Primavera Tutorial - P3

8/6/2019 Primavera Tutorial - P3

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PLANNING USINGPRIMAVERA PROJECTPLANNER (ver. 3.1)

It is easy itis simple

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Module 1


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Module 1:Introduction to Primavera Project PlannerVer. 3.1

This module contains: What is Primavera Project Planner (P3)? How to deal with P3 file commands? P3 screens

Method of working How to create a new project
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What is Primavera Project Planner?

Primavera Project Planner is the flagship product of PrimaveraSystems, Inc. the leader in the management software since 1982

Primavera Project Planner is abbreviated P3 P3 is specialized in managing all types of projects: small,medium, and large

Big projects throughout the world were planned and controlledusing P3 P3 is used in almost all countries of the world

Mainly there are two stages in Project Management to manageany project:

Planning stage Monitoring stage (also Control stage)


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In Planning stage, which takes place before the practical start ofthe project, the management team will plan for the following factors:

TimeResources

Cost

What takes place in the Planning stage:

Calculating activity duration

Understanding the logic sequence of the projectAssigning Resources and Costs to activity

In the Monitoring stage, the management team will:

Collect actual data from the field, in daily basis


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How to start P3?

You have two ways to start P3:

Double-click shortcut in the desktop, or

From Windows taskbar, click

Start >Programs > Primavera >Primavera Project Planner

P3 will start with no projects open


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From the toolbar clickOpen , or frommenus selectFile>Open

The following dialoguebox will appear:

Opening a project in P3

1. Specify the Drive youwant to open theproject from

2. Specify the Folders3. In the Projects table

your project should bedisplayed in the list,click on it


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4. If you want to make surethat the selected project, isyour desired project, simplyclick Overview button, andthe following dialogue box

will be displayed:

5. If this is the file, click Open,otherwise click Cancel, and

select another file

In this dialogue box youcan see almost all the neededinformation including: Projecttitle, Company name, Planning

unit, Project Start date, andData date, Activity count, EarlyFinish of the project


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P3 Bar Chart Screen

P3 Displays to work with

Toolbar Menu Bar Title Bar

ActivityTable

Bar Area

Status Bar

Edit Bar


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P3 PERT Screen

P3 Displays to work with


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Method of Working

P3 is using Critical Path Method(CPM) in calculating thedates and floats of the activities

P3 is using Precedence Diagramming Method(PDM) inpresenting the network

P3 will calculate the schedule reference to the Data Date(DD), which is defined as Time Now:

If you are in the Planning phase DD is the StartDate of the Project If you are in Monitoring phase, it will be the date ofthe day you will run the Schedule command in


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Creating a New project

From the toolbar: Click New button, orFrom menus: File>New

The following dialogue box will appear:


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Input the Project nameInput Number/VersionInput the Project title, and Company nameInput the Planning unit (Hour, Day, Week, and Month)Input Workdays/week, which is the number of working daysper a given weekInput Week starts onInput the Project start date

Input when the Project must finish by date (optional)

Click Add and a new empty project will be opening


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Module 2


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Module 2:Classification Using Activity Codes and IDs

This module contains: The importance of Classification in projects The difference between Activity Codes and Activity IDs Steps to create Activity Code Dictionary Printing and Sharing Activity Code Dictionary


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Classification of Activities can be done using:

Activity Codes (Code or ID) WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

Note: We will discuss in this course the ActivityCodes


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Before You Start

Before you start inputting data to P3, go through thefollowing steps:

1. Draw diagram (or diagrams, depends on your

case) to show the types of classifications andtheir expected values, like the diagram below:

Phase

Construction Internal Finishing External Finishing


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2.Then type a code for each classification and itsvalues:

PhasePHAS

ConstructionCN

Internal FinishingIF

External FinishingEF

From the diagram above, we can see the following:

The classification (we will call it Activity Code) is Phase, and itsabbreviation is PHASThe expected values for this Activity Code are: Construction CN,Internal Finishing IF, and External Finishing EFThe number of characters for each value is 2


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Activity Code CommandFrom menus select Data>Activity Codes, the following dialogue boxwill appear:

In the Activity Code tab you will find activitycodes defined in your project (these are thedefault activity codes, and they will be copied

to any new project automatically) so the firststep will be to delete the existing codes

Input the Activity Codes taking intoconsideration the following:

The Nameof the code shouldnt exceed

4 charactersThe Length, which is the number of

characters for the values of thiscode (i.e. in our previous example itwas 2). Sum of all lengths shouldntexceed 64 characters

The Description, which is a briefdescription of the code


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You will get something like the dialogue box shown below:

Now input the values for each Activity Code, like below:


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Activity ID tab in Activity Code

In the Activity Code dialogue box there is a tab titled Activity ID:

What is the significance of Activity ID in P3? To answer this question,we have to know that each and every activity in P3 should

have an Activity ID (which is the Activity Name), which may beanything you wish, like:

AA1, AA2, AA3, etc.123, 124, 125, etc.AAA, AAB, AAC, etc.

But as you can see the above IDs dont reflect any meaning or anytype of information. P3 suggests to utilize the Activity ID part to dotwo things:

Name our activities intelligentlyClassify our activities just like we did in Activity Codes


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You can have up to four classifications as Activity ID

Click on the Activity ID tab, and do as you did in the Activity Code tab: The Nameof the ID shouldnt exceed 4 characters The Length, which is the number of characters for the values of

this ID. The sum of all lengths shouldnt exceed 10 characters The Description, which is a brief description of the ID

You will get something like the below:


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Set the Order for Codes and IDs

One of most important reasons we useActivity Codes, and Activity IDs is toorganize and group activities, like inthe picture on the right:

In Order field you will specify whichgroup will appear first

If you didnt interfere in the order, P3will order them alphabetically

Check the dialogue box on the right :


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Validate Against Dictionary and Refresh

If the planner, while linking Activity Codes (or Activity ID) to an

Activity, input a value that doesnt exist in the dictionary, how would P3react?It depends on your project settings. There are two methods:

Automatic method Manual method

Automatic methodFrom menus select Data>Activity CodesIn the bottom portion of dialogue box, there is a checkbox says:When new code values occurs in project, validate againstdictionary

Click this checkbox on

From now on, whenever the user input any value that doesnt exist inthe dictionary, P3 will add this value to the dictionary

User should later input the description, and order


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Manual method

From menus select Data>Activity Codes

Click off the checkbox says: When new code values occurs in

project, validate against dictionary

From now on, whenever the user input any value that doesntexist in the dictionary, P3 will not add this value to the dictionary,but rather will wait for the user to do that manually

