Retrieving Embedded Documents from a Task's Notes

Overview

In Microsoft Project files (MPP), task notes can contain embedded documents — such as .txt, .doc, or .rtf files. These embedded objects are typically stored in RTF format within the task’s NotesRTF property.

While Aspose.Tasks for .NET alone does not fully support parsing or extracting these embedded documents, it can be combined with Aspose.Words for .NET to interpret the RTF content and retrieve the embedded files.

This article demonstrates how to read the NotesRTF data from a task and extract embedded documents using Aspose.Words.

Requirements

Before you proceed, make sure to:

• Reference Aspose.Tasks for .NET to access task data;
• Reference Aspose.Words for .NET to parse and save embedded objects from RTF content.

You can install both libraries via NuGet:

Install-Package Aspose.Tasks
Install-Package Aspose.Words

Retrieving Embedded Documents from Task Notes

The following code snippet:

1. Loads the MPP file using Aspose.Tasks;
2. Reads the NotesRTF content of each task;
3. Parses RTF using Aspose.Words;
4. Saves each embedded object (if found) to disk.

✅ Code Example

{{<section “code-snippet” i18n-exclude>}}

Project project = new Project("New Project.mpp");
Task task = project.RootTask.Children.GetById(1);

File.WriteAllText("Notes_out.rtf", task.Get(Tsk.NotesRTF));

Document doc = null;
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(stream))
{
    streamWriter.Write(task.Get(Tsk.NotesRTF));
    doc = new Document(stream);
}

NodeCollection shapes = doc.GetChildNodes(NodeType.Shape, true);
foreach (Aspose.Words.Drawing.Shape shape in shapes)
{
    if (shape.OleFormat != null)
    {
        if (!shape.OleFormat.IsLink)
        {
            // Extract OLE Word object
            if (shape.OleFormat.ProgId == "Word.Document.12")
            {
                MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
                shape.OleFormat.Save(stream);

                Document newDoc = new Document(stream);
                newDoc.Save("RetrieveTaskEmbeddedDocuments_out.doc");
            }
        }
    }
}

Notes

• The output files will preserve their original format and filename if available;
• Only RTF-based notes with embedded OLE objects can be processed;
• Make sure to handle exceptions when parsing unsupported or malformed RTF.

Summary

By combining Aspose.Tasks and Aspose.Words, developers can extract embedded documents from task notes stored in MPP files. This approach is especially useful when MPP files are used to carry additional specifications or attachments via the Notes field.