Need help with flags!

[New2Project]

Hello Everyone

I'm hoping someone can help me, really need this to work. If I can get it to
work then I have successfully accomplished using MS Project!

Well I have found out that you are able to 'flag' tasks then filter it so
you get to see the tasks you want to be shown. However when I group the tasks
together first by 'Project' then try to 'flag' it, MS Pro don't seem to let
me do it. It locks the drop down box for that row on 'flag1'.

Is there any way to get around this? I really want this to work!

Thanks in advance.

 

[JackD]

Each row (each task) need to have the flag set for it. It sounds like you
are trying to flag the group summary. Group summaries are not tasks at all.
They are really just a header for a group of tasks. Therefore they have no
properties (no flags, no text fields etc.)

 

[John]

Hello Everyone

I'm hoping someone can help me, really need this to work. If I can get it to
work then I have successfully accomplished using MS Project!

Well I have found out that you are able to 'flag' tasks then filter it so
you get to see the tasks you want to be shown. However when I group the tasks
together first by 'Project' then try to 'flag' it, MS Pro don't seem to let
me do it. It locks the drop down box for that row on 'flag1'.

Is there any way to get around this? I really want this to work!

Thanks in advance.

New2Project,
It isn't clear from you post whether you are trying to group by Project
and then by Flag1 or if you are grouping by Project and then applying a
filter for Flag1. However, either way will work. However, my first
question is, are you working with a consolidated master file (i.e.
master with inserted subprojects)? If not, then what exactly is your
file structure? A master file is the only way I know to have more then a
single entry in the Project field.

By the way, you mentioned Project Pro. Is it being used in a Project
Server environment or as a stand alone installation? I know the above
process works with a stand alone installation but I can't speak for a
Server based installation, although I don't see why it would work any
different.

John
Project MVP

 

[New2Project]

JackD and John,

Thanks for the reply guys! To answer your question John:

I am trying to group by Project first, then flag1, then filter flag1. You
are absolutely correct about the master file. I am working with consolidated
projects i.e. Master Project with subprojects.

I am also working with a project server, although I didn't think this would
affect the flags. I am only flagging the projects in my master file. But for
some reason, Project won't allow me to flag the group by summary's. I'm
running out of ways to do it. There probably isn't a way to go around this,
but any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks again john and jackd. Hope you have more ideas!

 

[John]

JackD and John,

Thanks for the reply guys! To answer your question John:

I am trying to group by Project first, then flag1, then filter flag1. You
are absolutely correct about the master file. I am working with consolidated
projects i.e. Master Project with subprojects.

I am also working with a project server, although I didn't think this would
affect the flags. I am only flagging the projects in my master file. But for
some reason, Project won't allow me to flag the group by summary's. I'm
running out of ways to do it. There probably isn't a way to go around this,
but any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks again john and jackd. Hope you have more ideas!

New2Project,
As far as I can tell, either (a), there is some corruption in the file
(probably not), or (b) the Server version works a little differently. I
tried grouping by Project then by Flag1 and then filtering on Flag1 and
it works perfectly. My test file is a multi-level master and I used
Project 2003 Pro (stand alone).

John
Project MVP

 

[New2Project]

John,

did you try flagging the summary tasks for the 'Project' Group by and not
the tasks alone? It seems to be locked to me. It actually worked on your
test? mmm.... Im not sure why that is

 

[JackD]

It WILL NOT EVER work. Properties of a summary task are NOT automatically
applied to sub-tasks. Project doesn't work like that.
Further, the group summary is not really a summary task at all. It is just a
header in the display.

 

[John]

John,

did you try flagging the summary tasks for the 'Project' Group by and not
the tasks alone? It seems to be locked to me. It actually worked on your
test? mmm.... Im not sure why that is

New2Project,
I only had the flag field set for performance tasks and Summary Lines
and that of course works as I stated. Are you saying that you are trying
to set Flag1 for the group rows? If so, then I agree with Jack. The
group rows are NOT tasks, they are simply visual summaries. You can tell
by looking at the ID field. The group rows have no ID (i.e. they are
display only).

