Tutorial Copyright © 2000 - 2009 BRainTool Software GmbH Start.

Tutorial

Copyright © 2000 - 2009 BRainTool Software GmbH

Start

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1. What is A-Plan for Windows?

2. Range of applications3. Help4. How data is displayed5. Organizing your data6. Creating the project

structure7. Allocating resources /

Working times8. Scheduling tasks

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9. Linking tasks10. Additional entry fields11. Printing12. Filters13. Options / Profiles14. Automated scheduling15. Others

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A-Plan for Windows is an easy-to-learn planning program which may be used for a variety of applications and tasks due to its high flexibility.

A-Plan for Windows is an inexpensive alternative to conventional project planning software which is far too complex for many applications and therefore hard to learn and handle.

A-Plan for Windows is suitable for project planning as well as for tasks such as:• Resource and capacity planning• Cost planning• Scheduling• Task management • Allocation of rooms and buildings• Holiday planning

A-Plan for Windows has been licensed for more than 90,000 users (as of Apr., 2009).

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2. Range of applications

3. Help4. How data is displayed5. Organizing your data6. Creating the project



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Project planning


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Project planning Resource and capacity planning

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Project planning Resource and capacity planning Production planning

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Project planning Resource and capacity planning Production planning Cost planning

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Project planning Resource and capacity planning Production planning Cost planning Assignment of rooms and buildings

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Project planning Resource and capacity planning Production planning Cost planning Assignment of rooms and buildings Absence of resources

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3. Help- Tooltips

Short description of buttons („Tooltips“)

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3. Help

– bottom line

Short description of the functions available at the current position of the mouse pointer

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3. Help – direct help 1

Clicking on the button „Direct help“ ...

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... and clicking on any A-Plan element afterwards (the Gantt chart in this example) ...

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... will automatically display the respective chapter of the online help file.

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2. Range of applications3. Help4. How data is

displayed5. Organizing your data6. Creating the project



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4. How data is displayed – levels

Break activities down to as many as 99 levels

Level 1 („Folder“)

Level 2 („Project“)

Level 3 („Task“)



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4. How data is displayed – task table

Task table:- Have up to 65 different columns displayed or hidden as you like

- Set the sequence, width and title of columns to suit your needs

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4. How data is displayed - select the columns displayed in the main table

Right-click on the headline ...

... to have the Options dialogue box displayed with all columns existing in A-Plan.

•Double-click on the designation to edit it

•Double-click on the designation to edit it

•Make column visible yes/no

•Make column visible yes/no

•Choose the number of fixed columns, i.e. which do not disappear when scrolling in the main table

•Choose the number of fixed columns, i.e. which do not disappear when scrolling in the main table

•Adjust the position of the selected column

•Adjust the position of the selected column

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4. How data is displayed – expanded levels

Rows containing subtasks can be expanded ...

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4. How data is displayed – collapsed levels

Expand allCollapse all

… or collapsed

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4. How data is displayed – number of subtasks

Figures given in parentheses indicate the number of included subtasks

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4. How data is displayed – Gantt chart

The Gantt chart (calendar in landscape view) shows the project schedule as a sequence of task bars.

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4. How data is displayed – Gantt chart settings 1

The Gantt chart can be displayed in 16 resolutions ranging from one year ...

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... down to 10 minutes per calendar interval

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Setting the left margin of the Gantt chart to determine the starting date of the displayed calendar.

Show Current Day

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4. How data is displayed – resources 1

Have your resources displayed in the lower half of the A-Plan window

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Tasks allocated to resource Stevens

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100% capacity usage

Capacity not yet allocated

Resource is absent with no capacity allocated

Although allocated, resource is absent

50% capacity usage

Resource is overallocated

Activate the option Show working times and capacities in task bars (see „Screen setup“ / „Task bars“) to have the time bars displayed.

Activate the option Show working times and capacities in task bars (see „Screen setup“ / „Task bars“) to have the time bars displayed.

