Views

Many views in the “View” command are identical to the views in the “Task” and “Resource” command sections. e.g. “Gantt” and “Resource” spreadsheets. To simplify the use of this manual, the text and images are repeated here, while there is also a link to the earlier sections given.

An important feature of the “View” section is the possibility to show sub-views on the lower part of the screen, either from the “View” command with the icons in the “Sub-View” section or the icons in the top row on the right top.

The “Sub-Views” are always in the bottom part, but as for a vertical split in the “Gantt” spreadsheet, the View – “Sub-Views” screens have a horizontal split. With the mouse, figure 75, the size of top and bottom part can be changed, click the mouse on the split line and a double arrow appears, with the mouse you can move this horizontal split as you wish.

Figure 75. Sizing lower and bottom part of view

Task Views

Gantt

Starting at the left side of this row of functions, in the “Views” section, the “Gantt Chart” button is already somewhat familiar, having introduced it earlier. Left clicking on this button brings up the default spreadsheet that is pre-labeled with convenient labels for project management purposes - Name, Duration, Start, Finish, and the like. There are some unique features associated with this tailored spreadsheet on the lower left side of the Gantt page of ProjectLibre.

The first column is simply a sequential numbering scheme for each task and sub-task, starting at 1 and in-creasing one number at a time with each additional row. So, this column is the row number for the “Task” spreadsheet.

The second column provides some flexibility in tailoring the spreadsheet to your own needs. It has a circle with an “i” in it (magenta rectangle in figure 30), perhaps to imply that this icon allows insertion of new columns. If you left click on the icon, the entire column is highlighted in black and you can change all rows to suit your needs. (Similarly, left clicking in the first or title row also highlights that row for multiple row insertions.) If you right click on the icon, a dialogue box appears that offers three choices: (1) Insert Column, (2) Hide Column, and (3) Find. Selecting any one of these choices pops up a dialogue box for insertion of more information. The dialogue box for the first of these selections is below (figure 31). There are a number of choices for the field variable (see definitions at the beginning of the manual) and making a selection results in insertion of an additional column (figure 32) labeled with the “Field” selection. In our example, the new column is labeled “Baseline1 Start”. This feature allows the analyst to very flexibly tailor the Gantt chart contents for tracking the project.

Figure 31. Dialog box for “Gantt” spreadsheet “Insert Column” function

Figure 32. New Gantt chart column with label “Baseline1 Start”

The “Hide Column” selection for this dialogue box allows the user to remove this new column (or any other of the other visible columns) by selecting that choice. Finally, the “Find” selection brings up a dialog box (shown in figure 33) that permits a search for a field name.

Figure 33. “Find” selection

Network

Figure 34. “Network” view of task flow

Figure 34 shows each of the tasks in our example project plan for New Shower in summary form. In one sense, this “Network” view is very similar to the right side of the Gantt chart (figure 30); the information is the same. The “Network” view simply puts that information in a flow diagram form and relocates the information in each task row within the appropriate block. The analyst can also move the task blocks in the diagram to change the graphical presentation by hovering the cursor over the outline of the block to be moved and waiting until a hand icon appears. Left click and hold the left mouse button down and reposition the selected block to any desired position on the white space. Similarly, if you hover the cursor over a location in the interior of a block and then left click, you can insert additional text or corrected text with keypad inputs.

The linkages between tasks are retained and the critical path is also marked with a red outline for those blocks. Linkages can also be added, removed, or modified in this view. If you hover the cursor over a task dependency connection line, a plus sign appears. Then a left mouse click pops up a dialog box (figure 35) that allows you to alter the connection as desired. This dialog box lays out the From-To dependency sequence, providing both labels for clear identification. Then it offers four possible dependency connection types: FS (the default option), FF, SF, and SS. FS stands for Finish-to-Start (of the From task to the To task), FF implies Finish-to-Finish, SF indicates Start-to-Finish, and SS means Start-to-Start. The choice of connection types obviously alters the flow of the work between tasks. The default choice is by far the most common usage. Notice that this dialog box also allows addition of lag (free) time between tasks with a numerical value in either hours or days or other appropriate time units. The lower row of four selections allows you to completely remove the linkage, accept changes made, cancel your operation, or go to the on-line help documentation located at www.projectlibre.com under the Community menu when you are logged into the website.

Figure 35. “Task Dependency” modification dialogue box

Finally, the “Network” view does not show the chronology of the tasks quite as completely (there is no calendar – merely start and finish dates – showing the progression of tasks).

WBS

Figure 37 is the default chart that appears when the WBS (blue ellipse in figure 36) selection is made with a left mouse click. This diagram is similar to the “Network” flow view of the tasks in that each block is separate. However, the textual entries inside the block are related to blocks in the original “Gantt” spreadsheet, in the example shown “Cost” (implying that as costs are entered during the course of a project’s life, they can be monitored by the analyst and/or manager from this block) and “Budget”. Notice that this second entry is blank; if we add a “Budget” column.

Figure 36. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) view of tasks

This chart can be modified in much the same way as the “Network” view chart. Left clicking on textual material in a block allows modification of the text. Also, hovering the mouse over a block outline allows the block to be moved. For example, figure 36 shows the task blocks for our example project laid out in a horizontal configuration.

