Reporting in Microsoft Project Server

Archived content. No warranty is made as to technical accuracy. Content may contain URLs that were valid when originally published, but now link to sites or pages that no longer exist.
On This Page

Architecture of Microsoft Project Server Views
Managing Views in Microsoft Project Web Access
Setting Up Portfolio Analyzer Views in Microsoft Project Web Access
Importing Views from Microsoft Project Central into Microsoft Project Web Access

Microsoft® Project Server provides powerful reporting tools that range from simple project and resource views to Portfolio Analyzer, a powerful feature of Microsoft Project Server that uses online analytical processing (OLAP) to create detailed project and resource views.

This section introduces the Microsoft Project Server views architecture, including a general overview of how the views architecture functions, and steps through the processes of creating project, resource, Portfolio Analyzer, and custom views.

Architecture of Microsoft Project Server Views

The Microsoft Project Server database view tables provide all of the project data that is needed for creating views (reports) in Microsoft Project. Views contain all of the information about projects and resources necessary to create the views, including Portfolio Analyzer drill-down views.

The Microsoft Project Server view tables are updated when a Microsoft Project user does any of the following:

  • Publishes a project plan from Microsoft Project Professional 2002 to Microsoft Project Server. See "Publish a project plan," in this article, for more information.
  • Checks in an enterprise project. See "Check in an enterprise project," in this article, for more information.
  • Checks in an enterprise resource. See "Check in an enterprise resource," in this article, for more information.
  • Updates the resource availability tables. See "Update resource availability tables," in this article, for more information.

Publish a Project Plan

A user can publish a project plan to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project Professional 2002 by doing the following:

  1. On the Collaborate menu, point to Publish, and click Project Plan.
  1. Follow the steps in the succeeding dialog boxes. For more information about publishing a project plan to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project, see the topic "Publish project information on Microsoft Project Server" in Microsoft Project Help (in Microsoft Project, click Help, and click Microsoft Project Help).

When a user publishes a project plan to Microsoft Project Server, the following sequence of events occurs:

  1. A Microsoft Project (MPP) file is created for the project file and sent to the Project Central Business Object (PCBO) on the Microsoft Project Server in the form of a Post command.
  1. The PCBO saves the MPP file to a temporary directory.
  1. A Project ID for the project is received from the Microsoft Project Server database and assigned to the project plan.
  1. The PCBO opens a connection to the saved project using the OLE DB Provider on Microsoft Project Server and publishes a set of tables to the database, overwriting any existing tables for that project.
  1. Once the process is complete, the file saved to the temporary directory is deleted.

Check in an Enterprise Project

A user can check an enterprise project into Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project Professional 2002 by closing a project that is currently open, or by importing a project that has been saved as a file.

To import a project
  1. On the Tools menu, point to Enterprise Options, and click Import Project to Enterprise.
  1. Follow the instructions in the wizard to select the project and import options you want. For more information about publishing a project plan to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project, see the topic "Import a project to Microsoft Project Server" in Microsoft Project Help (in Microsoft Project, click Help, and click Microsoft Project Help).

When a user checks in an enterprise project, the following sequence of events occurs:

  1. Microsoft Project Professional 2002 makes a check in request to Microsoft Project Server through the Portfolio Data Service (PDS).
  1. The PDS makes a request to the PCBO to publish the project summary record to the view tables.
  1. The PCBO updates the view tables with the updated project summary information and, if successful, checks in the project.
  1. The PDS then requests that the PCBO post the project that has just been checked in.
  1. The PCBO returns the ID for the project from the Microsoft Project Server database.
  1. The PCBO then makes a request to the OLE DB Provider on Microsoft Project Server to connect to the project in the database.
  1. All relevant information for that project is retrieved and saved to the View tables, overwriting any existing information for that project.

Check in an Enterprise Resource

A user can check in an enterprise resource to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project Professional 2002 by doing the following:

  1. On the Tools menu, point to Enterprise Options, and then click Import Resources to Enterprise.
  1. Follow the instructions in the wizard to select a file that contains the resources you want to import. For more information about publishing a project plan to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Project, see the topic "Add resources to the list of enterprise resources" in Microsoft Project Help (in Microsoft Project, click Help, and click Microsoft Project Help).

