Row Height Issues

[Jester2112]

I couldn't agree more with Patricia - there is something here that is very fickle about MS Project
I inherited a project from another manager and I have put together a schedule for another project that I am starting, so we have two separate MS projects (Gantt)
In the project that I have put together, I can see 21 rows and it's just how I like it; in the one I inherited - 11 rows. I have tried modifying text size but it serves to make it illegible. The true variable I would like to change here (as I am sure is the case with Patricia) is the % of the cell that the text takes up. It seems that there is a vast amount of room in the cell for the text to fit, but the program somehow insists that the row height be 2.5 times the height of the text. So, ultimately, yes, changing the font size does allow a slight reduction in row height, but you suffer horribly in legibility
Does this clarify things for anyone who would be able to help
Thanks

 

[John Beamish]

There are a number of items that can cause this type of behaviour. Try
these for starters:

1. Format | Bar styles and click on the "text" tab. If you have text on
the top of the bar then you will get taller rows which cannot be reduced
in height.

2. Format | Text styles -- you may have a larger font.

JLB, PMP

I couldn't agree more with Patricia - there is something here that is
very fickle about MS Project.
I inherited a project from another manager and I have put together a
schedule for another project that I am starting, so we have two separate
MS projects (Gantt).
In the project that I have put together, I can see 21 rows and it's just
how I like it; in the one I inherited - 11 rows. I have tried modifying
text size but it serves to make it illegible. The true variable I would
like to change here (as I am sure is the case with Patricia) is the % of
the cell that the text takes up. It seems that there is a vast amount
of room in the cell for the text to fit, but the program somehow insists
that the row height be 2.5 times the height of the text. So,
ultimately, yes, changing the font size does allow a slight reduction in
row height, but you suffer horribly in legibility.
Does this clarify things for anyone who would be able to help?
Thanks

--

 

[John]

Jester,
Go to Format/Barstyles and check the row number for the various bar
styles. It should be set to "1". From what you describe, it sounds like
one of more of the bar styles is set for row "2".

Hope this helps.
John

 

[Jester2112]

Nope - all rows say "1" .... I dont know if this is a matter of importance, but I work with MS Project 98 ..... but it is definitely an issue of the bars being at a different horizontal line within the row as the identification text (in the fields) - any other advice out there?

 

[John Beamish]

Your problem was described in my first suggestion.

To lower the height, don't put text on the top of the bar, put it at the
left, right or inside.

OK, I found the real problem (which no one has brought up) but I dont
know how to resolve it .....

I have addressed both text size and bar size, neither to any avail in
terms of addressing the row height issue. What I did notice is that,
for a given row, the fields ("task name", "start date", "finish date",
etc) is taking up the top half of the row and then the bar and text
(which is to the side of the bars and not under or over them) is taking
up the bottom half of the row, effectively making each row twice as tall
as it need be. It basically gives it somewhat of a staggered look, but
extremely inefficient in both viewing and printing - suggestions??

--

 

[Jester2112]

The settings in "barstyle formatting" is set to "1" as you recommended. The text associated with the bars themselves is already to the side of the bars (neither under nor over, I thought I had mentioned that in my first post but maybe not) and the text in the *fields* is still placed in the top section of the row height "budget" and the bar takes up the lower half ....

 

[Mike Glen]

That is exactly what John Beamish told you to do!!!!!!!!

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[Mike Glen]

Yes but where is the text above, below or at the ends?

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[John Beamish]

One of us is not on the same page as the other!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'barstyle formatting is set to 1".

Let's try once more ... step by step.

1. View | Gantt (You have to do this because settings are based on the
actual display and do not propagate to other displays. If you're using a
display different from the Gantt chart, please let me know which one.)

2. Format | Bar styles ... (This should open a dialog box. The top
portion is like a spreadsheet with Name, Appearance, Show For .. Tasks",
etc., as the column headers and "Task", "Progress", "Milestone", etc. as
the row identifiers.

3. Click on the row identified as "Task". (At the bottom of the dialog
are two tabs: Text and Bars.)

4. Click on Text. (This should show another 'spreadsheet-like' display
with no column headers but with row titles "Left", "Right", "Top",
"Bottom", "Inside".)

5. If necessary, clear out anything showing for Top or Bottom and place
those entries in Left or Right or Inside.

6. Click on OK.

Now ... I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that a "not so common" setting
hasn't been changed. Let's find out:

7. Format | Text Styles (this will open a dialog box which lists
different kinds of text that can be established.)

8. In the drop-down box named "Item to Change" scroll down to the very
bottom. You will see 5 items:
Bar Text - Left
Bar Text - Right
Bar Text - Top
Bar Text - Bottom
Bar Text - Inside

9. Click on "Bar Text - Left" (Below you will see "Font", "Font style"
and "Size")

10. If the Font isn't already set to Arial then change it to Ariel.
11. If the Font style isn't already set to Bold then change it to Bold.
12. If the Size isn't already set to 8 then change it to 8.

13. Repeat steps 10, 11, 12 for each of the Bar Text items.

14. Click OK.

On the leftmost column of the grid (which is to the left of the Gantt
chart), you will see the Id numbers. They will be ascending from either 0
or 1. Immediately above those numbers there is a gray box.

15. Click on that box to select all cells in the grid.

16. Position your cursor on the divider between rows 1 and 2. It must be
in the ID column. You will see the cursor change to a different shape.

17. Click-and-hold and then move the cursor up until it is near the top
of the row above. Release the mousebutton. The row height may not quite
reach the level you selected because you have larger text on that row.

If it still isn't working, send me a copy of the plan and I'll try to see
what's causing the problem.

The settings in "barstyle formatting" is set to "1" as you recommended.
The text associated with the bars themselves is already to the side of
the bars (neither under nor over, I thought I had mentioned that in my
first post but maybe not) and the text in the *fields* is still placed
in the top section of the row height "budget" and the bar takes up the
lower half ....

--

 

[Jester2112]

The text is at the ends, nowhere below or above the bar .....

 

[jb]

I have the same problem. Row Heights appear fine when viewed in data entry view, but the problems arise when printing. This indicates that it is not the graphical part of the print (bar height and text etc). In the print preview, row heights appear to double for no particular reason.