Integration to Primavera Project Management - Messages

When performing project integrations it is necessary to have a good knowledge of both applications that are involved and, from the very start, create projects that follow the requirements of the integration and the business logic of both applications. To facilitate the work process, IFS Applications offers a solution that gives you feed-back regarding the integration through integration messages. The messages are presented in the Integration Messages window and are of two types; data analysis messages and data exception messages.

The data analysis functionality and integration messages are a part of the integration to external planning tools functionality. Presently this functionality is available for the integration to Primavera Project Management module. Read more about the data analysis and exception messages in the following sections.

The Project Management module of Primavera is referred to as Primavera and IFS Applications is referred to as IFS in this document.

Running the Integration and Integration Messages

With IFS Applications Integration Messages functionality, it is possible to run an analysis of the project data before the integration starts. Data analysis messages are the result of running the data analysis functionality. The data analysis can be run as a separate function or as the first step of the integration. The analysis will check for the most fundamental differences in business logic between IFS Applications and the external planning tool. When running the data analysis, no data is actually integrated. Executing the data analysis functionality is a recommended part of the process of integrating data, it will give information about data that may need to be rectified before performing the integration, in order for the integration to be successful.

The integration of data can result in exception messages. The data exception message indicates that an object was not successfully inserted or updated which is often due to that a business rule have been violated. All data, which did not result in exception messages, is integrated. Read more about the integration messages in the sections below.

Integration options:

Analyze Data - When this option is used, the data is analyzed without integrating the data. Messages of type Error must be rectified to avoid exception messages during the integration.
Analyze and Run Integration - When this option is used, the data is analyzed and if there are no integration messages of type Error, the integration of data will proceed. Note that integration will only stop when the integration messages are of type Error, but will proceed for type Warning or Information.
Run Integration - When this option is used, the integration is run without data analysis. During the integration it is possible to get data exception messages for any object that was not successfully integrated.
Run Integration as Background Job - When this option is used, the integration is run without data analysis. During the integration it is possible to get data exception messages for any object that was not successfully integrated.

Critical scenarios:

There are some critical scenarios where data analysis is carried out even if data analysis has not been selected as part of the integration. This means that even if you have selected the option Run Integration, the integration will stop, with integration messages of type Error;

If the project has non unique activity IDs, it is not possible to import or export data.
If the project has non unique sub project IDs, it is not possible to import or export data.
If the IFS Project has more than one Resource Criteria defined, it is not possible to export or import resource assignments.
If the Primavera project has duplicate resources assigned, it is not possible to export or import resource assignments.

Data Analysis Messages

The data analysis can be run as a separate function or as the first step of the integration. The analysis will check for the most fundamental differences in business logic between IFS Applications and the external planning tool. The analysis can result in any number of integration messages, each containing information about a specific situation where data may need to be rectified in order to have a successful integration. During the data analysis process, no data is actually integrated.

The integration messages can be of type Error, Warning or Information.

Error: The message describes a situation that would result in the data not being successfully integrated. Project data must be rectified before running the integration.
Warning: The message describes a situation that may result in loss or change of data.
Information: This type is for your information only.

The integration message gives a suggestion of where to rectify the problem, specifically in which project, sub project or activity where this correction could take place.

Data Exception Messages

Exception messages are information about exceptions that occurred during an integration. The data exception message indicates that an object was not successfully inserted or updated which is often due to that a business rule have been violated. If exceptions occur during an integration, a message will be displayed when the integration is completed.

The exception messages can be viewed in the Integration Messages window. One message will be shown for each object that fails. The columns in this client will display information about this message and locate the failed object.

The Application field indicates the application from which the message is derived. This information is useful when analyzing the reason for the object was not inserted or updated. The description of the exception message as well as the value in the Object Type field points out the type of object that was not inserted or updated. An example of object types are activity or dependencies. Besides this information, there are columns in the Integration Messages window that help to specifically locate the object that failed in the project structure or basic data, whenever this is possible. The fields are; Project ID, Sub project ID, Activity ID, Activity Sequence Number, Resource ID and Calendar ID.