To do that manually, click Refresh button


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Printing Activity Code Dictionary

In order to include the classification hierarchy with your project papers, soother users would understand the coding structure of your project, you can

print a report and save it

Click the Print button, P3 will give you the following warningmessage:

Click OK, the following dialogue box will appear:

A report will be produced, just like the one on the next page
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This is a sample of a report:


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Transferring Activity Code Dictionary

You can transfer Activity Code Dictionary between projectsGo to the new project you want to transfer to

From menus select Data>Activity CodesClick the Transfer button, the following warning message willappear:

Click OK. The following dialogue box will appear:

Specify the Drive and Folder whichthe desired project you want to copy

from resides in, then at the top portionof the dialogue box specify theproject. Now click Transfer

The dictionary will be copied to yourproject


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Module 3


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Module 3:Inputting Basic Activity Data

This module contains:

What is activity?The basic activity data needed to input an activityPreparation before you input an activity

Adding/Deleting/Editing ActivitiesCopying activitiesLinking activities with Activity Codes


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What is an Activity?

1. Activity is the basic component of any project2. We can define activity as any work you want to accomplish. Work

is a very loose word, each one of us can look at it from differentangle. For instance, one will consider Constructing First FloorSlab as a single activity, Another will consider:

Formwork for First Floor Slab as an activity Re-baring for First Floor Slab as an activity Concrete Placement for First Floor Slab as an activity

It is a common knowledge that if two planners were given thesame project, the activity list will be very different. This will highlight thefact that Activity List writing is not an exact science

We can input lots of information pieces for an activity, but initially weneed only need four:

1. Activity ID2. Activity Description3. Activity Original Duration (abbreviated as OD)4. Activity Type


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Activity ID

Activity ID is the Activity NameIt is the only compulsory piece of information P3 asks for, other data

either can be left empty, or there is a default value for itIn Module 2, we selected the Building to be our Activity ID, with expectedvalues Classrooms CR, Gym GM, and Lab LBNow, each activity ID in our project will start with either CR, GM, or LB,example would be CR100, GM205, and LB303. The numbers after the twocharacters would be sequential number, which would be left to the user

Activity ID could be as long as 10 characters (spaces are allowedand counted)

Activity Description

This piece of information is devoted for the user to write a short

description about the activityYou can leave it empty if you wish (P3 will not generate any errormessages)You can type up to 48 characters (including spaces)


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Activity Original Duration (OD)

Activity Original Duration can be either input by the user, orcalculated by P3

It depends on the type of resources which will be assigned to it:If the resources were Non-Driving, the user will assign the durationIf the resources were Driving, P3 will calculate the duration

(In this course, we will tackle only the first type of activities, hence we needto calculate the OD manually then input the value to P3)

Some guidelines to help calculating OD would be:Prepare for each activity a worksheet (this can be a piece of paper orMS Excel sheet)List the resources which will work on the activityList the amount of work in which each resource can accomplishSpecify the productivity, and estimated count of each resource to beassigned

With the above information available the user can produce correctOD which is based on real calculation


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Activity Type

In P3, there are 9 types of activities, each one would suit a certain case, the default type isTask activityIn this courseware, we will discuss only five of them, they are:

Task activityStart Milestone activity (SM)Finish Milestone activity (FM)Start Flag activity (SF)Finish Flag activity (FF)

Task Activity >The default type of activities>Task activity is any activity that has a duration, the start and finish of it

will be calculated according to the activity base calendar>Duration should be input by the user if no resources or Non-Drivingresources were assigned to the activity. In case of Driving Resources P3will calculate the duration

Start and Finish >Zero-Duration activitiesMilestone >Start Milestone used to signify the beginning of an activity or

group of related activities. Finish Milestone used to signify the

ending of an activity or group of related activities>Start Milestone considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activitiesrelated to it directly cant start before it, but rather with it, or after it>Finish Milestone considered to be a Constraint, as all of theactivities related to it directly cant finish after it, but rather with it,or before it>Start Milestone should be updated, and will have Actual Start

>Finish Milestone should be updated, and will have Actual Finish


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>Zero-Duration activities

>Start Flag used to signify the beginning of an activity or group ofactivities. Finish Flag used to signify the ending of an activity orgroup of activities

>Start Flag considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activitiesrelated to it directly cant start before it, but rather with it, or afterit

>Finish Flag considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activities

related to it directly cant finish after it, but with it, or before it

>Start Flag, and Finish Flag are always Successorsto otherActivities and never considered as Predecessors to otherActivities. Accordingly, SF will accept neither Start-To-Finish, norFinish-To-Finish relationships. In addition, FF will accept neitherFinish-To-Start, nor Start-To-Start relationships.

>Start Flag, and Finish Flag will not be updated by the user, butP3will update them according to the activities linked to them

Start and FinishFlag


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Example ofMilestones

Activity CActivity A

Activity D

Activity B

Activity E

Activity F

FinishMilestone

StartMilestone


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Example ofFlags

Activity CActivity A

Activity D

Activity B

Activity E

Activity F

FinishFlag

StartFlag


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Before You Start

Before you start inputting basic activity data,from menus select Tools>Options>Activity Inserting, the following dialogue box

will appear:

You have three choices to select from:

To Automatically number activities without showing the Activity FormTo Automatically number activities and showing the Activity FormTo show the Activity Form only

Using the Activity Form only will give you more control over the process ofinputting activities. Consequently, do the following:

Click off Automatically number activities

Click on Use activity form when inserting an activity


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Adding Activities

From the Edit Bar, click the button with plus signThe Activity Form will appear automatically:

You will find the cursor blinking in the ID part, type in the

Activity ID, then press Tabkey, or click the next field (dontpress Enter, as this means that you are done with inputting)Next field is Activity Description, type in the activitydescription, press TabkeyThe cursor will go directly to the OD field, input theestimated original duration of your activitySpecify the Activity Type, you have two choices:

If your activity is Task, click OK, or press EnterIf your activity is SM, FM, SF, or FF, right-click on the Typefield, the following menu will appear:

Select the desired activity typeClick OK, or press Enter, the Activity Form will disappearTo add another activity click below the last activity in theactivity table, or click plus sign again


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Deleting Activities

Select the activity (or activities) to be deletedFrom Edit bar, click minus sign , or from menus click Edit>Delete


Editing Activities

There are two methods to edit the activity data: Editing all types of data Editing single data

Editing all activity dataDouble-Click on any activity, the Activity Form will appear, then you can edit whatever data youwould likeThe same can happen if you select from menus Edit>Edit Activity

