graphical indicator in My Tasks view

[Jeff]

There are a lot of posts about graphical indicators. I have created one, per
Dale's instructions, via PWA. I have subsquently opened a project, added the
field and published the project. Now I want the field to show in My Tasks.
The field is not available for selection in Edit View: My Assignmenet. What
am I missing?

PS2007
WSS3.0
Server 2003 R2

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Jeff --

You are not missing anything. Project Server 2007 will not allow you to
include custom fields with formulas and Graphical Indicators on the My Tasks
page. I know of no way to work around this restriction. Hope this helps.

 

[jimmack]

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

 

[Jeff]

Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm missing the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type = Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Jeff --

jimmack gave you bum advice. You cannot add a custom field containing a
formula and graphical indicator to the My Assignments view. Hope this
helps.

Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom
indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm missing
the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in
Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type = Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

 

[Gary Chefetz]

Jeff:

If you want to show the Finish Variance in the My Assignments view, you need
to use a text field, not a duration field. That is you main problem. You can
then select to roll down the information. However, what Dale is telling you
about graphical indicators is your limitation. You can show the value, but
you can't show a graphical indicator. You can allow users to edit the field,
however I can't imagine why you would want to as Finish Variance is a
calculated field and this is not information you can plow back into the
schedule.

Many people come here trying to vet a problem with a solution that they are
struggling to implement, but sometimes they would be better served by
stating the business problem they're trying to address rather than the
problem with their solution. There may be a better way.

Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom
indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm missing
the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in
Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type = Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

 

[Jeff]

Gary,
Thank you for the info.
Let me give you the problem and let's see if the answer is the same.

Project is being used as a tool, not as the end-all, be-all of scheduling.
As a result, resources are being scheduled to availability, but tasks are not
being scheduled to the exact hour they should be working on it (e.g.,
8am-10am). Our people need to look at the schedule and understand it and
their workload. So, a resource may have 3 tasks assigned, each of which will
begin and end the same day. The person needs an indicator (stop lights pop
more than a number) to show which, if any, task is on time, late or vary late
so they can determine which task to perform first.

Does this help?
Thanks, Jeff

Jeff:

If you want to show the Finish Variance in the My Assignments view, you need
to use a text field, not a duration field. That is you main problem. You can
then select to roll down the information. However, what Dale is telling you
about graphical indicators is your limitation. You can show the value, but
you can't show a graphical indicator. You can allow users to edit the field,
however I can't imagine why you would want to as Finish Variance is a
calculated field and this is not information you can plow back into the
schedule.

Many people come here trying to vet a problem with a solution that they are
struggling to implement, but sometimes they would be better served by
stating the business problem they're trying to address rather than the
problem with their solution. There may be a better way.

Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom
indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm missing
the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in
Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type = Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

:

There are a lot of posts about graphical indicators. I have created
one, per
Dale's instructions, via PWA. I have subsquently opened a project,
added the
field and published the project. Now I want the field to show in My
Tasks.
The field is not available for selection in Edit View: My Assignmenet.
What
am I missing?

PS2007
WSS3.0
Server 2003 R2

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Gary Chefetz]

Jeff:

Well then Finish Variance isn't really the way I would go. Instead I'd be
looking at total slack. By showing simple numbers like this it should be
easy for your resources to prioritize based on the simple rule that negative
numbers indicate that the task is late and pushing the critical path, zero
means that you're on time but also on the critical path and a positive
number means you've got some wiggle room. Easy to understand whole numbers
might be a way to get around the indicator limitation. Just my suggestion.

Gary,
Thank you for the info.
Let me give you the problem and let's see if the answer is the same.

Project is being used as a tool, not as the end-all, be-all of scheduling.
As a result, resources are being scheduled to availability, but tasks are
not
being scheduled to the exact hour they should be working on it (e.g.,
8am-10am). Our people need to look at the schedule and understand it and
their workload. So, a resource may have 3 tasks assigned, each of which
will
begin and end the same day. The person needs an indicator (stop lights pop
more than a number) to show which, if any, task is on time, late or vary
late
so they can determine which task to perform first.

