Import Daily Reports from a Spreadsheet

This topic offers guidelines on creating a spreadsheet template in Microsoft Excel for importing existing daily reports into Project Center. Your can access the sample daily reports spreadsheet template supplied with Project Center in the following location: C:\Program Files\Newforma\Twelfth Edition\Project Center\Templates\Import_DailyReports_Template.xlsx

You must be a Project Center administrator to perform this procedure.

Daily Reports fields

The import spreadsheet has the following fields, organized by report table, as explained below:

Daily Report table

ID – (Required) The report ID. Each value must be unique.

Report Date – (Required) The date of the daily report.

Created by – (Required) The team member who created the report. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

To – A list of email addresses, delimited by commas (,) or semi-colons (;). A valid email address format or project team member name is required. Used to generate outgoing email with attached PDF of the finalized report.

CC – A list of email addresses, delimited by commas (,) or semi-colons (;). A valid email address format or project team member name is required. Used to cc the generated outgoing email with attached PDF of the finalized report.

Status – (Required) The status of the daily report. The value must match a value from the list of default values for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the keyword list.

Precipitation Total – A numeric value representing the total precipitation for the day.

Form Template – (Required) The name of the template used for the daily report. Must come from the list of available daily report templates for the current project.

Description – A description of the daily report.

Internal Notes – Internal notes for the daily report.

Keywords – A list of keywords for the daily report, delimited by semi-colons (;). It must match the keyword list for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the keyword list.

Email Log – A list of full UNC paths to .MSG files in the project folder separated by asterisks.

Supporting Docs – A list of full UNC paths to files of any type in the project folder separated by asterisks.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Observations table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the observation belongs.

Order – (Required) Order number to control the order in which items print on reports.

Urgent – (Required) Indicates the urgency of the observation. Possible values are “yes” or “no.”

Category – (Required) The category of the observation. The value must match a value from the list of default values for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the keyword list for daily reports.

Author – (Required) The author of the observation. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

Remarks – Remarks for the observation.

Supporting Docs – A list of full UNC paths to files of any type in the project folder separated by asterisks.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Weather table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the weather readings belong.

Time – (Required) The time at which the weather conditions are recorded.

Temperature – Temperature recorded as a whole number.

Wind Speed – Wind speed recorded as plain text.

Remarks – Remarks on the weather condition.

Humidity % – Humidity level recorded as a whole number.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Subcontractors table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the subcontractor details belong.

Company – (Required) The company for the subcontractor. Must match a value from the list of valid company values for the project.

Discipline – A list of disciplines for the subcontractor, delimited y semi-colons (;). It must match the discipline list for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the discipline list for daily reports.

Headcount – (Required) Headcount value entered by the author.

Description of Work/Location – The description of the subcontractor work and/or location.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Internal Personnel table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the internal personnel details belong.

Name – (Required) The name for the internal personnel contact. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

Job Title – Title for the listed contact.

On Site – (Required) Indicates whether or not the contact was present on site. Possible values are “yes” or “no.”

Notes – Any additional notes for the contact.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Visitors table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the visitor details belong.

Company – The visitor’s company. This is a text field.

Contact – (Required) The visitor’s name.

Job Title – The visitor’s job title.

Purpose – The purpose of the visit.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Daily Report Equipment table

Daily Report ID – (Required) The report ID for the daily report to which the equipment details belong.

Equipment – The name of the equipment. The value must match a value from the list of default values for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the keyword list for daily reports.

Count – Count of the defined equipment.

Owned By – The owner of the equipment.

Tag # – The tag number for the equipment.

Planned Return Date – The date the equipment is scheduled to be returned. This is a date field.

Notes – Any notes about the equipment.

Source Descriptor – If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

Source Primary Key – If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

 

To create an import file for daily reports and import it

Make a backup copy of your existing spreadsheet with the data.

Edit the spreadsheet and fill in the required data:

Remove any extra rows.

Determine how your fields map to Project Center fields (you can rearrange columns to match Project Center columns).

Copy your data columns to the Import_Daily Reports_Template.xlsx file, replacing the sample columns with your own information.

The Keywords – Delete tab includes the keyword list values for the Status, Category, Discipline and Equipment fields. Change any of the existing values by simply typing a new value in the same cell.

For information on extending the list with additional values, please refer to Add Keyword Values to a Spreadsheet Template.

Edit the field values based on the information given in the Daily Reports fields section above. Add values to fields where required.

After you finish editing the Import_Daily Reports_Template.xlsx spreadsheet, import it into a Project Center project by opening the Daily Reports activity center and clicking Import Spreadsheet from the Tasks panel to open the Select Spreadsheet dialog box, as shown here. Locate the spreadsheet, then click Open.

After it is imported, the Import Log dialog box opens showing any import errors. Fix any errors that appear in the spreadsheet, then re-import it.

The import will not succeed until all errors are addressed.