Editing single activity dataSelect the cellwhich contains the data you want to edit (the cell selector is a bold frameappears around the cell required), just like the below example:

The contents of the cell will appear in the Edit barClick the Edit bar, or press F2 to edit the contents

If you are sure of what you are doing click Yes, theactivity will be deletedIf not click No, the deleting process will stop


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Notes:

Other ways to show the Activity Form permanentlyare:

From menus select View>Activity Form

Press F7From toolbar click Activity Form icon

These 3 ways are ON/OFF functions, which means they will show or hide the Activity Form.Using the above methods of editing activities is applicable to all types of data except twotypes:

All the data calculated by P3 (like ES, EF, LS, LF, TF, etc.) which we will discuss later

Activity ID, unless you opened your project as Exclusive (which is a checkbox in theOpen dialogue box)


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Copying Activities

Copying activities means copying the whole data of single activity or activitiesCopying can be done from a project to the same project, or across projects

Select the desired activity (or activities)From menus select Edit>Copy, Ctrl+C, or right-click and select Copy

Go to the desired place (the same project, or open another project)

From menus select Edit>Paste, Ctrl+V, or right-click and select Paste

In order for P3 to make sure that no duplication of the same activity ID will takeplace, the following dialogue box will appear:

You can select one of the four choices available:

Rename duplicates only

Rename all

Prefix or suffix

Auto-increment


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Rename P3 will select the coming activities with matching IDs only to be renamed, the rest willduplicates only be pasted without any change

Rename All P3 will show all activities to be renamed

Prefix or suffix It is a fast way to rename activities, by suggesting a character (or characters) to appear

to the left of the coming activities IDs (this is prefix) or appear to the right of the comingactivities IDs (this is suffix)

Auto-increment It is another fast way to rename activities, by suggesting a base name (for instanceGM100) and then an increment number (for instance 10) this will allow P3 to rename allthe coming activities easily

Also you can make sure that the coming activities are the desired ones, by clickingContents button which will display the names of the coming activities

Linking Activities with CodesIn Module 2 we created Activity Code Dictionaryin this Module we will link each activity with the proper code valueThe lower left part Activity Form contains the Activity Codes defined and its value

Right-click on the desired code, a list of the available values will be displayed, select thedesired value

Do the same for the other codes


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Module 4:Inputting Logic Relationships

This module contains:What is logic relationship?Predecessor and SuccessorTypes of relationshipInputting relationships using Bar Chart viewInputting relationships using PERT view

Editing relationshipsTracing relationshipsLink and unlink activitiesUsing Autolink function


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What is Logic Relationship?

In Module 1 it was mentioned that P3 uses PDM

(Precedence Diagramming Method) in representing thenetwork. There are mainly two methods to represent anetwork:

Activity-On-ArrowActivity-On-Node

Activity-On-ArrowAlso known ADM (Arrow Diagramming Method)The old method of representing the networkTo go from event A to event B, you will do certain thing:

Almost none of the software in the current market is offering thismethod for representing the network

CBA Excavation Foundation


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Activity-On-NodeAlso known as PDM

The activities are at the two nodes of a logic relationship.Logic relationship is a link which ties two activities in asequence manner, for instance:

Excavation Foundation Filling

The name Logicindicates that the relationship is not compulsorybut rather it represents how the planner is viewing the sequenceof the project, hence any delay in start or end, is acceptable


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Predecessor and Successor

Based on the latter each activity will have:

Predecessor (or Predecessors)

Successor (or Successors)

PredecessorIs any activity takes place in time before a given activityThere could be more than one predecessor for a given activity

SuccessorIs any activity takes place in time after a given activityThere could be more than one successor for a given activity

One of the common practices is to prepare a table called either the Successor tableor Predecessor table, depends on the way you want to take it:

If you want to start with the first activity and go all the way to the right,you should produce a Successor table

If you want to start with the last activity and go all the way to the left, youshould produce a Predecessor table

A successor table may look something like the following:


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Types of Relationships

P3 supports four types of relationships:

Finish-To-Start (known as FS)Start-To-Start (known as SS)Finish-To-Finish (known as FF)Start-To-Finish (known as SF)

Note: When we say Start, that means the start of a working

day, when we say Finish, that means the finish of workingday

Finish-To-StartThe most commonly used relationship, and the defaultrelationship in P3

When A finishes B starts the next day:

AOD=7

BOD=10

S=1 F=7 S=8 F=17


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Start-To-StartOne of two relationships which allows parallel activitiesWhen A starts B starts at the same day:

A

OD=7

B

OD=10

S=1 F=7

S=1 F=10

Note: In the above case A is considered to be a Predecessor ofB although A and B starts at the same day


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Finish-To-FinishThe second relationship which allows parallel activitiesWhen A finishes B finishes at the same day:

A

OD=7

BOD=10

F=7

F=7

Note: In this case A is considered tobe a Predecessor of B although A andB finishes at the same day

Start-To-FinishThis relationship is seldom used by planners

It can be used effectively with flagsIf you want to link a start of an activity with aFinish Flag you can use Start-To-FinishrelationshipWhen A starts B finishes

A

B


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Relationships with LagNormally the following applies to relationship:In FS relationship if the predecessor finishes in day 5 (forinstance) the successor will start at day 6In SS relationship if the predecessor starts at day 5, thesuccessor will start at day 5

In FF relationship if the predecessor finishes at day 11, thesuccessor will finish at day 11The above shows that relationships dictate immediatestart orfinish for the successor. If you dont want immediate start or finishfor the relationship, you have to use the Lagtime

Lagtime is the number of time-periods (days in our case) whichyou delay the successor from its predecessor. Lag time can bepositive, or negative, check the following examples in the nextpage:


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A

B

SS 6

A BFS 7

A

B

FF 4

A

B

FS -3

Start-To-Start with (+) Lag

Finish-To-Start with (+) Lag

Finish-To-Finish with (+) Lag

Finish-To-Start with (-) Lag


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Inputting Relationships Using Bar Chart View: Step 1

Draw your network on paper first:The biggest mistake a planner can do is to start inputtingrelationships without preparing it on paper first

The management team should have more than one meetingdiscussing the logic of the network

Drawing the network and the logic sequence is not an easy job, itneeds:

Huge field experienceTeam work and discussion (even sometimes needs BrainStorming)

Deciding which is more important to the planner (it differs from

owner point-of-view, to contractor point-of-view) the completiontime, or the expenditure of money and resources. Hencecreating more serial fashion relationships, or parallel (oroverlapping) fashion relationships


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Prepare the layout so you can easily see the relationship lines. Thisinvolves three steps to do:1. Make sure that the relationship lines is shown

