FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions - Community Edition (PIABCE)

 General
Download Issues
Installs and Technical Issues

General


Is PIABCE an extension to (or replacement) of Microsoft Project? [top]

No, PIAB does not attempt to do what MSP does. Instead PIAB will manage your documents, including those created with Microsoft Project.

Does PIABCE work with MS Office? [top]

Yes. PIAB will manage your material created using MS Office including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations, Microsoft Project documents.

Does PIABCE work with Star Office/Open Office? [top]

Yes. PIAB will manage your material created using Star Office or Open Office including Text documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Does PIABCE replace the need for Practioner Training? [top]

No, we strongly recommend that you obtain P2 training from an Accredited Training Organisation. However PIAB is the perfect tool to help you with the practical implementation of P2.

Why do I need PIABCE? [top]

P2 requires you to produce, control and maintain many Management Products (documents). There are 33 different types of document defined in the manual alone - these are multiplied for each Stage in the project. Added to these are project specific documents (Specialist Products). PIABCE manages these documents for you and presents you with the just ones that you need, when you need them.

Can I share my documents with the team? [top]

Yes. PIABCE Community Edition is a desktop system but an Export To Web function lets you easily share your project with your team.  If sharing and team working is an issue, we recommend that you upgrade to Profession Edition.

Do I have to use the PIABCE document templates? [top]

No, you can use any documents including ones that you have created before you installed PIABCE.

Does PIABCE contain Spyware? [top]

The program automatically checks for updates by connecting to our website (over http).  No personal data is transmitted, just your licence key and program version so we can tell whether you are up to date.   If an update is available then no software is downloaded or installed - you are simply shown a short message in the opening panel of the program. 

You can turn off automatic update checks in the menu.  

If you upgrade your Community Edition to use our P2ABC project template material then the program will send us a short web message on startup (over http) to tell us you have licensed the material correctly.  Your software will function correctly even if we don't receive this message, for instance you are behind a firewall or you choose to block it. Your use of the software is not dependent on our receiving this message.

Download Issues

I've registered but haven't received my download email. [top]

We have noticed that our download emails sometimes get caught by spam filters. You can either free the email from your spam filer or if you contact us directly via the support pages then we will find a route to get you the software.

I've received my download email, but when I click on the download link I get sent back to the registration page. [top]

The download is a Windows exe file, and might get get barred by your firewall - either a personal firewall like Norton Internet Security or a corporate firewall. You can either open your firewall for this file or contact us and we will try to get the software to you by another route.

Technical and Install Issues

I want to upgrade to the new PIABCE 2005 Edition - will I lose my files? [top]

The 2005 Edition is a clean install so if you choose to install in the same location as the existing version then yes you would overwrite your files.

However the setup program for the 2005 edition warns you if it detects an existing install of PIABCE and attempts to protect your files.

We recommend that you do one of the following:

either

1. Take a copy of the existing install folder, or rename it to a new location. It's normally found in c:\program files\Project in a box\. You can then install the new version and copy key files back. The main files are the database piab.mdb and all your project documents in the doc folder. Or you may have chosen to alter the template files too, in which case you can copy those over.

or

2. When you install the new version, simply choose a different folder for the install e.g. c:\program files\project in a box 2005\. Again you can then copy over the files you want to keep from your original install. When you do this please note that you should not attempt to run the old version in the old location.

If you need more advice please send us an email and we will be pleased to help where possible.


What Platforms Does PROJECT in a box run on? [top]

PIAB works on the following Microsoft Windows Platforms:

98
98SE
ME
NT4 SP6a
2000 Professional SP4
XP Professional SP2

Vista (all versions)

Does PIABCE work on Linux or Mac? [top]

Sorry, no.

I've installed but when I try to start the program, nothing happens. [top]

It is likely that some other program has installed an out of date component on your system. PROJECT in a box does not overwrite these by default.

Try searching for a file called comdlg32.ocx which may be in your system32 folder. If you right-click on it you can find the version. If it is version 5.x.x.x or less than you will need to replace it with the version 6.0.84.18 distributed with PROJECT in a box.

You will find the current version of comdlg32.ocx in the c:\program files\project in a box\ folder.

We recommend that you keep copies of all files you replace, and test your other software on your PC to ensure that it still works correctly.

I've installed but when I try to start the program, I get the following error message. [top]

ERR=0 MESSAGE= SOURCE=GetAllProjectsAsXml

This error message may indicate that Microsoft Windows Script Host is not installed, is corrupted, or is an older version than required. Please re-run the installed and select the MS Windows Script Host 5.6 option in Microsoft Windows Components.


Error 91  [top]

Symptom

PROJECT in a box gives error message Number 91 when you try any of the functions on the front screen.

Cause

This may indicate that there is something wrong with your install of MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) on your PC, that provides the JET OLEDB database connection.

Solution 1

You may need to re-register the DLLs associated with the JET OLEDB provider with the following commands:

regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjtes40.dll"
regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjet40.dll"
regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjetoledb40.dll"regsvr32 "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjtes40.dll

Solution 2

You can install the latest service pack for the JET Database Engine 4.0 from:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239114/

Solution 3

You may need to repair your MDAC installion:
How to repair a copy of MDAC 2.8 on WinXP with SP2 installed
1. locate the mdac.inf file in c:\windows\inf
2. right click and select install
3. when prompted for a location, point to "c:/windows/servicepackfiles/i386"
4. then when prompted for the XP CD, either load the CD or point to c:\i386 

Solution 4

To re-register all the MDAC-related DLLS, copy and paste the following into a batch file and run it.


regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdadc.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaenum.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaer.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaipp.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaora.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaosp.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaps.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdasc.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdasql.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdatt.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdaurl.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdmeng.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msdmine.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msmdcb80.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msmdgd80.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msolap80.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msolui80.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\msxactps.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\oledb32.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\oledb32r.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\sqloledb.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\sqloledb.dll"
regsvr32 /s "c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\sqlxmlx.dll"
regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjtes40.dll"
regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjet40.dll"
regsvr32 /s "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msjetoledb40.dll"

PROJECT in a box setup has lots of components to install - what do I do? [top]

Like most Windows software, PROJECT in a box uses various system components. Different version of Windows (98, NT4, XP etc.) have different components already installed by default. We have tuned the setup programs to install the right combination of components for your version of Windows by default, so you shouldn't have to change this.

Sometimes a PC may lack its normal components, for instance if some 3rd party software has been installed and then uninstalled. In this case you may need to install some of the optional components supplied with PROJECT in a box. We can help work through this on a case by case basis if you email us through our support pages.

What Windows components does PROJECT in a box use? [top]

VB Runtime SP6
MDAC 2.5
MS XML 3.0
mscomctl.ocx 6.0.88.62
comdlg32.ocx 6.0.84.18
Windows Scripting Host 5.6