Observe that the content and description of the data exception messages is exactly as it is given from the IFS or the Primavera database and exactly as it will be displayed in the Integration Messages window. The information given in a data exception message about a failed object can differ according to the exception message and the situation. More than one attempt to insert or update an object that is fails, may result in more than one exception message.

The following section is a description of situations and requirements where project data needs to be set up in a certain manner to achieve a successful integration. For example, if there is a limitation for a certain data type in Primavera, it may be helpful to consider this limitation when working with the project in IFS Applications, if the intention is that this project is to be integrated with Primavera. If the project contains data that does not take some of the following situations into consideration, executing the project data analysis functionality will result in integration messages.

The section is divided in two sections; the Integration Requirements and Recommendations and Integration Quick Reference Guide.

Integration Requirements and Recommendations

The following tables contain information about the requirements and recommendations that exist for working with projects in IFS and Primavera, in order to achieve a successful integration. When working with one application, it is important to consider the requirements and limitations of both the integration and the business logic in the other application.

Work Breakdown Structure

There are some things to consider when creating a project work breakdown structure (WBS).

Data Type	Comment
IFS: Sub Project structure Primavera: WBS	To avoid integration messages, do not connect activities directly under the project node in Primavera. In Primavera it is allowed to connect activities directly to the project node, whereas IFS requires that activities are connected to a subproject.
WBS levels	To avoid integration messages, do not create a sub project structure in IFS where the number of levels exceeds the maximum allowed in Primavera. In Primavera, It is possible to define the allowed WBS levels to be used in a project to a number between 1-50 levels. There is no limitation in IFS.

Unique Object Identity Requirements

Both IFS and Primavera have requirements that some object IDs must be unique. The following must be considered when creating new objects:

Data Type	Comment
IFS: Sub Project ID Primavera: WBS code	To avoid integration messages, create WBS elements with unique WBS codes in Primavera. In IFS it is required that all sub project identities must be unique for the project, whereas duplicate occurrences are allowed in Primavera. It is not possible to either export to or import from a project that contains duplicate occurrences.
IFS: Sub Project Description Primavera: WBS Name	To avoid integration messages, give sub projects in IFS with the same parent sub project unique sub project descriptions. Primavera requires that all the WBS elements under one parent WBS element have unique WBS names, whereas duplicated sub project descriptions are allowed in IFS.
Activity ID	To avoid integration messages, create activities with unique identities in IFS. Primavera requires that activity ID must be unique for the whole project, whereas in IFS the activity ID is only required to be unique for the specific sub project to which the activity belongs.
Resource ID	To avoid integration messages, verify that existing resources and resource nodes in the Primavera resource structure does not conflict with the identities of the resources that are exported to Primavera. In Primavera resources are organized in a resource structure that is common for all projects. The integration requires that resources are located under a top resource node that corresponds to the IFS company ID. This node needs to be unique within the entire resource structure. In Primavera it is required that all resource identities are unique within the resource structure, whereas in IFS the same resource ID can exist in different companies.
IFS: Company ID Program ID Primavera: EPS ID	To avoid integration messages, verify that existing EPS nodes in the Primavera project enterprise structure does not conflict with the identity of the IFS project company ID and/or the IFS program ID. Primavera has a project enterprise structure (EPS) that is used to organize projects in hierarchical structures. The integration requires that a project is located under an EPS node. This structure is common for all projects in Primavera. A new EPS node, corresponding to the IFS company ID, is created the first time a project, belonging to that IFS company, is exported. The project is placed under this node. The EPS node must to be unique within the project enterprise structure. If the IFS project is connected to a program, an EPS node corresponding to the program ID, is created directly below the EPS company node. This EPS node must be unique within the project enterprise structure.

Lowercase Letters

Data Type

Comment

Lowercase letters

To avoid integration messages, create new object identities in Primavera using uppercase letters.