When a user checks in an enterprise resource, the following sequence of events occurs:

  1. The PDS makes a request to the PCBO with a list of enterprise resource Unique IDs (ERUID).
  1. The PCBO retrieves the resource availability information based on a date range determined by the person making the request to update the resource view tables.
  1. The PCBO opens a connection with the OLE DB Provider with the list of ERUIDs.
  1. The OLE DB Provider opens a temporary project that contains just the selected enterprise resources.
  1. The PCBO reads out the data from the temporary project and posts them to the Resource View tables, overwriting any existing records for those resources.

Update Resource Availability Tables

Resource availability tables are updated for a specified time range. To set the date range and the update frequency for the resource availability tables, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access. Click Admin.
  1. Click Manage enterprise features.
  1. Click Update resource tables and OLAP cube under Enterprise options.
  1. On the Update resource table and OLAP cube page, under Date range for resource availability and Update frequency, choose the settings you want for the resource availability tables.

Managing Views in Microsoft Project Web Access

Views are simply a way to create a visible list of data that is targeted at the type of user that has been given permission to access the view. Views allow project team members to see more than just the tasks, assignments, and projects they are working on. Views can also allow project and resource managers to communicate critical information about their projects throughout their organization. For example, some views allow team members to see information about just their projects. Other views can be used to assist project and resource managers to keep track of their project's tasks, check to see which resources are available, and then match the needs of their projects to the skills of available resources.

Views are created in Microsoft Project Web Access. Views are secure because permission has to be granted to a user in order for them to see a specific view. Often, the creation of views will fall on a core group of project management experts responsible for maintaining the integrity of project data.

Views can be accessed by Microsoft Project users in the following locations:

  • The Tasks, Projects, and Resources links in Microsoft Project Web Access.
  • The Project Center, Resource Center, and Portfolio Analyzer options in the Collaborate menu in Microsoft Project.

Creating New Views in Microsoft Project Web Access

After you have installed Microsoft Project Server and added users, most users can start using Microsoft Project Web Access without further configuration; however, users who want to create views will need to be granted permissions.

The following types of views can be created in Microsoft Project Web Access:

  • Project   Project views contain a list of projects that allow a user to select a specific project for which to view task, assignment, and resource details. For more information, see "Creating Project Views," in this article.
  • Project Center   Project Center views contain a list of projects stored in the Microsoft Project Server database. For more information, see "Creating Project Center Views," in this article.
  • **Assignment   **Assignment views contain assignment data, including projects and tasks that resources are working on, and timephased data. For more information, see "Creating Assignment Views," in this article.
  • Resource Center   Resource Center views contain a list of resources that are part of the enterprise resource pool. For more information, see "Creating Resource Center Views," in this article.
  • **Portfolio Analyzer   **Portfolio Analyzer views take advantage of Microsoft Office Web Components, allowing you to use PivotTable and PivotChart features to display project data. Setting up and using Portfolio Analyzer views involves some additional steps. For more information about Microsoft SQL Server™ Analysis Services, creating the OLAP cube, and using Portfolio Analyzer views, see "Setting Up Portfolio Analyzer Views in Microsoft Project Web Access," in this article.

Users must have the appropriate permissions to access the Manage views area of Microsoft Project Web Access, in order to create new views. Users must also have permissions to access the Projects and Resources areas of Microsoft Project Web Access, in order to access existing views.

On the Specify Views page, you will see a chart with all of the Project, Project Center, Assignment, Resource Center, and Portfolio Analyzer views that are currently available.

