Forum Discussion
WBS failure - number sequence not always correct
I have a plan which was produced on a Mac (using MSP 2016) and has been shared between the Mac and windows machines running MSP 2016. When I review the WBS there are places in the plan where the numbering doesn't follow the correct sequence - see an example below.
https://imgur.com/ceWk42d
1) How is this even possible?
2) How do I fix it.
Note that I have already saved the original file as an XML and opened it in project to try to get rid of a possible source of corruption and this error has persisted. I have also found the same behaviour in the first version that I was sent so it isn't something that recently happened.
It is possible because the WBS field is user editable although I don't know why a user would edit it as shown in your screen shot.
Is it possible the last user applied a sort and then saved? It doesn't explain the duplicate WBS numbers but it could explain the out-of-sequence WBS numbering.
I also run Project, via Parallels, on an iMac and the files users send to me for troubleshoot/questions are (I'm assuming) all from a Windows machine. I've never seen this type of anomaly so I doubt it has anything to do with Windows native versus Windows emulated.
Do the other users report any issues with the WBS? As far as fixing it, I would first make sure the file is not sorted or filtered. Then manually clean up all the WBS anomalies and save the file. You might consider also saving locally under a new name. If the file is then shared and comes back in WBS disarray, run the Compare Projects utility found under the Reports tab on the ribbon and see what changed.
John
3 Replies
It is possible because the WBS field is user editable although I don't know why a user would edit it as shown in your screen shot.
Is it possible the last user applied a sort and then saved? It doesn't explain the duplicate WBS numbers but it could explain the out-of-sequence WBS numbering.
I also run Project, via Parallels, on an iMac and the files users send to me for troubleshoot/questions are (I'm assuming) all from a Windows machine. I've never seen this type of anomaly so I doubt it has anything to do with Windows native versus Windows emulated.
Do the other users report any issues with the WBS? As far as fixing it, I would first make sure the file is not sorted or filtered. Then manually clean up all the WBS anomalies and save the file. You might consider also saving locally under a new name. If the file is then shared and comes back in WBS disarray, run the Compare Projects utility found under the Reports tab on the ribbon and see what changed.
John- It is amazing how long you can use a tool and still find fundamental things out about it! 🙂 I didn't even consider that the WBS field was editable. Just deleting the odd numbers fixed them. Thank you for the reassurance about Mac / Windows.
- Miles_Goodchild,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
John
