Microsoft Project Readme Help Contents

Microsoft Project Help	To learn how to use Help, press F1.

Microsoft Project Product Update

Late-breaking  information on this release of Microsoft Project.

Custom, Network and Workgroup Installations

Instructions on using the different installation options, installing Microsoft Project to run on a network, and creating and saving a custom setup for your organization.

Compatibility with Previous Microsoft Project Versions

Information about using Microsoft Project version 3.0 macros and files with Microsoft Project version 4.0.

Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Project

Tips for using Visual Basic for applications in Microsoft Project.

Online Files Shipped with Microsoft Project version 4.0

Descriptions of the .WRI and .HLP files and how to access them.

To Print a Readme Help topic

1.	In the Help window, display the topic you want .

2.	From the File menu, choose Print Topic.


Microsoft Project Product Update

Setup removes Microsoft Project version 3.0 files

If you install Microsoft Project version 4.0 into a directory that contained a previous version of Microsoft Project and:

If you upgrade from Microsoft Project version 3.0, Setup will replace or remove most version 3.0 files.

If you upgrade from a version of Microsoft Project previous to version 3.0, Setup will leave all files that it does not replace.

Both cases above apply only to application files, not your data files (such as projects.)

Avoid problems after you install Microsoft Project

You may get unpredictable results if you do any of the following:

Rename the directory into which you installed Microsoft Project

Delete or move any .INI files

Delete or move any .DLL files

Delete or move any of the directories within the Microsoft Project directory

If you want to change your Microsoft Project installation, run Setup again and choose the Add/Remove button, and then follow the instructions in Setup.

Avoid problems with workstation or multiple-drive installations

Regardless of the Setup options you choose, Setup must install certain files to your WINDOWS directory on your computer's local hard disk drive. If your computer's hard disk drive does not have enough space for these files, you will not be able to complete Setup.

Avoid problems when printing

For best results when printing from any application, you should always use the most recent printer drivers. Microsoft has made available the Windows Driver Library (WDL). The WDL offers support for many printers, displays, sound cards, and network card adapters not provided with Microsoft Windows version 3.1. If you have a modem, the drivers are available at no charge on CompuServe, GEnie, Microsoft OnLine, and the Microsoft Download Service (MSDL). However, note that standard connect-time fees and long-distance telephone charges, if any, will still apply during downloading. When you connect to any of these services, please read the WDL.TXT file for downloading instructions and a complete list of devices supported in the WDL.

The phone number for the MSDL is (206) 936-MSDL (6735). There is no connect-time charge for using this service.

On CompuServe, the WDL is in the Microsoft Software Library, which can be reached by typing go msl at the system prompt. (To find WDL.TXT, search on S13354.)

On the GEnie and Microsoft OnLine systems, the WDL is in the Microsoft Software Library. (To find WDL.TXT, search on S13354.)

If you do not have a modem, you can obtain an individual WDL driver on disk by calling Microsoft Product Support Services at (206) 637-7098.

If you see the Microsoft Project error message "Could not initialize Visual Basic for Applications because the Timer driver is not installed properly"

One or more system files - MMSYSTEM.DLL, TIMER.DRV, or VTDAPI.386 (usually installed when you install Microsoft Windows) - is no longer loading properly. You need these files to initialize Visual Basic for applications in Microsoft Project.

Install MMSYSTEM.DLL, TIMER.DRV, and VTDAPI.386 in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

MMSYSTEM.DLL, TIMER.DRV, or VTDAPI.386 must be located in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. If they are not in this directory, these files, which will be in a compressed format on your Microsoft Windows Setup disks, need to be expanded off of your Microsoft Windows Setup disks into this directory.

Note: For information about expanding compressed files, see your system documentation.

Modify the SYSTEM.INI file

Once the files are in the correct location, you need to modify the SYSTEM.INI file.  (Before making any modifications to the SYSTEM.INI file, make a backup copy of the file.)

1.	In Program Manager, choose Run from the File menu.

2.	In the command line, type SYSTEM.INI

3.	Choose the OK button.

4.	Review the SYSTEM.INI file and make sure the sections in square brackets ([ ]) (see below) are in the file. If a section does not contain its respective line, add it exactly as shown below.

[boot]

drivers=mmsystem.dll

Note: The drivers= line may already be in the [boot] section and have other driver files listed. Add MMSYSTEM.DLL to this line with a blank space separating each filename (capitalization is not important).

