Export and Import from MS Project

The dhtmlxGantt library allows you to export data from the Gantt chart into MS Project. You can also import data into Gantt from MS Project.

There are several export services available. You can install them on your computer and export Gantt chart to MS Project locally. Note that export services are not included into the Gantt package, read the corresponding article to learn the terms of using each of them.

Time limits

If the process takes over than 20 seconds, the export will be canceled and the following error will occur:

Error: Timeout trigger 20 seconds

If several people export Gantt at the same time, the process can take more time than usual. But that's fine because the time which is spent for export request from a specific user is counted separately.

Limits on request size

There is a common API endpoint https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt which serves for all export methods (exportToPDF, exportToPNG, exportToMSProject, etc.). Max request size is 10 MB.

There is also a separate API endpoint https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt/project specific for the MSProject and Primavera P6 export/import services (exportToMSProject / importFromMSProject / exportToPrimaveraP6 / importFromPrimaveraP6 only). Max request size: 40 MB.

Read more on the usage of the export module for MS Project.

The Gantt component allows exporting links, tasks and resources into MS Project.

To export data from the Gantt chart to MS Project, do the following:

• To use the online export service, enable the export_api plugin via the plugins method:

gantt.plugins({
    export_api: true
});

<script src="codebase/dhtmlxgantt.js"></script>
<script src="https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt/api.js"></script>

• Call the exportToMSProject method to export data from the Gantt chart.

gantt.exportToMSProject();

The method will send a request to the remote service, which will either output an XML Project file or return an url to download a generated file.

Related sample:  Export data : MS Project, PrimaveraP6, Excel & iCal

Response

The response will contain a JSON of the following structure:

{
   data: {},
   config: {},
   resources: [],
   worktimes: []
}

• data - a gantt data object. Each task has the following properties: id, open, parent, progress, start_date, text, resource. Dates are stringified in the "%Y-%m-%d %H:%i" format.
• config - a gantt configuration object with settings retrieved from the project file.
• resources - an array of objects (each having the following properties: {id: string, name:string, type:string}) that represent the list of resources from the project file.
• worktimes - an array containing objects for creating a new calendar. Each calendar configuration object can contain the following attributes:
  • id - (id) optional, the calendar id
  • hours - (array) an array with global working hours, sets the start and end hours of the task
  • dates - (array) an array of dates that can contain:
    • 7 days of the week (from 0 - Sunday, to 6 - Saturday), where 1/true stands for a working day and 0/false - a non-working day
    • other records are dates

Export settings

The exportToMSProject() method takes as a parameter an object with a number of properties (all of the properties are optional):

• name - (string) the name of the obtained file ('gantt.xml' by default).

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    name:'custom.xml'
});

• auto_scheduling - (boolean) indicates scheduling mode for tasks in the exported project. true will mark tasks as auto scheduled, false will mark tasks as manually scheduled (the default state).

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    auto_scheduling: false
});

• skip_circular_links - (boolean) indicates whether the circular links will be removed or not (true - will be removed (the default mode), false - will not be removed).

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    skip_circular_links: false
});

• project - (object) allows setting custom properties to the exported project entity

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    project: {
        'Author': 'I am!',
        'MinutesPerDay': function () {
            return gantt.config.hours_per_day * 60;
        }
    }
});

The properties of this object correspond to the appropriate properties of the Project entity. The list of supported properties can be found here. The properties may contain either fixed values or functions that will be executed when export is called.

• tasks - (object) allows setting custom properties to the exported task items

gantt.exportToMSProject({
   tasks: {
       'StartVariance': function (task) {
           if (task.startVariance)
               return task.startVariance;
           else
               return 0;
       },
       'PercentWorkComplete': function (task) {
           return (task.progress + 0.1);
       },
       'Custom': function (task) {
           return 'Custom value';
       },
       'Custom 2': 'My Custom value'
   }
});

The properties of this object correspond to the appropriate properties of the Task entity, here is a list of supported properties. The properties may contain either fixed values or functions that will be called for each task in the dataset when export is called.

