1. Primavera Scheduling
Tips and Tricks 06-13
Project Activity Codes “Copy/Paste BUG”
Primavera Event Error Code AAVA0-3769-8
2013
Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP®, CCEC, PMI-RMP®
Revision 2: July 22, 2013
2. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 Page 2 of 12 7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGES
1.0 SITUATION/PROBLEM .......................................................................................... 3
2.0 RELATED TOOLS ................................................................................................... 3
3.0 DEFINITION.......................................................................................................... 3
4.0 PROBLEM ANALYSIS (PA)...................................................................................... 4
5.0 EXPLANATION/SOLUTION .................................................................................... 4
6.0 REFERENCES......................................................................................................... 5
7.0 ADDITIONAL READING MATERIALS....................................................................... 5
8.0 FOOD FOR THOUGHT........................................................................................... 6
9.0 ILLUSTRATIONS.................................................................................................... 7
10.0 INDEX ................................................................................................................ 12
3. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 3 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
1.0 SITUATION/PROBLEM
1.1 While managing the Primavera database of one of the largest Oil and
Gas Companies in North America, one of my more than 150 registered
Users reported:
"I copied & pasted some Project Activity codes early today. I am 100%
sure these were Project Activity Codes and not Global Activity Codes.
Once I completed the exercise, I noticed the Project Activity Codes I
pasted and edited (code name & contents of activity code) had
automatically appeared into the Global Activity Codes list instead.”
1.2 They automatically appeared as multiple Global Activity Codes.
Instead of the codes staying in the Project Activity Code window, the
Global Activity Code window was populated with the copied codes.
1.3 When the User tried selecting a filter value from the Project Activity
Codes that was created, the event error AVAA0-3769-8 appears.
1.4 This error event happened every single time the User attempts to
create this filter.
2.0 RELATED TOOLS
2.1 Project Management (Primavera 6.1 SP1, 6.2, and 6.7 SP1/SP2)
2.2 No report of this error happening in higher version of Primavera.
3.0 DEFINITION
3.1 The term “User” in this document is the person using the Primavera
scheduling tool. He can be the planner, the scheduler, the Project
Manager or anyone.
3.2 Copy/Paste is a process of selecting available database information,
copying them and pasting to a specific location.
4. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 4 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
4.0 PROBLEM ANALYSIS (PA)
1.1. The Primavera Event Code error message AVAA0-3769-8 is something which I
have not seen before this time.
1.2. A preliminary investigation was carried out but there was not any document
referencing the aforementioned error code.
1.3. At first, the gravity of the situation was not precisely known and the incident
seemed to indicate that it is only an individual issue.
1.4. The situation was further investigated and found to be common to all Users.
1.5. The impact of this problem: The User was not able to complete an urgent report
he needed to generate for his Project Director. The report was dependent on
the filter working properly.
1.6. The problem was two-folds and can be summarized as follow:
Recurring Primavera Event Code error message AVAA0-3769-8
Copy/Pasting multiple Project Activity Codes produces multiple copies of
the codes in the Global Activity Codes window. See Section 9.0-
Illustrations.
5.0 EXPLANATION/SOLUTION
1.7. After replicating the User’s action and finding out that the described problem
does in fact consistently exists, the following findings and corresponding actions
were formulated.
1.7.1. The multiple Copy/Paste error is a Primavera Bug. It looked like it was
not yet officially documented. A permanent fix has not been identified
although an upgrade to P6.7 SP4 was believed to be the lasting solution.
1.7.2. The Event Error code was an indicator resulting from this BUG.
5. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 5 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
1.7.3. To mitigate the effect of this BUG, just in case it persist; all Users were
instructed to follow rules on naming conventions. This is what I call rule on
prefixes, the purpose of which is to identify which project owns the codes.
It is recommended that a governing procedure be set in place to manage,
monitor and control global codes.
1.7.4. The Vendor representative was called in. They promised to research for a
permanent solution and will touch base with Oracle.
1.7.5. In the interim, all Primavera Users working within the common
environment was notified of the situation.
1.7.6. To prevent the problem from occurring, all Users were advised to avoid
copy/pasting multiple project activity codes when creating new codes.
1.7.7. If multiple codes are to be copied, the User has to make sure that the
highlighted copied codes are released from being highlighted before
pasting.
1.7.8. Addressing the copy/pasting process of the Project Activity Codes is
expected to prevent the subject Event Code message from happening.
1.7.9. Follow the “Oracle Primavera Support Community” thread I opened in
March2012 for some more details. Click hyperlink below:
1.7.9.1. P6.7 SP2 Event Code Error AVAA0-3769-8
6.0 REFERENCES
6.1 Oracle Knowledge base, Project Management (Primavera), V6.1 SP1,
V6.1 SP2, & V6.7 SP1/SP2.
6.2 2012, RCF Troubleshooting Session with Third Party IT Support.
7.0 ADDITIONAL READING MATERIALS
7.1 None
6. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 6 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
8.0 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
8.1 None
7. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 7 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
9.0 ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Copying an existing Project Activity Code “RUFRAN TEST”
Figure 2: Pasting the copied Project Activity Code “RUFRAN TEST” produced
“RUFRAN TEST-1”. The process worked fine.
8. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 8 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
Figure 3: This time, doing multiple selections; copying Project Activity Code
“RUFRAN TEST” and “RUFRAN TEST-1”.
Figure 4: Pasted the copied codes in the same window. Result: The pasted
Project Activity Codes “RUFRAN TEST” and “RUFRAN TEST-1” did not generate
the replicates. The code copies were nowhere to be found in the Project Activity
Code window.
9. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 9 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
Figure 5: This time, code copies were found automatically created in the Global
Activity Codes window. Now we’re sure that this is a BUG!
Figure 6: Again, doing multiple selections; copying Project Activity Code
“RUFRAN TEST” and “RUFRAN TEST-1”.
10. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 10 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
Figure 7: This time, release the highlighted Project Activity codes before pasting.
RESULT: The code copies stayed within the same window, automatically
generating their numeric suffixes.
11. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 11 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
12. 072213-Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips & Tricks 06-13 (AAVA0-3769-8) Page 12 of 12
7/21/2013
Author: Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCEC, PMI-RMP
10.0 INDEX
“User”.......................................................................................................... 3
ADDITIONAL READING MATERIALS ............................................................... 5
AVAA0-3769-8............................................................................................. 4
DEFINITION .................................................................................................. 3
FOOD FOR THOUGHT ................................................................................... 5
ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................................. 6
INDEX......................................................................................................... 10
multiple Copy/Paste error............................................................................ 4
numeric suffixes........................................................................................... 9
PROBLEM ANALYSIS...................................................................................... 4
REFERENCES................................................................................................. 5
RELATED TOOLS............................................................................................ 3
SITUATION/PROBLEM................................................................................... 3
SOLUTION .................................................................................................... 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................... 2