[386Enh]

device=vtdapi.386

[drivers]

timer=timer.drv

5.	After you review each section in square brackets and modify them as necessary, choose Save from the File menu.

6.	Close Notepad.

7.	Close Windows.

8.	Restart Microsoft Windows.

9.	Restart Microsoft Project.

Special notes on using Microsoft Project version 4.0 with other software

Windows NT

For best results using Microsoft Project version 4.0 on Windows NT version 3.10 (or Windows NT Advanced Server), please install Windows NT Service Pack 1 or higher. To verify the exact version of Windows NT, run WINVER.EXE from the Windows NT command prompt. The second line of the WINVER dialog box should read "Version 3.10 (build 528: CSD002)" or higher. Windows NT Service Pack 1 is available on CompuServe and via anonymous FTP on the Internet, as well as from Microsoft Product Support Services. For additional information on obtaining Windows NT Service Pack 1, consult Your Guide to Service and Support for Microsoft Windows NT, included with Windows NT.

Note: The Send Task Request/Update and Request Task Update commands are not supported under Windows NT version 3.10 (or Windows NT Advanced Server).

OS/2

If you attempt to start Microsoft Project and see the "Could not initialize Visual Basic for Applications because the Timer driver is not installed properly" alert message, note that Microsoft Project cannot run without the Timer driver installed. Install the driver in a Windows session, using the Drivers icon in the Control Panel.

To install the driver

1.	Open the Microsoft Windows Control Panel.

2.	In the Control Panel window, double-click the Drivers icon.

3.	If the Timer driver is not in the list of installed drivers, choose the Add button.

4.	Select Timer from the list of drivers and then choose the OK button. If the driver does not exist on your system, the program will ask you to insert the appropriate Microsoft Windows setup disk into one of your floppy disk drives; follow the instructions in the dialog box.

5.	In the Drivers dialog box, choose the Close button.

6.	Close the Control Panel.

7.	Restart Microsoft Windows.

8.	Restart Microsoft Project.

Note: The Quick Preview and portions of the Cue Cards are not available for OS/2.

Lotus cc:Mail or Lotus Notes

Microsoft Project supports Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM) 1.0, which means that you can use the Send and Add/Edit Routing Slip commands (accessible from the File menu) in Microsoft Project to send or route Microsoft Project documents with mail applications such as Lotus cc:Mail that support VIM 1.0. VIM is automatically installed by cc:Mail version 2.0 (or greater) and Notes version 3.0 (or greater). Lotus cc:Mail 1.11 users may get VIM support files from Lotus. The DOS PATH command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file must include the directory in which the mail application's VIM support files are stored. Otherwise, Setup will not install Microsoft Project support for VIM. If Microsoft Project support has already been installed, it will not function correctly if the VIM directory is not included in the DOS PATH command. The Microsoft Project support file for VIM 1.0 is called MAPIVIM.DLL and is stored in the System subdirectory of the Windows program directory.

However, since VIM 1.0 does not offer support for the custom message classes that Microsoft Project uses for Sending Task Requests and Updates, you can not use the Send Task Request/Update and Request Task Update commands (accessible from the Workgroup submenu on the Tools menu).

If you have a system with a large number of users in the address book, you can improve performance by adding a switch in the WIN.INI file to disable the listing of names in the address dialog. To do this, add the entry: MAPIVIMDisableABScan=1 to the [Mail] section of WIN.INI. This will hide the address book's list of users, which will greatly improve the speed of the address dialog.


Custom and Network Installations
Custom, Network and Workgroup Installations

Installation options

The Typical option will install Microsoft Project version 4.0, the Help system, the Quick Preview, and Product Support Services file, this file, Setup, the spelling checker, the database utility, the System Information utility and several sample templates.

The Complete/Custom option will only install the groups of files that you choose. The groups include all the files in the Typical installation as well as Help files for Microsoft Project Visual Basic, Applications Edition; the Cue Card Author; the Template Wizard; and the Microsoft Project for MS-DOS converter. By default, all file groups are chosen initially.

The Laptop (Minimum) option will install only the files necessary to run Microsoft Project.

Note: The Visual Basic Reference information is not available with a Typical or Minimum installation. For information about installing this information, see the Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Project topic in this help file.

Network installations

Depending on your Microsoft licensing agreement, you have several network installation options. For a full description of these options and installation instructions, see the SETUP.WRI file. You can open this file in Windows Write, Microsoft Word or any other word processor that supports the .WRI format.

You can find SETUP.WRI in two locations:

On Setup disk 1. It is not compressed, so you can open it directly from the floppy disk.

In the directory into which you installed Microsoft Project version 4.0, for example the C:\WINPROJ directory.

