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Just checking in... updated

MSDN Blogs > Brian Smith's Microsoft Project Support Blog > Just checking in... updated

Just checking in... updated

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23 Apr 2007 7:18 PM
  • Comments 46

One problem that our customers appear to be running into is checking in projects.  We do have a bug that appears to leave projects checked out when you wouldn't expect them to be.  But I suspect that in many cases it may be that the architectural changes to 2007 have caused some of this confusion - and the default view of the queue may well hide the true cause of the problem.

So - check out these different scenarios to see if this covers your issues:-

  • Project Professional says my project is checked out - but the server says it isn't.  This is one we are looking at a hotfix for - but there is a simple workaround that seems to resolve in most cases.  Open the project read-only, then close again.  This seems to push through a check-in and then it can be opened read-write.
  • The check-in says "Waiting to be Processed" and even using force check-in does not get it checked in.  The force check-in option should really be called request check-in - as there is nothing forceful about it.  It sinply puts a check-in request into the queue - but if the first one is just sitting there going nowhere then guess what - this second (third, fourth...) will not go any faster.  The best approach for this type of error is to look in the queue for any outstanding jobs for the same project.  If the problem happened yesterday (or before) then it may not show in the queue until you change the job history to include earlier dates.  Many times we will hear "but the queue is empty..." which may just mean no failed jobs still sitting there from today - but the failure could have happenend last week or last month!  Once you find the problem job then what should you do?  Well, that depends on the nature of the job.  If there is a save from Project Professional that is incomplete then getting the user who has the project checked out to open Project Professional and re-connect is the best approach.  Cancelling a job of this type will lose data!  Once you have resolved the initial issue and any other queued jobs for this project are processing (or cancelled if you really must) then the check-in should finally work.
  • If your symptoms don't match these scenarios then you may need to log a support call to get this checked out (if you will excuse the pun).

UPDATE: Thanks to Ed Hanna and Brian Kennemer for bringing it to my attention - but it appears that closing Project using the X in the top right can lead to check-in issues.  So best practice would be first to save and ensure that any communication with the server has completed (look in the status area after saving) and then using File, Close.

Technorati Tags: Project Server 2007

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  • 27 Apr 2007 10:34 AM

    I found this to be a problem with the Local Project Cache which is new to Project 2007.  If you go to Tools> Local Project Cache> Cleanup Cache, you can clean out any Project files that are checked out to you and also set them not to be locally cached which is (to me) seems to be the cause of the problem.  Once you do this, the file should show up as checked-in.

    Since I've done this, I've had no more difficulties with this issue.

    Thanks,

    Harry Irvine

  • 27 Apr 2007 2:12 PM

    Hi Harry, thanks for the feedback.  In certain circumstance this may work.  However, if the root cause of the problem is that the last save from Project Professional has somehow not completed then Cleanup Cache WILL LOSE YOUR DATA that has not been completely saved! Not all "not checked in" problems are equal.

    Best regards,

    Brian.

  • Arun
    2 May 2007 12:41 PM

    Does anyone now how to disable cache all together in project 2007? I thought I could just set the space to 0mb, but it seems 50 is the minimal requirements.  I don't want my local project to cache anything.

    Thanks

    Arun

  • 2 May 2007 1:21 PM

    Sorry Arun - you cannot turn it off.  The save to server happens from the cache to the server message queue so is a key part of the architecture.  Are you having some problem with it?  Best to solve the root cause.

    Best regards,

    Brian.

  • Arun
    2 May 2007 2:54 PM

    Hi Brian,

    Thanks for the reply. Yes I am having the very same problem mentioned in this tread. I have not pinned it done but I have various projects that have not checked into project server, when I launch project professional the status for the projects appear as "pending check in" and I can only view them in read only mode. After I cleared the cache, I was able to save, publish and check in the project, before I couldn’t. That’s why I want to disable local cache if that is the root cause of the problem.

    Thanks

    Arun

  • 2 May 2007 5:51 PM

    If you open them read-only and then close - do they then get checked in?  

  • Chris Doyle
    7 May 2007 6:53 PM

    Same issue. Tried clearing cache -- didn't work. At this point I am willing to delete the project, but it won't do that until its checked in.

  • shreyas
    15 May 2007 8:14 AM

    Tried manually deleting cache enetries as well as cleared cache from Project professional,then also no success

  • 18 May 2007 10:23 AM

    Hi Chris,

    If the project isn't checking in then look for the root cause.  It may be there is an old queue entry that has not completed - you will need to change the displayed dates on the Manage Queue history settings and look for any entries for the project causing the problem.  Deleting the cache should be the last resort as you can lose data.

    Brian.

  • 18 May 2007 10:24 AM

    See my reply to Chris's posting.  Also as mentioned before, try opening read only then closing and not saving to see if this triggers the check-in.

  • Pen
    18 May 2007 8:10 PM

    We have a client who's decided to take projects off-line while working on them. When done with revisions and updates on PRO they are reconnecting and publishing the projects. They hope that the connection and publish process will be more controlled hence less likely to cause these kinds of problems - particlarly from: a) Using the X to exit, b) losing connection to the server from a laptop while moving around wireless.

  • 19 May 2007 12:45 AM

    Hi Brian,

    I have discovered a bug relating to new Tasks created in My Tasks and their subsequent approval and re-publishing of a Project.

    Scenario: Team Leader creates and submits a new subordinate Task for a Project in their My Tasks area.  The new Task appears listed in their My Tasks.

    The PM recieves the task update notification and approves in their PWA.  The PM then opens the Project in Project Professional, adds additional information such as task sequence, saves and publishes the Project.

    The Team Leader receives an update e-mail outlining the task they created.

    The Team Leader then goes to update the completion status of this task, but finds that the task is no longer found in their My Tasks list.

    The task can be seen added to the project in Project Center.

    We have just gone live with this product on a $17 million job. Our Engineering Mgr is relying on his scenior engineers to add task detail using this process.

    Could you please assist...

  • 21 May 2007 5:13 PM

    Hi,

    I can't directly assist with specific problems via my blog - but suggest you check out http://support.microsoft.com and see what options are available for support.  For a $17M job I would have though some kind of support contract would be a good investement.

    I did try your scenario and did see similar behavior - but it was only because when I scheduled the new task in Project Professional it was then not in the "current tasks" range. Un-selecting "Show Only Current Tasks" enabled me to see the new task again.

    Best regards,

    Brian.

  • Tim Wilson
    8 Aug 2007 10:50 AM

    Anything new on this issue? We're going live this week and are seeing this same problem. We have 25 PMs in training this week and all of their test plans show as checked in on the server, but locally show as pending checkin.

    After finding this blog, we are watching for the notice in Project Pro that all offline jobs are complete. Once we see that, we clean the cache and it's all good.

    We don't see any errors on the Project or SQL servers other than a note that it's taking too many milliseconds to grow a log file.

    Thanks.

    --

    Tim Wilson

    tim.wilson@christushealth.org

  • 27 Aug 2007 4:28 PM

    We are having significant issues to get the projects to check in correctly. I have cleared my cache, cleared the queue but the project is still showing up as 'Checked in' to me. Any suggestion would be appreciated!

    Thanks -

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