Microsoft Project Connection Details¶

Introduction¶

Connector Version

This documentation is based on version 23.0.8804 of the connector.

Get Started¶

Microsoft Project Version Support

Enabling bidirectional SQL access to Project Server, the connector models Microsoft Project's CSOM and OData APIs as a relational database. The Microsoft Project connector can connect to both the cloud and local versions of Project Server.

Establish a Connection¶

Connect to Microsoft Project¶

To connect to the Microsoft Project data source, set these connection properties:

• URL: A valid Microsoft Project Web App URL, such as http://contoso.com/sites/pwa/.
• Schema: Either ODataV1 or ODataV2 (default). While ODataV2 can be used for full CRUD operations, ODataV1, which provides more granular data and exposes the custom fields, is superior for reporting purposes. For more information about the available functionality in each Schema, see Data Model.
• ProjectId (optional): If the Schema is ODataV2, you can use this property to specify a default Project ID for all the operations that require one.

Authenticate to Microsoft Project¶

There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Microsoft Project, including the SharePoint Online Cookie Service, ADFS, OAuth, and SSO. The supported SSO identity providers are Azure AD, OneLogin, and OKTA.

SharePoint Online Cookie Service¶

To use your login credentials to connect to Microsoft Project on SharePoint Online, set the AuthScheme to SharePointOnlineCookies, User to your user login, and Password to your user login password.

OAuth¶

To enable this authentication from all Microsoft Project OAuth flows, you must create a custom OAuth application, and set AuthScheme to OAuth.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to Microsoft Project from three common authentication flows. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application. For a complete list of connection string properties available in Microsoft Project, see Connection.

Desktop Applications¶

To authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth application, you must get and refresh the OAuth access token. After you do that, you are ready to connect.

Get and refresh the OAuth access token:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The client ID assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.

When you connect, the connector opens Microsoft Project's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

After you grant permissions to the application, the connector completes the OAuth process:

1. The connector obtains an access token from Microsoft Project and uses it to request data.
2. The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the connector refreshes it automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the connector automatically refresh the OAuth access token:

1. Before connecting to data for the first time, set these connection parameters:
   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthClientId: The client ID in your application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.
   • OAuthAccessToken: The access token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The path where you want the connector to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
2. On subsequent data connections, set:
   • InitiateOAuth
   • OAuthSettingsLocation

Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token is the OAuth refresh token.

1. To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
2. Set these connection properties:
   • OAuthClientId: The Client ID in your application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret in your application settings.
3. Call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
4. After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.

Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

ADFS¶

To connect to ADFS, set the AuthScheme to ADFS, and set these properties:

• User: The ADFS user.
• Password: The ADFS user's password.
• SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login URL.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=ADFS;User=username;Password=password;SSOLoginURL='https://sts.company.com';

Supported SSO Providers¶

Okta¶

To connect to Okta, set the AuthScheme to Okta, and set these properties:

• User: The Okta user.
• Password: The Okta user's password.
• SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login URL.

If you are using a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request OR configuring MFA, you must use combinations of SSOProperties to authenticate using Okta. Set any of the following, as applicable:

• APIToken: When authenticating a user via a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request context, set this to the API Token the customer created from the Okta organization.

• MFAType: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to one of the following supported types: OktaVerify, Email, or SMS.

• MFAPassCode: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to a valid passcode.

  If you set this to empty or an invalid value, the connector issues a one-time password challenge to your device or email. After the passcode is received, reopen the connection where the retrieved one-time password value is set to the MFAPassCode connection property.

• MFARememberDevice: True by default. Okta supports remembering devices when MFA is required. If remembering devices is allowed according to the configured authentication policies, the connector sends a device token to extend MFA authentication lifetime. If you do not want MFA to be remembered, set this variable to False.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=Okta;SSOLoginURL='https://example.okta.com/home/appType/0bg4ivz6cJRZgCz5d6/46';User=oktaUserName;Password=oktaPassword;

OneLogin¶

To connect to OneLogin, set the AuthScheme to OneLogin, and set these properties:

• User: The OneLogin user.
• Password: The OneLogin user's password.