2. Increase the Row Height3. Learn how to Find Activities

1. Show Relationship linesThe relationships can be either displayed, or hidden. To make sure, do thefollowing:from menus choose View, the following menu will appear:

If you see () beside Relationships, you will knowthat the relationship lines will be displayed, if not, doone of the following:

From menus select View>RelationshipsPress F3, or

From toolbar, click Relationship Lines tool


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2. Increase Row Height

Increasing Row Height is to spread the activities vertically so you can view therelationship lines better, see the following examples:

Without Increasing the row height: With Increasing the row height:

a) Select one of the activities

from menus select Format>Row Height,the following dialogue box will appear:

b) Do the following steps:

Turn off the check box Automatic

Size Set the Row height in points value

to the desired number Click on All Activities under Apply

to part Click OK


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3. Find activityThis function is very important, as sometimes you need to locate an activity to startdefining its successor(s)

Do one of the following:

From menus select Edit>Find Activity

Press Ctrl+F

From toolbar, click Find Activity tool

Using any of the above the following dialogue box will appear:

Type in the Activity ID, select All activities, then click Find


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You can input the relationships using:Activity FormGraphically

Using Activity Form

Select (or Find) the activity you want to define either successor(s), orpredecessor(s) for

Press F7

Click either Pred, or Succ buttons

The following dialogue box will appear>>>>>>>>>

Click (+) sign, type in the predecessor (or successor) ID

Specify the Rel (which is the relationship). The default is FS

If there is any Lag, specify it

You can define more than one predecessor, or successorSelect one of the predecessors, or successors, and click Jump , to go to it.Then continue defining relationships

This what you may get>>>>>>>>>>


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Using Graphically method

Specify the end (Start, or Finish) you want to start with for a certain activity

Get closer to it, up until the cursor change to Relationship cursor

Now click and hold. The relationship line will appear

Go to the other desired end, and drop the relationship line

The relationship line will be created


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Each activity is represented by a box, the left part of the box is the start, and theright part is the finish

As you can see the boxes are very close to each other. To spread the boxeshorizontally and vertically, you can increase the spacingFrom menus select Format>Organize, the following dialogue box will appear,select the Spacing tab:

Change to the new value for the spacing horizontally, and vertically


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Editing Relationships

For both Bar chart view, and PERT view, the editing methods are the same.Available editing methods are:

Using Activity FormGraphical method

Using Activity Form

Find the activity you want to edit the relationship for

Press F7, The Activity Form will appear

Click both Pred, or Succ buttonsThis what you will see:

You can add new relationship, editan existing one, or delete arelationships according to your need

Once you are done, close the twoforms, on the Activity Form clickOK. Now find another activity to editits relationships


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Graphical method

It is better to do it in the PERT view, as the relationship lines appear clearer in thisviewGo to PERT viewFind the desired relationship to be editedClick the relationship line, the following dialogue box will appear:

The dialogue box will show the following information:

The current Predecessor (un-editable)

The current Successor (un-editable)The relationship type

The Lag

Change either the relationship type, or the lagOr you can delete the relationship by clicking the Delete button


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Tracing Logic in PERT ViewOne of the greatest methods to check your logic:Go to PERT view

Select an activityFrom menus View>Trace LogicThe screen will be cut into two halves. The lower half will show the currentactivity, its predecessor(s), and its successor(s):

Check your work, then select another activity from the upper half, or from the lowerhalf


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Link and Unlink Activities

This should be done only on Bar chart viewIf you have a series of activities and all of them are connectedwith FS relationship, you can link them fast and smoothly usingLink activity function, do the following steps:

Select the desired activitiesFrom menus select Edit>Link ActivitiesThe activities will be linked with FS relationship

You can unlink activities if they were linked with FS

relationships:Select the desired activitiesFrom menus select Edit>Unlink ActivitiesThe activities will be unlinked


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Autolink ActivitiesThis facility is an automatic method of linking activities asyou input themFrom menus select Insert>AutolinkSelect an activity (this is a very important step) which will

be the predecessor of the coming activitiesStart adding activitiesWhenever you are done, an FS relationship will beadded to the new activity

To stop this facility, from menus select Insert>Autolinkagain


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Module 5


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Module 5:First Schedule Run

This module contains:

Automatic vs. Manual SchedulingSchedule PassesTotal and Free FloatThe Schedule command

The view after SchedulingSchedule report


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Introduction

Schedule is to calculate the start and finish datesfor each activity, hence will produce the finish date ofthe project

Normally in Planning phase, the planner willperform scheduling several times, and the first oneshould be after finishing inputting activities and

relationships. The purpose of the first run, is to getthe initial dates, so it can be used in the comingmeetings


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Automatic Schedule vs. Manual ScheduleIn P3 there are two types of scheduling:

AutomaticManual

Automatic Schedule

From menus select Tools>Schedule, the following dialogue box willappear:


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Click the Options button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Under Automatic scheduling and leveling, make sure that Scheduleautomatically is selected, then click OK

If you turn the automatic schedule on, that means, P3 will always recalculatethe dates if any new data and/or editing took place in your project. This methodwill not produce any schedule reports, which will deprive the user from knowingand documenting the changes that happened on the dates through out thedevelopment of the plan

Note: This method is not recommended

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Manual Schedule

Under Automatic scheduling and leveling, make sure that Scheduleautomatically is NOTselected, instead select Off, then click OK

This method means you have to issue the command of Tools>Schedule eachand every time your perform any changes on your project which will affect the startand finish dates.It will produce a scheduling report (will be shown later in this Module) whichcontains great information to the planner, also, it is considered a documenting toolto show the development of the planNote: This method is highly recommended


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The Schedule Passes

When the user issue the Schedule command, P3 will perform two passes:Forward Pass, which will start from the first activity with no predecessor, all the

way to the last activity with no successorBackward Pass, which will start from the last activity with no successor, all theway to the first activity with no predecessor

Forward Pass

This is done to calculate the Early Start (ES), and the Early Finish (EF), which wecall them Early dates. Early dates are the earliest dates an activity can start and

finish after the finish of its predecessor(s).

P3 will first locate the first activity with no predecessor. It could be more than oneactivity. The ES of the first activity is the start date of the project (which youinput when you created the project)

To calculate the EF, P3 will use the following EF=ES+Dur-1

(Why the -1? Comparing to the text books in management, this formula isdifferent. The formula used there is EF=ES+Dur. The answer to thatquestion is; text books starts at day 0, which is not practical. Yet in P3 westart at day 1, and hence we have to deduct 1 from the duration)


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Activity A

EF=4OD=4ES=1

Activity B

EF=8OD=8ES=1

Activity C

EF=24OD=16ES=9

Note: Activity C, waited for all of its predecessors to finish, hence startedat day 9. The calculated finish date of this small project derived from the EFof the last activity is day 24

See the following example:


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Backward Pass

This is to calculate the Late Start (LS), and the Late Finish (LF), whichwe call them Late dates. Late dates are the latest dates an activity canstart and finish without delaying the calculated finish date of the project.

