Microsoft Project Data Reading and Writing Summary

Reading and Writing Microsoft Project Data with Aspose.Tasks for .NET

Aspose.Tasks for .NET provides an API for reading and writing Microsoft Project data programmatically. This page summarizes the capabilities of accessing and manipulating project data without having to install Microsoft Project software.

Reading Project Data

Aspose.Tasks allows developers to read project data from various sources:

Project Files: import MPP, XML, MPT files directly
Task Information: Access task properties including ID, name, duration, start/end dates, constraints, deadlines and scope
Resource Data: Retrieve resource information such as availability, cost and assignment
Calendar Settings: Read working hours, exceptions and calendar hierarchies
Extended Attributes: Access custom fields and project metadata
Baselines: Read baseline data for tasks and resources
Views: Access Gantt chart, task usage and other project views

Writing Project Data

The API supports comprehensive data writing capabilities:

Create Project: Create new project files from scratch
Task Management: Add, modify, or delete tasks with their properties
Resource Processing: Create and modify resources and their assignments
Schedule Calculation: Recalculate project schedules after processing modification data
Format Conversion: Save projects in various formats, including MPP, XML, PDF
View Settings: Change and save project views with formatting options

Data Management Scenarios

Common scenarios for working with Microsoft Project data:

Read project task hierarchies and dependencies
Analyze critical paths and task constraints
Manage resource allocation and workload
Update project percent complete and percent complete
Manipulate project baselines for variance analysis
Change calendars and work time settings
Convert between different versions of Microsoft Project

Code Examples

Below are basic examples of reading and writing Microsoft Project data:

 1    // Reading a project file
 2    Project project = new Project("Project.mpp");
 3
 4    // Accessing task data
 5    foreach (Task task in project.EnumerateAllChildTasks())
 6    {
 7        Console.WriteLine($"Task: {task.Name}, Duration: {task.Duration}");
 8
 9        // Access assignments
10        foreach (ResourceAssignment assignment in task.Assignments)
11        {
12            Console.WriteLine($"Assigned to: {assignment.Resource.Name}, Work: {assignment.Work}");
13        }
14    }
15
16    // Writing project data
17    Project newProject = new Project();
18    Task task1 = newProject.RootTask.Children.Add("Task 1");
19    task1.Duration = newProject.GetDuration(2, TimeUnitType.Day);
20    task1.Start = new DateTime(2023, 1, 10);
21    task1.Finish = new DateTime(2023, 1, 12);
22
23    // Save the project
24    newProject.Save("NewProject.mpp", SaveFileFormat.MPP);

Licensing and Subscription Project Data Reading and Writing