  • View Name is the name of the view. This is the same as the Name field under View name and description when adding or modifying a view.
  • View Type is the type of view. There are five types of views: Project, Project Center, Assignment, Resource Center, and Portfolio Analyzer.
  • View Description is the description of the view. This is the same as the Description field under View name and description when adding or modifying a view.
Creating Project Views

Project views contain a list of projects that allows users to select specific projects to view task, assignment, and resource details. To create a Project view, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage views. Click Add View.
  1. On the Specify Views page of Microsoft Project Web Access, select Project.
  1. Enter the name and a description for the view in the Name and Description boxes, for example you could enter a name of "Assignment Cost Projection" and a description of "Displays assignment cost projection information."
  1. Select the type of information you want to display in the view: a Task, Resource, or Assignment.
  1. Select the fields you want to include in the view, and click Add.
  1. Specify how you want the view to appear in the Projects area of Microsoft Project Web Access by specifying a Gantt Chart in the Gantt Chart format list.
  1. Specify the grouping format for the view, either Timesheet, Views, or a custom grouping format. If you want to apply a filter to a field in the view, select a field in the Field column, apply an Operator, specify a Value, and indicate how the filter should be handled in respect to other filters in the And/Or column.
  1. Add the groups of users (categories) that will be able to access this view by selecting a category and clicking Add. Click Save Changes.
Creating Project Center Views

Project Center views contain a list of enterprise projects stored in the Microsoft Project Server database. To create a Project Center view, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage views. Under View options, click Views. Click Add View.
  1. On the Specify Views page of Microsoft Project Web Access, select Project Center.
  1. Enter the name and a description for the view in the Name and Description boxes, for example you could enter a name of "Assignment Cost Projection" and a description of "Displays assignment cost projection information."
  1. Select the fields you want to include in the view, and click Add.
  1. Specify how you want the view to appear in the Project Center area of Microsoft Project Web Access by specifying a Gantt Chart in the Gantt Chart format list.
  1. Specify the grouping format for the view, either Timesheet, Views, or a custom grouping format.
  1. Add the groups of users (categories) that will be able to access this view by selecting a category and clicking Add. Click Save Changes.
Creating Assignment views

Assignment views contain assignment data, including projects and tasks that resources are working on, and timephased data. To create an Assignment view, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage views. Under View options, click Views. Click Add View.
  1. On the Specify Views page of Microsoft Project Web Access, select Assignment.
  1. Enter the name and a description for the view in the Name and Description boxes, for example you could enter a name of "Assignment Cost Projection" and a description of "Displays assignment cost projection information."
  1. Select the fields you want to include in the view, and click Add.
  1. Specify how you want the view to appear in the views areas of Microsoft Project Web Access by specifying a Gantt Chart in the Gantt Chart format list.
  1. Specify the grouping format for the view, either Timesheet, Views, or a custom grouping format.
  1. Add the groups of users (categories) that will be able to access this view by selecting a category and clicking the Add button. Click Save Changes.
Creating Resource Center Views

The Resource Center view can be displayed from either the Collaborate menu in Microsoft Project Professional or from the Resources area in Microsoft Project Web Access. Resource Center views are created in Microsoft Project Web Access and contain a list of resources that are part of the enterprise resource pool. To create a Resource Center view, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage views. Under View options, click Views. Click the Add View button.
  1. On the Specify Views page of Microsoft Project Web Access, select Resource Center.
  1. Enter the name and a description for the view in the Name and Description boxes, for example you could enter a name of "Resource Cost Projection" and a description of "Displays resource cost projection information."
  1. Select the type of information you want to display in the view: a Task, Resource, or Assignment.
  1. Select the fields you want to include in the view, and click Add.
  1. Specify the grouping format for the view, either Timesheet, Views, or a custom grouping format.
  1. If you want to apply a filter to a field in the view, select a field in the Field column, then apply an Operator, specify a Value, and indicate how the filter should be handled in respect to other filters in the And/Or column.
  1. Add the groups of users (categories) that will be able to access this view by selecting a category and clicking Add. Click Save Changes.

Adding Custom Views to Microsoft Project Web Access

Before users in your organization can access custom views, you need to make sure the views are available in Microsoft Project Web Access.

To update the list of views with additional HTML, data access pages, and ASP pages found in the \IIS Virtual Root\Views folder on the Microsoft Project Server, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage views.
  1. Under View options, click Views.
  1. Click Get Additional Views.

For more information about how to create custom views and make them available to be added to Microsoft Project Web Access, see "Creating Custom Views for Microsoft Project Server" in this article.

