TDatabase Synchronization Tool

Abstract

Project Office is an enterprise software application that provides an easy way to initiate and track your organization’s portfolio of projects, resources, and knowledge. Using Project Office, you can create projects, tasks, and budgets, define project resources, and assign resources to projects and tasks. You can continually maintain a global perspective of the projects within your organization using Project Office’s reporting features, and by simply viewing the information on the Project Office desktop. Since all Project Office data lives in one centralized database, project information is always consistent between groups and individuals. . One more system for project management is Microsoft Project Office. This software product has almost same features that Project Office does. But projects data being stored in different databases.. Many customers wish to manage its projects using both of above products. The Database Synchronization Tool makes it possible.

Purpose of the Project

Database Synchronization Tool (DST) provides data synchronization between Project Office v.3 (PO) and Microsoft Project 98/2000 (MSP) with the following functionality:

• Data synchronization from PO v.3 Database to MSP 98/2000 Database
• Data synchronization from MSP 98/2000 Database to PO v.3 Database
• Data Synchronization Tool will synchronize each project from PO only with one version of the MSP (MSP 98 or MSP 2000)
• Data Synchronization Tool will synchronize Resource Pool between PO and MSP 2000/98 simultaneously if needed
• Data Synchronization Tool will synchronize only not synchronized objects
• Data Synchronization Tool will synchronize parts of the project (dates, costs, works, durations) if needed
• Database Synchronization Tool parameters setting
• Synchronization status checking and begin synchronization if needed (can be used after system failure)
• During synchronization process: Database Synchronization Tool will estimate synchronization time and provide information about expected finish time.

Objectives

Database synchronization can be launched when

• user has saved project in PO 
• user has returned from MSP (he supposed to have saved project in MSP)
• user has deleted project in PO 
• user is going to open project in MSP
• user has used tools for administrator

It is recommended to launch Database synchronization

• immediately after saving project in Project Office and/or Microsoft Project
• several times a day as scheduled SQL task in order to provide project data integrity (e.g. project data were not synchronized because of a system failure)
• on Open project in Project Office and/or Microsoft Project
• by user (PO administrator) request

Being called, DST checks synchronization status of the project; DST starts synchronization only if project data are not synchronized.

Customer Requirements

Software platform:

• Project Office 3.0,
• Microsoft Project 98/2000,
• Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 
• Windows 9x/NT

Hardware platform:

• Intel PCs

System Architecture

Solution

• Database Synchronization Tool should be implemented as COM object, which provides Project Office software with interfaces including properties, methods and events, needed to perform synchronization between Project Office database and MS Project 98/2000 database T-SQL stored procedures and triggers, that perform database synchronization
• In this version COM Object (Synchronization Component) will be developed with Visual Basic 6.0 
• Data transfer should be implemented on the server side using Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 stored procedures
• PO and MSP data should be stored in the same Microsoft SQL 7.0 database
• Main priorities

Reliability — data should not be lost or damaged during synchronization Low synchronization time Performance

Key Benefits

• Ability to take advantages of two project management systems, using them to manage the same project.
• Project Office can be used with Microsoft Project to merge the high-level and low-level project management solutions provided by each application. Since Project Office synchronizes its database with the Microsoft Project database, functions performed on the database in one application are immediately reflected in the other.
• Argussoft’s skillful personnel can very quickly deploy this application in a company of any size. Component structure of the system allows customers to choose only needed features. Because of the user-friendly interface and powerful localization tools, the customer’s personnel can be trained within a few weeks.