Installing the Workgroup Message Handler

In order to open and read Microsoft Project Workgroup mail, users who do not have Microsoft Project version 4.0 installed on their computer system need to install the Microsoft Project version 4.0 Workgroup Message Handler and must have Microsoft Mail installed on their computer system.

To install the Microsoft Project Message Handler without installing Microsoft Project

1.	Copy Setup Disk 1 of the Microsoft Project version 4.0 Setup disks. You can make as many copies as you need.

2.	Distribute copies of Setup Disk 1 to anyone with whom you want to exchange Microsoft Project Workgroup mail.

3.	To install the Microsoft Project Message Handler on your stand-alone computer system, start Microsoft Windows.

4.	Insert the copy of Setup Disk 1 in drive A or B.

5.	In the Windows Program Manager, choose Run from the File menu.

6.	Type a:wgsetup.exe if you inserted Setup Disk 1 in Drive A, or type b:wgsetup.exe if you inserted Setup Disk 1 in Drive B.

7.	Choose the OK button.

NOTE  The Microsoft Project Message Handler will not work properly with the 32-bit mail provided with Microsoft Windows NT.


Compatibility with Previous Microsoft Project Versions

Interface changes

As soon as you open Microsoft Project version 4.0, you will notice changes in the interface.

All tasks bar are now blue (50% gray on monochrome displays).  To change the display so that critical tasks show up as red (striped on monochrome displays), choose GanttChartWizard from the Format menu.

The Task Information dialog box has tabs across the top that let you switch between different fields of information about a task.  Rather than have many fields in a large dialog box, Microsoft Project version 4.0 has relevant fields grouped together on different tabs.  Click the name of the tab to switch to that tab.

The Gantt Chart fills the entire screen.  To change the view to a combination view showing the Gantt Chart in the upper pane and the Task Form in the lower pane of the view, choose More Views  from the View menu and, from the Views list, select Task Entry.

The buttons on the Standard toolbar are different.  To show the Microsoft Project 3.0 toolbar, click with the secondary mouse button on any toolbar and choose Toolbars from the shortcut menu.  Select Microsoft Project 3.0 from the Toolbars list.

Importing Microsoft Project version 3.0 view and calendar files

Information about importing Microsoft Project 3.0 view (.MPV) and calendar (.MPC) files and merging the information into projects is available as a Cue Card and in the PROJPSS.HLP file under Microsoft Project 4.0 Common Questions and Answers. To access the Cue Card, choose the Contents command (Help menu). Select the Reference Information topic and then select the Copying Microsoft Project Version 3.0 Calendars and Other Elements to Microsoft Project Version 4.0 (Cue Cards) topic.

Importing Microsoft Project version 3.0 macros

When you import a view file containing a Microsoft Project version 3.0 macro, Microsoft Project version 4.0 will automatically translate the macro into Microsoft Project Visual Basic for applications commands.

Note: If a Microsoft Project version 3.0 command parameter has no equivalent in Microsoft Project Visual Basic, Applications Edition, when you edit the macro, you will get the following alert:

The macro did not translate properly. Please check for errors.

Saving files to Microsoft Project version 3.0 format

You can save projects created in Microsoft Project version 4.0 to be read into Microsoft Project version 3.0 using the MPX 3.0 file format.  To save a file as MPX 3.0, choose Save As (accessible from the File menu) and select MPX 3.0 from the Save File As Type list.

Note: Microsoft Project version 3.0 project (.MPP) files are automatically converted to Microsoft Project version 4.0 project file format when saving from Microsoft Project version 4.0.  If you want to share files between different versions of Microsoft Project, you should save the files in an MPX format supported by both versions of Microsoft Project.  For example, if you wanted share files on a network server between Microsoft Project version 3.0 for Macintosh and Microsoft Project version 4.0 for Windows, you should save files in MPX 3.0 format since both version support the MPX 3.0 file format.


Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Project

Using OLE Automation

When using OLE Automation between Visual Basic (not Visual Basic for applications) and Microsoft Project version 4.0, you should specify a Null value for arguments for which you do not have a value.

For example, if you want to save a file under a different name as well as create a backup file, in Microsoft Project Visual Basic for applications, you would use the following method:

FileSaveAs Name:="newproj.mpp", Backup:=True

However, because Visual Basic does not support named arguments, to send the same method from Visual Basic using OLE Automation, you need to send a Null value for the Format argument which occurs between the Name and Backup arguments:

ProjApp.FileSaveAs "newproj.mpp", Null, True

By using the Null value for the Format argument, Microsoft Project will use the default value for that argument.

Recording in Microsoft Project

By default, when recording macros, Microsoft Project uses the relative position of cells to the initial selection. If you run this macro on another selection later, Microsoft Project would then perform the macro on that selection, not on the original cells.

