Working with the Organizer and the Global File

When you modify an existing object—such as the Standard Base Calendar—or create a new customized view or report, the modified or custom object is available to only the project you are currently working with. The Organizer lets you share objects in one project or template with another project or template. This is accomplished by copying the objects from one file to the other (see Figure 4.11).

Figure 4.11. The Organizer dialog box provides access to all the items that can be customized and shared in Project.


The Organizer is most often used to copy modified or custom objects to other project files or to the Global template. You can also use the Organizer to delete an object that is no longer needed or to rename an object. The Organizer is set up as a series of tabs, each tab focusing on a different type of object.

Table 4.2 lists the types of objects the Organizer keeps track of.

Table 4.2. Objects in the Organizer
Type Description
Views Views are screen displays that are used to enter, organize, and examine project information. Some views are designed to look at primarily task information, and some are for examining resource-oriented information. There are three types of views in Microsoft Project: charts or graphs, sheets, and forms. You can create custom views.
Reports There are 29 predefined reports in Microsoft Project. You can create custom reports.
Modules Macros are stored in modules. Microsoft Project uses Visual Basic to create macros. When you design a macro, the macro is stored in a module.
Forms A form is a specific type of view that provides detailed information about a task or resource. As with views, you can design custom forms.
Tables Tables are used with views such as Gantt Chart, Task Sheet, and Resource Sheet. A table is a collection of fields that are organized into columns and rows, much like a spreadsheet. You can create custom tables.
Filters A filter is used to highlight specific information in a view. There are two types of filters: task filters and resource filters. You can create custom filters.
Calendars A list of the base calendars for a project appears under this tab. You can create custom base calendars.
Toolbars There are 15 toolbars in Project 2002. You can customize these toolbars or create your own custom toolbars.
Maps The Maps tab is used to track data that is exported to other programs. Export maps are sets of instructions that track exactly what types of data are to be exported, relating field to field or (when exporting to Excel) column to column.
Fields The Fields tab lists any custom fields you have created in the project file.
Groups A group is a tool used to organize the display of project information and see rolled-up totals for the grouped data. There are two types of groups: task groups and resource groups. You can create custom groups.

The easiest way to access the Organizer is through the Tools menu, by choosing Tools, Organizer. You can also access the Organizer through several other dialog boxes, by choosing one of the following:

  • More Views dialog box— Choose View, More Views, Organizer.

  • More Tables dialog box— Choose View, Table, More Tables, Organizer.

  • More Filters dialog box— Choose Project, Filter For, More Filters, Organizer.

  • More Groups dialog box— Choose Project, Group By, More Groups, Organizer.

Using the Organizer to Modify GLOBAL.MPT

NOTE

The first time you open Project, a copy of the original GLOBAL.MPT file (GLOBAL.MPT) is created and becomes the active GLOBAL.MPT file, on which all new documents are based from that point forward. The original GLOBAL.MPT file is then preserved, safe from customization, as a backup copy.


New blank project documents are based on a copy of the Global template—the active GLOBAL.MPT file. Changes you make to the active GLOBAL.MPT affect all new project files. Changes to the active GLOBAL.MPT file must be made from the Organizer or by selecting Tools, Options. If you want to customize the original, backup GLOBAL.MPT file, you can open it directly, and you can also open earlier Global templates (from Project versions 2000, 98, 4.1, or 4.0), and transfer objects from your former Global templates into your original Project 2002 Global template. When you open the file, the Organizer is displayed. If you upgrade Microsoft Project 2002 over an older version of Microsoft Project (2000, 98, 4.1, or 4.0), customized items in the old Global template are automatically included in the new GLOBAL.MPT file.

Customized views allow the organization to fully exploit the capabilities of the tool, not only in regard to formatting, but also in regard to incorporating company logos, methodologies, and so on. This is a very effective way of standardizing the formatting of project plans for both internal and external communications.


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If you make a copy of your GLOBAL.MPT file from an earlier version of Project (that is, 4.0, 4.1, 98, 2000), name it something like GLOBAL98.MPT, and then open the file in Project 2002, you can distinguish the two Global template files from one another in the Organizer. Otherwise, because the Global files in each version have the same name, it can be confusing which GLOBAL.MPT you are looking at.


The following subsections describe how to access the Organizer through the Tools menu. The steps given here are generic, and they are useful when copying any object managed by the Organizer. The active file—that is, the file that contains the object—is referred to as the source file. The file in which you would like to place a copy is referred to as the target file.

Copying Objects by Using the Organizer

To copy an object by using the Organizer, follow these steps:

1.
If you are copying an object to a file other than GLOBAL.MPT, make sure that both the source and target files are open.

2.
Choose Tools, Organizer to display the Organizer.

3.
Choose the tab that contains the object you want to copy. In Figure 4.12, the Tables tab is selected. The tables in the active file that have been used, altered, or newly created are listed on the right. The tables in the GLOBAL.MPT file are listed on the left.

Figure 4.12. To copy an object from one project document to another, you display both the source and the target project files in the Organizer dialog box.


If you are copying an object to a file other than GLOBAL.MPT, use the Tables available in the drop-down list box on the bottom-left side to choose the target file. On the right side of the dialog box in Figure 4.12, the Entry Notes table is highlighted in the source file (New Product.mpp), and on the left side of the dialog box, the target file (Product A22.mpp) is being selected.

NOTE

You must have the intended Target file open. The Tables available in the drop-down list box lists only files that are currently open.

4.
Choose the table you want to copy from the list of tables in your source file on the right side of the dialog box.

5.
Click the Copy button. If there is a table with the same name in the target file, Project asks you for confirmation to override the former table (see Figure 4.13).

Figure 4.13. You must confirm that you want to replace the table by the same name in the target file.


6.
Click the Yes button to replace the table in the target file with the new table from the active file.

or

You can use the Rename button to copy the table to the target file by using a new name—a name that is not already being used for another table—for the table.

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You can also restore an object to its original default state by copying the object from the GLOBAL.MPT file over a customized object in the target file as long as the object in GLOBAL.MPT has not previously been customized.

7.
Click the Close button to close the Organizer dialog box.

Renaming an Object by Using the Organizer

You must use the Organizer if you want to rename an object you created in a project document. To rename an object, follow these steps:

1.
Open the Organizer and choose the tab for the object you want to rename.

2.
Select the object to be renamed.

3.
Click the Rename button. The Rename dialog box appears.

4.
Type the new name for the object.

5.
Click the OK button to complete the name change.

6.
Click the Close button to close the Organizer.

NOTE

Changes to a custom object must be recopied to the GLOBAL.MPT file in order to be reflected in new project files. GLOBAL.MPT does not automatically update versions of an object.


Deleting an Object by Using the Organizer

Customized objects, such as tables, that you create in a project document cannot be deleted with the same menu or dialog box that you used to create them. You must delete them with the Organizer. To delete an object, follow these steps:

1.
Activate the Organizer by choosing Tools, Organizer.

2.
Choose the tab for the object you want to delete.

3.
Select the object you want to delete.

4.
Choose the Delete button. A confirmation dialog box appears.

5.
Click the Yes button to confirm the deletion.

6.
Click the Close button to close the Organizer.

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