Sorry if there was a misunderstanding. I think Jack understood your post
better than I did, hence his adamant response.

Well, I guess that mystery is solved - finally.

John
Project MVP

 

[New2Project]

Ok, ok, I finally get it. You can't flag group by summary. Thanks

Does this also mean you cannot customise SOME group by summary bars as in
the appearance of the bars? I know you can go on Format>bar styles and change
the group by summary appearance, but it changes all of the group by summary
tasks.

Sorry to be a pain guys! If the answer is still no for this, then I really
will give up on this bit. Thanks for all the feedback

 

[John]

Ok, ok, I finally get it. You can't flag group by summary. Thanks

Does this also mean you cannot customise SOME group by summary bars as in
the appearance of the bars? I know you can go on Format>bar styles and change
the group by summary appearance, but it changes all of the group by summary
tasks.

Sorry to be a pain guys! If the answer is still no for this, then I really
will give up on this bit. Thanks for all the feedback

New2Project,
Format/Bar Styles is the only way to customize the appearance of Gantt
bars. Depending on how clever the user can be with the "show for" and
"from" and "to" fields in the Bar Styles window, some pretty unusual
stuff can be set up. However as I explained earlier, group summary rows
are calculated by Project for display ONLY, none of the Project fields
on these rows are user definable and although Gantt bars for group
summary rows can be defined they will be the same for all group summary
rows.

You didn't explain exactly what you are trying to do with grouping, but
as is often the case with a user post, knowing the end goal is a lot
more useful to those of us who answer posts. In other words, it is more
helpful to know what you want than how you plan to get there. Often
there are solutions that the user never considered or knew existed.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[New2Project]

Hey John,

As I stated in my previous post, I am using a master project with many
subprojects. I open all the subprojects up and this shows the tasks with
resources assigned to it. I then filter the resources that I want with the
tasks they have been assigned to.

I group it by Resource name, Project and Outline number. This shows a
fantastic view of what the resources are working on and when. The only
problem is that there are too many group by summary bars that show on the
gantt chart part for each resource which sometimes if you look at it can be
misleading. Hence this is why I want to hide group by summary 'Project' and
'Outline number'. Even if you can't hide it, changing the colour to white
would still help. Hope that makes sense.

Any more ideas from the expert?

 

[John]

Hey John,

As I stated in my previous post, I am using a master project with many
subprojects. I open all the subprojects up and this shows the tasks with
resources assigned to it. I then filter the resources that I want with the
tasks they have been assigned to.

I group it by Resource name, Project and Outline number. This shows a
fantastic view of what the resources are working on and when. The only
problem is that there are too many group by summary bars that show on the
gantt chart part for each resource which sometimes if you look at it can be
misleading. Hence this is why I want to hide group by summary 'Project' and
'Outline number'. Even if you can't hide it, changing the colour to white
would still help. Hope that makes sense.

Any more ideas from the expert?

New2Project,
How about trying the Sort function (Project/Sort) in conjunction with a
filter instead of using the Grouping function. Sort has features similar
to grouping but it doesn't artificially create separate rows for the
view and therefore there are no limitations for the filter.

Another approach that I know will get you what you want is through a VBA
macro. However, it does require VBA knowledge or help from someone who
has that knowledge so it isn't the best solution for everybody.

If you don't really need the Gantt bars, another approach might be to
export the data to Excel using an export map. Excel generally has better
sorting and formatting capabilities than Project.

See, there are other ways to get there.
John
Project MVP

 

[New2Project]

John,

Hey I guess there are other ways of doing it then! Thanks for all of your
comments!

 

[John]

John,

Hey I guess there are other ways of doing it then! Thanks for all of your
comments!

New2Project,
That's what we are here for - to help show you the path.

John
Project MVP