Does this help?
Thanks, Jeff

Jeff:

If you want to show the Finish Variance in the My Assignments view, you
need
to use a text field, not a duration field. That is you main problem. You
can
then select to roll down the information. However, what Dale is telling
you
about graphical indicators is your limitation. You can show the value,
but
you can't show a graphical indicator. You can allow users to edit the
field,
however I can't imagine why you would want to as Finish Variance is a
calculated field and this is not information you can plow back into the
schedule.

Many people come here trying to vet a problem with a solution that they
are
struggling to implement, but sometimes they would be better served by
stating the business problem they're trying to address rather than the
problem with their solution. There may be a better way.

Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom
indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm
missing
the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in
Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type =
Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be
selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a
forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

:

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

:

There are a lot of posts about graphical indicators. I have created
one, per
Dale's instructions, via PWA. I have subsquently opened a project,
added the
field and published the project. Now I want the field to show in My
Tasks.
The field is not available for selection in Edit View: My
Assignmenet.
What
am I missing?

PS2007
WSS3.0
Server 2003 R2

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Jeff]

Gary,
Thank you for the suggestion. I'll put something together and run it by
management.
Thanks again.
Jeff

Jeff:

Well then Finish Variance isn't really the way I would go. Instead I'd be
looking at total slack. By showing simple numbers like this it should be
easy for your resources to prioritize based on the simple rule that negative
numbers indicate that the task is late and pushing the critical path, zero
means that you're on time but also on the critical path and a positive
number means you've got some wiggle room. Easy to understand whole numbers
might be a way to get around the indicator limitation. Just my suggestion.

Gary,
Thank you for the info.
Let me give you the problem and let's see if the answer is the same.

Project is being used as a tool, not as the end-all, be-all of scheduling.
As a result, resources are being scheduled to availability, but tasks are
not
being scheduled to the exact hour they should be working on it (e.g.,
8am-10am). Our people need to look at the schedule and understand it and
their workload. So, a resource may have 3 tasks assigned, each of which
will
begin and end the same day. The person needs an indicator (stop lights pop
more than a number) to show which, if any, task is on time, late or vary
late
so they can determine which task to perform first.

Does this help?
Thanks, Jeff

Jeff:

If you want to show the Finish Variance in the My Assignments view, you
need
to use a text field, not a duration field. That is you main problem. You
can
then select to roll down the information. However, what Dale is telling
you
about graphical indicators is your limitation. You can show the value,
but
you can't show a graphical indicator. You can allow users to edit the
field,
however I can't imagine why you would want to as Finish Variance is a
calculated field and this is not information you can plow back into the
schedule.

Many people come here trying to vet a problem with a solution that they
are
struggling to implement, but sometimes they would be better served by
stating the business problem they're trying to address rather than the
problem with their solution. There may be a better way.



Thank you, Jim. I copied My Assignments to a new view. The custom
indicator
fields, though, are not available for selection in Edit View. I'm
missing
the
piece between creating the field and having it appear as selectable in
Edit
View.

Here is more background: New Custom Field; Entity = Task; Type =
Duration;
Formula = [Finish Variance]. Based on other posts, I should be
selecting
Calculation = Roll down, but that option is not available with a
forumula.

Thanks for the help. Jeff

:

You will need to build a view that includes the graphical indicator.

Go to Server Settings, Manage Views.
Under the My Work section, select and copy the My Assignments View.
Once the copy has been made, you can open the new view and edit its
properties, including adding your new field.

The new view will now appear in the "View" dropdown of My Tasks.

Good luck!
Jim Mack

:

There are a lot of posts about graphical indicators. I have created
one, per
Dale's instructions, via PWA. I have subsquently opened a project,
added the
field and published the project. Now I want the field to show in My
Tasks.
The field is not available for selection in Edit View: My
Assignmenet.
What
am I missing?

PS2007
WSS3.0
Server 2003 R2

Thanks,
Jeff