Integration Tab of the Application Preferences Dialog Box

Use this tab to apply customized settings for debugging, custom applications, or tighter integration with Open Plan and wInsight.

Note: When you make changes in this dialog box, you must exit Cobra for changes to take effect. If you use PM Compass, you must stop and restart all Web services.

During the Cost/Schedule import process, the LINK and associated tables are saved in the Cobra temporary folder as a table that is deleted when the process is complete. If you update the Open Plan Resource file or view Cobra data from an Open Plan web window, you must publish the LINK table to the Cobra data source. If the LINK table is not published, the Update OPP Resources feature does not function.

Note: There are four options on the left pane of Integration tab of the Application Preferences dialog box, Customize, Cost Data, Open Plan, and wInsight. Each option displays its own set of fields on the right pane of the Integration tab.

Customize

Field Description
Save temporary integration tables

When importing CSV files, saving the temporary integration tables allows you to see how the data is interpreted during the import. This can be a valuable debugging tool when problems arise. You can also use these temporary tables for creating custom applications used in the custom hooks. The temporary tables are stored in XML format in the My Documents\ Deltek\Cobra folder.

After validation and processing within the temporary tables, the processed data is imported into Cobra.

Select one of the following options from the drop-down list:

  • Don’t save — Select this option if you do not want to copy the temporary tables.
  • After Load process — Select this option to create the temporary tables after data is imported from the schedule or CSV file. The file created is My Documents\Deltek\Cobra\Logs\Integration\<date-time> Post Load.
  • After Save process — Select this option to create the temporary tables after the data is validated and before it is imported into the Cobra tables. The file created is My Documents\Deltek\Cobra\Logs\Integration\<date-time> Post Save.
  • After Load and Save — Select this option to create the temporary files after data is imported and before they are saved.
Note: The temporary integration tables are stored in the My Documents\Deltek\Cobra\Logs\Integration directory.
Publish link table to data source

The LINK table is used by Open Plan to view Cobra data.

Select one of the following options from the drop-down list:

  • Don't Publish — Select this option if you do not want to save data to the LINK table.
  • Publish with filtered delete — Select this option to publish the LINK table to the Cobra data source. The records of control accounts, work packages, or milestones that you previously published to the LINK table but are no longer being imported from the schedule remain in the LINK table.
  • Publish with full delete by project — Select this option to publish the LINK table to the Cobra data source and perform a full delete of the LINK table for the project being imported. This option affects link records that belong to the Cobra program and the project being imported. If the project being imported is a multi-project, this also includes the subprojects.

    There are certain circumstances when the Publish with full delete by project option results in some records not being deleted. For example, assume that WP1 is imported into Cobra project DEMO from a project named PROJ. Assume further that the project is renamed to PROJ1 and imported again into DEMO using the Publish with full delete by project option. Under this circumstance, the WP1 record from the first import is not deleted because it belongs to PROJ. Cobra still tries to insert another 1.1 causing a unique constraint error.

  • Publish with full delete — Select this option to perform a full delete of the LINK table for the Cobra project based on only the project name. Using this option avoids the situation described above.

    If you do not select Publish with full delete, duplicates can occur when you publish the LINK table. If you import the same control account/work package from two different projects, a duplicate error occurs when publishing the link table. A full delete always guarantees that you can publish the LINK table.

Cost Data

Field Description
Export Other Direct Costs as ODC

If this option is selected, Cobra will export the Other Direct Costs element of cost as "ODC". If this option is cleared, Cobra will export the Other Direct Costs element of cost as "Other Direct Costs".

Open Plan

Field Description
Unrotated code field list

Use this field to enter unrotated code fields in a comma separated list without spaces. When loading data from unrotated code fields in Open Plan, you must identify which code fields are unrotated so that these code fields are displayed in the Schedule Fields lookup dialog box of the Integration Wizard. When an Open Plan field is added as a source field in PM Compass, the field is automatically unrotated and must be identified as such in Cobra.

For example:

C1,C2,USER_CHR01

wInsight

Field Description
Export access control to wInsight 8.1 or later

Select this option to instruct Cobra to export the project's access control information to the wInsight XML file.

The Owner is added to the Contracts section of the wInsight XML file, while the ACL tags are added to the ACL section. The contract owner and access control information is generated using a single project or a master project for a contract and imported to wInsight through manual import and direct transfer.