How CxLens ingests and rebuilds your Microsoft Project schedule
The XML export is the standard way to move a Microsoft Project schedule between systems. CxLens has no live link into MS Project. You save the schedule as XML and upload it, and CxLens reads it and reassembles the schedule inside the platform.
What CxLens reads from an MS Project XML file
CxLens pulls out the parts of the export that commissioning work depends on.
Tasks and dates
Task names with their start and finish dates, so every task in the schedule is available to link against.
Hierarchy and dependencies
The task hierarchy, including summary tasks, and the dependencies between tasks, so the schedule keeps its structure.
Baseline dates
Baseline dates, when the file is exported with baseline data, so you can compare the plan you committed to against the current one.
Saving as XML and uploading
In MS Project, choose File, then Save As, and pick the XML format. If you want baseline comparisons, include the baseline data in the export. Upload the .xml file to your CxLens project, add the issued date of that revision, and mark the file for schedule health analysis, planning connections, or both.
The project selection step applies only to .xer files, so an MS Project upload has none. Click Process on the uploaded file and you get an email when it finishes.
Working with MS Project tasks
Once the schedule is ingested, you connect checklists to its tasks, searching by task name and linking several at a time. For large projects, the first pass can be automated during implementation using activity ID patterns or WBS matching rules.
MS Project questions
- Which versions of MS Project are supported?
- CxLens accepts .xml exports from MS Project 2016 and later.
- Do I need to include baseline data in the export?
- Only if you want baseline comparisons. CxLens reads baseline dates when the file is exported with baseline data, so include it when you save the XML.
- What does CxLens keep from the task structure?
- The task hierarchy, including summary tasks, and the dependencies between tasks, along with task names and their start and finish dates.
Where the process continues
The health check, the revision history, and the comparison that shows what moved work identically for every schedule, so they are explained on one page: how schedule import works. Linking tasks to checklists is the schedule connection feature, and the checklists come from your CxAlloy instance. Working in Oracle P6 instead? See P6 schedule import.
Talk to us about your project
We'll go through your commissioning challenges and tell you whether CxLens can help.
Or email us directly: hello@cxlens.io