MPXJ Converter (MPP → CSV)

Minimal, containerized converter that reads Microsoft Project MPP (via MPXJ) and writes CSV files:

• tasks.csv
• resources.csv
• assignments.csv

Build / Get the image

• Option A (recommended): Pull from Docker Hub

docker pull westrooper/mpxj-convert:latest

• Option B: Build locally (multi-stage Maven + JRE)

docker build -t local/mpxj-convert:latest .

• Optional: Build the fat-jar locally

mvn -q -DskipTests package
java -jar target/mpxj-convert.jar /path/to/input.mpp /tmp/out

Run (Docker)

Example mounting a host folder containing your input/output:

docker run --rm -v /absolute/host/folder:/files \
  westrooper/mpxj-convert:latest /files/input.mpp /files/output/myrun [/files/header_zh.properties]

After run, you will find:

• /files/output/myrun/tasks.csv
• /files/output/myrun/resources.csv
• /files/output/myrun/assignments.csv

Notes on args:

• Third argument (header mapping) is optional. You can provide a properties/CSV/JSON file to localize headers.
• Header keys can be either fully qualified (e.g. TASK.NAME, RESOURCE.EMAIL_ADDRESS, ASSIGNMENT.FINISH) or short form (NAME, EMAIL_ADDRESS, FINISH). Fully qualified keys take precedence.

Integrate with n8n (Execute Command)

Case 1: n8n can run docker run (recommended)

• Ensure your n8n container (e.g. n8n_app) has:
  • Docker CLI available (either docker in PATH or a shared binary like /shared/docker)
  • /var/run/docker.sock mounted
  • Your workflow files mounted at /files

Example command in an Execute Command node:

sh -lc '
in="/files/input/{{$binary.data.fileName}}";
stem="${in##*/}"; stem="${stem%.*}";
out="/files/output/${stem}";
mkdir -p "$out";
chmod 777 "$out";
if command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then DOCKER=docker; elif [ -x /shared/docker ]; then DOCKER=/shared/docker; else echo "docker not found"; exit 127; fi;
"$DOCKER" run --rm --volumes-from n8n_app \
  westrooper/mpxj-convert:latest "$in" "$out" "/files/header_zh.properties";
echo "DONE -> $out/tasks.csv $out/resources.csv $out/assignments.csv";
'

Case 2: n8n cannot run docker run for this node (permissions/runner sandbox)

• Option A: Execute this node in the n8n main process (disable runners), or grant the runner the same mounts: /var/run/docker.sock and the shared Docker binary path (e.g., /shared/docker).
• Option B: Add a volumes-only sidecar service in docker-compose (e.g., mpxj_volumes with sleep infinity) that mounts /files. Then invoke docker run --volumes-from mpxj_volumes from the host or another privileged service.

Notes

• CSV is written as UTF-8 with BOM (Excel-friendly), with proper quoting; datetimes are ISO-8601 (UTC) textual values.
• By default we export only populated fields detected by MPXJ for tasks/resources/assignments. You can extend MppToCsv.java if you need custom selection or formatting.
• MPXJ version is set in pom.xml.

Acknowledgements & Licensing

• This project uses the MPXJ library by joniles (https://github.com/joniles/mpxj), which is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v2.1 or later. The MPXJ library remains licensed under its original terms.
• Project license: MIT (proposed). If you prefer to license this utility under LGPL-2.1+ to align with MPXJ, or add a dedicated LICENSE file, please confirm and we will add it to the repository.
• When redistributing binaries/images that include MPXJ, ensure the LGPL notice for MPXJ is preserved (e.g., by linking to the MPXJ repository and its LICENSE).