Merlin is currently a single user application. Nonetheless it is important to be able to share the project information with your team, management or clients. Merlin offers several different functions and options to carry this out. This article shows the options you as a user have to exchange your project data with others.

Options to share project data:

• The Project Website
• The Calendar in iCal
• Export and Import of a Project
• Accessing from a common project directory
• Other options

In addition to this article, we suggest downloading our handbook from http://www.projectwizards.net/en/merlin/support for free.

The Project Website

One of Merlin's main functions, to inform others of the project contents, is the Project website. This has been created for exactly this purpose. With the didactical layout of the project website you can be certain, that your project parter will be perfectly informed.

The fields of the website

Each of the following fields can be individually activated in the Merlin preferences:

Furthermore, since Merlin version 1.3.7 it is possible to set the number of days you would like displayed on the project website.

Publishing the project website

If you subscribe to to a Dot.Mac account you have the additional option of activating the iDisk on your Desktop and setting the Export path in the sub-directory "Sites" on your iDisk. This way the project website is immediately created there. After synchronizing with Dot.Mac it is then possible for other to view the website. Additionally, you can publish the calendar in iCal on the Dot.Mac. If you now enter your Dot.Mac name in Merlin's preferences, you can access your iCal calendar directly from the project website (for more details see next topic).

If you have access to an Intranet, you can also add the export path to a directory using the direct connection with this server. At the time of exporting, please keep in mind that your computer must be connected to the respective directory.

If you have access to a FTP account for an external web server, it is possible to transfer the project directory over a FTP application to this web server.

The Calendar in iCal

Merlin can transfer the entire project, including all elements type "Event", to iCal. In iCal you then have all the possibilities and options that the application offers. Therefore, you can print out individual calendar sheets, export as calendar file into the internet, or also the event file (in ics format).

In Merlin's preferences ("General") you can define the format in which you would like to transfer your information to iCal. The following possibilities are provided:

• As events with times
  When the calendar is set to this specification, all activities in the period will be displayed with the planned start and end time. Additionally elements type "Event" are also integrated in the event section of iCal.
• As events without times
  When the calendar is set to this specification, all activities in the timeless period will be displayed without the planned start or end time. Only elements type "Event" are integrated in the event section of iCal.
• As tasks
  When the calendar is set to this specification, all activities are displayed as tasks in the calendar. Only element type "Event" are integrated in the event section of iCal.

To display your project calendar in iCal, simply choose in the menu "Action - Export to iCal" (^+C). The current project will be directly transferred to iCal. Should iCal not be running, it will start the application prior to exporting.

If you are working with 10.3.x (Panther), the project will be automatically inserted in a new iCal calendar. The name of the project is then taken over as the name of the calendar. If you are working with Apple's current system, Tiger, you will be asked if you would like to insert information into a new calendar or into an existing calendar:

Whenever you send a project to iCal, all project data from Merlin are transferred to iCal in the form of a file. Currently there is no logical connection between Merlin and iCal. Therefore, it is not possible for any of the applications to detect if an entry (e.g. an activity) already exists. Due to this reason, Merlin cannot import or transfer an existing calendar into a project from iCal. We are working on optimizing this feature and will be offering a better solution in a later version. Until then we suggest this workaround:

When you want to create a new version of the calendar, simply delete your previous calendar prior to the export and then create a new calendar. In the case that the older version of the calendar has already been published in the internet, then you must naturally also publish the newer version in the internet too (which is quite easily done with just two mouse clicks).

Export and Import of a Projekts

The exchange of your project data over .merlin files is extremely simple and can be executed in a few steps:

1. Export your project
2. Create an archive of your file and send this archive to your team member.
3. The team member imports the project.

Why should I create an archive of the .merlin file?

A .merlin file is a so called Bundle, which means it is a directory, that Finder displays as a file. In this directory you will not only find the project data, but also all files, should you have created elements of the type "File" and the files that the project has been copied into (as opposed to linked files).

The import process

The import process in Merlin should be well known: Drag the file that should be imported with the mouse onto the Merlin icon. If the file format is supported, Merlin's icon will be highlighted. As soon as you drop the file on the icon, Merlin will start or be brought to the foreground if it was already running and the following message is displayed:

If this is answered with "Import", the import will begin. According to the size of the file or the format, the import can take a few seconds. Should there be an existing project with the same name, Merlin will ask you if the new project should overwrite the previous one.

Answer according to your needs:

• If you receive a new version of the project and you would like to carry on using this version, select "Replace Project". Merlin replaces your current project with the new imported version
• If you wish to use this version with restrictions, select "Rename Project". You then have your existing project and the new imported project with a running number attached to it.

You can now work on the project, making the required modifications and at a later date send it again to your team member.

Accessing from a common project directory

An option, that comes very close to the server version, is the common project directory. To do this it is required that the Merlin users store the data path in the preferences of a common drive:

Note!!!

Naturally there is a catch to this; as mentioned above, Merlin is not a network application!

This means that even with this configuration that only one user can open the files with Merlin. All other users who try to open Merlin will receive the following message:

You must therefore wait until the current user using Merlin is finished.

Other options

Merlin offers other export formats as well, e.g. formats for MS Project (.mpx and .xml). The process with MS Project will however be, described in another article at a later date.

Export to MS Excel

Finally, there is the option to export the current view in .csv format to be able to work with MS Excel. This is however, a one-way path, as the data can not be imported into Merlin. Therefore, the CSV export is especially recommended to analysis' and reports of our project.

If you should have any questions to this article or any other subject regarding Merlin, please send us an emai at merlin@projectwizards.net.