net.sf.mpxj-for-vb 12.9.3

MPXJ for VB

MPXJ is a Java library which allows a variety of project file formats and databases to be read and written. This NuGet package uses IKVM to translate the Java library into a .Net assembly. You can find details of the classes and methods in the Javadocs, and more general documentation on the MPXJ website.

This version is not a direct translation of the original Java library: instead it provides properties rather than requiring the use of getter and setter methods to allow more idiomatic VB to be written when using this library.

A version of this assembly is available from NuGet (MPXJ) which is a direct translation of the Java library and another version of the assembly (MPXJ for C#) is also available which is more suited for use with C#.

After installing this package you can either work with some of the simple built-in utilities provided by MPXJ for tasks like file format conversion:

Imports net.sf.mpxj.sample

New MpxjConvert().process("example.mpp", "example.mpx")

or you can interact directly with the object model exposed by MPXJ to extract data:

Imports net.sf.mpxj.reader
Imports Task = net.sf.mpxj.Task

Dim project = New UniversalProjectReader().read("example.mpp")
System.Console.WriteLine("Tasks")

For Each task As Task In project.Tasks
    System.Console.WriteLine(task.ID.toString() & vbTab + task.Name)
Next

or finally you can generate your own schedule:

Imports java.text
Imports net.sf.mpxj
Imports net.sf.mpxj.writer

' The helper class we use later to actually write the file
' selects the file type based on the extension of the
' filename. In the example below we'll be generating an MSPDI
' file which we can import into Microsoft Project.
Dim filename = "/Users/joniles/Downloads/test.xml"

' Create a simple date format to allow us to easily set date values.
Dim df = New SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy")

' Create a ProjectFile instance
Dim file = New ProjectFile()

' Add a default calendar called "Standard"
Dim calendar = file.addDefaultBaseCalendar()

' Add a holiday to the calendar to demonstrate calendar exceptions
calendar.addCalendarException(df.parse("13/03/2006"), df.parse("13/03/2006"))

' Retrieve the project properties and set the start date. Note Microsoft
' Project appears to reset all task dates relative to this date, so this
' date must match the start date of the earliest task for you to see
' the expected results. If this value is not set, it will default to
' today's date.
Dim properties = file.ProjectProperties
properties.StartDate = df.parse("01/01/2003")

' Set a couple more properties just for fun
properties.ProjectTitle = "Created by MPXJ"
properties.Author = "Jon Iles"

' Let's create an alias for TEXT1
Dim customFields = file.CustomFields
Dim field = customFields.getOrCreate(TaskField.TEXT1)
field.setAlias("My Custom Field")

' Add resources
Dim resource1 = file.addResource()
resource1.Name = "Resource1"

Dim resource2 = file.addResource()
resource2.Name = "Resource2"
resource2.MaxUnits = java.lang.Double.valueOf(50.0)

' Create a summary task
Dim task1 = file.addTask()
task1.Name = "Summary Task"


' Create the first sub task
Dim task2 = task1.addTask()
task2.Name = "First Sub Task"
task2.Duration = Duration.getInstance(10.5, TimeUnit.DAYS)
task2.Start = df.parse("01/01/2003")
task2.setText(1, "My Custom Value 1")

' We'll set this task up as being 50% complete. If we have no resource
' assignments for this task, this is enough information for MS Project.
' If we do have resource assignments, the assignment record needs to
' contain the corresponding work and actual work fields set to the
' correct values in order for MS project to mark the task as complete
' or partially complete.
task2.PercentageComplete = java.lang.Double.valueOf(50.0)
task2.ActualStart = df.parse("01/01/2003")

' Create the second sub task
Dim task3 = task1.addTask()
task3.Name = "Second Sub Task"
task3.Start = df.parse("11/01/2003")
task3.Duration = Duration.getInstance(10, TimeUnit.DAYS)
task3.setText(1, "My Custom Value 2")

' Link these two tasks
task3.addPredecessor(task2, RelationType.FINISH_START, Nothing)

' Add a milestone
Dim milestone1 = task1.addTask()
milestone1.Name = "Milestone"
milestone1.Start = df.parse("21/01/2003")
milestone1.Duration = Duration.getInstance(0, TimeUnit.DAYS)
milestone1.addPredecessor(task3, RelationType.FINISH_START, Nothing)


' This final task has a percent complete value, but no
' resource assignments. This is an interesting case it it requires
' special processing to generate the MSPDI file correctly.
Dim task4 = file.addTask()
task4.Name = "Next Task"
task4.Duration = Duration.getInstance(8, TimeUnit.DAYS)
task4.Start = df.parse("01/01/2003")
task4.PercentageComplete = java.lang.Double.valueOf(70.0)
task4.ActualStart = df.parse("01/01/2003")


' Assign resources to tasks
Dim assignment1 = task2.addResourceAssignment(resource1)
Dim assignment2 = task3.addResourceAssignment(resource2)


' As the first task is partially complete, and we are adding
' a resource assignment, we must set the work and actual work
' fields in the assignment to appropriate values, or MS Project
' won't recognise the task as being complete or partially complete
assignment1.Work = Duration.getInstance(80, TimeUnit.HOURS)
assignment1.ActualWork = Duration.getInstance(40, TimeUnit.HOURS)


' If we were just generating an MPX file, we would already have enough
' attributes set to create the file correctly. If we want to generate
' an MSPDI file, we must also set the assignment start dates and
' the remaining work attribute. The assignment start dates will normally
' be the same as the task start dates.
assignment1.RemainingWork = Duration.getInstance(40, TimeUnit.HOURS)
assignment2.RemainingWork = Duration.getInstance(80, TimeUnit.HOURS)
assignment1.Start = df.parse("01/01/2003")
assignment2.Start = df.parse("11/01/2003")


' Write a 100% complete task
Dim task5 = file.addTask()
task5.Name = "Last Task"
task5.Duration = Duration.getInstance(3, TimeUnit.DAYS)
task5.Start = df.parse("01/01/2003")
task5.PercentageComplete = java.lang.Double.valueOf(100.0)
task5.ActualStart = df.parse("01/01/2003")

' Write a 100% complete milestone
Dim task6 = file.addTask()
task6.Name = "Last Milestone"
task6.Duration = Duration.getInstance(0, TimeUnit.DAYS)
task6.Start = df.parse("01/01/2003")
task6.PercentageComplete = java.lang.Double.valueOf(100.0)
task6.ActualStart = df.parse("01/01/2003")

' Write the file
Dim writer = ProjectWriterUtility.getProjectWriter(filename)
writer.write(file, filename)