OnePlan - Microsoft Project Calendar Synchronization

The OnePlan - Microsoft Project connector now supports calendar synchronization into your MPP files. This functionality is automatic—no field mappings are required.

Calendar sync is enabled by default and occurs each time a Publish or Update action is performed on an MPP file. This synchronization only impacts the task calendar within the OnePlan Work Plan. Resource calendars in OnePlan are not affected by this process.

Calendars within your MPP File

How to View My MPP Calendars

To view calendars in your MPP file:

1. Open your MPP file. 
2. Navigate to the Project tab.
3. In the Properties section, select Change Working Time.

By default, the following standard calendars are available in your MPP file:

• Standard
• Night Shift
• 24 Hours

To view additional calendars, use the "For calendar" dropdown . This list will display all available calendars in the MPP field, including any imported from OnePlan. 

How to Identify OnePlan Calendars?

Once imported, OnePlan calendars can be identified in the "For calendar" dropdown by: 

• The calendar's display name (as shown in OnePlan)
• The associated GUID ID

By default, all of OnePlan groups use "General" as the primary calendar. 

If additional calendars are created in OnePlan, they will automatically be created or updated in the MPP file during the next Publish or Update action. 

What Calendar Information is Imported?

The following OnePlan calendar details are synchronized into the MPP file:

• Calendar Name
• OnePlan Calendar GUID ID
• Working Days
• Weekend days
• Availability Hours - (shown as Working Time in .mpp file)
• Holidays - (shown as Exceptions in .mpp file)

Note: In OnePlan, calendar availability supports two sets of working hours (two start and end time ranges per day). For a calendar to successfully import into Microsoft Project, there must be a clear gap between these two time ranges. Overlapping or continuous time ranges may prevent the calendar from importing correctly.

How Calendar Import Works with Task Calendars

The OnePlan calendar sync is designed to import calendars into the Microsoft Project MPP file. These calendars can then be used to assign task calendars within the MPP file, which are subsequently published back to OnePlan and applied to task calendars in the OnePlan Work Plan.

While imported calendars can also be assigned to resources within the MPP file, resource calendars are not synchronized back to OnePlan. As a result, any changes made to resource calendars in Microsoft Project will not update or modify calendars in the OnePlan Resource Center.

How to Disable Calendar Synch

Calendar synchronization can be disabled at the individual MPP file level. 

To disable calendar synch:

1. Open your MPP file. 
2. Navigate to the OnePlan tab. 
3. In the Configuration section, click Settings to open the Settings panel. 
4. Locate the Calendar Synch section. 

You will see the following options:

• Do not import OnePlan calendars on Publish
• Do not import OnePlan calendars on Update

Select one or both options as needed to disable synchronization for those actions. 

Note: These settings must be configured separately for each MPP file. Disabling calendar sync in one file does not apply to others. 

FAQ

What happens if a resource in my MPP file uses a different calendar than in OnePlan?

If there is a mismatch between a resource calendar in the MPP file and OnePlan, no changes will occur. Resource calendars are not synchronized, and the mismatch will not trigger any updates.

Why is my MPP calendar not updating task calendars in OnePlan?

Task calendars in OnePlan are only set using existing OnePlan calendars. If a calendar from the MPP file does not exist in OnePlan, it will not be created or applied to tasks.

Mind the Gap

Microsoft Project has a hard limit for the length of a calendar. Please make sure you use only up to 16 characters when naming a OnePlan calendar.