Project XML import keeps bombing out

Question

I'm exporting projects from Smartsheet via Project XML, to import to Workfront. It worked fine for the first project, but keeps erroring out on the second one.

"There was a problem.

We're not sure why, but we weren't able to read the file you uploaded. Importing it again might do the trick."

Re-importing has the same result - an empty project.

Is there some particular format or column sets projects should have before export?

monicacardoso · Answer

Hi @mikewhitneyacx,

Thank you for your question! The error that you’re seeing usually points to formatting issues inside the XML file that Workfront can’t parse correctly.

Here are a few common causes for this problem:

Missing required fields (eg. start/finish dates and a project name
Special characters (eg. &, <, >) in names or fields that aren't properly escaped/encoded
Corrupted or incomplete XML (if the file wasn't fully generated during export or something broke the XML structure (like missing closing tags), Workfront won't be able to read it)

Below are a few things that you can try:

You can try pasting the file into a free XML validator (eg. https://www.xmlvalidation.com) to check if it’s properly formatted
If it opens cleanly in MS Project, you could re-save it as a proper MS Project XML file from there; this sometimes "fixes" formatting
Try removing any extra fields, attachments, dependencies, or formulas before exporting
If you still have the XML from the first successful import, you can compare it side-by-side to spot differences in structure

If the behavior persists and you haven't already done so, please open a ticket with the Workfront Support team. If you could provide specific examples and a screen recording, that would be perfect.

- Monica

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