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2. Range of applications3. Help4. How data is displayed5. Organizing your

data6. Creating the project



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5. Organizing your data

– multiple project planning

Each folder of an A-Plan database is capable of holding up to 32,000 projects.

As a consequence, projects related to different topics may all be planned in one database and resources can be allocated to several projects of the database.

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5. Organizing your data – filters / access permissions

A variety of filters and access permissions enable you to have the data of interest displayed only and to prevent unauthorized users from making changes.

A variety of filters and access permissions enable you to have the data of interest displayed only and to prevent unauthorized users from making changes.

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– archiving completed projects

A-Plan allows you to cut completed projects and paste them into another (= archive) database. This is done most easily by starting A-Plan a second time and opening the archive database.

Just select (1) and cut (2) the completed project from the current database. Then, select a folder in the archive database (3) and paste (4) the project you cut into the selected folder.

Any other database may be used as an archive. To create an archive database, just use „Save as...“ to have a copy of the current database saved under a new name.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

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– master templates

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Use a third database to create master project templates to avoid the need of starting new projects from scratch.

When starting a new project, just copy a template from the master into the current database. This will save you a lot of work.

To adjust the dates of an entire project, just select the row representing the highest project level and choose the command Postpone dates.

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- adjusting the time range when using templates

Adjusting the time range when starting a new project from an inserted template is quite easily - just select the top project row and choose the command Postpone Date... :

You may choose from the following options:• Either enter the requested amount of time or• Have the postponement calculated by A-Plan by

specifying, for example, the begin of the former project („Starting date“) and of the new project („Target date“).

You may choose from the following options:• Either enter the requested amount of time or• Have the postponement calculated by A-Plan by

specifying, for example, the begin of the former project („Starting date“) and of the new project („Target date“).

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2. Range of applications3. Help4. How data is displayed5. Organizing your data6. Creating the

project structure7. Allocating resources /


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6. Creating the project structure

– create a database

...creates a new database.

Click on „No“.

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6. Creating the project structure

– give the database a name

Choose „Save as...“ …

… and type the database name

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6. Creating the project structure – insert a folder

Click on New Row on Level 1 (folder) (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F1)

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6. Creating the project structure – enter a folder name

Type the folder name

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6. Creating the project structure – insert a project

Click on New Row on Level 2 (project) (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F2)

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6. Creating the project structure – enter a project name

Type the project name

All your entries are saved immediately (to ensure that all database users are always provided with the latest version of the data contained in the database).

For this reason, you do not need to save your data manually!

All your entries are saved immediately (to ensure that all database users are always provided with the latest version of the data contained in the database).

For this reason, you do not need to save your data manually!

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6. Creating the project structure – insert a task

Click on New Row on Level 3 (task) (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F3)

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6. Creating the project structure – enter a task name

Type the task name

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6. Creating the project structure – enter additional tasks

Enter additional tasks (on 3rd level). Using Ctrl+F3 is the fastest way of doing it.

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6. Creating the project structure – enter a subtask on 4th level

... and click on New Row on Level 4 (task) or use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+F4)

Select the 3rd level task to which you want to add subtaks ...

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6. Creating the project structure – edit a task name

Double-click on the task name to edit it

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6. Creating the project structure – change the sequence 1

Holding down the left mouse button allows you to move a row to another position.

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6. Creating the project structure – change the sequence 2

Moving an entire block (including all subtasks) to another position

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6. Creating the project structure – submenus

Right-clicking on the designation of a row will bring up a context menu.

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structure7. Allocating

resources / Working times

8. Scheduling tasks

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7. Allocating resources – create a resource group

Click on the lower half of the A-Plan window and press Ctrl+F1 to enter a resource name

If you do not use resources in your planning, click on this button to close the resource view and to jump to Slide 61!

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7. Allocating resources – create a resource

Just press Ctrl+F2 and type the name of the resource.

