Saving project as mdb

[proj98]

I have been saving out my plan as an mdb as it allows me to export only the lines I want the client to see, without any resource or actuals information. The problem I am having is that some of the dates actually change. I have checked the project start date under project information(no impact) as well as resource and project calendars. Does anyone have experience with exporting to mdb and importing back in? And does anyone have a suggestion on what to check that would cause a few dates to change?

 

[e1]

I have never use MDB format. I usually export my plan to EXCEL and only the first level. Then in the EXCEL output I delete the WORK/effort column and resources, leaving only START and END date.

 

[ponderworks]

It has been awhile since I have used Proj98, but, you may be able to set up a Gantt with a table and filters to look exactly like what you want the client to see, then save it as an html file and e-mail that to the client.

 

[proj98]

Thanks e1 & ponderworks, I appreciate your input. I actually figured it out after more investigation. The client was wanting a milestone update in MS project however I refused to send the entire plan to them with all my actuals and cost tables. Therefore, I use the save as feature to extract only the data I want exported. I then open that mdb file in project and then save that out as a new mpp file. By doing this it only imports that specified information that I want the client to view. Works quite well for using your current plan and exporting specific information/milestones/critical path etc. to the client, while keeping it in an mpp format.
What I found was that certain dates would change! The reason dates changed is that the predecessor that you export stays constaint regardless of whether the predecessor task is exported. Example: Task A is a milestone and its predecessor was line 100, when you export Task A's information, the predecessor stays at 100. However, line 100 was not included in the export and line item 100 is now a different task. Threw me off for a few days. I assumed project would have either dropped the predecessor or would have prompted me with an error.
Thanks again for your comments!!

 

[elizabeth]

How/where do you save it as an .mdb? I don't see that as a File/Save As option.