P3 will locate the last activity with no successor. It could be morethan one activity . The LF of the last activity is the calculated EF whichwas produced in the Forward PassTo calculate the LS, P3 will use the following LS=LF-Dur+1

(As we deduct 1 in the Forward Pass, we have to add 1 in theBackward Pass, so we can finish with day 1)


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Note: LF of activity A, and B is the day before LS of activity C, hence the LF isday 8

Activity A

LF=8

EF=4OD=4ES=1

LS=5

Activity B

LF=8

EF=8OD=8ES=1

LS=1

Activity C

LF=24

EF=24OD=16ES=9

LS=9

See the following example:

Total Float


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Total Float

As a result of the Forward Pass, and Backward Pass, four dates will be produced(namely; ES, EF, LS, and LF). In view of that, P3 will calculate the Total Float (TF)

Total Float is the number of days you can delay the start of an activity

without starting at ES, but without delaying the wholeprojectTF = LF EF

Accordingly the Backward Pass will be:

Activity ALF=8TF=4

EF=4OD=4ES=1

LS=5

Activity B

LF=8TF=0

EF=8OD=8ES=1

LS=1

Activity C

LF=24TF=0

EF=24OD=16ES=9

LS=9

If there is no Imposed Finish Datediscussed in the next Module), or anytype of Constraintthe lowest TF for any

activity would be (zero) (0)We call the activities with TF = 0CriticalactivitiesWe call the activities with TF > 0 Non-CriticalactivitiesWe call the path that links the Criticalactivities; the Critical PathCritical Pathis the longest path in thenetworkA given network may have more thanone Critical PathWe call the above method ofcalculation, the Critical Path Method(CPM)

Free Float


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Free Float

P3 also will calculate the Free Float (FF). Free Float is the number of days youcan delay the start of an activity without starting at ES, but without delaying thesuccessor

TF = ES of the successor - EF of the activity 1FF can be equal to TF, and can be different

Other Data Checked for While Scheduling

As you can see from the previous discussion, when the user issues the Schedule

command, P3 will calculate six types of data, which are:Two Early Dates (ES, EF)

Two Late Dates (LS, LF)

Two Floats (TF, FF)

Other data checked for, while scheduling are:

Circular Loops

Constraints ActivitiesOpen Ends Activities

Out-of-Sequence Activities


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Circular Loop

The Circular Loop is the relationships that starts at an activity and return back tothe same activity. If P3 detect any loop, it will stop the Schedule calculation and

produce a report stating the relationships which led to the loop

Here is an example of the Circular Loop Report:

A B C

Constraints Activities


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Constraints Activities

P3 will identify any activity with constraints imposed on it, and report it in theSchedule report. The four types of activities SM, FM, SF, FF, are all consideredConstraints, hence they will be reported in the Schedule report.

Open Ends Activities

P3 will assume that each activity will have at least one predecessor, and onesuccessor. Any activity with no predecessor, or with no successor, is considered anopen end. Planners as they are creating their network will consider therecommendation that network should start with one activity, and finish with one

activity (although, neither networking methods, nor P3 will object if the networkstarted with 100 activities, and finished with 100 activities). If the Planners abide tothe above rule, they will have a prior knowledge that two activities will be mentionedin the report as Open Ends. So, if more than these were mentioned, planners willknow that they overlooked a relationship.

Out-of-Sequence Activities

If an activity started the actual work before the finish of its predecessor, this activityis considered to be out-of-sequence. This is evident when the actual work starts andnot while Planning phase.

Schedule Command


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Schedule Command

From menus select Tools>Schedule

Or from toolbar, click Schedule button, the following dialogue box will

appear:

Specify Data Date, as mentioned in Module 1, Data Date definition is Time Now:

In the Planning phase the Data Date is always the first day of the project asdefined when the project was created

Once you start inputting actual data, Data Date will be the day of which you

performed the schedule invIf you want to include in you report:

Constraint listing, click this checkbox on

Open Ends listing, click this checkbox on

Out-of-Sequence activities listing, click this checkbox on

Click Schedule Now button the following dialogue box will appear:
http://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buy


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Click Schedule Now button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Make sure that View on screen is selected, then click OKP3 will start performing the calculationP3 will then produce the Schedule report. The Schedule Report is avery valuable tool for planners, as it will help in the following points:

It contains valuable information about the project and thenetwork It will work as a tool in the hand of the planner to document howthe project evolved through the Planning phase


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The following is an example of a Schedule report:


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Note: If you press F9 the following dialogue box will appear:

This is identical to the command above except it will not producethe report

The View after Schedule


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The View after Schedule

It is recommended, that immediately you close your project and reopenit again, so the sorting will take place. You will see two groups of

activities:Red Activities, which means Critical activitiesGreen Activities, which means Non-Critical activities

Activities will be sorted according to their ES, and then TF, therefore the list ofactivities will be different

Schedule Report


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p

P3 is equipped with lots of pre-defined tabular reports, One of these is theSchedule Report

From menus select Tools>Tabular Reports>Schedule, the following

dialogue box will appear:

Click the Add button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Each Schedule report will have an ID, starting with the letters SR, then a sequentialnumber (which is given by P3), click Add, to accept the number. The dialogue box inthe next page will be displayed


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Type in the Title of the report (highly recommended), so you can utilize itIn Content tab, and under Include the following data, the following applies:

Leave Activity Code line there. This line shows the basic activity dataYou can add to this basic data other information like Predecessor, Successor,and lots of other types

In Content tab, and under Show these codes on activity code line, you canspecify up to five different codes for each activity


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Click the Format tab, you will see the following:

Set the Sort by criteriaSelect the information to be displayed

O d li k R b tt di l th t ill b


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Once you are done, click Run button, accordingly the report will beproduced, hence you can print it, or save it


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Module 6


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Module 6:

Inputting Activity Calendar

This module contains:What is global calendar

What is individual calendarAssigning calendars to activitiesImposing a Finish date on the projectDefining Holidays

Printing calendarsTransferring calendars

Introduction


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Introduction

When we created the project, P3 asked two questions:

