Because Microsoft Team Manager 97 and Microsoft Project 2000 handle data differently, some elements of a Team Manager plan are not converted to your Microsoft Project 2000 file.

Though it would be possible to convert many Microsoft Team Manager task and people properties to text fields in Microsoft Project, these fields instead have been reserved for the use of converting custom fields from team plans. Therefore, properties such as a person's address and phone number are not converted.

Miscellaneous costs transfer to the Microsoft Project task Fixed Cost field. The Description transfers to the Microsoft Project Text30 field.

The following sections list some of the more common differences that you should be aware of (note that this is not an all-inclusive list).

Recurring tasks

Recurring tasks are converted to tasks in Microsoft Project, but rather than being explicitly marked as recurring tasks, they appear as summary tasks with subtasks representing each recurrence of the task.

Custom fields

Microsoft Project 2000 limits the number of custom fields that it allows for tasks and resources. While this number is sufficiently high in most circumstances, not all custom fields are converted. The table below shows the custom fields in Microsoft Team Manager, the fields they are converted to in Microsoft Project 2000, and their limits in Microsoft Project 2000.

Choice lists associated with custom fields are not converted.

Notes

The content of notes for resources, tasks, and assignments are transferred to the Microsoft Project file. However, any rich text format enhancements to text in the Team Manager notes fields are not transferred.

Resource information

Microsoft Project does not support the storage of detailed contact information as does Team Manager. This information will not be transferred to the Microsoft Project file. For example, a person's work phone, home phone, address, and performance goals (as well as related tasks) are not transferred.

Labels

Customized labels for predefined columns in Team Manager are not transferred to the Microsoft Project file. The data in the columns is retained, but the column appears with the label that Microsoft Project assigns to it.

Actual work

Gross actual work is transferred to the Microsoft Project file, but the timescale is not retained in these values. Actual work begins on the first day work was entered in Team Manager and is spread evenly to the last day it was entered in a flat contour. Because of this difference, the finish date of some tasks in the converted project may be different.

Baseline values

Although Baseline Start, Finish, Work, and Cost fields are mapped to Microsoft Project, when the file is saved, Microsoft Project asks whether a baseline plan should be saved. If you select yes, the Team Manager baseline values are overwritten with the current values in the Microsoft Project file.

Because of the difference in the way Microsoft Project stores and interprets baseline values, earned value calculations such as BCWP will not work unless the baseline is saved in Microsoft Project 2000.

Team Manager Notebook

The information found on the Notebook tab in Microsoft Team Manager is not converted to Microsoft Project 2000.

Team Manager Vital Signs

The information found on the Vital Signs tab in Microsoft Team Manager is not converted to Microsoft Project 2000.

Team and people calendars

Because of limitations in the calendar object model in Microsoft Team Manager and Microsoft Project 2000, it's not possible to create a calendar in Microsoft Project that looks exactly like a Team Manager calendar. For example, if your team plan has a global weekday exception (you have, for instance, made all Mondays nonworking time), when you look at the converted calendar in Microsoft Project 2000, you'll find that only those days between the project start date and the project finish date note the exception. Similarly, if you have set other exceptions that are in effect before or after the team plan's start and finish, these exceptions are not converted.

Views, filters, groups, and sorting

Views, filters, groups, and sorting do not convert to Microsoft Project 2000. However, in most cases, the same or similar manipulation can be done in Microsoft Project 2000.

Active people

In Microsoft Project 2000, resources are always assumed to be active. Therefore, the Active property is not converted. In Microsoft Project 2000, you can set a resource's availability dates to simulate active and nonactive periods.

Short versus full name

All team member names are converted to full names in Microsoft Project 2000.

Team plan currency symbol

In Microsoft Team Manager, a team plan's currency symbol is based on the system currency setting. The currency symbol is not moved into the project file. For example, if you have a team plan where the currency symbol is the pound and you convert the plan on a system where the currency symbol is the dollar, the converted plan will have the dollar currency symbol. When the plan has been converted to Microsoft Project 2000, you can change the currency symbol: On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab. On the View tab under Currency options, change the currency symbol.

Cost values

The maximum cost in a Microsoft Team Manager field such as Miscellaneous Costs is:

$99,999,999,999,999.99.

In Microsoft Project 2000, the maximum cost is:

$999,999,999,999.99.

Therefore, if a Microsoft Team Manager plan has cost fields that exceed the lower Microsoft Project 2000 capacity, the fields will be ignored during the conversion process.