Before you can work with the Enterprise Global Template in Project Professional, you must first check it out from the Project Server database. In order to check out the Enterprise Global Template, you must be assigned the Save Enterprise Global permission, either individually or by means of membership in a security group or security category that is assigned that permission.

The items maintained by the Enterprise Global Template are the same items found in the Organizer, with the exception of the currency symbol, which is maintained under Currency options on the View tab of the Options dialog box, which is available from the Tools menu in Project Professional. No other settings that are available in the Options dialog box are included in the Enterprise Global Template.

 Note   The Enterprise Global Template can only be checked out by one user at a time. If you attempt to open the Enterprise Global Template while it is checked out, you will receive an error message stating that the enterprise global file cannot be checked out.

To check out and work with the Enterprise Global Template

1. Open Project Professional as a user who is assigned the Save Enterprise Global permission and connect to Project Server 2003.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Enterprise Options, and then click Open Enterprise Global.

   The Enterprise Global Template will be checked out and opened as a new (blank) project with the Gantt Chart view displayed. The name of the project in the title bar is Checked-out Enterprise Global.

   

3. Make the changes to the template in the same way that you make changes to a project. For example, you can add a new toolbar to the Enterprise Global Template. On the View menu, click Toolbars, and then click Customize. In the Customize dialog box, on the Toolbar tab, click New to add the new toolbar.

   Decisions about what to include in the Enterprise Global Template should be made at the organizational level. Avoid using the same names for elements in the Enterprise Global Template that you use for elements in the Global template for Project Professional. The element in the Enterprise Global Template is always enforced in this circumstance. If there is a conflict between an element in a local project and an element in the Enterprise Global Template, the project manager is forced to rename a local element, or he or she may not be able to continue working in the project.

4. When you are finished making changes, on the File menu, click Close.

Updates to the Enterprise Global Template are not available until the next time a project manager connects to the Project Server database and refreshes the locally cached Enterprise Global Template on his or her local computer.

If another user edits and saves the Enterprise Global Template while you are working in Project Professional, the next time that you open a project from the Project Server database, you will be alerted to refresh the out-of-date local settings. You must close and restart Project Professional to refresh the Enterprise Global Template.

Size of the Enterprise Global Template

Initially, the Enterprise Global Template is a small file. However, as you add information to it, such as Enterprise Custom Fields or Enterprise Outline Codes, the size of the file increases and it will take longer for users to refresh or check out the Enterprise Global Template. In particular, the size of lookup tables and value lists can have a significant impact on usability. For example, a lookup table that includes 1000 items in a drop-down list will not be easy for project managers or resource managers to use. If you have created lookup tables with more than 100 entries, consider whether breaking this information out into more than one Enterprise Custom Field or Enterprise Outline Code will help users work with this data.

In addition, be sure to carefully manage the frequency of changes to the Enterprise Global Template in your organization. Each time a change is made, all Project Professional users must refresh the settings on their local computers.

Duplicate Enterprise Global Template Items in Local Projects

When you open a project in Project Professional and you are connected to the Project Server database, the project will be validated against the settings in the Enterprise Global Template. If an item in the local project is found to have a matching item in the Enterprise Global Template, then you will be prompted to replace the local item with the item from the Enterprise Global Template. For example, Gantt Chart is a default view in Project Professional. All projects include this view unless it is specifically removed. If it is also part of the Enterprise Global Template, the Gantt Chart view will be enforced based on the settings in the Enterprise Global Template and not the local Global template. Project managers might not be able to continue working with a project until the duplicate item is renamed or deleted.

Duplicate names for local project items are allowed with the exception of calendars. It is possible for two local open projects to contain identically named views —for example, My View —but have slightly different settings. It is not possible to have an Enterprise Calendar named Local Shift that is not identical across all open projects. If presented with an alert about duplicate calendar names, you must accept the calendar defined in the Enterprise Global Template.

Working with Projects Offline

In order for you to work offline (that is, not connected to Project Server 2003) on projects that are checked out from the Project Server database, Project Professional requires a cached local copy of the Enterprise Global Template.

To work on projects offline

1. In Project Professional, on the Tools menu, point to Enterprise Options and select Microsoft Office Project Server Accounts to open the Project Server Accounts dialog box.
2. Under When starting, select Manually control connection state, and then click OK.
3. In the Project Server Accounts dialog box, the next time you open Project Professional and connect to Project Server 2003, click Work Offline.

The cached Enterprise Global Template is stored in the file system on the local computer in the Application Data folder as account_name{+}[globally_unique_identifier].mpt. Any projects saved offline are saved to this folder. The globally unique identifier (GUID) ensures that Project Professional uses the correct cached Enterprise Global Template for the account while working with projects that are checked out from the Project Server database and taken offline.

