterprise server command prompt to shut down the server.
Execute the SQL file that is output in Query Analyzer to create the user-defined field in the data source.
Restart the Enterprise server.

The user-defined field is listed in the right-hand pane for the selected data source. Once you have created a user-defined field, it is normally available on an object's Properties dialog (a User Fields tab is available on the Properties dialog if user-defined fields are available for the selected object), or as a separate column in the Library Explorer list view. However some user-defined fields might be found elsewhere in Asta Powerproject. You can enter information into your user-defined fields from within Asta Powerproject, or by editing the project in a compatible database application.