Workdays/WeekWeeks starts on

Let us assume that you answered the first question with 5, and thesecond question with Monday. Accordingly P3 will create anindividual calendar, and its ID is 1, which contains that the working

days of the week are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, andFriday, and the two weekends are Saturday and Sunday

Activity calendar means calendar attached to an activity, affecting theSchedule calculation of this activity. Schedule will not calculate an ES

(for instance) in a day that considered as holiday or weekend in thecalendar of an activity. So sometimes one of the techniques todecrease the total duration of projects is to assign the criticalactivities to calendars with more working days per week

Global Calendar


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Global Calendar

P3 has a uniquecalendar called Global calendar. This calendar containsinformation which will affect the whole project and the other individual calendarsGlobal Calendar cant be assigned to activities

From menus select Data>Calendars, the following dialogue box will appear:

From the upper list, click on Global Calendar


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o t e uppe st, c c o G oba Ca e daClick the Standard button, the following dialogue box will appear:

You can change the following data:

In which day the week will start

When the calendar will start (P3 will always assume that calendar will start ayear before the starting date of the project)

When the project will start

When is the Data DateImposed Finish Date (will be discussed later in this Module)

If a holiday occurs in a weekend, how should P3 treats it. It is either byturning this rule off, and hence you do it manually. Or turning this rule on, andlet P3 handles it, by making the nearest workday as a holiday

Click the Holidays button, the following dialogue box will appear:


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y g g pp

The holidays that will be defined here will affect all individual calendars, for thatreason, we call it Global Holidays.In the table titled Nonworkperiods, specify the holidays. The following rules apply:

If you have one day holiday, define it in the Start field

If you have multiple uninterrupted holiday, define the Start field and the FinishfieldIf this holiday occurs at the same period every year, make this holidayRepeatingIf you have an interrupted holiday, simply specify the whole holiday in theNonworkperiods table, then specify the working days within the holiday in theExceptions table

Individual Calendar


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P3 has up to 31 individual calendars. These calendars will be assigned to activitiesIndividual calendar contains information which will affect only the activities attachedto it

Select an individual calendar, then click Standard button, the followingdialogue box will appear:

In this dialogue box you can do two things:

Type in a title for the calendar (highly recommended)

Set the working days per weekAll the things discussed in Holidays of the Global calendar applies on theindividual calendars. Contrary to Global Calendar holidays, the defined holidays inindividual calendar will affect the activities attached to it only and not all activities

How to create New Individual Calendar


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How to create New Individual Calendar

From menus select Data>Calendars, the following dialogue box will appear:

Click Add button, the following dialogue box will appear:

P3 will give it a new ID,which you can change it

Type in the desired title, andclick OK

You can see that a new calendar is shown in the list
http://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buyhttp://www.abbyy.com/buy


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Make sure it is selected, and click Standards, you will see the following dialoguebox:

As you can see from above, when you create a new individual calendar, all of thedays will be considered workdays.Click off the desired weekends, and click OK

How to delete an existing calendar

From menus select Data>CalendarsSelect the desired calendarClick Delete button, the following warning message will appear:

If you are sure of what you are doing clickYes, if not click No to stop the process ofdeletion

Assigning Individual Calendar to an Activity


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g g y

Either double-click on the desired activity,or select the activity and press F7, the Activity Form will appear:

Imposing a Finish Date on theProject

In Global calendar at the Standard

dialogue box, we saw that we canimpose a finish date on the project.Most likely this will be the contractual

finish date of the project

We need to input it in our project, so wecan compare the calculated finish to theimposed finish. It will replace the LF ofthe last activity:

Activity A6TF=2

EF=4OD=4ES=1

LS=3

Activity BLF=6TF=-2

EF=8OD=8ES=1

LS=-1

Activity CLF=22TF=-2

EF=24OD=16ES=9

LS=7

The difference between the Imposed finish date and Calculated


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The difference between the Imposedfinish date and Calculatedfinish date may be:

Zero, if they are equal (rare cases)Negative, if the Calculated > Imposed (most likely)Positive, if the Calculated < Imposed (rare cases)

As you can see in the previous example, the TF of the critical pathequals to -2, and that is because Calculated > Imposed

The negative TF tells us how many days we need to compress ourcritical path to meet the contractual finish date of the project

By default negative TF, LS, or LF is not acceptable


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Using Nonwork button


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Select multiple days (consecutive by clicking and dragging, ornonconsecutive by using Ctrl key and clicking)

Click Nonwork button, the selected days will become holidays

Also, if you double-click the headingof a day, just like below:

Then you click Nonwork button, this day in the current month will become a holiday

At any moment select a holiday, and click Work button, you will turn it intoworkday

Printing Calendars


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Unfortunately, you cant previewcalendars before printing them. This command will print allyour calendars. There are two modes:

Summary printout

Detailed printout

Summary printoutThis will produce a table that contains:

At the horizontal; list of the calendarsAt the vertical; list of days starting from the start of the projectAt the core of the table the holidays

Detailed printout


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It will print a wall-likecalendar, indicating the holidays in each month, starting fromthe start date of the project

Example of Detailed printout:

From the Calendars dialogue box, click Print , the following dialoguebox will appear:


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box will appear:

Select the desired Style, whether Summary, or DetailsSelect the time Span, and click OK

Transferring Activity CalendarsYou can transfer Activity Calendars between projects

Go to the new project you want to transfer toFrom menus select Data/Calendars

Click the Transfer button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Transfer Individual calendar

If t t i di id l l d t th l d ithi th j t


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If you want to copy an individual calendar to another calendar within the same project:

Specify the source calendar and the target calendar, then click Transfer

Transfer All calendars

Click All calendars choice, the dialogue box will change to:

Specify the Driver and Folder which the desired project you want to copy fromresides in, then specify the project. Now click Transfer

The calendars will be copied to your project


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Module 7


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Module 7:Resources and Cost Assignment

This module contains:How to create Resource dictionary?How to create Cost Account dictionary?

Assigning resources and cost to activityViewing resources and cost profilesProducing tabular resources and cost reports

Introduction

Resources and cost assignment goes into two main steps:


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Resources and cost assignment goes into two main steps:

Creating the Resource Dictionary, and Cost Account Dictionary (or transferringthem from other projects)

Assignment of resources

Most likely you have to create the Resource Dictionary and Cost Account Dictionaryonce, and then you can transfer them from project to another

For resources, the first step is to create a list of the resources available to completeany project taking into consideration the following:

Resource name

Resource unit of measureResource description

Resource availability (Normal and Maximum)

Resource unit cost

For cost accounts, create a hierarchy showing the relationship between the differentcost accounts, taking into consideration the following:

Cost account numberCost account description

Cost Category

How to Create Resource Dictionary?