Making Views Available to Microsoft Project Web Access Users

Users must have permissions to see a view. You can grant users permissions by adding the view to a category. To make a view available to Microsoft Project Web Access users, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage security.
  1. Under Security options, click Categories.
  1. Select a category in the Category Name column, and then click Modify Category.
  1. Select the view you want to make available to the selected category, and click Add. Click Save Changes.

Data Source Names for Microsoft Project 2000 Views

Microsoft Project Web Access displays a list of all data source names (DSNs) used to view projects published from Microsoft Project 2000 to Microsoft Project Server. For each DSN, you must specify a user ID and a password that is used by Microsoft Project Server to access projects stored in the database that the DSN references. This will allow users with permissions to view a database that is referenced by a DSN without having direct access to the database itself.

DSNs are only used in conjunction with existing databases that store Microsoft Project 2000 database files. The DSNs should be created on the server itself. This can be done using the ODBC Data Source administrator in Control Panel. For each DSN used by Microsoft Project 2000, the User ID and Password must be specified. You can do this by selecting a DSN in the data source list and clicking the Modify Data Source button. You can then enter the User ID and Password of the DSN connection in the appropriate box.

For each DSN that is used to store projects, you must create the same-named DSN on both the Microsoft Project Server computer and on the client where the project was published. This DSN must point to the same database, and use the appropriate user ID and password. You can create a DSN by using the ODBC Data Sources Administrator program in Control Panel.

Setting Up Portfolio Analyzer Views in Microsoft Project Web Access

Portfolio Analyzer views provide project and resource managers and other high-level members of your organization with easy access to detailed information about their projects and resources. You can use Portfolio Analyzer to allow your organization to directly analyze project data stored in the Microsoft Project Server database, enabling better decision making within your organization.

Portfolio Analyzer takes advantage of Microsoft Office Web Components (OWC), which is a collection of ActiveX components. Microsoft Project uses three OWC components (PivotTable, Data Source, and Chart) to access the OLAP cube created in SQL Server Analysis Services, which allows users to work with fully interactive PivotTable and PivotChart reports in Microsoft Project Web Access and Microsoft Project Professional. Users will be able to sort, filter, add or change data, expand or collapse details, and save the results for future reference.

Before you can use Portfolio Analyzer with Microsoft Project Professional, you must first install SQL Server Analysis Services. Depending on the size of your organization, you can install SQL Server Analysis Services either on the same server as SQL Server, or on its own server. For more information, see "Setting up views processing on a separate server," in this article.

After installing SQL Server Analysis Services, you should migrate the default repository to a SQL Server database. For more information, see "Migrate Analysis Services repository to a SQL Server database," in this article.

Getting Ready to Use Portfolio Analyzer

In addition to installing SQL Server Analysis Services, there are some additional steps you need to perform in order to use the Portfolio Analyzer feature of Microsoft Project. You should review the following sections before setting up SQL Server Analysis Services:

  • Migrating Analysis Services repository to a SQL Server database
  • Creating a local Microsoft Windows® Account for the OLAP Administrator
  • Adding users to cube database roles in Analysis Services
  • Granting db_owner permissions to the OLAP Administrators group for the Microsoft Project Server database
  • Setting up views processing on a separate server
  • Microsoft Office Web Components

In addition, before building the OLAP cube for the first time, and after SQL Server Analysis Services is set up properly, you should do the following:

  • Define any enterprise project or resource codes
  • Store the values for the lookup table in the enterprise global file
  • Add all required resources to the enterprise resource pool
  • Where appropriate, assign values to any of the enterprise resource codes
  • Create all projects for analysis
  • Select enterprise project outline code values
  • Assign enterprise resources as team members
  • Publish all projects to Microsoft Project Server
  • Ensure that any user who needs to create the OLAP cube has been added to the Administrator and OLAP Administrators groups in SQL Server. If you didn't configure OLAP during Microsoft Project Server Setup, you will need to run PSCOMPlus.exe to set the COM+ object to use the Windows NT account that has OLAP Admin rights. For more information, see "Add users to cube database roles in SQL Server Analysis Services," in this article.
Migrating Analysis Services repository to a SQL Server database

Each Analysis server has a repository to store metadata for the objects of the Analysis server (for example, cubes and dimensions). By default, this repository is a Microsoft Access (.mdb) database on the server computer where Analysis Services is installed. In order for Microsoft Project Server to successfully build the OLAP cube, you should migrate the repository to a SQL Server (.mdf) database.