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7. Allocating resources – allocate a resource to a task

Double-click on the resource columnand choose a resource from the list

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7. Allocating resources – view calendars (= working hours)

Click here to view calendars (= working hours)

The default calendar (marked with*) is used if no resources are allocated to tasks or if resources work during standard hours only.

A calendar covering 7 days per week and 12 hours per day is used for machinery etc.

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7. Allocating resources – create a new calendar

Create a new calendar by choosing „Insert“ / „New calendar“ or pressing Ctrl+F2

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7. Allocating resources – set working hours

Insert a break by shortening the existing time bar and double-clicking to create a second time bar

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7. Allocating resources – close the calendar view

Close the calendar view by clicking on the button again

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7. Allocating resources – assign a calendar to a resource

Assigning a calendar to a resource

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8. Scheduling tasks- set the landscape view calendar

Choose a higher resolution of the Gantt chart to facilitate the scheduling of tasks.

In the Options dialog box, click on the tabs Database settings / Time/Week numbers to set the Time increment to be used when entering data. For example, choosing 1 day has the effect that hours and minutes cannnot and need not be entered any longer. Important: This setting always applies to all data and all users of a database.

In the Options dialog box, click on the tabs Database settings / Time/Week numbers to set the Time increment to be used when entering data. For example, choosing 1 day has the effect that hours and minutes cannnot and need not be entered any longer. Important: This setting always applies to all data and all users of a database.

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8. Scheduling tasks – enter task bars

Double-clicking at the requested position allows you to create up to 32,000 task bars per row.

Task bars in summary rows (= headlines) are created automatically. In such rows, you cannot enter task bars manually.

{

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8. Scheduling tasks – use the mouse to set the begin and end

Hold down the left mouse button to set the begin and/or end of a task bar.

The begin, end, duration and resulting work (if applicable) are displayed synchronously.

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8. Scheduling tasks– postpone dates

Shift a task bar by pointing to the center of the bar and holding down the left mouse button while moving the bar.

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8. Scheduling tasks– enter the begin and end by typing the values

To change the begin or end of a task, you may double-click the current value and type a new value.

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8. Scheduling tasks – use dialog boxes

Click on this button to use a dialog box for setting the begin and/or end of a selected task bar.

Click here if you prefer to use a dialog box for setting the duration and/or the work of a selected task bar.

Click to switch from begin to end and vice versa

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8. Scheduling tasks - have the designations and starting/ending time of task bars

displayed

Activate the check box to have the designations of task bars displayed

Shows the date and time of begin and end

Double-click on the designation to edit it.

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8. Scheduling tasks - have working times in task bars displayed

With this option activated, non-working time periods such as weekends and nightime are displayed without colour. If a task bar is not charged to full capacity, it is coloured to a lower height only.

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9. Linking tasks – postpone dates 1

Postponing the predecessor‘s linking point will have the effect that ...

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9. Linking tasks – postpone dates 2

... all successors are postponed as well.

Time periods spent on a task as well as distances remain contant with non-working times being considered.

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9. Linking tasks- link several tasks simultaneously

To link tasks, just select the headline or several rows and choose the type of link you want to establish.

To find out how the project end is calculated automatically, see slide 94

To find out how the project end is calculated automatically, see slide 94

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9. Linking tasks - Distance = „0“ / Reverse linking

Reverse linking should be used to find out the starting date if a task has a fixed end (see also slide 95).

Pressing the SHIFT key when linking tasks will automatically set the distance between tasks to „0“. This is done in consideration of non-working times such as weekends or night hours.

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9. Linking tasks – linking with the mouse: successors

To link tasks, please click on the successor first ...

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9. Linking tasks – linking with the mouse: predecessors

... and on the predecessor (to the right from the center) afterwards while holding down the Alt key.

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9. Linking tasks – disconnect tasks

To remove an existing link, just click on it and press the DEL key.