To authenticate to OneLogin, set these SSOProperties:

• OAuthClientId: The OAuthClientId, which can be obtained by selecting Developers > API Credentials > Credential > ClientId.
• OAuthClientSecret: The OAuthClientSecret, which can be obtained by selecting Developers > API Credentials > Credential > ClientSecret.
• Subdomain: The subdomain of the OneLogin user accessing the SSO application. For example, if your OneLogin URL is splinkly.onelogin.com, splinkly is the subdomain value.
• AppId: The ID of the SSO application.
• Region (optional): The region your OneLogin account resides in. Legal values are US (default) or EU.

The following example connection string uses an API key to connect to OneLogin:

AuthScheme=OneLogin;User=OneLoginUserName;Password=OneLoginPassword;SSOProperties='OAuthClientID=3fc8394584f153ce3b7924d9cd4f686443a52b;OAuthClientSecret=ca9257fd5cc3277abb5818cea28c06fe9b3b285d73d06;Subdomain=OneLoginSubDomain;AppId=1433920';

Azure AD¶

This configuration requires two separate Azure AD applications:

• The "Microsoft Project" application used for single sign-on, and
• A custom OAuth application with user_impersonation permission on the "Microsoft Project" application. (See Creating a Custom OAuth Application.)

To connect to Azure AD, set the AuthScheme to AzureAD, and set these properties:

• OAuthClientId: The application ID of the connector application, listed in the Overview section of the app registration.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret value of the connector application. Azure AD displays this when you create a new client secret.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI of the connector application. For example: https://localhost:33333.
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.

To authenticate to Azure AD, set these SSOProperties:

• Resource: The application ID URI of the Microsoft Project application, listed in the app registration's Overview section. In most cases this is the URL of your custom Microsoft Project domain.
• AzureTenant: The ID of the Azure AD tenant where the applications are registered.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=AzureAD;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=3ea1c786-d527-4399-8c3b-2e3696ae4b48;OauthClientSecret=xxx;CallbackUrl=https://localhost:33333;SSOProperties='Resource=;AzureTenant=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx';

Create a Custom OAuth Application¶

Create a Custom OAuth Application¶

For users who will authenticate via OAuth, you must create a custom OAuth application to deliver the required OAuth-specific credentials, then add the scope permissions required to access the Microsoft Project API.

Create the Application¶

1. Log into the Project Web App Site through your site's UI, or by entering your site's Create App link into your browser: https://{site}.sharepoint.com/sites/{Project_Web_App_Site}/_layouts/15/appregnew.aspx.

2. Fill in the required fields. When specifying the application's Callback URL (a website page where you want

   users to land after they grant permission to your custom OAuth application), do one of the following:

   • Specify a secure URL for the page (should begin with https://).
     OR
   • Specify https://oauth.cdata.com/oauth/ as the callback URL, then add an extra state connection property that contains the actual redirect callback.

   Record the ClientID and ClientSecret for later use.

Add Scope Permissions¶

In order to access the Microsoft Project API, you must give the new OAuth application scope permissions.

1. Log in at https://{site}.sharepoint.com/sites/{Project_Web_App_Site}/_layouts/15/AppInv.aspx.

2. In the App Id field, enter the ClientID you obtained when creating the application.

3. Click Lookup. The other fields should automatically populate with application details like Title, App Domain and Redirect URL.

4. To specify the default permissions needed for full API access, enter the following text in the permissions request XML box:

     <AppPermissionRequests>
       <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/projectserver" Right="Manage"/>
       <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/projectserver/projects" Right="Write"/>
       <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/projectserver/enterpriseresources" Right="Write"/>
       <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/projectserver/reporting" Right="Read"/>
   
   </AppPermissionRequests>
   

Grant User Access to Web Services¶

There are two different ways to give users access to web services, depending on whether your Project Web Applicat (PWA) is in Project permission mode or SharePoint permission mode.

Project Permission Mode¶

If your PWA is in Project Permission mode, you can grant users access to Web Services by editing their global permissions. For each user you want to add, do the following:

1. Open the PWA's PWA Settings page.
2. In the Security section, click Manage Users.
3. Find the user name of the interested user. Click their name. The PWA displays an Edit User box.
4. Expand the Global Permissions section.
5. Under Access Project Server Reporting Service, check Allow.