In Primavera object identities may contain both upper and lowercase letters whereas IFS requires that identities are uppercase. The recommendation is to always use uppercase letters for object identities.

The integration can however handle lowercase letters for sub project ID, activity ID, and resource ID. On import, the ID will be converted to uppercase letters in IFS. The ID in Primavera will remain lowercase when the object is exported.

Object ID Lengths

The allowed ID length for a certain object can differ between IFS and Primavera.

Data Type

Comment

ID lengths

To avoid getting integration messages, it is recommended to keep ID lengths to maximum 10 characters in Primavera.

In Primavera it is possible to configure ID lengths to contain between 1-20 characters whereas IFS requires that most ID lengths are maximum 10 characters. (Refer to the Admin Preferences in Primavera view or reconfigure ID lengths). The following is a table containing the allowed ID lengths in IFS and Primavera.

IFS ID Length		Primavera ID Length
Company ID	10	EPS ID	20 (1-20)
Program ID	10	EPS ID	20 (1-20)
Project ID	10	Project ID (Parent WBS code)	20 (1-20)
Sub Project ID	10	WBS Code	20 (1-20)
Activity ID	10	Activity ID	20 (1-20)
Activity Class ID	45	Activity Code	20 (1-40)
Activity Class Value	20	Activity Code Value	20 (1-60)
Activity Responsible (Person ID)	20	IFS Activity Responsible (UDF)	255
Resource ID	100	Resource ID	20 (1-255)
Manager (Person ID)	20	OBS Name (Person responsible)	100

Object Description Lengths

The allowed description length for a certain object can differ between IFS and Primavera.

Data Type

Comment

Description lengths

To avoid integration messages, keep description lengths within the maximum characters allowed in both Primavera and IFS. Sub project descriptions in IFS must be kept within maximum 100 characters.

If a description length exceeds the maximum allowed characters, it will get truncated. There are one exception to this rule:

Sub Project Description / WBS Name
- In Primavera the WBS name must be unique and it cannot be truncated. Therefore, sub project descriptions in IFS must be kept to maximum 100 characters.

The following is a table with the field lengths.

IFS Description Length		Primavera Description Length
Company Name	100	EPS Name	100
Program Description	2000	EPS Name	100
Project Description	2000	IFS Project Description (UDF)	255
Sub Project	255	WBS Name	100
Activity Description	200	Activity Name	120
Activity Class Description	100	Activity Code Description	255
Resource Description	200	Resource Name	255

Activities

IFS and Primavera have different requirements when it comes to progress for activities with actual start dates.

Data Type

Comment

IFS Activity Actual Finish Date with 0% Progress

To avoid integration messages of type Warning, make sure that IFS activities with actual finish dates have at least 1% progress.

In IFS an activity can manually be given actual finish dates or automatically when the activity status is changed to Complete. The activity’s progress can range from 0-100%. Primavera requires that an activity with an actual finish date, have 1-100% progress.

When exporting an IFS activity with actual finish dates and 0% progress, the integration will send 100% progress to Primavera.

Resources and Resource Assignments

Data Type	Comment
Resource Assignment	To avoid integration messages, do not assign a resource more than once to an activity in Primavera. Primavera supports assigning the same resource to an activity multiple times whereas it is not allowed in IFS.
Resource Assignment - Milestone Activity	To avoid integration messages, do not assign a resource to a milestone activity in IFS. In IFS it is allowed to assign a resource to a milestone activity whereas it is not allowed in Primavera.

Milestones, Dependencies and Constraints

IFS and Primavera have different requirements when it comes to creating an activity network with dependencies and constraints.

Data Type

Comment

Creating activity network with activity milestones and dependencies.

IFS: Dependencies

Primavera: Relationships

To avoid errors, when creating an activity network in IFS that includes activity milestones, consider the requirements regarding activity milestones and dependencies, based on the business logic in Primavera. It is important to understand both what milestone type the exported IFS milestone activity will receive in Primavera, as well as the constraint and dependency types that are allowed for that milestone type in Primavera.

