Alistair,

I agree with you, the problem with PDF’s is that they do not show all necessary details, today in complex jobs the software as well as supporting data is necessary for a decent forensic analysis.

My company does not fool the schedule but in no way we are naive, we know there are a few who dare to do so and if discovered they would just ask excuses for the "mistake". Here we say it is better to say I am sorry than to ask for a permit, it is no Disney World. For a few, honor code is not in their vocabulary, kind of an Ivy League School term.

You can read on our newspaper that the behavior of some contractors is at times questioned.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/September/08-crm-772.html

Looking and comparing thousands of activities, thousands of links, many resources, different calendars and so on is better done with the software, with PDF’s is easy to miss some relevant data and is time consuming, cost too much and perhaps impractical due to limitations on available time.

In my jurisdiction forensic analyst is a trade that does not exist simply because there is no demand for it. The scheduler not specialized in forensics must do some homework with regard to EOTs. It is our practice to use software such as Digger or functionality embedded in the software, you cannot apply these tools to PDF files, and you don’t have to be of rare breed to use the tool. It is wrong to believe PDF files are a substitute to the software, not even a viewer, but a viewer is still a thousand times better than just the PDFs, they just simply miss relevant data that can make much difference.

In the absence of the original software Tom is correct in his search for the next best thing, a viewer, and not the least bad thing, a PDF file.

Software that does not provide a viewer should not be specified. Is in the Owner’s interest that many can have access to the files with something better than a PDF viewer, got to be the original software for a few and a viewer for others.

Best Regards,
Rafael

With PDFs you will need hundreds of pages to display all settings and all fields. There is no substitute to the original software or a viewer that alowws you to see all you can see within the original software.

With PDFs only I can hide for example changes in holidays when fooling the other side on an EOT claim.

I don’t think so, maybe you are lucky, look at Asta site, they have a new viewer and supposedly it allows you to import P3 files, look at the import command, not the file open command.

I do not know Asta PP so it might be that even from within Asta you might be able to convert the files to Asta PP format and distribute them along with Asta free viewer.

No conversion is 100% compatible but maybe you can make the adjustments.

The fact that Asta and Spider Project offer a free viewer I hope in the long run make it a specs requirement for your software to supply it for free or it will not be acceptable software. The site inspection, the designer, consultants and other Owner representatives also have the need to see the files without having to invest thousands of dollars on every license. Not to mention the Owner himself and his personnel.

Best Regards,
Rafael

Maybe Tom has P6 but not P3, in order to import P3 files to P6 I believe you need P3 installed on your computer. In a sense P3 is the most expensive "no so free" import utility, just $4000.00 if you can still get a license. In any case no import is 100% equivalent.

I believe he is looking for a 100% compatible free viewer similar to Spider Project and Asta PP free viewers. If you are to share the files with hundreds of persons that only need to take a view at the schedule then it makes no sense to have hundreds of P6 licenses. A viewer is so much more than a PDF, you would need dozens of PDF to display all data and perhaps some will still be missing. PDFs are good for when you want to hide other data.

There is no substitute to the original software or a viewer from the software developer, 100% compatible, same interface, no learning curve, no surprises.

Best Regards,
Rafael