Toolbar Buttons in Microsoft Project

You must activate the LN Project toolbar to view it. If the LN toolbar is not visible, on the Views menu, point to Toolbars, and click LN Project Toolbar.

The icons on the Microsoft Project toolbar are the following:

Connect Project: Use this button to connect the Microsoft Project project to an LN Project.

For further details, refer to the corresponding menu option:

Disconnect Project: Use this button to disconnect the Microsoft Project project from an LN Project.

For further details, refer to the corresponding menu option:

Synchronize Activity Structure / Budget / Schedule: Use this button to transfer the activity structure, budget and schedule information to and from Microsoft Project to LN.

For further details, refer to the corresponding menu option:

Insert Activity: Click this icon to insert a new activity.

Some of the fields in this session include the following:

Parent Activity ID: When you select the parent, you must consider the following conditions:

The parent of a WBS element is always a WBS element, unless the parent is from the top of the activity structure.
The parent of a project cost-account is always a WBS element, unless the project cost-account is on the top of the activity structure.
The parent of a planning package is a project cost-account or a planning package. If you do not use an organization breakdown structure, the parent of the planning package is either a WBS element, or a planning package that forms the top of the activity structure.
The parent of the work package can be a work package, a planning package, or a project cost-account. If you do not use an organizational breakdown-structure, the work package can have a WBS element, a planning package, or a work package as a parent. Alternatively, the work package can itself form the top of the activity structure.

Derive from Standard Activity of Company: Select this check box to derive the activity from a standard activity. If you choose to derive the activity, in other words, if you select the check box, the list box to the right of the Derived from check box is available and a list of the standard activities appears. The first part of the code of an activity indicates the Activity Type. The abbreviations are the following:

WBS: Work breakdown structure element
PCS: Project cost account
WP: Work package
PP: Planning package
Mil: Milestone.

After you select a standard activity, the corresponding Activity Type and Activity Description are entered.

The Activity Type field must be entered. If you choose to derive an activity from a standard activity, a value is already entered, which you can modify.

If you select the Treat as Standalone Milestone check box, this indicates that the milestone is stand-alone. If you do not select this check box, you must link the milestone to an LN activity. The LN activity must be entered in the Parent Activity ID field.

The Standard Activity field can be manually entered or is automatically generated. If the Standard Activity is specified, the Activity ID field is left blank, and is filled from an automatically generated number in LN when the first synchronization occurs.

If the Standard Activity field is left blank, the Activity ID field is mandatory and must be unique among activity codes already present, which is ensured by appropriate checks.

If you open the LN Activity Details dialog box to insert a new activity, all the fields except the Standard Activity list are enabled.

If the LN Activity Details dialog box is opened to modify an existing activity, LN first checks whether the activity information is present.

A flag associated with each task indicates whether the activity information is present.

If the activity information is present, the check box and list box associated with the standard activity and the Activity ID field are disabled. The Activity Type field and the Description field are always enabled.

Each time you modify or insert data, checks are made to ensure the validity of the activity structure. If you use the ERP Activity Details dialog box to fit in the details, ERP checks the validity immediately after you click OK in the ERP Activity Details dialog box. The checks are also performed during the synchronization process.

Modify Activity: Click this icon to modify the activity you select.

Mark/Unmark Activity for deletion: Click this icon to delete a selected activity. When you synchronize the data, the activity is deleted in LN, as well. If you delete the activity without the use of this button, you will have problems while synchronizing the data with LN, because the activity is not deleted on the LN side.

Note

This icon is available only after a connection has been established between a project in Microsoft Project and an LN project.

	LN Budget Details	You can use this button in two views: LN Budget and LN Gantt. In the first view, this button acts as a modifier of budget details. In the second view, you can insert a new budget line. The view for inserting budget lines is slightly different from the one shown in the following figure.

The work field is for labor and equipment displayed in hours.

You can use the other mode to insert a new budget line.

The Quantity field is for cost types Material, Subcontracting, or Sundry Cost.

The Unit field to the right of the Quantity field is only a display field. The unit is displayed from the cost-object data.

If you add and modify a budget line in LN, the Schedule Link field in the Activity Budget Line (tpptc2510m000) session must be set to Create Link.

Save Baseline: Use the button to save a baseline in LN and/or Microsoft Project.