Altus for Project - Configuration

The Project to Altus configuration is managed through Microsoft Project Config. This configuration setting allows you to:

• Turn on or off the feature.
• Set what user groups can use the feature.
• Create field mappings between Altus and Microsoft Project.

Turning the feature On or Off

The Altus for Project feature is turned on by default. Note: If users do not have the Altus for Project Add-in installed on their PC, they are unable to use the feature even if it is turned on.

This feature is turned on or off through the Allow Microsoft Project Sync setting.

User Access to the feature

You can select what Security Roles have access to this feature.

These Security Roles have been split into two settings:

• Security Roles - Project Linking: users within these roles can use the feature to connect their Microsoft Project plans to Altus projects.
• Security Roles - Project Unlinking: users within these roles can unlink Microsoft Project plans from Altus projects.

These roles have been separated because unlinking a project needs more consideration than linking. For example: If a project is in flight, it has been baselined and is being reported on, unlinking this project will remove all the schedule and effort data from Altus. All the project progress information on the project will be lost, and if time sheet records were generated from tasks within this project it will create orphan time sheet records within Altus.

Microsoft Project to Altus Field Mapping

Within the Microsoft Project Config setting in Altus there are sections related to field mapping.

There are two types of field mapping:

1. Standard Field Mapping: these are fields that have been setup so that the core information from Microsoft Project can be mapped and display within Altus. These values have been setup as part of the solution and cannot be edited.
2. Custom Field Mapping: these are fields that clients can use to map custom fields from Microsoft Project to their Altus environment.

Mapping Microsoft Project Custom Fields

Altus supports mapping custom Microsoft Project fields to Altus fields for both:

• Task fields
• Resource fields

This allows organisations to transfer important project and resource data between Microsoft Project and Altus while maintaining consistent field usage across systems.

Supported Task Field Ranges

The following Microsoft Project task field ranges can be mapped:

• Text fields: Text1 to Text26
• Number fields: Number1 to Number20
• Date fields: Date1 to Date9
• Cost fields: Cost1 to Cost10
• Flag fields: Flag1 to Flag20

⚠️ Reserved fields
Some Microsoft Project task fields are reserved for internal Altus functionality and cannot be used for custom mapping. Reserved fields include:

• Text27 is used for the Assignment Changeset
• Text28 is used for the Altus Assignment ID
• Text29 is used for the Task Changeset
• Text30 is used for the Altus Task ID
• Date10 is used for the Protected Actuals Before value. For more information please see the below section Timesheet Import and Actuals Overwrite Logic

When configuring field mappings, ensure these reserved fields are not selected.

Supported Resource Field Ranges

The following Microsoft Project resource field ranges can be mapped:

• Text fields: Text1 to Text26
• Number fields: Number1 to Number20
• Date fields: Date1 to Date10
• Cost fields: Cost1 to Cost10
• Flag fields: Flag1 to Flag20

⚠️ Altus-managed resource text fields
Some Microsoft Project resource text fields are managed by Altus for bookable resource synchronisation and cannot be used for custom mapping. This includes:

• Text27 and Text28 for current resource sync behaviour
• Text1 and Text2 for existing systems where these fields are already used by Altus. For more information please see the below section Bookable Resource ManagedFields
• Text29 is used for the Resource Changeset
• Text30 is used for the Altus Resource ID

Bookable Resource Managed Fields

Altus for Project syncs bookable resources from Altus into Microsoft Project and stores the Altus Role and Altus Resource Type values in resource text fields.

For current resource sync behaviour, Altus uses:

• Text27: Altus Role
• Text28: Altus Resource Type

For existing systems that already use Text1 and Text2 for Altus resource sync, these fields will continue to be used to avoid breaking existing configurations:

• Text1: Altus Role
• Text2: Altus Resource Type

Standard Field Mapping

The following Task and Task Resource fields form part of the Standard Field Mapping that has been setup for Microsoft Project and the Altus Task fields. These are not editable.