SharePoint Permission Mode¶

If your PWA is in SharePoint permission mode, you can grant user access to Web Services by

adding them to one of four Security Groups that have at least "Access Project Server Reporting Service" access. For each user you want to add, do the following:

1. Open the PWA's PWA Settings page.

2. In the Security section, click Manage Users.

3. Find the user name of the interested user. Click their name. The PWA displays an Edit User box.

4. Under the Security Groups section, select one of the groups with the required access permissions, such as

   Portfolio Viewers, Portfolio Managers, and Administrators.

5. To add the user, click > .

CSOM Deprecation¶

There have been some changes made to the connector in the 2020 edition that should be taken into consideration.

CSOM Support Discontinued¶

Prior to the 2020 edition of the connector, connections to Microsoft Project using both the CSOM and OData interface were supported, which lead to difficulties in maintaining the two schemas concurrently.

By removing support for the CSOM, connections to Microsoft Project are streamlined due to the lack of special connection properties made specifically for each schema. Also, the OData interface can now perform all of the same CRUD operations that the CSOM is capable of. Lastly, the CSOM is poorly documented and more error-prone than OData.

For these reasons, the decision was made to deprecate support for the CSOM in favor of exclusively supporting the OData interface.

Improved Performance with OData Bulk Operations¶

One additional advantage of using the Microsoft Project OData interface exclusively is the support for efficient bulk operations.

Microsoft Project data must be checked out, an INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operation is performed, the changes are published, and finally the changes are checked in.

At times, the checkout step may fail, leading to numerous requests per single INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operation.

With the connector's batch support, you can dramatically reduce the numbers of requests submitted, since several records can be submitted through the checkin/checkout process at a time.

See Batch Processing

Important Notes¶

Configuration Files and Their Paths¶

• All references to adding configuration files and their paths refer to files and locations on the Harmony Agent where the connector is installed. These paths are to be adjusted as appropriate depending on the agent and the operating system. If multiple agents are used in an agent group, identical files will be required on each agent.

Advanced Features¶

This section details a selection of advanced features of the Microsoft Project connector.

User Defined Views

The connector allows you to define virtual tables, called user defined views, whose contents are decided by a pre-configured query. These views are useful when you cannot directly control queries being issued to the drivers. See User Defined Views for an overview of creating and configuring custom views.

SSL Configuration

Use SSL Configuration to adjust how connector handles TLS/SSL certificate negotiations. You can choose from various certificate formats; see the SSLServerCert property under "Connection String Options" for more information.

Proxy

To configure the connector using Private Agent proxy settings, select the Use Proxy Settings checkbox on the connection configuration screen.

Query Processing

The connector offloads as much of the SELECT statement processing as possible to Microsoft Project and then processes the rest of the query in memory (client-side).

User Defined Views¶

The Microsoft Project connector allows you to define a virtual table whose contents are decided by a pre-configured query. These are called User Defined Views, which are useful in situations where you cannot directly control the query being issued to the driver, e.g. when using the driver from Jitterbit. The User Defined Views can be used to define predicates that are always applied. If you specify additional predicates in the query to the view, they are combined with the query already defined as part of the view.

There are two ways to create user defined views:

• Create a JSON-formatted configuration file defining the views you want.
• DDL statements.

Define Views Using a Configuration File¶

User Defined Views are defined in a JSON-formatted configuration file called UserDefinedViews.json. The connector automatically detects the views specified in this file.

You can also have multiple view definitions and control them using the UserDefinedViews connection property. When you use this property, only the specified views are seen by the connector.

This User Defined View configuration file is formatted as follows:

• Each root element defines the name of a view.
• Each root element contains a child element, called query, which contains the custom SQL query for the view.

For example:

{
    "MyView": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM Projects WHERE MyColumn = 'value'"
    },
    "MyView2": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Id IN (1,2,3)"
    }
}

Use the UserDefinedViews connection property to specify the location of your JSON configuration file. For example:

"UserDefinedViews", "C:\Users\yourusername\Desktop\tmp\UserDefinedViews.json"

Define Views Using DDL Statements¶

The connector is also capable of creating and altering the schema via DDL Statements such as CREATE LOCAL VIEW, ALTER LOCAL VIEW, and DROP LOCAL VIEW.