 Note   Do not edit, move, or rename projects that are checked out from the Project Server database and that you work on offline. If you do edit, move, or rename offline projects, you will not be able to save those projects to the Project Server database. Opening an offline project without saving any changes does not affect your ability to save the project at a later time.

Working Offline When Using Terminal Server

Terminal Server offers a practical, high-performance solution to working with Project Professional from a remote location. However, you cannot work with projects offline locally when using Terminal Server, because you cannot control the location to which the offline projects are saved. In addition, when you use Terminal Server to save a project offline, the project is saved on the server with Terminal Server enabled, not the local computer that you are using to access Terminal Server.

Saving a Project That Is Checked Out As a Local File

When you save a project that you checked out from the Project Server database as a local file, it is no longer an enterprise project. Enterprise projects are saved in the Project Server database and are regulated by the Enterprise Global Template. It is possible to copy items in the Enterprise Global Template into the locally saved project file by using the Organizer in Project Professional. This can be an extensive task depending on the types of customizations you have made to the Enterprise Global Template; for example, it might involve copying large lookup tables for Enterprise Outline Codes, requiring the regeneration of the unique identifiers used for the Enterprise Outline Code stored in the Project Server database into the local Global Template.

 Note   When you save an enterprise project as a local project file, you are asked to copy some or all of the contents of the Enterprise Global Template, with the exception of Enterprise Outline Codes.

If you save a project as a local file to send out to remote users for review, and that file is returned, you cannot resave that project file to the Project Server database. It will not be recognized as an enterprise project saved in the Project Server database. It is possible to save the file as a new project, but you might not want to do that.

It is recommended that you store enterprise projects only in the Project Server database if you want to continue using that project as an enterprise project. If you want to save projects offline periodically for reporting or sharing purposes, consider creating a version (called Offline), saving the project as that version, and then saving the version offline.

Loading Items in the Enterprise Global Template into Memory

When you start Project Professional and connect to Project Server 2003, the Enterprise Global Template is loaded into memory. It remains active in memory for the entire session (that is, until Project Professional is closed). The Enterprise Global Template that is stored in memory includes the following:

• Items in the Enterprise Global Template that were refreshed from Project Server 2003 or cached locally.
• Items from the local Global template file (that is, project-level settings that are not included in the Enterprise Global Template).
• Enterprise Calendars in all open projects.

The Enterprise Global Template cannot be updated during a session. If the Enterprise Global Template is modified by a user who is assigned the Save Enterprise Global permission and saved to the Project Server database, the updated Enterprise Global Template is not refreshed on your local computer until the next time you open Project Professional and connect to Project Server 2003.

Project Professional caches a local timestamp to determine whether to update the Enterprise Global Template when connecting to Project Server 2003. If the local timestamp is older than the timestamp in the Project Server database, then the Enterprise Global Template is updated and loaded into memory.

Naming Items in the Enterprise Global Template

In the Enterprise Global Template, custom items are not differentiated from local items in drop-down lists and in menus unless you use a naming convention that allows members of your organization to quickly identify the custom items. Examples of possible naming conventions include:

• Using a corporate prefix. For example, Contoso Gantt Chart.
• Using "e" For example, eGantt Chart.
• Using a character that will place the custom item at the top of the collating sequence, such as "–" or "aa"; for example,  —Gantt Chart or aaGantt Chart.

 Note   Users can define their local Global template items in any way that they choose. If you allow users in your organization to use their own local calendars, then it is possible for one or more project managers to attempt to create calendars with the same names.

Validating Custom Items in the Enterprise Global Template

It is recommended that you test custom items that you add to the Enterprise Global Template before you make them available to all users immediately upon refresh. You can test custom items in several ways:

• Create items such as tables, views, filters, and groups in a local project, test them in the local project first, and then use the Organizer to copy them into the Enterprise Global Template.
• Create local custom fields to test formula and graphical indicator settings before entering them into the Enterprise Global Template.
• Add tasks and resources into the Enterprise Global Template for testing against new items. Remember that tasks and resources will not be saved in the Enterprise Global Template.
• Set up a separate server environment for testing more complex items such as Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) modules.

Protecting the Enterprise Global Template

The Enterprise Global Template maintains important data. For this reason, it is best to limit access to the Enterprise Global Template to only those users who require access. The following three permissions are available in Project Web Access to regulate access to the Enterprise Global Template:

• Backup Global  A global permission that allows a user to use Project Professional to create a copy of the Enterprise Global Template as an offline Project template file (MPT).
• Read Enterprise Global  A global permission that allows a user to load the Enterprise Global Template when connecting Project Professional to the Project Server database. Users who do not have this permission cannot connect to the Project Server database.
• Save Enterprise Global  A global permission that allows a user to use Project Professional to check out, modify, and save the Enterprise Global Template.