Microsoft Project Compatibility

Syncify imports Microsoft Project schedules from MSPDI XML and supported MPP files. Compatibility targets the task network, outline hierarchy, working calendars, progress, resources, and assignments needed for schedule review and CPM calculation. The import is not a complete copy of every Microsoft Project field or scheduling behavior.

Current compatibility: This guide describes Syncify’s current import and calculation behavior. Compatibility is subject to change, and supported fields and scheduling capabilities will expand over time.

Once a schedule is recalculated, Syncify applies its own calculation model rather than reproducing every Microsoft Project scheduling preference. See CPM Calculation for the rules.

Microsoft Project imports use Syncify’s Retained Duration calculation mode so Actual Duration, Remaining Duration, and the next resume boundary remain distinct during recalculation.

Key compatibility limitations

• Summary-task relationships: summary tasks become structural WBS rows, and structural WBS rows cannot carry relationships. Any relationship with a summary task as predecessor or successor is dropped during import and is not reassigned to a child activity. The import screen reports how many relationships will be dropped for this reason.
• Task types and effort-driven scheduling: Fixed Units, Fixed Work, Fixed Duration, and effort-driven behavior are not modeled. Resources and assignments never drive dates or durations.
• MPP calendars: binary MPP import reconstructs calendars with a default weekly pattern. Use MSPDI XML when calendars matter.
• Manually scheduled tasks: converted to a Start On or After constraint that preserves the imported start as a soft floor.

Supported file scope

• MSPDI XML files are supported.
• MPP14-format binary files are supported. Older MPP4, MPP8, MPP9, and MPP12 formats are not.
• Password-protected MPP files are not supported.
• If an MPP cannot be imported, save it as MSPDI XML and import the XML file.
• One Microsoft Project file becomes one Syncify schedule.
• Export to Microsoft Project formats is not supported.

XML provides the most complete and predictable interchange, particularly for calendars. Binary MPP import has additional calendar limitations described below.

Project information

Imported:

• project name
• project start and finish
• Status Date
• project calendar

If no valid Status Date is present, the earliest imported task start is used as the schedule’s Status Date.

Projects scheduled from the finish date are not backward-scheduled after import. Syncify schedules remaining work forward from the Status Date, then performs a backward pass to calculate late dates and float.

Project currency, fiscal settings, critical slack limit, default task type, earned-value settings, and general application preferences are omitted.

Outline hierarchy

Summary tasks become structural WBS rows. For each summary row, Syncify retains:

• summary name
• Outline Number as the WBS code
• outline hierarchy
• source row sequence

Leaf tasks become schedule activities beneath the corresponding WBS.

Summary-task dates, durations, percent complete, constraints, notes, and resource values are not retained as activity fields; the hierarchy represents them instead. Relationships touching a summary task are dropped, as described under Key compatibility limitations.

Null placeholder rows are omitted, along with any relationship to or from them.

Task identity and fields

The visible Microsoft Project task ID becomes the Syncify Activity ID.

Imported leaf-task fields:

• task name
• visible task ID
• WBS parent
• task or milestone type
• task calendar
• Percent Complete
• Total, Original, Remaining, and Actual Duration
• Stop and Resume dates for progressed tasks
• Early Start and Early Finish
• Late Start and Late Finish
• Actual Start and Actual Finish
• constraint type and constraint date

If Early Start or Early Finish is blank, Start or Finish is used as the initial early date.

Task status is established in this order:

1. Actual Finish present: Completed
2. Actual Start present: Started
3. Percent Complete at least 100: Completed
4. Percent Complete greater than zero: Started
5. Otherwise: Not Started

Percent Complete is imported as Syncify’s Physical Percent Complete. Percent Work Complete and Physical Percent Complete are not imported as separate progress measures.

Task and scheduling types

Milestone tasks become Start Milestones. Other leaf tasks become normal Task Dependent activities.

The following Microsoft Project task behaviors are not retained:

• Fixed Units, Fixed Work, and Fixed Duration distinctions
• effort-driven scheduling
• the estimated-duration indicator
• inactive task behavior
• recurring task definitions
• task-level resource leveling controls
• task priority
• ignore-resource-calendar behavior
• Hide Bar and other bar display settings
• external-task and inserted-subproject behavior

Inactive and external leaf rows that otherwise meet the import requirements are treated as ordinary activities. Review them before recalculating.

Manually scheduled tasks

A manually scheduled task with no explicit constraint is converted to Start On or After using Manual Start, or Start when Manual Start is blank. This preserves the imported start as a soft floor:

• relationship logic may move the activity later
• recalculation will not move it earlier than the imported manual start

Manual Finish and free-form duration text are not retained as separate scheduling controls.

Constraints

Microsoft Project constraints map directly:

• As Soon As Possible becomes As Soon As Possible
• As Late As Possible becomes As Late As Possible
• Must Start On becomes Mandatory Start
• Must Finish On becomes Mandatory Finish
• Start No Earlier Than becomes Start On or After
• Start No Later Than becomes Start On or Before
• Finish No Earlier Than becomes Finish On or After
• Finish No Later Than becomes Finish On or Before

Deadline is not imported.

