When task data from a third party is imported on top of task fields of an existing Sciforma project, an XML update scenario will be used to determine which task fields should be updated and which XML tags are used to update those fields.
The XML tags (data source) can be chosen from a list or manually entered. The corresponding Sciforma Task field (target) can be chosen from a dropdown that lists all the existing editable fields in the Task category (both built-in and user-defined).
XML update scenarios are defined by Sciforma Administrators in the XML Update Scenarios Designer view.
The XML update scenario can be used to map values from the XML file to a Sciforma built-in field that is editable.
For example, the Finish field is an editable built-in field in Sciforma, and it specifies when a task will end. An XML update scenario can map a supplier's Finish value to the Finish field of a task in Sciforma, and result in the duration of the task being updated as a consequence (the task’s assignment data would also be updated accordingly, based on their Distribution Type). The result of this operation can be compared to the end-user manually entering a value into the built-in Finish field.
Built-in fields that are read-only to the end-user, like the task's Start, cannot be updated by the XML import (in the same way they cannot be edited by the end-user). Note that if the purpose is to get a task's Actual Start date to be updated in Sciforma, the Actual Start Task field can be used in the field map.
When clicking on the Update from XML button, the Update from XML dialog box opens, and users can specify the location of the XML file from which to update and the XML update scenario to use for mapping fields.
The result of the Update from XML operation is the same as if you manually entered values into a set of task fields. After the Sciforma Task fields have been updated with values from the specified XML file, the data can be used by any Sciforma workspace or feature, such as Gantt charts, forms, and formulas.
Two different predefined XML Update scenarios are available:
Update Built-in Fields
Update MSP Fields
This scenario could be used to directly update a Sciforma project with information coming from Microsoft Project, for example.
XML Tag | Task Field |
|---|---|
Start | Start No Earlier Than |
Finish | Finish |
WBS | WBS |
PercentComplete | % Completed |
ActualStart | Actual Start |
ActualFinish | Actual Finish |
PercentWorkComplete | Physical % Complete |
Priority | Leveling Priority |
When a task in the XML file does not exist in Sciforma and the user selects to create it, a new task will be created with the corresponding value for the “#” field and the field map will be applied.
This scenario offers the following mapping:
XML Tag | Task Field |
|---|---|
Start | MSP Start |
Finish | MSP FInish |
PercentComplete | MSP % Complete |
The three MSP fields have been added specifically to be used as placeholders for data coming from Microsoft Project. The idea is to put dates and completion amounts into fields that will not impact the current state of the Sciforma project while providing the ability to run comparisons.