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Q. I entered a project in the project details screen, but when I go back to the entry screen, it is not displayed in the drop down list..
A. Before a user can see the project, they need to have permission to view this project. Have the System Administrator go into "Administration" then "Project Access" and ensure your logon is linked to the new project. The reason for this is that not every user should be able to view every project. They should only be able to look at their own project. If you want all users to see all projects, set up a single logon (say "User") for everyone, and give "User" access to all projects
A second problem could relate to the project being set to inactive. Select "All Projects" . and ensure the active box is ticked.
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Q. Although users were entered by the System Administrator using the "Administer" function, they are not visible in drop down lists.
A. The System Administrator needs to set the users to Active. There is a check box under the "People" tab to set users to Active. The reason is that the drop down lists should be restricted to people currently working on projects, or currently employed by the company. If however a person has left, it may still be appropriate to leave their name in the system. For example, they may have been Sponsor of a project, or been responsible for an Action Item. When people leave the project arena, they should be set to inactive by the System Administrator.
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Q. I keep hearing about the "Administer" function. What is it?
A. A System Administrator should be nominated for PA. When that person logs on, they have access, via a button on the entry screen, to another part of the system to set up things like security and parameters. Normal users do not see this "Administer" button.
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Q. I have tried to link to a particular set of tables, but it seems to be looking for another set which don't exist.
A. Before you link to a set of tables, you have to remove links to the previous set of tables. The System Administrator needs to delete the physical links. Only the System Administrator can do this. This situation can arise if the tables are moved, renamed, or if a set of links exist in an installed version. Go to the database window. Select the "Tables" tab. Delete each link. You can tell if it is a link if there is an arrow in front of the table. Removing the link does not remove the table. Each link deletion requires confirmation. When all the links are removed, the table screen should be blank. If a link already exists (e.g. tblPeople) and you try to create the link again, Access creates the link as tblPeople1. If you try again, you get tblPeople2. The program does not recognize either tblPeople1 or tblPeople2. You need to delete all three before you can create a new link to the correct tblPeople table.
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Q. I have a registration code, but where or how do I enter it?
A. It depends if a code exists or not. Only the System Administrator can change a code but if there is no code, after a warning message, a registration screen will be displayed when you start the program. If you upgrade the number of permitted users, you will be given a new registration code.
The registration code needs to be input by the System Administrator. The System Administrator is the only person who has access to the "Administration" section of the program. There is a button on the "Company" tab to change a registration code.
If no code is set up, a message will be displayed when you log on and a registration code screen displayed.
Q. I cannot run the program by opening Windows Explorer and double clicking PA.mde
A. The program cannot be run from Explorer. A special shortcut needs to be set up. When the program is first installed, under your Windows "Start", "Program Files" menu is a "Project Administrator" submenu that will allow you to run the program. If you want to run it from your desktop, go to the menu item to run PA and create a shortcut. (right click the mouse and select "Shortcut"). This will create a second Project Administrator shortcut on the menu. Drag the second shortcut to the desktop and change the name to remove the "(2)" by right clicking the shortcut on the desktop and selecting "Rename".
If for some reason you need to build a shortcut, firstly, create a new shortcut which tries to open PA. On an empty part of the desktop, right click the mouse, select "New", "Shortcut" and "Browse". Find the file called "PA.mde" which will typically be under "Program Files\Project Administrator\". Remember to change the selection box in the browse window to look at all files, not just program files. When PA.mde is selected, click "Next" and enter the name (either "PA" or "Project Administrator".
The shortcut should now be on your desktop. Right click the shortcut and select properties. You need to change the line in "Target". It will probably look something like:
"C:\Program Files\Project Administrator\PA.mde"It will need to look like:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\Project Administrator\PA.mde" /wrkgrp "C:\Program Files\ Project Administrator\PA.mdw"
Don't panic. It is not as bad as it seems. There are three parts to the command line.
The first part is the path to MSACCESS.EXE. Find the file (it will probably be in the same location as the sample -
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE".
Do not erase the current "Target". Put this section in before the text that is automatically set up. Be sure to put quotation marks around the path.The second part is the path to PA.mde. This will normally be what is set up when you create the shortcut above. There should be a space between the two parts, and remember to check the path is in quotation marks.
The third part starts with
/wrkgrp
Remember to have a space before and after this and no quotation marks. The final section is the path to the workgroup file which is called "PA.mdw". Once again, it is in quotation marks.Check the "Working Directory" is correct. It is probably:
"C:\Program Files\Project Administrator"
If you want to add the traffic lights icon, click the "Change Icon" button and find the file called "TrafficLights.ico" which should be in the "C:\Program Files\Project Administrator" directory.
Your program should now work successfully.