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As a first step prepare your work on a paper, listing all the resources availableshowing the following information:

The Resource name (code for the resource up to 8 characters, spaces areallowed)

Unit of measure (P3 doesnt have any predefined unit of measure), forinstance you can type m, sq.m, cu.m, ton, mh (manhour), md (man-day), etc,up to four characters

Resource description (up to 40 characters)

Resource limits, which states the number of units of this resource availablefor the current project in Normal times, and the maximum number of units,which can be provided. If this resource limits change with time, record the dateof change

Resource Price/Unit, which states the cost of the unit. If this price/unit

change with time, record the date of change (P3 will not check for consistency,for instance you typed the unit of a certain resource is md, then you input thecost of mh)

Once you are done with this list, now, go to the menus selecting Data>Resources,th f ll i di l b ill


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the following dialogue box will appear:

It is preferable to do the inputting as follows:Input the resource name, the unit, and the description for all of the resourcesThen select the first resource, and specify the limits and price for it, now select thesecond one and so on

To print the Resource Dictionary, click Print button, the following dialogue boxwill appear:


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will appear:

Click OK, and produce the report on the screen, you will get something like the

following:

To bring a Resource Dictionary from another project, click the Transfer button,the following dialogue box will appear:


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the following dialogue box will appear:

The message means, if the resources to come have an identical match in the host,they will update them, whereas, the resources with no matching they will beappended

Click OK, the following dialogue box will appear

Specify the Driver and Folder which thedesired project you want to copy fromresides in, then, at the top portion of thedialogue box specify the project. Now clickTransfer

The dictionary will be copied to yourproject

How to Create Cost Account Dictionary?

Fi t d th C t A t t hi h h h th t ill b


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First draw the Cost Account tree, which shows how the cost will bebroken down, just like below tree:

ExpansionProject

EP

ConstructionCostEP01

FinishingCostEP02

ConcreteEP0101

Mech/ ElecEP0102

SteelEP0103

InternalEP0201

ExternalEP0202

Give for each level of your tree a code. Each code should not exceed 11 characters.

Also, develop a one-character(alpha numeric) category code, which will categorize thecost, example may be:

1 Labor2 Machine3 Material

You can have up to 36 categories (0-9, and A-Z). The cost category is considered the 12thcharacter of the cost account, hence cost account can be 11 characters, and can be 12characters

From menus select Data>Cost Accounts, the following dialoguebox will appear:


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Input the Cost Categories, and the Category Title (up to 8 characters)Input the Account numbers, and the Account Title (up to 40 characters)To print the Cost Account Dictionary, click Print button, the following

dialogue box will appear:

Click OK, and accept to view on screen

The following is an example of what you may get:


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To bring Cost Account Dictionary from another project, click the Transferbutton, the following dialogue box will appear:

Click OK, the dialogue box on the next page will appear


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Specify the Driver and Folder which the desired project you want to copy from

resides in, then at the top portion of the dialogue box specify the project. Now clickTransfer

The dictionary will be copied to your project

Assigning Resources and Cost to Activities

There are two methods to assign cost to activities:


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gAssignment of defined resource to an activity with number of units per day, P3accordingly will multiply the number of days with the number of units with unit price, whichwill generate a cost assigned to this activity

Assignment of cost right away without any resources in the middle

When you assign a resource, P3 will need the following information:Resource nameResource UPT = Units Per Timeperiod (in our case Units Per Day)Cost Account numberCost Category

CalculationThe first value will be calculated is BQ = Budgeted Quantity which will be based on the followingformula:

BQ = OD * UPT (OD here is Original Duration)Other values can be calculated based on the following:

The fist formula is QTC = RD * UPTThe second formula is QAC = QTC + ATD

Where;QTC = Quantity of certain resource To Complete certain activityRD = Remaining DurationQAC = Quantity of certain resource At the Completion of certain activityATD = Actual quantity of certain resource from the beginning of certain activity To

Date

As for Cost the following formulas apply:

BC = BQ * Unit Price


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BC BQ Unit PriceCTC = QTC * Unit PriceCAC = QAC * Unit Price

Where;

BC = Budgeted CostCTC = Cost To CompleteCAC = Cost At Completion

ExampleAssume we have an activity with OD = 6 days, and you assign 2 units per day from a certainresource, which has Unit Price of 10, what are the resource and cost values P3 willcalculate:

BQ = 6 * 2 = 12 unitsBC = 12 * 10 = 120QTC = 6 * 2 = 12 unitsCTC = 12 * 10 = 120QAC = 12 + 0 = 12 unitsCAC = 12 * 10 = 120

As you can see BQ = QTC = QAC, this is true only in the Planning phase. Also, BC =

CTC = CAC which is true only in the Planning phase.

Another Way of calculationAnother way would be to input BQ right away without inputting UPT, hence P3 will calculatethe values as follows:

UPT = BQ/OD

The rest will be the same


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If you typed in a resource name that does not exist in the Resource Dictionary P3


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If you typed in a resource name that does not exist in the Resource Dictionary, P3will give you the ability to add it to the dictionary. It will show the following

Type in the Title, and click OK


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As you can see from the upper dialogue box, there are two types of costs:

Cost generated from resource assignment (the first two)


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g g ( )

Cost NOT generated from resource assignment (the third)

For the second type do the following:

DONT input the Resource nameInput Cost Account and Cost Category

Input BC

Unit Price change after Resource Assignment

What if you changed the resource unit price after resource Assignment:

Go to Resource Dictionary command, and change any resource unit price

Once you click Close, P3 will produce the following message:

Click Yes, to recalculate the resource and cost values based on the new prices.

