Navigation with the Primary Controls

The primary navigation through ProjectLibre files and use of program capabilities starts on the main menu (figure 4). Primary selections for navigation are located just to the right of the “Open”, “New”, “Save as”, and “Close” selections (on the second line of these command bars) described in the preceding section. We will examine each section to the right of these buttons, starting with the upper row of primary choices (figure 9). These top four controls (“File”, “Task”, “Resource”, and “View”) are the subjects of the next four paragraphs.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts in ProjectLibre: thank you to community member Andy Hough who contributed this for project manager’s efficiency with documenting the keyboard shortcuts.

Note: Mac it is the Command instead of Ctrl

Scrolling the Gantt Spreadsheet

FN down arrow and FN up arrow to vertically scroll the tasks in spreadsheet

FN left/right arrows to scroll horizontally in the spreadsheet

SHORTCUT KEYS

Ctrl + G Find

Ctrl + F Find again

Ctrl + Z Undo

Ctrl + Y Redo

Ctrl + N New Project

Ctrl + O Open Project

Ctrl + S Save

Ctrl + P Print

Task Related Shortcuts

Ctrl + I Ins Insert Task

Ctrl + . Indent Task

Ctrl + , Outdent Task

Ctrl + +

Ctrl + = Expand Task children

Ctrl + – Collapse Task children

Figure 9. Navigational controls – primary choices and File functions

First, the File selection provides a way to examine and load different files and it controls all the functions listed below them – printing and previewing and then just to the right, another group of selections that allow the analyst to configure the project schedule to suit specific purposes and to update after analysts. Notice that the “File” button in the top row remains light blue, indicating a specific set of controls is available for use. We will come back later to go over what each of these sub-functions allows in terms of manipulating the ProjectLibre file of interest.

Figure 10. Primary controls – “Task” functions

Figure 11. Selecting the Gantt chart with a secondary button

The “Task” control brings up a different set of sub-functions (figure 10). This particular set of secondary controls is primarily for use with the Gantt chart, as the left-most icon suggests. Selecting this “Gantt” icon switches the display in the main window of ProjectLibre in order to show the schedule as the analyst entered it so far (figure 11). This Gantt chart is the default display if you open a file that was saved in this form, but if you were working on some other aspect of the project (assigning resources, for example), selecting this option will take you back to this familiar display. Notice also that the “Task” primary control block in the first line is now light blue, rather than the “File” control block. Selecting the “Task” control block gives access to this different set of navigation tools. As there was with the “File” control block selected, there are a number of sub-functions to be discussed later; for now, we will stick to the primary control functions and their elementary use. This Gantt window is, however, where much of the useful work is done to lay out the schedule and tailor it to the specific project being analyzed.

Next, we examine the “Resource” block in the primary control layer of the command lines (figure 12). As you likely now expect, it allows us to manipulate the resources available for project use. Selecting the “Resource” control does not change the Gantt chart display; however, if you click on the “Resources” icon, the main display window opens up to a spreadsheet (figure 13) that allows you to enter, select, and modify resources and how they are to be used.

Figure 12. Selecting the “Resource” primary control

Figure 13. Selecting the “Resources” spreadsheet with a secondary button

Figure 14. Selecting the “View” functions with a primary control

As the final step in our initial trip through the primary navigation controls, we select the “View” control box (figure 14), bringing up a set of secondary controls that gives easy access to views germane to various stages of project work. Now the various views and sub-views are named in the bottom section of the secondary control bars (marked with a yellow arrow in figure 14). In some ways, the “Task” views and “Resource” views groupings are repetitive to the primary control selections in the top bar, but the “View” grouping gives better and immediate access to “Sub-Views” and other tools. Again, the goal in this paragraph is not to describe each function in detail, but to overview how to navigate through the menus efficiently. It is, however, worth observing at this point, that the main display has now been altered to show four panes, rather than the two that came up when we selected the Gantt chart alone earlier. This specific view was obtained by selecting the “Histogram’’ sub-view (green rectangle) with the Gantt chart displayed by itself. You can also return to the Gantt chart panes by clicking on the “No sub-window” selection (blue rectangle). Finally, there are also other graphical ways to navigate to various views, as shown in the upper row, right hand side of the primary control bars. There (figure 14), a series of icons (green rectangle) reside and they can be used to select various sub-views. If you hover the cursor over each of the icons, it becomes clear that this set of five controls is associated with the five sub-views named in the sub-view portion of the secondary controls and discussed earlier. A sixth icon, a blue circle surrounding a question mark, allows the analyst to bring up help in three different forms as suggested by figure 15. The three options are self-explanatory.

Figure 15. Help pop-up