Create a View¶

To create a new view using DDL statements, provide the view name and query as follows:

CREATE LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName] AS SELECT * FROM Customers LIMIT 20;

If no JSON file exists, the above code creates one. The view is then created in the JSON configuration file and is now discoverable. The JSON file location is specified by the UserDefinedViews connection property.

Alter a View¶

To alter an existing view, provide the name of an existing view alongside the new query you would like to use instead:

ALTER LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName] AS SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE TimeModified > '3/1/2020';

The view is then updated in the JSON configuration file.

Drop a View¶

To drop an existing view, provide the name of an existing schema alongside the new query you would like to use instead.

DROP LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName]

This removes the view from the JSON configuration file. It can no longer be queried.

Schema for User Defined Views¶

User Defined Views are exposed in the UserViews schema by default. This is done to avoid the view's name clashing with an actual entity in the data model. You can change the name of the schema used for UserViews by setting the UserViewsSchemaName property.

Work with User Defined Views¶

For example, a SQL statement with a User Defined View called UserViews.RCustomers only lists customers in Raleigh:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE City = 'Raleigh';

An example of a query to the driver:

SELECT * FROM UserViews.RCustomers WHERE Status = 'Active';

Resulting in the effective query to the source:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE City = 'Raleigh' AND Status = 'Active';

That is a very simple example of a query to a User Defined View that is effectively a combination of the view query and the view definition. It is possible to compose these queries in much more complex patterns. All SQL operations are allowed in both queries and are combined when appropriate.

SSL Configuration¶

Customize the SSL Configuration¶

By default, the connector attempts to negotiate SSL/TLS by checking the server's certificate against the system's trusted certificate store.

To specify another certificate, see the SSLServerCert property for the available formats to do so.

Data Model¶

Overview

The Microsoft Project connector models Microsoft Project objects as relational tables and views. A Microsoft Project object has relationships to other objects; in the tables, these relationships are expressed through foreign keys.

Connecting with the ODataV2 Schema

The ODataV2 Data Model (default) can be used for full CRUD operations. Main columns metadata is dynamically retrieved for each entity, but the schema is fixed and custom fields are not included.

Tables and Views describe a sample the tables available in the ODataV2 API.

Connecting with the ODataV1 Schema

The ODataV1 Data Model can only be used for reading data. Metadata is dynamically retrieved, including the custom fields for this schema.

Views describe a sample the views available in the ODataV1 API.

Key Features

• The connector models Microsoft Project entities as relational tables and views, allowing you to write SQL to query Microsoft Project data.
• Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to Microsoft Project.
• Live connectivity to these objects means any changes to your Microsoft Project account are immediately reflected when using the connector.

ODataV2 Data Model¶

The ODataV2 schema implements the ProjectServer service endpoints, which has support for full CRUD operations.

Tables¶

Tables are retrieved dynamically from the authenticated Microsoft Project account.

Views¶

Read-only Views are retrieved dynamically from the authenticated Microsoft Project account.

Stored Procedures¶

Stored Procedures are function-like interfaces to Microsoft Project. Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to Microsoft Project.

ODataV2 advantages compared to ODataV1¶

• Supports write operations (INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE) on the exposed tables.

ODataV2 limitations¶

• In order to query some tables and views, such as Assignments, ProjectResources, TaskLinks and Tasks,

  the ProjectId must be specified either in the query's WHERE clause criteria or via the ProjectId connection property.

• The custom fields are not exposed.

Tables¶

The connector models the data in Microsoft Project as a list of tables in a relational database that can be queried using standard SQL statements.

Microsoft Project Connector Tables¶

Assignments¶

Retrieve and modify assignments.

Table Specific Information¶

To query this table, the ProjectId must be specified either in the query's WHERE clause criteria or via the ProjectId connection property.

SELECT * FROM Assignments WHERE ProjectId = '99a38309-dc1d-eb11-bf8a-00155d9c6312'

Columns¶

Calendars¶

Retrieve and modify calendars.

Columns¶

EnterpriseResources¶

Retrieve and modify resources.

Columns¶

Phases¶

Retrieve and modify project phases.

Columns¶

ProjectResources¶

Retrieve and modify project resources.