Some Results


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You can see direct results of what you are doing, if you go to the activity table,and check the Last two columns at the right, which they are Resource column,

and Budgeted Cost column

Resource and Cost Profiles (Histograms)After you assign resources, and costs you have to take a look at the Resource/Cost


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ProfilesFrom menus select View>Resource ProfileOr, from toolbar click Resource/Cost Profile button, the following view willappear:

As you can see there are two scales:

At the left, the scale is for the histogram

At the right, the scale is for the cumulative curveThe yellow horizontal line stands for Normal limit, whereas the red line representsthe Maximum limit (from the above view you can see the changing limit through thetime)

The histogram contains 3 colors:

Green, which is within the Normal limit


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Yellow, which is between Normal and Maximum limit

Red, which is above Maximum (overloaded)

When the histogram appears, a small dialogue box appears also:

By default P3 will sort the resources according to alphabetic order, hence thepop-up list will show them in this manner, click pop-up list to select the resourceyou want to display the histogram for:

Or you can use the Previous and Next button to browse theresources one-by-one

Display button

Histogram contains lots of variables, so we need to control the view by knowing the


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Histogram contains lots of variables, so we need to control the view by knowing thethings we can changeClick Display button on the small dialogue box, the following dialogue box

will appear:

Under Display control:

To show for Units (Qauntaties), orCosts

To show according to Early dates

or Late datesTo show for All activities, or theSelected activities only

To show or hide Histogram

To show or hide cumulativeCurves

To show the view for Time

Interval (Days, Weeks, Months,Quarters, and Years) if you selectDays then the histogram will showthe daily usage, else it will sum upthe usage for the time intervalselected

Under Histogram control:Calculate options, whether Total, Peak, or Average

C l l t d d th Ti I t l l t d i th i it ill k


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Calculate depends on the Time Interval selected in the previous page, it will workonly if the Time Interval is not DaysIf you selected to show the Time Interval of Weeks, then select to Calculate the

Total usage of the week, or the Peak quantity of the week, or the Average usage ofthe weekTo show Bars or Area

To show values for Current Estimate, Earned Value, or Planned Values (we willdiscuss this later in the Updating Module)To Draw Normal and Maximum limits as horizontal lines (yellow and red). This is

important if you want to compare available to needed resourcesTo Emphasize overload with colors (to show green, yellow, and red areas)

Curves will be discussed in the Module 11

Clicking Bar in HistogramIf you select a Bar format for your display, clicking the bar will display its valueYou may get something like:

Specially for Cost

By default when you show the cost histogram of a resource, it will only show the cost


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y y g , yof that resource. In order to show the cost of all resources in a certain period, youneed to select from the list the option Total

In the small dialogue box, and after the last resource in alphabetic order you will findthe option Total

Total is the only way to see the direct cost you input on an activity on the histogram

To see the total cost of whole project, see where the cumulative curve gets flat,right-click on the curve, you will see something like the following dialogue box:

Resource and Cost Tabular Reports

P3 has more than one pre-defined report for resources and costs. If you are


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working using a method that states resources are the primary cost generator,then the resources and costs reports will be look-alike

Resource Loading ReportThis report will show how the resources were distributed over the time

From menus select Tools>Tabular Reports>Resource>Loading, the followingdialogue box will appear:

Click Add button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Accept the default sequentialnumber, and click Add again



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Type a good title for your report

Make sure that you are inResource Selection tab:

Under Profile if, right-click,

and select EQUnder Low Value Resourceright-click and select the desiredresource to generate report for

Click Format tab:

Select to Organize the report according to which criteriaSelect to Truncate activity description or notSelect to Repeat activity title on all horizontal sheets or not


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Select to Repeat activity title on all horizontal sheets or notSelect to Display row totals at the Left or at the Right of the pageClick the Timescale tab:

Select the Date range you want to include in the report, by specifying the Startdate and the End dateSelect the Display Unit (Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year, and 4 weeks period),accordingly select the Usage (Total, Peak or Average)Click Run, and select to see the report on the screen,

The following is an example of Resource Loading report:


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The Cost Loading report is identical to the above except it will display the cost of theresource and not the quantityFrom menus select Tools/Tabular Reports/Cost/Loading, andfollow the same procedure you did in the Resource Loading report

The Cost Loading report is identical to the above except it will display the cost of theresource and not the quantityFrom menus select Tools>Tabular Reports>Cost>Loading and follow the same


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From menus select Tools>Tabular Reports>Cost>Loading, and follow the sameprocedure you did in the Resource Loading report

The following is an example of Cost Loading report:


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Module 8


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Module 8:Layouts and Formatting Options

This module contains:What is layout in P3?Formatting columnsFormatting selected barsGlobal Bar formatting

What is Layout in P3?Old (DOS) version depended on tabular and graphical reports to produce the output ofthe scheduling and resource/cost loading. These reports (in general) are poor quality


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the scheduling and resource/cost loading. These reports (in general) are poor qualityreports, and dont utilize the current technology of printing (laser, color laser, or inkjetprinters). From the starting of the Windows based versions, P3 adopted the concept of

Layouts, which if utilized fully, can replace almost all of the tabular and graphicalreports

Layout is What you see on your screen like:

The list of activity shown on the screen

Activity columns

Bar Area

Colors usedTimescale

Date FormatTo save a new layout, do the following steps:

Change all the desired changes on the layout

From menus select View>Layout>Save As, the following dialogue box will

appear:P3 will give you a sequential number as layout ID, whichstarts with LT-number, then type in a good title describing yourlayout, click Save

To make changes on the current layout, and save it under the same ID, and name:From menus select View>Layout>SaveOr from toolbar, click Save Layout button


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, yTo open an existing layout:From menus select View>Layout>Open

Or from toolbar, click Open Layout button, the following dialogue box willappear:

Select the desired layout and click Open

The name of the current layout will appear at the mid position of the status bar

Formatting Columns

T h hid l t th ti it t bl


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To show or hide columns at the activity tableFrom menus select Format>Columns, or press F11

Or from toolbar, click Format Columns button, the following dialogue box willappear:

Under Column information, you will find a table listing the current columns


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The listing of the columns from topto bottomin the table, is the same as thearrangement of columns in the layout from leftto right

Use the plus sign to show a new column on the list. Right-click to show a pop-up list to select the type of information you would like to display in the new column

If you want to show a new column at the top of the list, pick the first column of thecurrent list then click plus sign

If you want to show a new column at the mid, pick an existing column, click plussign, the new column will push the existing down and will be at its place (the newcolumn will be at the left of the existing in the layout)

If you want to show a new column at the end of the list, indicate the last column atthe list, then click beneath it

To hide an existing column, simply select it, and click the minus sign

While you are in the Columns dialogue box you can change:Title of the column (use | to wrap the text to two lines)The width of the column


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The width of the columnThe alignment of the text in the column (left, center, or right)The font which will be used to display the contents of the column

The font for the titlesTo show or not the lines between rows and columns

ExampleThis is the default column arrangement:

And this is the new arrangement:


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Formatting Selected Bars

You can select one or more activities and format their barsThen you can copy the format and paste it on another activity bar


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Then you can copy the format and paste it on another activity barAlso, you can get the bars back to their default format

Modify Bar Format

Select the desired activity

From menus select Format>Selected Bars>Modify Bar Format, the followingdialogue box will appear:

You can do the following changes (you can

see the changes you are making on theSample):

To Show or hide the bar

To change the Bar style (Bar, Dashed line,Do

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