Customizing the Gantt Chart in Primavera P6 The Gantt Chart is an excellent visual representation of activity durations, progress and logic between activities. However, some critical project d ata is not vi sually represe nted in the Ga ntt Chart by d efault. This month we discuss creating user defined “bars” and with “filters” to identify activity criteria that is otherwise invisible in the Gantt Chart. In this example, we identify how to customize the bars in the Gantt Chart to visually represent activities by department code. In the image below, we assign a user defined department code of “ENG” to all activities which fall under the WBS element of Design and Engineering. All activities within this element must be coded with ENG. 1
The Gantt Chart is an excellent visual representation of activity durations, progress and logic betweenactivities. However, some critical project data is not visually represented in the Gantt Chart by default. Thismonth we discuss creating user defined “bars” and with “filters” to identify activity criteria that is otherwiseinvisible in the Gantt Chart.
In this example, we identify how to customize the bars in the Gantt Chart to visually represent activities bydepartment code.
In the image below, we assign a user defined department code of “ENG” to all activities which fall under theWBS element of Design and Engineering.
All activities within this element mustbe coded with ENG.
In the image below, we assign a user defined department code of “FOU” to all activities which fall under theWBS element of Foundation.
Once the code values have been assigned to the appropriate activities, We need to create a user defined filterfor each code that we wish to graphically represent in the bars within the Gantt Chart. This filter is not appliedto your layout. The filter is created and later assigned to user defined bars. An example of the user definedfilter criteria for the department code “ENG” is detailed below.
All activities within this element mustbe coded with FOU.
Note:Filter criteria will be available only after the
Once the user defined filters are created, we create user defined bars and apply the user defined filters to thecriteria of the bars. To begin, right click in the Gantt Chart and select Bars.
To maintain continuity between the code, the user defined filter and the user defined bar, I name the bar theSAME as the user defined code and the user defined filter.
The time scale is set to current Bar. The filter applied to the bar is the user defined filter (FOU).
,
Next we will customize the appearance of the bar.
Once we apply the user defined bars, we will rearrange the hierarchy of the bar chart so the user defined barsare visible in the Gantt Chart and overlay the existing bars. Therefore, it is important to select a shapeidentical to that of an existing bar. A good rule of thumb is to match the shape of your user defined bar to the
Next, we select a color and fill pattern for the user defined “FOU” bar.
When selecting a color for the patterns, be sure to select a color NOT being used by any current bars in yourbar chart options. As detailed above I have selected the color navy blue.
Based on the criteria set above, the FOU bar will display a navy blue vertical line pattern on all activities coded“FOU”.
Next, I create a user defined bar “ENG” with the user defined “ENG” filter to display a navy blue cross haipattern on all activities coded “ENG”.
The appearance of bars in the Gantt Chart are determined by the order of where the bars are organized withinthe bar window. Bars at the top of the list will appear below or underneath…..