Figure 37. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – Tasks rearranged

It might suit your purposes better and be more descriptive to arrange the WBS in a vertical fashion (figure 37). Moving the blocks is carried out just as described in the “Network” view paragraph: hover the cursor over the outline of the block to be moved, then left click-and-drag the block to the desired position. The connection lines can be altered similar to how modifications described for the “Network” view linkages. Of course, the dialogue box is slightly different (figure 38) and the analyst can only remove the hierarchical relationship (equivalent to selecting “Outdent” in the command line for the sub-task) or accept it.

Figure 38. “Hierarchical Relation” dialog box

One final note: when the narrative in the boxes (the task descriptions, for example) exceeds the width shown in the box, a left mouse click with the cursor simply inside the text area will show the rest of the line of text. This “peek-to-the-right” trick also works in the “Network” view of the previous paragraph. In that case, it is helpful to be sure the cursor is on the line of text to be extended for viewing.

Task Usage

Figure 39. “Task Usage” view

The next selection in the “Views” section of the command ribbon is the “Task Usage” view (Figure 39), which shows hourly work based on information entered. The left half (the spreadsheet half) of the view summarizes the total allocation of hours to each task while the right half (the schedule plan) shows the hourly profile of available workers’ hours against chronological time. The spreadsheet is identical to the Gantt chart spreadsheet previously described; the only difference appears to be the light tan background color for this information in the “Task Usage” view.

The right side of the view shows scheduled work. Observe that scheduled work for a task is the sum of the time allotted to the subtasks within each hierarchical layer. For example, the sum of the hours in lines 3 and 4 adds up the total hours for the parent task in line 2 (green rectangle) for each month of time. It is possible to directly edit the hours on the right side of this view, but it is also quite possible (perhaps even likely) that doing so will alter the totals on the left side and may cause fractional hours or days to be incorporated into the schedule.

Resource Views

Resources

The “Resources” spreadsheet pops up with a mouse click on the “Resources” button in the “Views” group.

Figure 67. Resources definition window

This spreadsheet contains all details on resources such as: Name, RBS, type, e-mail address, initials, hourly rate, overtime rate, base Calendar, etc.

The information from this spreadsheet is used by ProjectLibre to make calculations for your project, e.g. duration of work for a person depending on his/her maximal units, or expenditure using the personal rates, etc. Filling the spreadsheet is possible by directly typing into the cells and a right mouse click offers a window with easy features to help.

The spreadsheet is flexible and easy to adapt to your needs by hiding a column or adding new ones. To hide a column simply click on “Hide Column” and the selected column disappears from the view; it is however not deleted. To add a new column, click on “Insert Column” and a new “Insert Column” window will appear. The window allows you to choose which column from a long scroll-list to add, select your required column and confirm with a click on “OK”.

Figure 68. Window to select “New Column”

It is possible to assign a separate base calendar to each resource/person. E.g. A crane may have a 24 hours calendar, while the crane-drivers each have an 8 or 12 hours calendar for their respective shifts.

A double mouse-click will show the “Resource Information” window later on this window.

RBS

Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) shows a hierarchic structure in a large list with resources, from personnel, tools, materials, equipment and other services. Cost is not a resource as such, though all resources cost money. A click on the “RBS” button in the “Resources” command ribbon shows this scheme, figure 68.

Each block represents a resource and indicates the expenditure of that resource of the usage in the project against the budget.

The hierarchical relation between Resources is indicated with a line. A click on this relation line brings a new window that allows the line to be removed by clicking on the “Remove” button, figure 70.

Figure 69. Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) for the project

An option to make a new relation line between resources is also available: click the mouse inside a resource block and a line will appear from the block to the mouse with a ∞ symbol, click the mouse to the other block to create the new relation.

Figure 70. Change the resources relation window

Resource Usage

Figure 71. Detailed spreadsheet with users data for Resources

A detailed spreadsheet will be shown with all usage data for resources by the task, just click on the Task Usage button in the Resource command, figure 71. “Usage Per Resource” is indicated on the left side in a column, there is also its “Usage per Task” in hours, a total of hours and where averaging has been applied, etc. A mouse click on the head of the column allows either to hide it or even to create a new one. A “New Column” window opens; it allows you to select the column from a long list, among them some cost data.

On the right side of this spreadsheet the assigned hours per resource and task are indicated in date structure, in hours, days or weeks. The time scale can be adjusted using the “Zoom In” or “Zoom Out” buttons from hours to quarters of a year. The mouse allows you also to change the size of the left and right panes on this screen, with a click and drag action.

Other Views

Luckily there are some interesting functions in “Other Views” that will offer some new views and even reports of various sorts.

Projects

A click on the “Projects” button in the “View” section of command will open a screen that shows all your projects actually opened in ProjectLibre, figure 76. This makes it very easy and fast to switch between the different projects that you are managing. A right mouse click on the heading of a column will open a small window that allows to hide the marked column or to add a new column. The addition of a new column was explained before, selection from a “New Column” window. The column width can easily be changed by moving the mouse to the side of the column heading, when a double arrow appears you can drag the mouse till the required width is obtained.