• data - (object) allows setting a custom data source that will be presented in the output Gantt chart

const customData = {
    "data": [
        { "id": "10", "text": "Project #5", "start_date": "01-04-2025 00:00", 
            "duration": 3, "order": 10, "progress": 0.4, "open": true, 
            "end_date": "04-04-2025 00:00", "parent": 0 
        },
        { "id": "1", "text": "Task #67", "start_date": "02-04-2025 00:00", 
            "duration": 2, "order": 10, "progress": 0.6, "parent": "10", 
            "end_date": "04-04-2025 00:00" 
        },
        { "id": "2", "text": "Task #89", "start_date": "01-04-2025 00:00", 
            "duration": 2, "order": 20, "progress": 0.6, "parent": "10", 
            "end_date": "03-04-2025 00:00" 
        },
    ],
    "links": [
        { "id": 1, "source": 1, "target": 2, "type": "1" },
    ]
}
 
gantt.exportToMSProject({
    data: customData
});

Related sample:  Gantt. Export custom data

• callback - (function) If you want to receive an url to download a generated XML, the callback property can be used. It receives a JSON object with the url property:

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    callback: function(res){
        alert(res.url);
    }
});

• resources - (array) allows exporting the list of resources into an MS Project file

gantt.exportToMSProject({
  resources: [
    {"id":"1","name":"John","type":"work"},
    {"id":"2","name":"Mike","type":"work"},
    {"id":"3","name":"Anna","type":"work"}
  ]
});

Possible resource types are "work", "cost", "material". Resource assignments are specified using the ResourceAssignments property of the tasks configuration:

var users = [// resources
  {key:'0', label: "N/A"},
  {key:'1', label: "John"},
  {key:'2', label: "Mike"},
  {key:'3', label: "Anna"}
];
 
gantt.exportToMSProject({
  resources: users
     .filter(function(u){
        if(u.key === '0')//skip the default option 
           return false;
        return true;
     })
     .map(function(u){
        return {
           id: u.key,
           name: u.label,
           type: "work"
        };
     }),
  tasks: {
     ResourceAssignments: function(task){          return task.user;                       }                                       }
});

The ResourceAssignments property is set as a function that takes the task object as a parameter and returns either a string/number value or an array of string/number values:

tasks: {
    ResourceAssignments: function(task){
        return [task.user, task.office];
    }
}

• server - (string) the API endpoint for the request. Can be used with the local install of the export service. The default value is https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt.

gantt.exportToMSProject({
   server:"https://myapp.com/myexport/gantt"
});

In order to convert an XML or MPP MS Project file, you need to send the following request to the export service:

• Request URL - https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt
• Request Method - POST
• Content-Type - multipart/form-data

The request parameters are:

• file - an MPP or XML MS Project file
• type - "msproject-parse"
• data - (optional) a JSON string with settings

For example:

<form action="https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt" method="POST" 
    enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="hidden" name="type" value="msproject-parse">
    <button type="submit">Get</button>
</form>

Alternatively, you can use the client-side API, like this:

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    data: file,
    taskProperties: ["Notes", "Name"],
    callback: function (project) {
        if (project) {
            gantt.clearAll();
            if (project.config.duration_unit) {
                gantt.config.duration_unit = project.config.duration_unit;
            }                    
            gantt.parse(project.data);
        }
     }
});

Related sample:  Import MS Project file

Where file is an instance of File which should contain either an XML or MPP Project file.

Response

The response will contain a JSON of the following structure:

{
   data: {},
   config: {},
   resources: [],
   worktime: {}
}

• data - a gantt data object. Each task has the following properties: id, open, parent, progress, start_date, text, resource. Dates are stringified in the "%Y-%m-%d %H:%i" format.
• config - a gantt configuration object with settings retrieved from the project file.
• resources - an array of objects (each having the following properties: {id:string, name:string, type:string} that represent the list of resources from the project file.
• worktime - an object containing the working time settings from the project calendar.

Import settings

Setting the duration unit

To set an expected duration unit, the durationUnit ("minute", "hour", "day", "week", "month", "year") string can also be sent to the server.

<form action="https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt" method="POST" 
    enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="hidden" name="type" value="msproject-parse">
    <input type="hidden" name="data" 
        value="{ \"durationUnit\": \"hour\" }" />
    <button type="submit">Get</button>
</form>

or

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    data: file,
    durationUnit: "hour",
    callback: function(project){}
});

Getting properties of the Project

To get project fields, the projectProperties input with an array of necessary fields can be sent to the server. It extracts arbitrary properties of the Project entity into the config property of the output. Here is the list of supported properties.

• projectProperties - specifies an array of project properties that should be put into the response.

<form action="https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt" method="POST" 
    enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="hidden" name="type" value="msproject-parse">
    <input type="hidden" name="data" 
        value="{ \"projectProperties\": [\"Author\", \"Title\"] }" />
    <button type="submit">Get</button>
</form>

or

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    data: file,
    durationUnit: "hour",
    projectProperties: ["Author", "Title"],
    callback: function(project){
        var config = project.config;
        alert(config.$custom_properties.Author);
    }
});

Getting tasks properties

To get task fields, the taskProperties input with an array of necessary fields can be sent to the server. It extracts arbitrary properties of the Task entities. Here is the list of supported properties:

• taskProperties - specify an array of additional task properties to be imported.

