Besides the option to start projects in Lynx from scratch, you also have the option to import project from other tools, like MS Project or Primavera.  This article describes the import process of an MS Project file example. 

MS Project

The sample project from MS Project below contains a set with tasks and summary tasks and a simple network structure.

In this example there are also two Skills assigned to tasks:

• Skill A - (already known in LYNX)
• Skill B - (not yet known in LYNX) 

The LYNX Import process will take over the network, task types and also handles the mapping of Skills and resources, considering Skill(s) and Resource(s) that already exist in the Lynx' Skill or Resource Table.

NOTE: the sample file used in this article is available as an attachment to this article (see at the bottom of this article)

Data unknown for Lynx 

Import files may contain data that is not recognized or cannot be mapped automatically to data-entities or fields in Lynx. The following measures and checks have been implemented:

Handling import conflicts - Space owner responsibility

The Space Owner is responsible to ensure that the data from the import file has no conflicts. When you import a file, Lynx checks the data within the skill, resource and calendar table. When there is unwanted information this can be resolved by a user with the role of Space Owner.

XML format import preferred over other formats

To minimize the chance on any unexpected deviations in you projects when importing your project file. You should save and import your MS Project file as an XML-file. 

Importing MS Project file - Video tutorial

See the video below or follow the instructions underneath the video for the steps to import a project yourself:

Lynx Import process - steps

The import process includes the following steps:

• Select the Project Portfolio view;
  • Press Add to open the Add a new project dialog;
  • Go to Template;
  • Select Create new project from file;
    • Select the file to be imported (see figure).

• When the import is complete, the Import status tab is added ;

• Go to the Import status tab for the data-mapping between values of MS Project and Lynx:
  • And resolve the Import conflicts;

Handling import conflicts (by Space Owner)

The Import status tab will highlight any import conflicts that between data in import project file (MS Project) and LYNX concerning:

• Calendars
• Skills
• Resources

Handling of Calendar conflicts

The Import status tab is showing two messages initially, because the calendars linked to skills/resources in MS Project and LYNX are not matching. LYNX proposes by default replace non-existing calendars by the default standard calendar.

It is recommended to just adopt this calendar setting, and ignore these messages.

Handling of Skill conflicts

The sample project has the following two skills assigned to tasks:

• Skill A - already in LYNX
• Skill B - no in LYNX yet

If the box Import resources as skills is selected, LYNX will check the resource assignments in the import file against the Skill table in LYNX.  As a result, only 1 message remains, concerning Skill B.

The following conflict resolution options are available:

• Create a new Skill
• Do not assign a Skill
• Replace with an already existing Skill 

In this example we have selected to add a new Skill B.

Handling of Resource conflicts

Conflicts at resource level occur when the import file also contain resource assignments, as shown in the example below:

Update project properties

Before saving the project into LYNX, it is required (and recommended) to add a Project ID, update the project end-date and confirm the scheduling settings. These 3 steps are shown in the pictures below.

Open the imported project in LYNX

Projects that have been imported can be found via the Portfolio view in the "Not started" bucket:

After opening the imported project in LYNX, you will see that Skill A and Skill B are now part of the project:

Reviewing and cleaning your project

External projects imported into LYNX often included so-called "Must" constraints, and also task-dependencies that are to be avoided when the CCPM method is used for planning and scheduling projects. 

See these articles addressing these topics: 

• Working with constraints in CCPM 
• Planning best practices - Why use Finish-Start?