Milestones

In IFS, there is only one type of milestone activity whereas in Primavera, there are two types of milestone activities – Start milestones and Finish milestones.

If the IFS activity is an activity milestone, and it is exported:

The activity type in Primavera will receive the value: Start Milestone

If the activity has the constraint Start not earlier than, then the activity type in Primavera will receive the value: Start Milestone.

If the activity has the constraint End not later than, then the activity type in Primavera will receive the value: Finish Milestone.

Creating Dependencies with Milestone Activities

In IFS, a milestone activity is possible to link to any type of dependency whereas in Primavera only certain dependency types are allowed depending on the milestone type (start or finish milestone).

Example: If the activity is a Start Milestone, and if it is a successor, the only valid dependency types that can link to its predecessors are FS and SS.

Constraints and Milestone Activities

For a milestone activity, the milestone type will determine the constraint type allowed to impose on that milestone activity in Primavera. For example, the constraint Start on Or After is allowed to be imposed on a Start Milestone but not on a Finish Milestone in Primavera.

Note: Be aware of the milestone type in Primavera when deciding the constraint and the dependencies linked to the milestone.

Please refer to guidelines and documentation provided by Primavera for information about Primavera specific functionality.

Integration Quick Reference Guide

The following tables contain information about the requirements and recommendations that exist for working with projects in IFS and Primavera, to achieve a successful integration. This is a quick reference guide that could be used as a check list when working with your projects. To get more detailed information, go to Integration Requirements and Recommendations. For specific information about the field mapping in IFS and Primavera, go to Integration to Primavera Project Management.

IFS - Integration Quick Guide

Working in IFS - Exporting Project Data to Primavera
Company	Verify that existing EPS nodes in the Primavera project enterprise structure does not conflict with the identity of the IFS Project Company ID. The EPS node must be unique.
Program	Verify that existing EPS nodes in the Primavera project enterprise structure does not conflict with the identity of the IFS Program ID. The EPS node must be unique.
Project
Sub Project Structure	Do not create a sub project structure in IFS where the number of levels exceeds the maximum allowed in Primavera (maximum 50).
Sub Project	Give sub projects in IFS with the same parent sub project, unique sub project descriptions.
Sub Project	Keep sub project description lengths to maximum 100 characters.
Activity	Create activities with unique identities for the entire project.
Activity	An activity with actual finish with 0% progress will receive 100% progress in Primavera if exported.
Activity Milestones	Observe that an IFS activity milestone will receive the value start milestone or finish milestone in Primavera. Depending on the activity milestone type (start milestone or finish milestone), certain constraints and dependency types are allowed for that milestone in Primavera.
Activity Milestones	Do not assign a resource to a milestone activity
Resources	Verify that existing resources and resource nodes in Primavera resource structure does not conflict with the identities of the resources that is intended to be exported to Primavera. The Resource ID must be unique.
Dependencies	Be aware of the requirements that exist for what dependency types are allowed to link an activity milestone to.
Constraints	The constraints exported are: Start not earlier than (Primavera field: start on or after) End not later than (Primavera field: finish on or before.)
General - ID	Create object identities with an ID length less than the maximum allowed in both applications.
General - Description Lengths	Check allowed description lengths for each object in the Object Description length table.

Primavera - Integration Quick Guide

Working in Primavera - Importing Project Data to IFS
Company	-
Program	-
Project	Do not connect activities directly under the Project note, instead connect them to a WBS element.
WBS	-
WBS element	Create WBS elements with unique WBS codes.
Activity	-
Activity Milestones	-
Resource Assignments	Do not assign a resource more than once to an activity
Dependencies	-
Constraints	The Primavera constraint types that are imported to IFS are: Start on or after (IFS field: Start not earlier than). Finish on or before (IFS field: End not later than).
General - ID	Create identities in Primavera, using upper case letters.
General - ID	Keep ID lengths to a maximum 10 characters. Check ID length for each object in the Object ID length table and also IFS Attribute definition fields.
General - Description Lengths	Check allowed description lengths for each object in the Object Description length table.