Merlin to MS Project – exchanging files
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 2. July 2012
To exchange Merlin project files with MS Project users of contemporary versions, choose File > Export > MS Project > XML
For the MS Project users to open the thus exported XML MS Project files,
- they start MS Project
- click on folder open symbol (more…)
Tags: Export, File Exchange, Merlin, MS Project, Open, XML
Merlin 2.8.5 update available
Antoni Cherif on 31. May 2012
Today we’ve released a new free update. The 2.8.5 update brings various improvements and more stability. It is recommended for all Merlin and Merlin Server users.
- How to update Merlin
- Some mpp files could not be opened by Merlin.
- MS Project could not open from Merlin generated XML files containing % in duration fields or some special character in a task’s title.
Resolved Issues in Merlin
Tags: Merlin 2.8.5, MPP, MS Project, Update, XML
Merlin 2.7.9: Connecting to Things, better collaboration to MS Project
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 19. April 2011
Merlin, the most successful project management software for the Mac, collaborates now even better with other applications. New workflows are introduced in the latest version 2.7.9 enabling it to connect to the popular personal task management mac software Things (by Cultured Code). Further enhancements are also implemented for the collaboration with the market leading project management software for Windows MS Project. And last but not least, several improvements under the hood ensure Merlin’s typical high software stability and robustness.
This is a dream come true for Merlin and Things users: Merlin and Things can finally work together. With just a few clicks you can now export Merlin activities as todos to Things or import todos from Things as activities into Merlin. The two market-leading applications for project management and personal task management on Mac are finally not only complementary on paper but also in practice. An easy and self-explanatory data exchange workflow, implemented in AppleScript, makes this possible.
We use Things from Culture Code regularly for personal task management in our company. It was only logical to add the capability to connect Things to Merlin and of course just a question of time until we would be able to provide such a solution to our customers. We are very happy, that this is now the case. It will be a great help for many Merlin users, as they won’t need to transfer activities and todos anymore between the two applications by hand.
Frank Blome, ProjectWizards – CEO.
Tags: Merlin, MS Project, Release notes, Things, Update, Windows
Merlin: MS Project MPX vs XML as exchange formats to Merlin (Mac)
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 5. January 2011
Merlin’s compatibility to Windows and mainly MS Project is very important not only to us but also to our users. What if you were practicing project management on windows and have lots of existing projects which you would like to use now on your Mac? Or what it you have to forward a project to a Windows user needing to edit it further in MS Project? That’s fine. With Merlin you can handle both situations just as well.
Merlin opens MS Project .mpx, .mpp, .xml file formats and exports in .xml, .mpx.
Are you wandering which file format should be preferred? The answer is easy:
We -and even Microsoft- recommend to use the XML format as it is open and reliable.
Only when trying to exchange files with MS Project users of older versions than MS Project 2000, you would need to choose a legacy format like mpp or mpx.
Simple, isn’t?
Tags: Merlin, Merlin 101, Microsoft Project, MPP, MPX, MS Project, XML
ProjectPotion 18 – Dave Goes to Øredev
Dave Prior on 23. December 2010
Bas interviews Dave about his experiences at Øredev 2010 (more…)
Tags: Øredev, Dave Prior, Merlin, MS Project, PM, Project Manager
MS Project import – User defined fields
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 12. March 2010
If you have MS Projects containing user defined columns and need to edit them in Merlin, simply save those files in the MS Project XML exchange format. Open the XML file later on in Merlin, click any activity in your project and check the ‘User Defined Fields’ tab. You will find them all listed there displaying their contents.
Please note:
MS Project will not save the custom titles into the XML file, so Merlin displays their column identifier.
Tip:
- If you have only one user defined field simply edit its title in the ‘User Defined Fields’ tab
- If you have imported various user defined fields at once, you may want to display first the columns on the outline to know which column title fits which content.
Isn’t great? Not only seamless import of MS Project files but also to such a deep extent. Merlin never ceases to amaze me 
Tags: MS Project, User defined fields, XML
Was Merlin a project manager? (part two)
Frank Blome on 12. October 2009
There is usually a long story behind a successful product. This applies for Merlin and my first visions about it in 2003.
Here is how the drama started.
Was Merlin a project manager? (part two)
….We were looking for alternatives. Someone in the company started to [ab]use MS Excel as a project management tool. In the beginning I found this to be a good idea, and followed willingly. Some weeks later we had scripted a great amount of data sheets with innumerable charts. It was fine for separate projects but made our overview on all running projects smaller day by day. When colleagues began again to do their job manually, bypassing the scripts and their automations, it became clear to me that we needed yet again another, better solution.
Tags: Excel, Mac OS X, Merlin, Merlin Project Management, MS Office X, MS Project, PM, Project Management Software, Project Manager, Story, Windows
Was Merlin a project manager? (part one)
Frank Blome on 7. October 2009
There is usually a long story behind a successful product. This applies for Merlin and my first visions about it in 2003.
But first things first. Back in 2002, founding ProjectWizards, I decided to switch to Mac OS X. It was a relatively new operating system based on NeXTSTEP, which Apple bought and developed further. The excellent quality that Apple machines had, and still have, was one of the main reasons for switching. With MS Office X, we had a good basic software package for daily work. And even though Word, Excel and PowerPoint on Mac were always a step behind their Windows versions, they contained the functions we needed. Last but not least they offered a relatively good compatibility to Windows files. All this was necessary for our job at ProjectWizards; Project management. And here is where the drama starts.
We tried at first FastTrack Schedule by AEC. It was the only Mac OS X application for project management available, with all limitations and problems of a classic OS 9 application. The software had some inconsistencies making its professional use by ProjectWizards impossible.
The next step wasn’t any easier. Virtual machines were not performing well on PowerPC based Macs, so MS Project on MacOS X was not an option. We had tested Windows machines with terminal server, accessed by “remote desktop”. But this was not really a better solution either…
Tags: Excel, FastTrack Schedule, Mac OS X, Merlin, MS Office on Mac OS X, MS Office X, MS Project, MS Project on Mac, PM, Project Management Software, Project Manager, Story, Virtual machines, Windows
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