As a construction lawyer with a particular interest in retrospective delay analysis, I sometimes want to read Primavera or Microsoft Project files. Just occasionally, it would be useful to also write to these files where, for example, I am making suggestions to clients as to how a particular delay analysis should be done. But usually, I just want to read the files to check to see, for example, whether there are any constraints in an analysis which would show that it has been prepared using the “gross method” or some other illegitimate technique. In the past, I used to have access to Microsoft Project, and before that Open Plan, but having gone to the bar, I now have access to neither of these.

I have Project Libre, which is open source, and this will read Microsoft Project files but not, as I understand it, Primavera. I can use that for creating illustrations.

Oracle, who market Primavera, used to have a “cut down” version called Suretrack, which apparently used to read Primavera files, but this is now been discontinued. The full Primavera costs some $3k, which seems a rather large hammer to crack a rather small nut.

Any thoughts as to a “reader” which will allow me to read both Primavera and Project files?