Phoenix is capable of exporting projects to other software formats such as Microsoft Project and CSV files. To export data from Phoenix click Tools and choose the desired export method from the Export submenu.

MPX and Microsoft Project XML

The MPX format was created by Microsoft as a common way to transfer data between different scheduling software. The format is somewhat limited, however can be a good way to transfer project data between Phoenix and other software such as Microsoft Project. For transferring data to and from Microsoft Project, however, the XML format is desired because it can contain much more information than the MPX format can and therefore your schedule data will be more accurate.

To export data to either of these formats, select it from the Export submenu.

You will see 6 tabs that allow you to customize various detailed export options:

• Tasks: Presents a list of tasks in the schedule and allows you to choose whether you want to export tasks, relationships, or both.
• Calendars: Shows the available calendars in the project and allows you to choose which one(s) you want to export with the rest of the schedule data. The base calendar is automatically selected and cannot be deselected unless you uncheck the Base Calendar option from the Project tab.
• Project: Lists a number of options relating to the project as a whole.
• Defaults: Default workday information.
• Currency: Currency information used for the schedule.
• Date/Time: Detailed date and time information used in the schedule.

The Schedule before exporting option causes the project to be scheduled automatically before it is exported.

Comma Separated Values (CSV)

The CSV format exports a list of all activities and relationships in a simple format that can be easier to manipulate. CSV files can be opened directly by Microsoft Excel for editing and Microsoft Project allows you to import from CSV files easily. Please note that the CSV format only allows you to export activities and information related to each activity. No project information is exported.

To export data to the CSV format, select CSV... from the Export submenu.

For the CSV format there is only a single tab shown that allows you to choose whether to export tasks, relationships, or both.

Just as with MPX and Microsoft Project XML exporting, the Schedule before exporting option causes the project to be scheduled automatically before it is exported.

XER

The XER format exports most of the data your schedule contains. You can enter a new project name or keep the name you have as well as a short WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) name.

You can opt to use your current activity code and organization for generating a WBS hierarchy or choose to not have a WBS structure at all.

SDEF

The SDEF (Standard Data Exchange Format) can be used to generate SDEF files. The SDEF file format does not have rigid requirements for some fields so Phoenix provides a variety of options to make sure your exported SDEF file will work with your other applications.

SDEF requires several fields:

• Project name: You can customize it to be different than the name you've given your Phoenix project. Can be up to forty eight characters long.
• Project identifier: A short code to identify your project easily. Can be up to four characters long.
• Contract number: Your contract number. Can be up to six characters long.
• Contractor name: Your contractor name. Can be up to thirty six characters long.

You can optionally map the assignment of Activity Codes in your project to various activity fields native to the SDEF format. To map these simply select the SDEF field from the dropdown and the Activity Code from the dropdown, then click Add. Warnings will be shown if the activity codes you are mapping have assignments that do not fit the format restrictions of the SDEF fields you are mapping them to. These warnings are purely for your information. You can still export if warnings are shown.

The mappable SDEF fields are:

• Workers per day: Maximum length of three numeric characters. Non-numeric code assignments will use "0" for this field.
• Responsibility Code: Maximum length of four characters.
• Work Area Code: Maximum length of four characters.
• Mod/Claim Code: Maximum length of six characters.
• Bid Item Code: Maximum length of six characters.
• Phase of Work Code: Maximum length of two characters.
• Category of Work Code: Maximum length of one character.
• Feature of Work: Maximum length of thirty characters.

You can toggle several compatibility options at the bottom of the dialog. Whether to activate or deactivate these options depends on the compliance your SDEF file requires for interoperability:

• Allow holiday dates without year: If year-less holiday dates are allowed the non-work definitions in your Phoenix project will only have to be listed once in the SDEF holiday list rather than being listed for every year throughout the duration of your project. This also means that previous and future holidays that fall outside the current time frame of the project are supported.
• Allow alphanumeric calendar codes Allowing alphanumeric calendar codes allows you to export more than ten calendars (up to 36).
• Allow alphanumeric activity ids Allowing alphanumeric activity ids lets you export with the full activity ids you use in Phoenix (but still limited to the maximum length defined in the SDEF specification). If you do not use alphabetic characters in your Phoenix activity ids this option does not concern you.
• Allow negative relationship lag If you do not allow negative relationship lag the value "0" will be used whenever a negative lag occurs. Disallowing this can affect dates scheduled by a third party tool.
• Allow extended constraint types Allows you to properly export Finish-No-Earlier, Must-Start-On, Must-Finish-On, and Start-No-Later constraints. No constraint is exported for these types if this option is not enabled. Disallowing this can affect dates scheduled by a third party tool.

Raw Relationships

The Raw Relationships export option can be found on the Export submenu of the Tools menu. This format exports only the relationships in a simple columnar CSV format. This can be much easier for some software (such as Primavera) to handle than the relationship format in the CSV exporter. This writes one relationship per line with each relationship being composed of 4 fields: Activity ID, Successor, Lag, and Relationship Type.