Q. How do I display the cursor as a single vertical line at the start of the field?
This is a function in Microsoft Access. It can be changed by opening another Access application, and going to "Tools", "Options", "Keyboard", "Behavior entering field". There are three options:
- Select Entire Field
- Go to Start of Field
- Go to End of Field
Set the option you prefer for all Access applications
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Q. When setting up security accounts and users, I see a name "Sysop". Should I delete it?
A. The user Sysop is used during the development of PA. It has certain access beyond the user "Sysadmin". It is best to leave it in place in case there is a problem that may require Project Perfect to assist. The user "Sysop" is not counted for licensing purposes. You are licensed for a certain number of logons excluding "Sysop" and "Sysadmin".
Q. The Menubar (with the words File etc.) is below the Toolbar (with the icons). How do I get the Menubar on top of the Toolbar.
A. They can be dragged. Move the mouse over the left hand side of either bar, and whilst holding down the key, drag it to the required position.
Q. When I select the "Update" button on the schedule screen, I get an error.
A. There can be several causes. Firstly check you have a project. Select "Edit" and make sure you can open MS Project. If not, go outside PA and try and open the project with MS Project. If you have difficulties, the project may be corrupt. You will need to set up a new project.
If you are still having problems, and the project seems to be OK, ensure the prompt to save a baseline is turned off. When you try to save a project you will sometimes be prompted to save a baseline. You can turn off this dialog box by ticking the "Don't show me this again" box. Incidentally, if anyone has worked out how to turn the dialog on, I would be interested to hear from them.
Q. When I try to install PA on a machine that has a standard operating environment, the install program fails.
A. In order to run the install program, you need to be able to add PA to the start menu. Some SOE machines don't allow you to update the program files. There is a workaround which is fairly manual and will require you contact Project Perfect. If you do have this problem, send us an e-mail and we will provide instructions and all the files you need to do the install.
Unless you are an experienced Access user, or can contact one, I suggest you let us know and we will send you documentation. Basically it relates to files not being installed on your PC. As a start,
If any are missing (i.e. you can't find them in the list), it might be the cause of the problem. Something like a missing dll. If they are all available, save the module, close the new database and try PA again. If not you will need to add a reference. There is help in the Access help file, or if you are stuck, let us know and also the version of Access you are using.
This is a Microsoft bug which is covered in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 811120. According to Microsoft it only effects Windows ME but we have had the problem on Access 2000 running on both Windows 2000 and XP. Some symptoms are that tables cannot be deleted, or a compact and repair causes Access to close. We are not sure what other problems may be related to the issue.
The problem is the use of linked tables with a path length of over 128 characters. If your tables are buried deep in the LAN, you can easily run up 128 characters. Microsoft have a fix you can download but it seems to not want to run on anything but ME. It is Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 7. If anyone has this problem, and tries the fix, we would appreciate feedback.
The problem we suggest is to relocate the files to somewhere where the file name is less than 128 characters. It is not ideal, but seems to solve the problem.
The user name is sysadmin and the password is left blank. The trial version is good for 30 days.
There are two possible causes. The first is that you downloaded the incorrect version of the software. There are two versions. One is for Access 97 and the other for Access 2000 or later.
The second is that if you are running Access 2002 or later, you need to set the default database format to Access 2000. To do this open any database and go to Tools, Options, Advanced and ensure the Default File Format is set to Access 2000
The usual culprit is a missing ActiveX component in your Access installation.
It is called Microsoft Common Dialog and the file is COM32DLG.OCX If you have
a system administrator, ask them to install the file for you. It should be
part of your Windows operating system, or on your Office CD. Alternatively,
we have produced a kit which has instructions and the files. A zip file can
be downloaded by clicking here
We must thank one of our Canadian users - Yvonne Wupori from Akita Drilling for solving this one. You may see the problem if your PA.mde and PA.mdw files are in the same directory. The solution is to move the PA.mdw file to another directory, and change the desktop icon to point to the new location. For more information on adjusting the shortcut, see Q 6 above. For more information on the problem within Access see www.kbAlertz.com/kb_839782.aspx
This is a problem we unfortunately can do nothing about. There is a converter program within Access that does strange things when you convert to Word. The usual problem is to drop the word off the end of a line however sometimes it deletes a few lines. There are numerous references on the Web to the problem and nobody has been able to either identify all the situations that cause it, or come up with a solution. You will find the same issues when you use the "Office Links" function in any Microsoft Office program. Send an email to Bill Gates and complain.
We have had this error reported on a number of occasions for Access 97 although it now has been reported for Access 2003. The error is a reported error by Microsoft and there is a bulletin http://support.microsoft.com/kb/141373 which explains the problem and a solution. We have found renaming the file as mentioned as the second options seems to work.
