Copy Project Function

This data function allows you to quickly copy or create a new Project - including all its activities, venue(s) and conductor - to any date. It is used primarily to build orchestra schedules from Project "templates". Templates for subscription, pops, family and other rehearsal/concert "sets" are created and then used to quickly build the organizations' schedule.

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DOWNLOAD / INSTALL THE FUNCTION FILES
est. time: 5 min

 


 View or Print these instructions in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format

The Project Copy function consists of five files. All five files are placed into the same folder: the OPAS\PROGRAM folder on your server (that is, the PROGRAM sub-folder within the main OPAS directory or folder on the Server). As with reports, the files need be placed in that one location only (they don’t need to be copied to local workstations). As with reports, each user of OPAS will need to restart OPAS on his/her computer in order to see the new function.

The files are provided in a self-extracting format for easy download. Download this file:

Project_Copy.exe

And then double-click on the file. You’ll see this screen:

Locate the OPAS\PROGRAM folder on your SERVER, and click the Unzip button.

 

RUN THE FUNCTION (Demonstration Database used - not meant to reflect the activities of any actual orchestra)

In this example, Subscription Week 5 reflects the standard schedule for this Orchestra - these are the activities shaded in yellow below. There is a String Rehearsal on the Monday before the concert, Rehearsals on Tuesday and Friday, a Dress Rehearsal on Saturday morning, and Concerts on Saturday and Sunday.

Assume that the Conductor, Venue and Orchestra (as shown on the Main screen for the concert on Sunday) are the principal conductor and venue for this orchestra.

 

To copy the Project, go to the Main Screen for any activity within the project. Click the Function Icon at the top left of the OPAS screen (the little cog wheel), and choose "Copy Project from Template"

The Copy Project window will open. In the top "Source" field, select the Project from which you will copy. In this example, it is Subscription Week 5 because it has the activity structure of a standard week.

In the lower, "New" field, select the Project you wish to create. In this example, we want to create Subscription Week 8 by copying Subscription Week 5.

In the Date field, select the Date on which the Project will begin. This function follows the date pattern established by the Project you've indicated in the Source field. So, to create Subscription Week 8, we simply choose the Monday of the desired week (because our String Rehearsals are on Mondays), and OPAS will fill in the rest of the activities.

Click the OK button and the function will copy the Project Structure. Click the Close button to close the Function window.

Note that in the List screen, we now have a new Subscription Week 8 project and it includes the Orchestra's six activities that constitute a "typical" week - shown below in yellow.

The Main screen of any of these activities reveals the elements copied:

 

OPAS automatically calculates:

  • The Performance (or Production) Week for the newly copied Project, based upon the start date
  • The Season for the newly copied Project, based upon the date(s) of the Project. This means you can build seasons into the future and OPAS will calculate the proper season.
  • All other date-based fields (such as month, year-week, etc.)

OPAS copies:

  • The various Activities from the original Project
  • The Conductor
  • The Venue
  • The Orchestra

The function does not copy series, dress, text or notes data. It also does not copy any data from the other screens associated with the date.

 

REFINEMENTS / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION As the function name “Copy Project from Template” implies, you can copy any Project structure to create any new Project. This means you can copy from an active Project (as in our example above) or you can create “empty” generic Projects. For example, you may want to create a generic Project template for:
  • Subscription concerts conducted by your music director
  • Subscription concerts conducted by guests (just leave the conductor field blank in the template Project - when you copy the Project, assign the guest conductor to one activity and “Save Changes to Related Dates”)
  • Pops concerts
  • Educational concerts

If you create generic Project templates, we advise that you:

  • Create and use a reserved Project name (Such as “Template”)
  • If possible, create the generic projects in an old or unused season.

These two steps will make it very easy to find the Project templates, and will ensure that they aren’t inadvertently included in any data analysis you do on active seasons.

NOTE that the Project Copy function is additive. The function ADDS activities to the target Project - it does not replace or remove any activities in that target Project. This means you can construct the template and function as follows:

Project Template: 
Name = Rehearsal Template
Contents = the typical rehearsal schedule for a subscription week of concerts

Then, you can build a season with concerts only, and when the time comes to add rehearsals, you can use the function to add (copy) the rehearsal structure from this template on "top of" the concerts you have scheduled.

The Copy Project function is particularly useful in the Artistic Planning area of OPAS where it is available via a right-click from any date: