Export an XER from Primavera P6
The XER is Primavera P6's interchange format. It is the one that travels between client and contractor, and it reads without Primavera P6.
The procedure
Open the project in P6
The project must be open, not merely selected.
File, Export
In the wizard, choose "Primavera PM (XER)".
Choose the project and save
P6 writes a single tab-delimited text file containing the project and its tables.
What that file contains
- Activities, with their original, remaining and completed durations.
- The project's work breakdown structure, which becomes the task hierarchy.
- Relationships between activities, with their types and lags.
- Calendars, written as a compact string the workshop knows how to read.
- Resources and their assignments.
One detail that matters
P6 writes the XER in Windows-1252, not UTF-8. A file opened in a badly configured editor shows broken accented characters. The workshop reads the actual encoding, and activity names come through correctly.
Frequently asked questions
- What about the P6 XML format?
- It is not read yet. The XER is, in full, and it is the format P6 offers first.
- Can an XER contain several projects?
- It can. The workshop reads the project it contains; a multi-project XER is reported on reading.