You can migrate the repository at any time after installing SQL Server Analysis Services, as long as SQL Server is installed and a database for the repository exists.

To migrate the repository to a SQL Server database, do the following:

  1. Log on to the SQL Server Analysis Services computer with a user account that has permissions equivalent to either the Administrators group or OLAP Administrators group. If the OLAP Administrators group does not exist, you should first create it, and then migrate the repository to a SQL database. For more information about creating the OLAP Administrators group, see "Creating a local Windows Account for OLAP Administrator," in this article.
  1. Start SQL Server Analysis Manager.
  1. Right-click the name of your server under Analysis Servers.
  1. Select Migrate Repository to start the Migrate Repository Wizard.
  1. Select SQL Server 7.0 OLAP Services format. Click Next.
  1. Enter the name of your Analysis Services server. Click Next.
  1. Select Windows authentication using the network login ID. Click Finish.
  1. Select ProjectServer from the Database list. Click Finish.

After migration, both the old and new databases remain; however, only the new database is used by SQL Server Analysis Services. You can manually delete the old database by deleting the file in Windows Explorer.

If you prefer not to migrate the repository, you need to add the OLAP Administrators group to the list of users and groups that have Full Control permissions for the \Program Files\Microsoft Analysis Services\Bin folder, so that the cube can be built.

Creating a Local Windows account for the OLAP Administrator

To add the OLAP Administrators group to the list of users that have Full Control permission, do the following:

  1. On the Windows desktop, right-click My Computer, then click Manage.
  1. In the Computer Management dialog box, open the Local Users and Groups folder.
  1. Click the Users folder. On the Action menu, click New User.
  1. In the New User dialog box, enter OLAPAdmin in the User name field.
  1. Enter and confirm a password.
  1. Clear the User must change password at next logon box.
  1. Select the Password never expires box.
  1. Click Create. Click Close.

Next, add the OLAPAdmin account to the OLAP Administrators group by doing the following:

  1. In the Computer Management dialog box, open the Local Users and Groups folder.
  1. Click the Groups folder.
  1. Double-click OLAP Administrators.
  1. In the OLAP Administrators Properties dialog box, click Add.
  1. In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, find OLAPAdmin and click Add. Alternatively, you can simply type OLAPAdmin.
  1. Click OK.
Adding users to cube database roles in SQL Server Analysis Services

SQL Server Analysis Services uses Windows authentication to control access to online analytical processing (OLAP) cubes, for example, when using Portfolio Analyzer in Microsoft Project. By default, no users are allowed to view the cube built by Microsoft Project Server unless they belong to a general group with permission to SQL Server Analysis Services.

To grant OLAP cube access to specific users and groups, do the following:

  1. Log on to the SQL Server Analysis Services computer with a user account that has permissions equivalent to either the Administrators or OLAP Administrators groups.
  1. Start SQL Server Analysis Manager.
  1. Expand the name of your server under Analysis Servers to see the cube databases on that computer.
  1. Right-click the name of the database (as shown in the Cube name box of the Updates to Resource Tables and OLAP Cube page in Microsoft Project Web Access), and then click Manage Roles.
  1. In the Database Role Manager dialog box, click New.
  1. In the Create a Database Role dialog box, enter a name for the new database role in the Role name box.
  1. On the Membership tab, click the Add button to add users and groups to the role.
  1. In the Add Users and Groups dialog box, find your Analysis Services server name in the List Names From list, select the group you want, for example OLAP Administrators, and then click Add. Click OK.
  1. On the Cubes tab, click Check All to enable access to all three cubes in the Microsoft Project Server database. Click OK.
Granting db_owner permissions to the OLAP Administrators group for the Microsoft Project Server database

If the SQL Server database supports Windows authentication, the OLAP Administrators group needs to be given db_owner permissions for the repository. You can grant this permission by doing the following:

  1. Start SQL Server Enterprise Manager.
  1. Open the Microsoft Project Server database.
  1. Select Roles.
  1. Double-click db_owner.
  1. In the Database Role Properties dialog box, click Add.
  1. In the Add Role Members dialog box, select OLAP Administrators.
  1. Click OK. Click Apply, then click OK.
Setting up Views processing on a separate server

Publishing views in Microsoft Project Server is a very server-intensive task. Every time a project or resource gets checked in, the Microsoft Project OLE DB Provider on the Microsoft Project Server is used to extract the project and resource data, and publish it to the view tables. In a large organization, it is recommended that the Views processing components (including the Microsoft Project OLE DB Provider) be set up on their own computer.