However, Microsoft Project can also record macros using the row and field values of the selection, providing an absolute reference the selected tasks or resources. To record a macro using absolute references, From the Tools menu, choose Record Macro, click the Options button and then choose Absolute in both the Row References and Column References groups. If you run this macro with another selection later, Microsoft Project will still perform the macro on the original selection, not on the new selection.

Visual Basic Reference Information

The Visual Basic Reference information is not available with a Typical or Minimum installation. To install this component, you must run the Microsoft Project Setup Program again.

To install the Visual Basic Reference information

1.	Run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

2.	Choose the Add/Remove button.

3.	Select Online Help, Examples and Demos in the Options list.

4.	Choose the Change Option button.

5.	From the list of online help options, select Help for Visual Basic for Microsoft Project.

Do not deselect any of the options that were already installed or Setup will remove them from your hard drive.

6.	Choose the OK button.


Online Files Shipped with Microsoft Project version 4.0
Online Files Shipped with Microsoft Project version 4.0.

Converting Microsoft Project for MS-DOS Files (CONVERT.WRI)

This file explains how to convert Microsoft Project for MS-DOS files to Microsoft Project version 4.0 for Windows.  CONVERT.WRI is not available with a Typical or Minimum installation. To install this component, you must run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

To install CONVERT.WRI

1.	Run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

2.	Choose the Add/Remove button.

3.	Select Tools in the Options list.

4.	Choose the Change Option button.

5.	From the list of options, select Microsoft Project for MS-DOS Converter.

Do not deselect any of the options that were already installed or Setup will remove them from your hard drive.

6.	Choose the OK button.

Saving and Retrieving Microsoft Project Data with a Database (DATABASE.WRI)

This file explains how to use the Microsoft Project Database Utility to save project data in the database format supported by Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Basic.

Using the MPX File Format (MPXFILE.WRI)

This file contains information about using the MPX file format and the technical information needed to create a utility program for transferring information between another application and Microsoft Project.

Microsoft Support Services (PROJPSS.HLP)

Common questions and answers about Microsoft Project version 4.0 and information about contacting Microsoft Support Services.

Using Plotters with Microsoft Project (PLOTTERS.WRI)

This file contains information to help you set up a plotter and troubleshoot plotter problems.

Using the Sample Visual Basic for Applications Macros and Visual Basic Tools (SAMPLES.WRI)

This file contains information about the sample Visual Basic macros and tools provided with Microsoft Project version 4.0.

Setting Up and Using Microsoft Project on a Network (SETUP.WRI)

This file explains how to set up and operate Microsoft Project on a network and on individual workstations, including information about the Workgroup Message Handler.

Using the Sample Templates (TEMPLATE.WRI)

This file contains information about the sample templates provided with Microsoft Project version 4.0 and how to access them.

Using the TemplateWizard (TMPLTWIZ.WRI)

This file explains how you can create a new schedule based on a schedule template using the TemplateWizard.  The TemplateWizard is not available with a Typical or Minimum installation. To install this component, you must run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

To install the TMPLTWIZ.WRI

1.	Run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

2.	Choose the Add/Remove button.

3.	Select Sample Templates in the Options list.

4.	Choose the Change Option button.

5.	From the list of options, select Template Wizard.

Do not clear any of the options that were already installed or Setup will remove them from your hard drive.

6.	Choose the OK button.

Microsoft Project version 4.0 Visual Basic for applications Reference Information (VBA_PJ.WRI)

This file contains information about obtaining a printable copy of the complete Visual Basic for applications reference in Windows Write format via fax/modem or a printed copy of the Visual Basic Reference. This contains the exact same information as the Visual Basic Reference Help file (VBA_PJ.HLP) that is provided with Microsoft Project version 4.0 in a different format for printing.

Microsoft Project Help (WINPROJ.HLP)

This file contains the online help system for Microsoft Project version 4.0, including Cue Cards.

Visual Basic Reference (VBA_PJ.HLP)

This file contains information about using Microsoft Project Visual Basic, Applications Edition.  The Visual Basic Reference information is not available with a Typical or Minimum installation. To install this component, you must run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

To install the Visual Basic Reference information

1.	Run the Microsoft Project Setup program again.

2.	Choose the Add/Remove button.

3.	Select Online Help, Examples and Demos in the Options list.

4.	Choose the Change Option button.

5.	From the list of online help options, select Help for Visual Basic for Microsoft Project.

Do not clear any of the options that were already installed or Setup will remove them from your hard drive.

6.	Choose the OK button.