Re: Microsoft Project and Perl

[Anonymous Monk]

I tried to run the sample code on Windows XP Pro with IndigoPerl. The first complaint from Perl was "Can't locate Mail/Mailer in @INC ...", which is OK since I know I don't have that package. I commented out the mail code and tried again. Now Perl says, "Couldn't open project at x.pl line 5." (I named the source file x.pl.) I do have a Project 2003 file called SomeProject.mpp in the active directory, so I don't know why it couldn't be opened. Any idea where to start on debugging this problem?

[planetscape]

You may also have on your machine something called "OLE Browser" or "Type Library Browser" if you installed Win32-OLE-0.1403 or upgraded from that to a later version. You might find it in C:\Perl\html\OLE-Browser or C:\Perl\html\lib\site\Win32\OLE depending on your install.

Something else I've found to be very handy indeed is West Wind Technology's GetConstants utility, which allows you to look at all those cryptic constants MS products use. (A short snippet of output is below.) Note that they do shuffle the links around occasionally, so it may be necessary to do some searching. :-)

*** Constant Group: WdTableFieldSeparator
#define wdSeparateByParagraphs                            0
#define wdSeparateByTabs                                  1
#define wdSeparateByCommas                                2
#define wdSeparateByDefaultListSeparator                  3

HTH,

[dws]

I do have a Project 2003 file called SomeProject.mpp in the active directory, so I don't know why it couldn't be opened.

I don't have access to any version of Project at the moment, but do recall that Microsoft changed some details between Project 98 and Project 2000. They might well have done the same for 2003. ActiveState provides an OLE Browser (it's in the start menu somewhere). I'd look first to see if the name of the OLE Control for dealing with Project has changed, or if it expects different parameters.