There is the temptation to think that because you can export a data field from Primavera P6 to Excel that you can import the same data field back to Primavera P6 after manipulating the field’s data in Excel.
If you have ever imported data into Primavera P6 using Excel, you would have experienced instances where despite getting the familiar message of a successful import, some of the changes you made in Excel were not reflected in Primavera P6.
The reason for this is that Primavera P6 uses a relational database (e.g. Oracle XE or SQL Server Express) to store data. In relational databases, not all data you see displayed are stored in the database, some are calculated and these calculated fields cannot be imported into the database.
So to help planners and schedulers identify fields that cannot be imported, Primavera P6 attaches the prefix “(*)” before the title of these fields in the Excel Import file.
From the screen shot above, the following fields cannot be imported into Primavera P6:
- WBS Name
- Start
- Finish
Therefore do not make any changes to the data in these fields as they will not be imported or reflected in Primavera P6 even if you get the message below.
So if you see the prefix “(*) “in the field title in Excel, it is P6 for “Do Not Import Me”.
