Duration Variance Stoplight Assistance

A

AndrewO

I have created “Schedule Variance” custom fields to display stoplights
for project tasks, and also for overall project status in project
center. Everything works perfectly when the column is first defined
in Project Professional for a single project. But when I add the
column to the Project Server, my graphical indicators break, even
though the calculation is still being done correctly, as verified by
displaying the data as a tool tip.

I started with an empty project, added a half-dozen tasks, and set a
baseline. Save the project (but not published).

I set up a custom field as follows:

In MS Project Pro I did Tools -> Customize -> Fields

Field: Task/Duration
Formula: [Duration Variance]
Calculation for Task and Group summary rows: Use Formula
Calcualtion for Assignment Rows: None
Values to Display: Graphical Indicators
Is less than or equal to - 0 days - Green Smiley Face
Is less than 15 days - Yellow dot
Is greater than or equal to 30 days - Red dot
Is greater than 0 days - Yellow dot

I add my new colum to the view and it works great when used within
this single project. I tested it out and the indicators change as I
toy with the task duration. Summary and Project Overview tasks
respond correctly.

So I "Add Field To Enterprise" and it tells me it was pushed
sucessfully and to close and re-open MS Project Pro. I close MSP and
check via PWA that the custom enterprise field is set up correctly.
It is. I re-open MS Project, open the exact same project file I used
for testing this in the first place, and ...... all my indicators are
red. No matter what I do to the duration. I can start over with a
blank project, and the indicators are all red.

The variance is correct, I can hover my mouse over one of the red dots
and the correct DV is displayed in the tooltip (for example 0d). I
add the DV column to my view and it matches the tool tips. But the
stoplights are always red!

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
G

Gary L. Chefetz

Andrew:

The order of your graphical indicator tests is incorrect, but I'm not
certain that is the only source of your problem. Do you have the
Infrastructure Update installed on your system? There were problems with
graphical indicators rendering correctly prior to that update.

--
----------
Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
Project Server Training: http://www.projectservertraining.com
Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com
Project Server Help Blog: http://www.projectserverhelp.com


I have created “Schedule Variance” custom fields to display stoplights
for project tasks, and also for overall project status in project
center. Everything works perfectly when the column is first defined
in Project Professional for a single project. But when I add the
column to the Project Server, my graphical indicators break, even
though the calculation is still being done correctly, as verified by
displaying the data as a tool tip.

I started with an empty project, added a half-dozen tasks, and set a
baseline. Save the project (but not published).

I set up a custom field as follows:

In MS Project Pro I did Tools -> Customize -> Fields

Field: Task/Duration
Formula: [Duration Variance]
Calculation for Task and Group summary rows: Use Formula
Calcualtion for Assignment Rows: None
Values to Display: Graphical Indicators
Is less than or equal to - 0 days - Green Smiley Face
Is less than 15 days - Yellow dot
Is greater than or equal to 30 days - Red dot
Is greater than 0 days - Yellow dot

I add my new colum to the view and it works great when used within
this single project. I tested it out and the indicators change as I
toy with the task duration. Summary and Project Overview tasks
respond correctly.

So I "Add Field To Enterprise" and it tells me it was pushed
sucessfully and to close and re-open MS Project Pro. I close MSP and
check via PWA that the custom enterprise field is set up correctly.
It is. I re-open MS Project, open the exact same project file I used
for testing this in the first place, and ...... all my indicators are
red. No matter what I do to the duration. I can start over with a
blank project, and the indicators are all red.

The variance is correct, I can hover my mouse over one of the red dots
and the correct DV is displayed in the tooltip (for example 0d). I
add the DV column to my view and it matches the tool tips. But the
stoplights are always red!

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
A

AndrewO

Andrew:

The order of your graphical indicator tests is incorrect, but I'm not
certain that is the only source of your problem. Do you have the
Infrastructure Update installed on your system? There were problems with
graphical indicators rendering correctly prior to that update.

Gary,

Thanks for the reply. I will have to check with our server admins to
see if this update is applied, and if not, get it applied. I'll
follow up here after that is verified.

As for the indicators, I see the problem now... 4 days late will get
caught by the yellow dot test, and not make it to green.

I'll re-figure the tests.

Thanks again (P.S... your books are my new bibles)

---A
 
G

Gary L. Chefetz

Andrew:

Thanks for the kind words on the book. Let us know if you need additional
help.

--
----------
Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
Project Server Training: http://www.projectservertraining.com
Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com
Project Server Help Blog: http://www.projectserverhelp.com


Andrew:

The order of your graphical indicator tests is incorrect, but I'm not
certain that is the only source of your problem. Do you have the
Infrastructure Update installed on your system? There were problems with
graphical indicators rendering correctly prior to that update.

Gary,

Thanks for the reply. I will have to check with our server admins to
see if this update is applied, and if not, get it applied. I'll
follow up here after that is verified.

As for the indicators, I see the problem now... 4 days late will get
caught by the yellow dot test, and not make it to green.

I'll re-figure the tests.

Thanks again (P.S... your books are my new bibles)

---A
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top