Microsoft Office Web Components

Microsoft Office XP Web Components (OWC) are required to use the Portfolio Analyzer feature of Microsoft Project. If the machine that is being used to access the Portfolio Analyzer does not have Microsoft Office XP installed, on the first access, a dialog box will offer to install a runtime version of the required software. If this software is not installed, the Portfolio Analyzer views will be unavailable. If the installation is successful, the Portfolio Analyzer views will be available. However, the runtime version of OWC does not support the Interactive mode, which allows a user to modify a Portfolio Analyzer view. A user will require a full installation of Microsoft Office XP Web Components to modify or create a Portfolio Analyzer view.

Building an OLAP Cube in Microsoft Project Web Access

Resource availability and Portfolio Analyzer data is stored in MSP_VIEW_ tables in the Microsoft Project Server database (see SvrDB.htm in the \Help\1033 (1033 is the locale ID [LCID] for the U.S. English version, the subfolder for a localized version will depend on its LCID) folder on the Microsoft Project Server CD for more information about the view tables). OLAP data is used specifically for the Portfolio Analyzer feature of Microsoft Project Web Access.

The MSP_VIEW_ tables store data that has been extracted from the assignments, projects, resources, and tasks tables in the Microsoft Project Server database, based on a data range set that was created while building the OLAP cube in Microsoft Project Web Access. Since these tables are based on a specific date range, they also need to be updated regularly.

To build the resource availability and OLAP cubes in Microsoft Project Web Access, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access. Click Admin.
  1. On the Administration overview page, click Manage enterprise features.
  1. Under Enterprise options, click Update resource tables and OLAP cube. The section under Current Cube Status will indicate the date on which a cube was last updated.
  1. Decide whether or not you want to build the cube for Portfolio Analyzer. If yes, select Yes, otherwise select No to update only the resource availability information.
  1. To update the resource availability cube and an OLAP cube for Portfolio Analyzer, do the following (skip to step 9 if you are only updating resource availability information):
  1. Under OLAP cube name and description, enter the name of the server you have set up to run SQL Server Analysis Services in the Analysis Server box, a name for the cube, and a description (optional).
  1. Under Date range, specify the date range on which you want to build the OLAP cube. You have three options: using a project's earliest start and latest finish date; choosing a rolling starting and ending date that is set to a specific span of days before and after the current date; or choosing a fixed date range.
  1. Under Date range for resource availability, specify the date range you want to use for updating resource availability information. You can choose a rolling starting and ending date that is set to a specific span of days, weeks, or months before and after the current date; or you can choose a fixed date range.
  1. Under Update frequency, specify how often you want the Analysis server to update the resource availability information and Portfolio Analyzer data. You can run updates manually by clicking the Update Now button, or you can have the Analysis server run regular updates by setting the frequency of the update. If you want to set up a regular update, choose whether you want to update every "x" number of days, weeks, or months, the time of day to run the update, and when to start the update.

Understanding Portfolio Analyzer Views

Before you can create Portfolio Analyzer views, you must set up the OLAP cube to store resource availability data in Microsoft Project Web Access. For more information, see "Building an OLAP cube in Microsoft Project Web Access," in this article. Resource availability data is stored in the Microsoft Project Server database in the MSP_VIEW_ tables. See SvrDB.htm in the \Help\1033 (1033 is the locale ID [LCID] for the U.S. English version, the subfolder for a localized version will depend on its LCID) folder on the Microsoft Project Server CD for more information about the view tables.

