Following on from last month’s post, in this extract from the monthly newsletter we provide to our Support clients, we share some tips on the capabilities and restrictions of what data can be imported and exported from Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM using the XER file format.

Using the XER file format

XER supports all project, resource and role information developed using Primavera P6. It is especially important if you want to make backup copies of a project, or for saving projects and transferring them to another machine that is not connected to your server i.e. a remote laptop.

This format also enables you to export data between different versions of Primavera P6 Professional – from release 5.0 all the way up to the current release 8.2. This is a useful format because the Primavera P6 export feature allows you to export a project to any previous version of P6, you can then send your project to a contractor or user who may have an earlier version of P6.

A few things to keep in mind when you are using the XER format to transfer data:

  1. When you import a project that contains relationships to external projects that do not exist in your database, the module will preserve the external activity dates when you schedule the project if you select the “Ignore Relationships To and From Other Projects” option in the “Schedule Options” dialogue box.
  2. When you import an XER project file that contains financial periods, the financial periods in the XER file must exactly match the financial periods in the Financial Periods dictionary. If they do not match, no past period actual data will be imported.
  3. No risk data is imported / exported when using XER format.
  4. The XER format supports all project data, while the XML (Excel) format does not. Ideally, you should not use the Export wizard to back up your entire database.

By following these simple tips, you will ensure a smooth data transfer any time you use XER.

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