Figure 76. A list of ProjectLibres with some information

Double-Clicking anywhere in the project list will open the “Project Information” window with more detailed information on the selected Project. Have you noticed as well, a small scroll box in the top right corner, with a project name? This is the live project you are working on, but a click on the small arrow opens a window that shows the other active projects in the ProjectLibre program; this allows a quick shift to the other project.

Figure with Active Projects

Report

Reports must be printed and read by those interested in the content or those that are supposed to invest their money in your project. Consequently, the format of the report looks better and more attractive as the views on the screen.

---

Clicking on the “Report” button in the “View” command section opens a nice report, figure 77.

Figure 77. The “Project Details” report using the report function from ProjectLibre

Later, we will learn how to select a variety of reports. First, let’s see the icons just above the report. These are standard icons and can be explained easily.

The left one, Save: to save this report in different formats, among them pdf, xml,htm, csv, xls, rtf,

2nd one, Print: to make a hard-copy print of your report,

3rd one, Refresh: will make a new version of the same report e.g. after an update,

4th - 8th: these are functions mainly for multiple page reports to scroll through the pages,

9th - 11th: these are button to manage the report on the screen, fit the height or the width of the screen,

12th - 14th: zoom buttons to enlarge or shrink the report to fit on the screen or to have a detailed look.

As said, there are a variety of reports to choose from and two lists with related options are available, figure 78.

Figure 78. Two scroll boxes with related lists to select your desired report.

Depending what you choose on the “Report” scroll list, another list will become available to choose from. So 4 main choices and from that some 6-12 additional choices; a good chance your desired report will be found.

Sub-Views

We already explained how to change the size of the sub-views, so to ease the use, you may start with the main/sub-views split in half on the screen. The selection in the main-view has some influence on the information shown in the sub-views, as we will see later.

The switching of sub-views can be made in two ways: first the icons in the “Sub-View” command section and secondly with the icons in the top right of the screen, figure 79; which is very convenient if you were viewing the “Task” or “Resource” main menu and don’t have to switch to views first.

Figure 79. Icons for the sub-views

Histogram

Clicking the “Histogram” icon will show the sub-view for histograms with input from the main view selected before or you may as well select it later. The task or resource selected in the top part (main-view), will be the source for data shown in the sub-view histogram. In this example, the task “Ontwikkelen idee” is selected. In the sub-view under resources “Ard” and “George” are indicated with a green dot, to show that both are assigned to this task. As a resource “Ard” is selected, and the “Unstarted Assignments” option from the available list in the “Resource Filter” allows you to show his filtered data. .

Figure 80 A histogram sub-view

The blue bars in the histogram are for the selected resource; “Ard” in this case. The green bars are for the complete project. The black line indicates the percentage availability of the resources.

Charts

Clicking the “Charts” icon will show the sub-view for charts again related to the selected Task in the main-view. Again, as an example, there is a screenshot in figure 81.

Also in charts the resources assigned to the task are indicated with a green dot. The “Resource Filter” list offers the same choices but there is more to choose from.

With check boxes you may select to view a histogram or the contours and on top of this also you can view the cumulative cost (in this case) over the project duration.

With the radio buttons “Work” and “Cost”, different lists will appear with many input variables to choose from. Choose a selection and the outcome will be shown in the chart.

An explanation for some cost codes:

ACWP: Actual Cost of Work Performed

BCWP: Budgeted Cost of Work Performed

BCWS: Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled.

Figure 81. The “Chart” sub-view

Task Usage

Clicking the “Task Usage” icon will show the sub-view for task usage, again related to the selected task in the main-view: Brainstorming. As an example, there is a screenshot in figure 82.

Figure 82. The “Task Usage” sub-view

No further selections here. The task usage of resources is shown in table form on the left side. The columns can be hidden or new ones added as explained before. It shows that 4 people are participating in the “Brainstorming” task with the amount of hours worked on this task, that is a part of the “Ontwikkelen idee” main task.

The right side of the sub-view shows the hours worked on this task by the day; shifting the calendar days can be done with the slider in the top Gantt diagram.

Resource Usage

Clicking the “Resource Usage” icon will show the sub-view for resource work, again related to the selected task in the main-view: Brainstorming. As an example there is a screenshot in figure 83.

Figure 83. The sub-view for “Resource Usage”

For the resources assigned to the project (not only persons, but also equipment etc.), this “Resource Usage” sub-view will show all the hours worked on the different tasks in the project as well as on the right side these hours indicated in the days worked on the project. It also shows the total of hours for each resource, while for the manager the total of all working hours is rolled up. The columns can be changed, by either hiding some or by adding new columns in the familiar manner.

The column “Work Contour” shows a small scroll window, after a click with the right mouse-button. Here you may indicate the form for the working pattern of the resource per task; you may prefer flat or maybe front-loaded; I am always scared for back-loaded as the hours passed, have passed. Notice also that in the column “Cost Rate” you can indicate which of the labour rates of the resource is applicable.

No Sub-Window

This function is the easiest to explain: clicking the “No Sub-Window” will close any sub-window that is open.