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9. Linking tasks – dialog boxes

You may also use a dalog box for linking tasks:

Distance between tasks

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10. Additional Entry Fields- notes

The words of the note will be displayed as long as the mouse pointer hovers over the note symbol (in printing, notes are printed as footnotes).

The words of the note will be displayed as long as the mouse pointer hovers over the note symbol (in printing, notes are printed as footnotes).

Double-click on a cell of the column entitled Nt. (= Note) to enter a note text of any length in a separate window.

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10. Additional Entry Fields - create a link to other files (objects)

Double-click on a cell in the Object column to create a link to another file. Double-clicking on the file name of the linked file will start the assigned application and will open the file.

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10. Additional Entry Fields – submenus 1

To make further settings (regarding memos, patterns and/or colours, alarm, recurring dates) just right-click the task bar concerned.

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11. Printing- print preview

Takes you to the Printing Options

Allows you to specify the colums to be printed (irrespective of the columns displayed on your screen)

Copies the preview to the Windows Clipboard (at no loss of quality)

Choose File / Print Preview to check what the printout will look like

Choose File / Print Preview to check what the printout will look like

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11. Printing* - print to several pages in horizontal direction

Number of overlapping pages in horizontal direction (up to 9 pages)

Set the begin and end or the time range covered by the Gantt chart

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12. Filters- completed tasks

Use this button to either show or hide completed tasks.

To mark a task as completed, just right-click it and activate the command Completed from the menu (the task bar will then turn grey).

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12. Filters - Set filters

Opens the dialog box for setting filters

As a result of this filter, only those tasks are displayed to which „Stevens“ has been allocated as a resource.

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12. Filters - Reshow date

Activating this button will reshow all those tasks which have reached or passed the Reshow date (supposed that the 2 buttons next to it are deactivated).

Use Shift+Double-click to set a Reshow date for a task (and right-click the row to delete it).

Current day (light red)

Current day (light red)

Reshow dateReshow date

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13. Others – options

Click here to view options

... and the printout are made independently of each other.

Settings regarding the screen display...

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13. Others – profiles

Up to 99 profiles allow you to save all current settings (including print settings).

Create a new profile by overwriting the name of the current profile. To delete profiles, choose „Tools“ / „Delete Current Profile“ from the menu.

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14. Automated scheduling- automated calculation of the end of the project (fixed begin)

With (estimated) required work entered in this column …

… the overall duration and the End of the selected project will be calculated.

Linked task bars (see slide 73) of different durations

Linked task bars (see slide 73) of different durations

The total duration of all tasks is calculated from allocated resources in consideration of their capacity usage and their working hours.


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14. Automated scheduling - automated calculation of the begin of the project (fixed end)

… the overall duration and the Begin of the selected project will be calculated.

Reverse linked task bars (see slide 74) of different durations

Reverse linked task bars (see slide 74) of different durations




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14. Automated scheduling- even distribution of work

… the capacity usage of all resources allocated to the selected project will be calculated.

Task bars of fixed duration.Task bars of fixed duration.

The capacity usage of all resources is calculated from required work in consideration of the duration of tasks and working hours of resources.

The capacity usage of all resources is calculated from required work in consideration of the duration of tasks and working hours of resources.


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14. Automated scheduling- time periods spent on a task are independent of the task duration

Create a separate row for each resource allocated to the task by clicking on the „+“ in the red square.

Use the „resource rows“ to assign to each resource the time period(s) during which the resource is to work on the task.

Total of the times spent on the task(at full height, all allocated resources work on the task)

Total of the times spent on the task(at full height, all allocated resources work on the task)

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15. Others – where to find more detailed help?

More detailed information on using A-Plan is provided in the Online help of A-Plan and in the User manual which can be downloaded in pdf format from http://www.braintool.com/downloads.0.html?&L=2.

Both documents also provide information on subjects not covered here such as• Cost planning

• Comparison of actual vs. target values

• Using A-Plan in a networked environment

• Export/Import

• Synchronization with other A-Plan databases and with MS-

Outlook

• Time tracking

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