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Project Server Experts Community Site > Project Server FAQ KnowledgeBase > SP2Scramblesocs  

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Enterprise Outline Codes Appear to be Scrambled After Installing Project SP2

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Latest Update

Microsoft released SP2a on 12-13-05. Obtain the new Service Pack 2a at the following download address:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=413D99FD-2965-4FAF-BD48-3CBCC5031E46&displaylang=en

Note that SP2a can be applied to a system where SP2 was previously applied without uninstalling the previous version.

Background Information

Enterprise Outline Codes, such as the RBS, appear scrambled after installing Project Server and Project SP2.
Microsoft acknowledges that this is a problem for some Service Pack 2 installations in the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=909947

As a result of this problem, Microsoft suspended downloads of SP2 for Project Server from the Microsoft web site. Microsoft has identified the problem is working on a fix as well as a KB update. Until Microsoft publishes this information, the following is MSProjectExperts’ latest understanding of the problem:

The Good News

The problem affects the display of outline codes only.  The distorted display does not reflect a bad data state. However, you can actually cause some scrambling yourself by trying to make corrections while the system is displaying data incorrectly. Even if you have tried fixing your outline codes after noticing the problem, you haven’t done any permanent damage, although you may now need to cleanup after your changes.

Workaround

If you’ve installed SP2, you can either revert to SP1 or prevent the display problem by using the following work around:

Each time you check-out and check-in your Enterprise Global, even if you make no changes, you must force the value of the PROJ_EXT_EDITED field for the Enterprise Global record in the MSP_PROJECTS table to zero. change the value of the field:

Manually Using SQL Enterprise Manager

1. Launch the SQL Server Enterprise Manager and log in with administrator permissions

2. Select the Project Server database and expand it

3. Select the tables leaf and open the MSP_PROJECTS table and return all rows

4. Change the value of the PROJ_EXT_EDITED field for the Enterprise Global Record from 1 to 0 for the corrupted project

Manually Using SQL Query Analyzer

Run the following query:

Update MSP_PROJECTS
Set PROJ_EXT_EDITED = 0
Where PROJ_TYPE = 2

Automatically Using a Trigger

It’s also possible to set a temporary update trigger on the MSP_PROJECTS table that runs the query every time the table is updated. You must consider the impact of this if your system is using add-ons or is customized in ways that might make this procedure contra indicated. Apply caution and use this procedure at your own risk.

CREATE TRIGGER [SP2_Fix] ON [dbo].[MSP_PROJECTS]
FOR INSERT, UPDATE
AS

Update MSP_PROJECTS
Set PROJ_EXT_EDITED = 0
Where PROJ_TYPE = 2

Don’t forget to drop the trigger as part of your preparation for installing the SP2 fix when it becomes available from Microsoft.

Cleaning Up Residual Display Anomalies

If you previously opened your Enterprise Global and saw this problem manifest, you may need to take the following steps to clear the display in the interface the next time you open the Global. After you take this action once, and you make sure that the value of the PROJ_EXT_EDITED field is set to zero before you open the Enterprise Global, the system will behave as expected.

1. Checkout the Enterprise Global

2. Select Tools > Customize > Enterprise Fields

3. Select the Outline Codes tab and select a code to edit

4. Click the Edit Lookup Table button in the Edit dialog

5. Fully collapse and then expand your code structure

6. Cancel out

7. Reopen the code and the display should be now be normal

If you are experiencing this issue we’d appreciate hearing your continued feedback in the Microsoft Communities Newsgroups or via email.