After you have set up OLAP services in Microsoft Project Web Access, you can set up Portfolio Analyzer views. There are many different components in OWC, only three of which are used by Portfolio Analyzer:

  • PivotTable   The PivotTable provides dynamic views that enable users to analyze information by sorting, grouping, filtering, and pivoting. The data comes from the Microsoft Project Server OLAP cube, and will be displayed in a spreadsheet format.
  • Data Source   The data source component is the reporting engine behind the PivotTable component. It manages communication with the back-end database servers, and determines which database records can be displayed on the page. It manages the sorting, filtering, and updating of those records in response to user actions. It relies on Microsoft Active Data Objects (ADO). In Microsoft Project Professional and in Microsoft Project Web Access, the only valid data source is the Microsoft Project Server OLAP cube.
  • **Chart   **The chart component graphically displays information from the spreadsheet, from the PivotTable views, or from the data source component. It is not bound or linked directly to other controls on the display page, so it always updates instantly in response to user interactions. For example, a user can chart a PivotTable view that displays sales by region.

You will be able to choose whether to build a Portfolio Analyzer view as a PivotTable, a chart, or as a combination of both.

Creating a Portfolio Analyzer view

The Portfolio Analyzer view is created in the Admin area of Microsoft Project Web Access. To create a Portfolio Analyzer view, do the following:

  1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access with an account that has administrative permissions. Click Admin.
  1. Under Administration overview, click Manage views.
  1. Under View options, click Views. Click Add View.
  1. On the Specify Views page of Microsoft Project Web Access, select Portfolio Analyzer.
  1. Enter a unique name and a description for the view in the Name and Description boxes, for example you could enter a name of "Assignments by project manager" and a description of "Displays total hours assigned to each resource for each project manager."
  1. Select the Portfolio Analyzer mode, either PivotTable with Chart, PivotTable only, or Chart only. Drop information into the PivotTable or Chart by dragging fields from the PivotTable Field List or Chart Field List dialog box (click in the PivotTable or Chart to bring up the field list dialog boxes). For more information, see "Working with the PivotTable and Chart workspaces," in this article.
  1. Add the groups of users (categories) that will be able to access this view by selecting a category and clicking the Add button. Click Save Changes.
Working with the PivotTable and Chart workspaces

Under Customize the PivotTable and Chart, you can add information to your Portfolio Analyzer view. An empty PivotTable or Chart has four main areas that fields and information can be dropped into:

  • Filter Fields   The contents of this area will act as filters for the incoming data. Information from the OLAP cube will only be displayed if the data passes the criteria that are defined here.
  • Column Fields or Category Fields   The fields in this area contain the groups that the data will be aggregated into. They will form the columns of the PivotTable (spreadsheet) or the X-axis of the Chart. They are called Column Fields in a PivotTable and Category Fields in a Chart.
  • Row Fields or Series Fields   These are the sets of data that will define the discrete sets of data and will be stored in the rows of the PivotTable. They are called Row Fields in a PivotTable and Series Fields in a Chart.
  • Total or Detail Fields or Data Fields   These fields provide the data to be totaled and will form the values in each of the cells in a PivotTable, or the Y-axis of a Chart. They are called Total or Detail Fields in a PivotTable and Data Fields in a Chart.

The Field List dialog boxes contain two types of data: totals and dimensions. To add information to the PivotTable and Chart views, simply drag a field from the Field List dialog box to the appropriate section of the PivotTable or Chart.

Accessing Portfolio Analyzer Views

Portfolio Analyzer views can be accessed from two key points within the system: the Collaborate menu in Microsoft Project Professional, and the Projects and Resources areas in Microsoft Project Web Access.

Importing Views from Microsoft Project Central into Microsoft Project Web Access

After you have installed Microsoft Project Server, users can start using most features without further configuration. However, to display views created in Microsoft Project Central in Microsoft Project Web Access, you will need to perform some additional steps to make them available for your users.

To add Microsoft Project Central views to Microsoft Project Web Access

  1. Place a copy of the Microsoft Project Central view in the \Views\Assignments, \Views\Project, or \Views\ResourceCenter folders under the IIS Virtual Root directory of Microsoft Project Server.
  1. Add these files to the table of views by clicking Get Additional Views on the Specify Views page.
  1. Click Modify View, and then specify a category to enable users to access the views.