Project for the Web - Project Tasks Custom Fields - Power BI Reporting

Copper Contributor

Hello,

 

We're able to add custom fields to Project Tasks table in the Project for the Web, which is a great feature.

 

However, according to this documentation (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-custom-field-in-project-839d206f-b314-48f5-aa06-...), it says
"To reuse custom fields [in Project for the Web], create a copy of the project. Custom fields can't currently be used across projects or for PowerBI reports."


It appears we aren't able to use Custom fields for PowerBI Reports.

 

Are there any workarounds for this? Coding, API, power automate, or anything?

Is there anything scheduled in product roadmap to make this feature available?

 

Thanks,

Adil

30 Replies

Hello @Adil365 ,

Unfortunately these custom fields you create here:

PaulMather_0-1651685014722.png

 

Are not available for reporting, they are only available in the Project for the web interface.

Paul

Hi

Whilst you can't use the custom fields, Microsoft have recently added Label's and To-do lists (and are soon to add Priority) as supported custom fields (ie they are avaialable for Reporting in Power BI)). So against each task you can use, Buckets, Labels, To-Do lists and shortly Priority in Project for the web and use in Power BI.

If you need to add signifantly more data against the tasks and are using Project for the web Power Platform model driven app you can add whatever custom fields, you want to the Project Tasks table (which is where all the tasks from Project for the web are sync'd to). You can use the app or Power Automate to maintain this data and all these modifications are available in Power BI.

Duncan

@Duncan_Griffin are labels available to be seein in power bi reporting? How do I add these into my power bi  models. I’m using project accelerator as a starting point for my project power bi reports. 

Yes @ndrogo- they can be added to Power BI, you will need to update your Power BI Report to include those tables in the data model. At the end of this blog post I detail the tables you will need to include:

https://pwmather.wordpress.com/2022/04/06/task-labels-now-available-in-projectfortheweb-projectmanag... 

Paul

Thanks for this Could you offer any help on what the relationships should be for the Project Labels and Project Task To Label with the other tables and Task.  I'm having trouble with the joins

@Paul Mather 

@Paul Mather I'm having some issues with the relationships.  I brought in the label data but when I add it to one of my grids in a report I get a error.  Any advice   see attached 

ndrogo_0-1652881507614.pngndrogo_1-1652881555142.pngndrogo_2-1652881580743.png

 

Hello @ndrogo- ,

What is different to your Power BI data model compared to the steps outlined in the blog post? You could also download this template I created: https://github.com/pwmather/Project-for-the-web-Power-BI-Template/blob/main/Microsoft%20Project%20fo...

Paul

@Paul Mather  Hi Paul, no difference I used the default template from MS. Let me check out your template and see if that helps Thanks,  

@Paul Mather   Hi Paul I downloaded the temple and tried to add the label to the task overview and got a similar error in in the template as my model.  What I'm trying to do is add the label at the tasks.

Nick  

 

ndrogo_0-1652888486059.png

 

Hello @ndrogo- ,

Does the new labels report page in the template show you the label data from your instance?

Paul

@Paul Mather   Yes it does show on the labels report page

@Paul Mather yes however if I want to add Bookable resource of the task and start and finish it errors out.  What relationship should I build to correct this?

@Paul Mather  hi Paul any advice how to include label on task and book able resource? Every time I try to add task owner and label I get a error in the visual.

@Paul Mather  Hi Paul sorry to be a pain.

 

h any advice how to include label on task and bookable resource? Every time I try to add task owner and label I get a error in the visual.

Hello @ndrogo- ,

No worries. You will just need to ensure the data model is updated to support the relationships between those other tables.

Paul

Hi @Paul Mather , thanks for your thorough instructions on adding Labels and Checklists to the Powerbi template, it was an immense help!  Quick question, do you know if its possible for a powerbi visualization to refer to the color associated with a label?  For example, have the colors of the slices of a pie chart map directly to the msdyn_colorindex or msdyn_colorindex_display values.  Thanks again for posting the powerbi/project documentation!