One imported constraint per activity is supported. Secondary constraints can be added later within Syncify.

Relationships and lag

All four standard relationship types are imported:

• Finish-to-Start
• Start-to-Start
• Finish-to-Finish
• Start-to-Finish

Positive and negative lag are supported. Time-based lag is imported at minute resolution; the display unit in the source file does not change the stored duration.

Percent lag is converted to a fixed duration during import:

fixed lag = predecessor total duration × imported lag percentage

Elapsed-percent lag and working-percent lag are treated the same. After import, the relationship stores a fixed working-time lag rather than a live percentage.

Cross-project relationships are not supported. A relationship is retained only when both leaf-task endpoints are present in the imported file.

During recalculation, lag is measured on the predecessor activity calendar. Elapsed-time lag does not retain elapsed-calendar behavior; it is treated as working-time lag.

XML calendar compatibility

MSPDI XML calendar import supports:

• weekly working and nonworking days
• multiple working periods per day
• single-day exceptions
• date-range exceptions
• nonworking exceptions
• exceptions with custom working hours
• task and resource calendar assignments

The following XML calendar behavior is omitted:

• recurring exceptions defined by occurrence rules
• base-calendar inheritance when a child calendar does not contain a complete workweek

When a child calendar omits workweek details, the missing weekdays use Syncify’s default Monday-through-Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM pattern rather than inheriting from the base calendar.

If a calendar cannot be parsed, it falls back to Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Other valid calendars in the same file are unaffected.

MPP calendar compatibility

Binary MPP import retains calendar names, calendar assignments, and nonworking exception dates.

The recurring weekly pattern is reconstructed as:

• Monday through Friday
• 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
• Saturday and Sunday nonworking

Custom weekly hours and custom working hours inside MPP exceptions are not retained. For schedules with nonstandard shifts, rotating calendars, or working exceptions, use MSPDI XML instead of MPP.

Resources and assignments

Resource import retains:

• resource name
• visible resource ID
• resource calendar

Assignment import retains:

• activity and resource
• total work
• actual work
• assignment units
• a fixed distribution

Omitted resource and assignment information:

• standard and overtime rates
• cost per use
• actual, remaining, and baseline costs
• work contours and timephased work
• assignment delay
• assignment start, finish, stop, and resume
• remaining work as a separate assignment value
• material, cost, budget, generic, and enterprise resource behaviors
• max units and availability periods
• resource leveling delays and overallocations

Resources and assignments do not drive task dates or durations, and Syncify does not perform resource leveling.

Information omitted from import

The following information is not available in Syncify after import:

• task notes and hyperlinks
• custom fields and enterprise fields
• outline codes other than the structural Outline Number
• baselines and interim plans
• deadlines
• task, resource, and assignment costs
• earned-value fields
• timephased data
• views, tables, filters, and groups
• sprint and board configuration
• recurring task definitions
• leveling results
• multiple split-work intervals beyond the imported Stop and Resume boundary
• master-project and subproject linkage

Calculation compatibility

Imported activity dates are available for review before recalculation. Recalculation then applies Syncify’s own CPM model.

Imported schedules default to Retained Duration. For a Started task, remaining work begins after its Actual Duration has elapsed from Actual Start, skipping an imported Stop-to-Resume gap; Status Date and Resume can move it later. Total Duration remains Actual Duration plus Remaining Duration rather than becoming the full calendar span across an inactive gap. Later duration and progress changes move the calculated remaining-work dates without changing the imported Stop and Resume boundaries.

The compatible calculation surface includes:

• normal task and milestone logic
• FS, SS, FF, and SF relationships
• positive and negative lag
• activity calendars
• actual, early, and late dates
• Remaining Duration for Started activities
• Actual Duration retained separately from Remaining Duration
• imported Stop and Resume as the remaining-work boundary
• the supported constraint mapping
• Total Float and Free Float
• negative float against constraints or a required project finish

Results can differ from the source schedule when it depends on:

• manually scheduled finish behavior
• fixed-unit, fixed-work, or effort-driven calculations
• resource calendars controlling task duration
• assignment availability
• resource leveling
• split tasks
• recurring calendar exceptions
• elapsed-time lag
• summary-task relationships
• deadlines
• scheduling from the project finish date
• multiple critical paths or a nonzero critical-slack threshold

Total Slack and Free Slack from the source file are not retained as authoritative values. Syncify calculates Total Float and Free Float from its own early and late dates.

Recommended validation workflow

1. Prefer MSPDI XML when calendars or manual scheduling are important.
2. Review the import warning for dropped summary-task relationships.
3. Confirm the Status Date and project calendar before recalculating.
4. Spot-check manually scheduled tasks and their converted Start On or After constraints.
5. Review nonstandard calendars, especially when importing MPP.
6. Compare major milestones, constrained activities, negative-float paths, and tasks with percent lag.
7. Retain the original file as the source record when the schedule uses unsupported resource, split-task, or cost behavior.