Tasks Not Shown in a View

[Just Fun]

Hi,

After I have worked in a Gantt view that has one (or more) collapsed Summary
Task, when I change views to one that has no filter applied, the collapsed
tasks are not shown in the second view.

To restate: I can't move from view to view without first going to a view
that has the entire outline structure expanded - or I won't be able to see
all of the tasks. I can't trust that all tasks will show in a view without
exercizing great care and first going to a fully expanded view.

Is this a bug??? a feature??? or a quirk??? or operator error???

Is this a function of how I last saved the file???
Note: The second view is one that does not show any summary tasks. Is this a
factor???

John Hansen

 

[John]

Hi,

After I have worked in a Gantt view that has one (or more) collapsed Summary
Task, when I change views to one that has no filter applied, the collapsed
tasks are not shown in the second view.

To restate: I can't move from view to view without first going to a view
that has the entire outline structure expanded - or I won't be able to see
all of the tasks. I can't trust that all tasks will show in a view without
exercizing great care and first going to a fully expanded view.

Is this a bug??? a feature??? or a quirk??? or operator error???

Is this a function of how I last saved the file???
Note: The second view is one that does not show any summary tasks. Is this a
factor???

John Hansen

John,
I guess you'd call it a "feature". As long as you are in the same view
class (i.e. Task, Resource, etc.) the screen will retain the expanded or
collapsed format. However all you need to do is to hit the "show all
subtasks" button (normally found at the left side of the Formatting
toolbar) to fully expand the view. Not exactly a formidable operation.

Obviously you are a new user. You might want to check out a couple of
things. First go to our MVP website at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm
Then go to another part of our website at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/links.htm
and check out fellow MVP, Mike Glen's Project lessons and techniques.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Just Fun]

Yes! Now that I've been told about this "feature" think of it like this:
I'm in the kitchen and must turn on the kitchen lights before I go into the
dinning room. BECAUSE if the kitchen lights are off... then the dinning room
lights are off and can't be turned on until I return to the kitchen to turn
on the kitchen light. You see, The light switch is dissabled in the dinning
room. (The view does not have the summary tasks shown and thus the "show all
subtasks" button is dissabled.) After all those years of having my mother
tell me to turn off the lights before I leave the room, it's hard to
remember to turn on the lights in the kitchen or I won't be able to turn on
the lights in the dinning room once I get there. I think this is at least
an annoyance if not a bug.

 

[John]

Yes! Now that I've been told about this "feature" think of it like this:
I'm in the kitchen and must turn on the kitchen lights before I go into the
dinning room. BECAUSE if the kitchen lights are off... then the dinning room
lights are off and can't be turned on until I return to the kitchen to turn
on the kitchen light. You see, The light switch is dissabled in the dinning
room. (The view does not have the summary tasks shown and thus the "show all
subtasks" button is dissabled.) After all those years of having my mother
tell me to turn off the lights before I leave the room, it's hard to
remember to turn on the lights in the kitchen or I won't be able to turn on
the lights in the dinning room once I get there. I think this is at least
an annoyance if not a bug.

Just for,
I think your analogy with the lights is misplaced. With Project the user
does NOT have to "go back" to a previous view to make a change for the
current view. What views exactly are you using, or switching between?

John
Project MVP

 

[Just Fun]

John,

I work in several Gantt views. One is a summary view to look at the big
picture and most of the detail tasks collapsed. I primarily use a view with
all of the summary tasks expanded and filtered to All Tasks. Occasionally I
collapse a few summary tasks related to marketing and purchasing to get rid
of the clutter while I work on the construction part of the project. As I
move between various Gantt views that show the summary tasks, one does not
affect the other.

Recently, the company owner asked if I would prepare a schedule of the
detail tasks without the summary tasks shown that is sorted in order by the
baseline finish date. He wants this report every week to show the same tasks
and be in the same order that we reviewed last week. When I go to this view,
any tasks not expanded when I was in the last view do not show up. At first
I was perplexed; now only annoyed. I thought a view was static - not
dependent on the last view. If not static, then what other things must I be
wary of when I use a variety of views?

I tried creating a unique table for this view thinking that the table would
remain unmodified when I was in a different view and different table.
The issue still remains.

If my kitchen/dining room analogy is not suited to this situation, what
concept can you suggest that allows me to understand the effects of one view
on another? I have used Project for years and didn't experience this issue
until the recent request for this atypical (for me) way of reporting the
detail task schedule.

Thanks for the dialogue on this issue.

 

[John]

John,

I work in several Gantt views. One is a summary view to look at the big
picture and most of the detail tasks collapsed. I primarily use a view with
all of the summary tasks expanded and filtered to All Tasks. Occasionally I
collapse a few summary tasks related to marketing and purchasing to get rid
of the clutter while I work on the construction part of the project. As I
move between various Gantt views that show the summary tasks, one does not
affect the other.

Recently, the company owner asked if I would prepare a schedule of the
detail tasks without the summary tasks shown that is sorted in order by the
baseline finish date. He wants this report every week to show the same tasks
and be in the same order that we reviewed last week. When I go to this view,
any tasks not expanded when I was in the last view do not show up. At first
I was perplexed; now only annoyed. I thought a view was static - not
dependent on the last view. If not static, then what other things must I be
wary of when I use a variety of views?

I tried creating a unique table for this view thinking that the table would
remain unmodified when I was in a different view and different table.
The issue still remains.

If my kitchen/dining room analogy is not suited to this situation, what
concept can you suggest that allows me to understand the effects of one view
on another? I have used Project for years and didn't experience this issue
until the recent request for this atypical (for me) way of reporting the
detail task schedule.

Thanks for the dialogue on this issue.

Just Fun,
It helps a lot to understand your end goal rather than dwell on how you
want to achieve it.

To create the weekly report requested by the company owner then simply
do the following. Create a view (e.g. Gantt Chart) that is fully
exploded. Include as part of the view a filter for non-summary tasks
only. When the view is applied, sort on the Baseline Finish with the
option to keep the outline structure turned OFF. This keeps the report
view independent of any other view and gives you what the owner
requested. The only issue is if any tasks are re-baselined. Then the
order displayed will not be the same as the last time the report was
reviewed.

Hope this helps.
John