Table Specific Information¶

To query this table, the ProjectId must be specified either in the query's WHERE clause criteria or via the ProjectId connection property.

SELECT * FROM ProjectResources WHERE ProjectId = '99a38309-dc1d-eb11-bf8a-00155d9c6312'

Columns¶

Projects¶

Retrieve and modify projects.

Columns¶

Stages¶

Retrieve and modify project stages.

Columns¶

TaskLinks¶

Retrieve and modify task links.

Table Specific Information¶

To query this table, the ProjectId must be specified either in the query's WHERE clause criteria or via the ProjectId connection property.

SELECT * FROM TaskLinks WHERE ProjectId = '99a38309-dc1d-eb11-bf8a-00155d9c6312'

Columns¶

Tasks¶

Retrieve and modify tasks.

Table Specific Information¶

To query this table, the ProjectId must be specified either in the query's WHERE clause criteria or via the ProjectId connection property.

SELECT * FROM Tasks WHERE ProjectId = '99a38309-dc1d-eb11-bf8a-00155d9c6312'

Columns¶

TimeSheetLines¶

Retrieve and modify timesheets.

Columns¶

TimeSheets¶

Retrieve and modify timesheets.

Columns¶

Views¶

Views are similar to tables in the way that data is represented; however, views are read-only.

Queries can be executed against a view as if it were a normal table.

Microsoft Project Connector Views¶

Assignment_Resource¶

Retrieve and modify assignments.

Columns¶

Assignment_Task¶

Retrieve and modify assignments.

Columns¶

Events¶

Retrieve events.

Columns¶

ProjectDetailPages¶

Retrieve project details.

Columns¶

StageDetailPages¶

Retrieve project details..

Columns¶

Tasks_Assignments¶

Retrieve and modify assignments.

Columns¶

Tasks_Calendar¶

Retrieve and modify assignments.

Columns¶

TimeSheetPeriods¶

Retrieve timesheet periods.

Columns¶

Stored Procedures¶

Stored procedures are function-like interfaces that extend the functionality of the connector beyond simple SELECT/INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operations with Microsoft Project.

Stored procedures accept a list of parameters, perform their intended function, and then return any relevant response data from Microsoft Project, along with an indication of whether the procedure succeeded or failed.

Microsoft Project Connector Stored Procedures¶

CheckIn¶

Check in the specified project.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

CheckOut¶

Check out the specified project.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

GetOAuthAccessToken¶

Gets an authentication token from Microsoft Project.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

GetOAuthAuthorizationURL¶

Gets the authorization URL that must be opened separately by the user to grant access to your application. Only needed when developing Web apps. You will request the OAuthAccessToken from this URL.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

GetOnlineCookies¶

Retrieves the cookies for authentication with SharePoint Online.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

Publish¶

Publish the specified project.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

RefreshOAuthAccessToken¶

Refreshes the OAuth access token used for authentication with Microsoft Project.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

ODataV1 Data Model¶

The ODataV1 schema implement the ProjectData service endpoints, which is read-only and can only be used for reporting.

Views¶

Read-only Views are retrieved dynamically from the authenticated Microsoft Project account.

Stored Procedures¶

Stored Procedures are function-like interfaces to Microsoft Project. Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to Microsoft Project.

ODataV1 advantages compared to ODataV2¶

• The custom fields are exposed as view columns.
• The ProjectId is not required to query any of the exposed views, since the ProjectData endpoints return data for all the available projects.

ODataV1 limitations¶

• No write operation is supported as this schema is read-only.

Views¶

Views are similar to tables in the way that data is represented; however, views are read-only.

Queries can be executed against a view as if it were a normal table.

Microsoft Project Connector Views¶

AssignmentBaselines¶

Retrieve assignment baselines.

Columns¶

AssignmentBaselineTimephasedDataSet¶

Retrieve assignment baseline timephased dataset.

Columns¶

Assignments¶

Retrieve assignments.

Columns¶

AssignmentTimephasedDataSet¶

Retrieve assignment timephased dataset.

Columns¶

BusinessDriverDepartments¶

Retrieve business driver departments.

Columns¶

BusinessDrivers¶

Retrieve business drivers.

Columns¶