<form action="https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt" method="POST" 
    enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="hidden" name="type" value="msproject-parse">
    <input type="hidden" name="data" 
        value="{ \"taskProperties\": [\"Contact\", \"Priority\"] }" />
    <button type="submit">Get</button>
</form>

or

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    data: file,
    durationUnit: "hour",
    taskProperties: ["Contact", "Priority"],
    callback: function(project){
        var config = project.config;
        alert(config.$custom_properties.Author);
        gantt.parse(project.data);
    }
});
gantt.attachEvent("onTaskLoading", function(task) {
    if (task.$custom_data) {
        task.contact = task.$custom_data["Contact"];
        task.priority = task.$custom_data["priority"];
        delete task.$custom_data;
    }
    return true;
});

Getting task types

The following logic allows you to obtain the task type: the tasks with the Project type have the Summary: "1" property, and the tasks with the Milestone type have the Milestone: "1" property. We need to import the data with these properties and then set the task type depending on these properties.

The call of the import function will look like this:

gantt.importFromMSProject({
        data: file,
        taskProperties: [
            "Summary",
            "Milestone",
        ],
        callback: function (project) {
            if (project) {
                console.log(project)
                gantt.clearAll();
                if (project.config.duration_unit) {
                    gantt.config.duration_unit = project.config.duration_unit;
                }
                console.log('import: ', project.data);
                gantt.parse(project.data);
            }
        }
    });

After that you can convert the types of tasks based on the received properties as follows:

gantt.attachEvent("onTaskLoading", function (task) {
    if (task.$custom_data) {
        if (task.$custom_data.Summary == "1") {
            task.type = "project";
        }
        if (task.$custom_data.Milestone == "1") {
            task.type = "milestone";
        }
        // delete task.$custom_data;
    }
    return true;
});

Related sample:  Gantt. Import MSP files. Get task type from properties

There are two API endpoints for the MSProject export/import services:

• https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt - the default endpoint which serves all export methods (exportToPDF, exportToPNG, exportToMSProject, etc.). Max request size is 10 MB.
• https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt/project - the endpoint specific for the MSProject and Primavera P6 export/import services (exportToMSProject / importFromMSProject / exportToPrimaveraP6 / importFromPrimaveraP6 only). Max request size: 40 MB.

The endpoint can be specified by the server property of the export configuration object:

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    server:"https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt",
    data: file,
    callback: function(project){
       // some logic
    }
});

If no endpoint is specified, https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt is used by default. The following call is equivalent to the one above:

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    data: file,
    callback: function(project){
       // some logic
    }
});

In order to export or import large projects that exceed the 4MB limit, the second endpoint can be used:

gantt.importFromMSProject({
    server:"https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt/project",
    data: file,
    callback: function(project){
       // some logic
    }
});

It allows sending requests up to 40MB in size and supports MS Project exports and imports. It can be used for MS Project exports only.

Any other methods, for example, gantt.exportToPDF({server:"https://export.dhtmlx.com/gantt/project"}) should return a server error.

There are fundamental differences between how date calculations work in dhtmlxGantt and MS Project, and in some cases it leads to different results.

The differences also vary on a combination of configs used in the gantt. But you can change the settings of the gantt which can influence the results of calculations:

1. Firstly, there are differences in duration conversions between dhtmlxGantt and MS Project.

It can be bypassed by specifying HoursPerDay and MinutesPerDay when you export the gantt to MS Project:

gantt.exportToMSProject({
    project: {
        HoursPerDay: function () {
            return 24;
        },
        MinutesPerDay: function () {
            return 24 * 60;
        }
    }
});

Related sample:  Export to MSProject without the "work_time" settings

2. Secondly, your project may have the work_time setting disabled:

gantt.config.work_time = false;

Note, even when the work time calculations are disabled, the gantt still has the default calendar settings in the config (8 hours per day, Mon-Fri workweek). And our export client always sends the default calendar to MS Project, even if the worktime is disabled in gantt. That’s why MS Project calculates task durations differently.

As a workaround, you can clear the default calendar so even if it’s sent to MS Project, tasks durations will be calculated in the same way as in the gantt:

gantt.setWorkTime({day:0, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:1, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:2, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:3, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:4, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:5, hours:[0,24]});
gantt.setWorkTime({day:6, hours:[0,24]});

3. Besides, you may notice divergence between dates of summary items if you have specified gantt.config.duration_unit to "day":

gantt.config.duration_unit = "day";

In this case the gantt will round durations to total days count. But MS Project won't do it and will display fraction durations. For example, the top project will have a duration of 439 in the gantt but 438.58 in MS Project.

The only workaround for it would be to switch duration_unit to hour units:

gantt.config.duration_unit = "hour";

Related sample:  Export to MSProject without the "work_time" settings