Docs / Migration

Import from MS Project

Bring an XML export across — tasks, links, calendars, assignments and all — and know exactly what round-tripped.

Export the right format

In Microsoft Project: File → Save As → XML Format (*.xml). Foreweave reads MS Project XML, not .mpp: the XML format is documented and stable, while .mpp is a closed binary that changes between versions — importing it approximately would mean corrupting your dates quietly, which is worse than asking you for the export.

What round-trips

  • Tasks — hierarchy, names, durations, milestones, manual/auto scheduling mode.
  • Links — all four dependency types with leads and lags.
  • Constraints — the six constraint types, plus deadlines.
  • Calendars — working days, hours, and holiday exceptions.
  • Resources and assignments — names, max units, and task assignments.

Export works the same way in reverse — your whole plan back out as MS Project XML, any time, through the API's export endpoint. Round-tripping a file through Foreweave and back is a supported, tested path, so you can collaborate with stakeholders who stay in Microsoft Project. From the app itself you can export the Gantt and Timeline to PDF or PNG and the task table to CSV; a one-click XML export button is on the roadmap rather than in the current release.

What to check after import

  1. The finish date. Foreweave recomputes the schedule with its own engine on import. If MS Project showed a different finish, the import report tells you which tasks differ and why — usually a constraint MS Project was honouring that conflicts with a link.
  2. Conflicts. Over-constrained tasks are listed, not clamped. Resolve them in the grid or accept the reported dates.
  3. Calendars. Exotic shift calendars import, but verify a known task's working span before trusting a thousand of them.

Actuals come across too — actual starts, finishes and percent complete round-trip in both directions, so a plan you have been tracking does not arrive back at zero.

Large files are fine — plans above 2,000 tasks are recomputed asynchronously and you're notified when ready, and plans are supported to 5,000 tasks. Not coming from Microsoft Project? A CSV or XLSX plan has its own route, including the kind where the schedule is drawn as coloured cells — see the schedule that lives in a spreadsheet.