Project Field	Altus Field
Name	Task Name
Schedule Mode	Schedule Type
Task Type	Task Type
Summary	Summary
Milestone	Milestone
Start	Start
Finish	Finish
Duration	Duration
Work	Effort (Hours)
Actual Work	Effort Completed (Hours)
Deadline	Due Date
Resource Name	Resource Assignment - Name
Resource Units	Resource Assignment - Units (%)
Notes	Notes

Note

There are additional Resource field mappings that are generated as part of the Build Team process within Project that are not included in the list above.

Custom Field Mappings

You can add additional custom field mappings to your settings.

Altus fields will not be created automatically, they must be created and configured within the Altus Config Settings > Altus for Project Configuration.

Supported Field types are included in the below table.

MS Project	Dataverse
Text	String
Text	OptionSet
Text (',' separated)	OptionSet (MultiSelect)
Date	Date
Number	Int
Number	Float
Number	Decimal
Number	Money
Number	OptionSet
Start	Date
Finish	Date
Flag	Boolean
Flag	OptionSet

Cost fields are not included in the current build and is a feature we may be rolling out in future releases.

Note

Flag OptionSet is limited to Yes/No label mapping. OptionSet Labels must not contain ',' values for MultiSelect to work as the comma is assumed to be delimiter separating each item. OptionSets assume that you know that Label not the OptionSet Value. Mappings will be between the value in MS Project and the OptionSet Label only.

Note

Any fields that you map will need to be communicated to your Microsoft Project users, as the corresponding fields will need to be created exactly as you have typed them here, within their Microsoft Project Plans. This includes the field being of the exact type and if it is a drop-down it must contain the exact options. Custom Fields with alternative label will only be recognised by the custom field label as shown as (Text7) found by hovering over the alternative label.

Note

If users edit fields that have been mapped within their Project plan it can break this linkage.

To create Custom Field Mapping

1. Click the New Field Mapping button.
   This will open the Field Mapping screen.
   
2. Within the Microsoft Project Field section, type the Name of the field within Microsoft Project you would like to map.
3. Within the Altus Field section, select the Project Task field that you would like to map to in Altus. The drop-down list will only show fields within the sensei_task table.
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat the above process to add any additional fields.
6. Save your changes to this page.

Resource Substitution and Timesheet Import Logic for POL Migrations

Overview

This section describes the updated behaviour for resource substitution and timesheet actuals import when migrating in‑flight Project Online (POL) schedules to Altus for Project. The logic supports smooth cut‑over, preserves historic actuals, and protects data integrity across the migration process.

Resource Substitution in Build Team

• Substitution is now supported even for resources with recorded actuals.

• In the Build Team dialog:

  • The resource row remains enabled, allowing replacement of a local resource with an Altus resource.
  • Existing colour highlighting (resources with or without actuals) remains unchanged.

• When a substitution is made, the resource in the MPP is updated using details from the Altus resource. This includes:

  • Name
  • Work calendar
  • Calendar exceptions
  • Resource rates

• During timesheet import, a warning informs users that actuals in the assignment will be replaced with Altus timesheet data after the date of the first approved Altus timesheet.

Timesheet Import and Actuals Overwrite Logic

• Each assignment uses the last available date‑type local assignment custom field to store an epoch date representing the previous timesheet sync. This field is: Protected Actuals Before.

• If a Protected Actuals Before value exists:
  • Only Altus timesheets after this date are considered.
  • Only actuals after this date are eligible to overwrite MPP assignment actuals.

• If a Protected Actuals Before value does not exist:
  • The system reads the date of the first approved Altus timesheet.
  • This date becomes the cut‑over point when a sync occurs and timesheet‑generated actuals are written.

Data Rules

• Historic actuals before the Protected Actuals Before remain in the MPP and are never overwritten.
• Actuals generated from Altus timesheets after the cut‑over date replace any manually entered actuals for those same dates in the assignment.
• The overwrite is applied only for the date ranges described above; entries outside those ranges are left intact.

Data Integrity User Guidance

• When disconnecting the MPP and moving to the Altus scheduler, users are warned that detailed daily forecast and actual distributions may be lost because Altus does not retain time‑phased resource assignments for disconnected MPPs.
• The timesheet import process for native Altus schedules remains unchanged: all actuals are sourced exclusively from approved Altus timesheets.